When I travelled across Russia on the Trans-Siberian I wanted to take some good Russian literature with me, and I eventually decided on Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment. It is set in St Petersburg, and by the time I’d reached this gorgeous city (it took three weeks, with stops, from Vladivostok) I was more than ready to learn more about the author by visiting the Dostoyevsky Memorial Museum, housed in an apartment where the man himself used to live, and write.

For any avid reader, and especially for writers, this museum is a must. Not only does it explain the historical background to the novels of Dostoyevsky, telling much about Russia in the process, but it also shows his life as a writer – drafts he made, the desk where he wrote, and the critical reaction of the time. There’s even a note from his young son asking Papa to bring him some sweets! Pictured here are notes and scribbles Dostoyevsky made when planning his book “The Adolescent”.

The museum is a short walk from the Vladimirskaya / Dostoyevskaya metro stations in St Petersburg, and is closed on Mondays. I rented an audio guide in English and it was well worth it, with lots of interesting anecdotes to go with the various exhibits throughout the flat.