[2] It was praised for its quality by many media commentators,[3] including Russian social columnist and opposition figure Bozhena Rynska.
[5] Russian Riviera was originally created as a tourist publication, providing practical information for Russian-speaking visitors in France and Monaco.
[8] "Russian Riviera" often featured interviews with high-profile political figures including anti-Putin activist and billionaire Bill Browder, Soviet defector and author Viktor Suvorov, Putin's spiritual mentor Bishop Tikhon Shevkunov, politician Irina Khakamada, dissident artists Eric Bulatov and Mikhail Roginsky.
The magazine had a literary section and regularly published short stories by authors including Zakhar Prilepin, Lev Timofeev, George Kopelian, and Lera Tikhonova.
The magazine was also reputed for its photography and illustrations: it featured the works of Gueorgui Pinkhassov, Stanley Green, Urs Bigler, Peter Lindbergh, Irina Polin, Stephen Shanabrook, Anton Koslov Mayr and others.