Does anyone have any experience of visiting Russia?

MrTomato

Hi,

So has anyone been to Russia here who would like to give me some information.

I'd rather see Moscow but St. Petersburg could be an option.

I'm mainly wanting to know about the language issue; i.e. is it actually an issue? how much of an issue?

There are some flights going for what I'd consider to be quite cheap as it is a legacy carrier (choice of Swiss, BMI or Lufthansa) and I'm considering visiting.

It'll be winter when I go, so I know it'll be freezing, and I know I need a visa which has been accounted for.

JCP

Not been to St Petersburg, but went to Moscow a few years ago before heading east. Loved it.
It's worth learning the cyrillic characters and how they relate to our letters, and then to be honest it isn't really that difficult.
The Kremlin was amazing, and we also went out to one of the Golden Ring cities, Sergiev Posad. The Russian orthodox churches there were quite stunning, but it depends what you like. We got around everywhere on public transport and it was very easy to do - and the Moscow metro is one of the attractions itself - can't imagine chandeliers on the London underground

The visa was a pain to get, dunno if things have changed. If you are going to the embassy yourself, make sure you have cash on you to pay for it and be prepared to queue. My OH at the time was an Aussie, and I discovered once inside that their visas were more expensive - think I left with 2p in my pocket!

ellay864

How quickly do you need to know? My friend is currently in Russia, she was visiting Moscow and St Petersburg, and comes back next week so I could ask her a bit if you like. I know she said they were booking a private tour guide due to the language thing and reading signs - they're doing it privately as they love independent travelling and she hates the idea of being in a group told where to go when

luci

We visited Moscow and St Petersburg many years ago. We didn't have a problem with the language, but trying to recognise Metro stations with the Cryllic alphabet was a bit challenging.

MrTomato

ellay864 wrote: »

How quickly do you need to know? My friend is currently in Russia, she was visiting Moscow and St Petersburg, and comes back next week so I could ask her a bit if you like. I know she said they were booking a private tour guide due to the language thing and reading signs - they're doing it privately as they love independent travelling and she hates the idea of being in a group told where to go when

I've got plenty of time. I want to go in December/January and as long as the flights stay at ~£160 for a while I'd be happy.

I would like to know if anyone has experienced any hostility for being western, or English, as well.

I'd be very grateful if you did ask you friend.:D

dug123

MrTomato wrote: »

I've got plenty of time. I want to go in December/January and as long as the flights stay at ~£160 for a while I'd be happy.

I would like to know if anyone has experienced any hostility for being western, or English, as well.

I'd be very grateful if you did ask you friend.:D

My experience with Russians is exactly the opposite. I was expecting gun toting lunatic Mayfia but I found out that they were the friendliest people I had ever met.
They were very curious about England and although 75% of them did not speak a word of English, the ones that did were happy to translate. They were happy to talk about the "old" Russia from the Communist period and it was fascinating to hear how their lives were when they grew up in that era.
The ages have ranged from 18 to 50 and they were Russian, Estonian and Armenian and I still have contact through one of them who spoke good English.
Every city in the world has its dangerous side and often the only news or experiences you hear about are bad ones but do not judge the normal Russians by the ones who do have a bad reputation.
I learnt a few words (Hello, Goodbye, Thank you etc) and whilst it was difficult they did appreciate this, they spent plenty of time trying to teach me the correct pronounciation.
Whilst I was in that part of the world I spent time in Finland and found the people openly racist and hateful of foreigners and never felt 100% safe. Exactly the opposite of the Russians.
I am white English.

Smit1970

I visit Russia often.

You will encounter no problems in Moscow and St Pete.

If you struggle with language anywhere, seek out a younger person who will have learned English in school. Most people who are in contact with tourists will speak reasonable English.

Watch out for the taxi driver scramble at the airport -- they will rip you off. Use the metro instead if you can work it out.

If you want a visa, use the agency recommended here: http://ruadventures.com/forum/index.php?topic=4799.0

signol

A few years ago, my sister and I had a 2 week trip. We flew Air Berlin to Helsinki, took the train to St Petersburg, 5 days there, overnight train to Moscow, 5 days there, then flew back with dba (now bought by Air Berlin).
I preferred Moscow, there was more to see and do, even if there were lots of nice buildings in St P. We took a bus out to Kronstad from St P which was interesting for a day. In Moscow we stayed in Hotel Gamma Delta, out in the suburbs but not long from the centre by metro. Also visited the VDNKH, communist era expo ground with pavilions from the former Soviet states, old space rockets and planes. Now most house electronics shops! Also see the propaganda statues there. Fascinating!

signol

BusinessStudent

Hi,

I went to Moscow in August 2010.

First thing I want to warn you about is the tourist visa. They are not cheap starting from £116 for a single entry visa* (*I used Real Russia to do mine. You can probley save money doing it yourself)

I wasn't overly impressed with Moscow to be honest. Here's my take on Moscow

1) Geting Around using the subway - Using the subway was a bit of a nightmare. You might have heard that Moscow has one of the world's nicest subway systems with many of the subway stations looking like art galeries. This might be the case for some of the stations on particular subway lines, but from my visit to Moscow many of the subway stations are disgusting and filthy. Unlike buying a subway ticket in another country such as Hong Kong, Beijing or London you would simply just go to the ticket machine select "English" as a language and then buy your ticket. I never seen one ticket machine. You have to que up and buy them from a person at the subway station, which can be a nightmare as no one I came across spoke any English. I also found the subway system difficult to use as on many stations there was no sign to say what station you were at.

2) The people are very rude - I recommend you read this http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/moscow-called-one-of-the-most-rude-cities-on-earth/204268.html. No one smiles and to be honest the people dont look happy at all!

3) Hotels are very expensive in Moscow. I once read it is one of the most expensive cities in the world for hotels. I booked a hostel, but 2 days prior to going I found the Aerostar Hotel for just £26 a night including breakfast (http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g298484-d586518-Reviews-Aerostar_Hotel_Moscow-Moscow_Central_Russia.html). Therefore, If you are planning on going to Moscow I recommend you book a hostel (pay 10% deposit) and do the same as I did (look on expedia 2/3 days before travel and book a discounted hotel). You loose your hostel deposit of about a tenner but at least you can rely on this incase you dont find a cheap hotel.

4) Expensive Flights - Flights to Moscow are not cheap. I managed to get an overnight Aeroflot flight from Heathrow to Moscow for £212. If you want to be slightly adventurous why dont you check out the Aeroflot airlines route map and have Moscow as a stopover and also go to somewhere like India or Thailand. It might not be much more when you play around with their booking system on the website?

Also, check the times of the flights on https://www.kayak.com. If found that many of the flights from the UK to Moscow have strange arrival times, ie 1am or really early in the morning like 5am. Think ahead when booking the flights, ie how am I going to get to the hotel if the airport train stops running? A taxi is likely to be v expensive!

5) Airport Train - You can pre-book the airport train from the Airport to Moscow online. I dont recommend you do this as your bank will most likely charge you a foreign transaction fee. I took the first train from the airport at around 0600 or 0630 and there were plenty of seats. You can buy your tickets at the train ticket machine in the airport in English.