Holiday to Russia

Percybridge

I and a friend are thinking about Russia as a holiday.
I am wondering if anyone has ever done this, and how it was.
In particular
dos,donts
is it expensive
stay in Moscow or St Petersburg
Other people's experiences are welcome.

novelty-socks

I visited Russia, spent a month travelling across the country — and totally loved it. One of the most fascinating countries I've ever visited and I have many happy memories of that trip.

That said, I visited in 2006. A lot has changed politically since then - and may have changed with the reception tourists get, as well.

St Petersburg is the biggest draw: it's a beautiful city with amazing museums and culture. It's also probably the most 'European', the most accessible and the most welcoming to tourists. Moscow more brash, more imposing … and in my experience, perhaps the most fun.

If I were going for a short break I'd just visit St Petersburg. With a bit longer, I'd catch the train to Moscow and spend a few days there too. If I had two weeks, I'd maybe repeat some of the Trans-Siberian train journey - perhaps to Irkutsk to visit Lake Baikal. I think that's about a three-day journey. You could then fly back to Moscow / St Petersburg and home from there. I'm a big train fan though, so if you may prefer a different route!

For their stereotypically gruff exterior, all my experiences of Russian people was that they were friendly and welcoming. I got chatting to people in bars and restaurants, on trains and in hotels.

In short: based on my decade-old experiences, I would totally go!

ljonski

Moscow is one of the top most expensive places in the world for tourists. It is much more difficult now to get a visa and i think you may have to visit the Edinbourgh or London embassy.i would second petersburg but don't travel independently. Also you may have real language difficulties if you go alone. Go to Estonia instead!

scumsthorne

Percybridge wrote: »

donts.

Watch what you get up to in hotel bedrooms would spring to mind.

ljonski

Watch what you get up to in hotel bedrooms would spring to mind.

only if you have ambitions in politics

mgdavid

ljonski wrote: »

Moscow is one of the top most expensive places in the world for tourists. It is much more difficult now to get a visa and i think you may have to visit the Edinbourgh or London embassy.i would second petersburg but don't travel independently. Also you may have real language difficulties if you go alone. Go to Estonia instead!

Why ever not?
(serious question, planning to go this or next year)

novelty-socks

mgdavid wrote: »

Why ever not?
(serious question, planning to go this or next year)

Yeah, I'm wondering this too. My experience (a decade old, admittedly) was that independent travel was totally fine, even getting outside Moscow and St Petersburg and travelling by train all the way to Vladivostok.

I mean, sure, the signage in the Moscow Metro is terrible and you have to make some effort to translate from Cyrillic, but it was generally fine. In the worse case, I was able to communicate via gestures and pointing. All part of the fun! As long as you have a good guidebook, it's a great adventure!

bigadaj

I suppose visas are still an issue, so maybe what is meant that it's still easier to go through an agency for that and to book at least some of your accommodation.

I was there nearly twenty years ago but recent admittedly brief reading of the tourist rules indicates that little has changed bureaucratically in that time.

converted

I would heartily recommend St Petersburg, I was there for a week last year on my own and I barely touched the surface. I managed to get by with only 1 word in Russian (spasibo=thank you) Everyone I met was lovely, a few spoke English and everyone was very helpful- got bitten to death by mosquitos and a lovely lady in a pharmacist with no English provided me and applied ointment and dressings etc. all done by gestures. I completed the visa myself and took it to London no problems and with a bit of preparation not difficult. I would recommend contacting 'Greeters' they have them in both Moscow and St Petersburg - basically they team you up with a local who can show you how the transport works, show you around etc etc.

I would highly recommend a trip to Russia and I would go back in a heartbeat.

Jimmithecat

We were in Moscow and St Petersburg for the second time this time last month!
I would thoroughly recommend it.
5 of us went and all of us preferred Moscow to St Petersburg - it is so very different - whereas SP is quite European.
Contrary to other opinions we did not find it expensive, food great, people very respectful.
We took a package both times with travel interaction - this I would thoroughly recommend - they have the 2 centre trip on occasionally through travelzoo. BA flights, sapsan train transfer, transfers all included, great hotels, metro tickets, boat trip tickets, bus tour tickets all included.
This was approximately £700 per person all in.
Luckily last month we just missed the really cold weather - it was around -5 most days which was quite comfortable for us as they are very well set up for it. When we went before we went in October and this would be preferable to the winter months as it could have been extremely cold.
Visas are quite straightforward - go to London, Manchester or Edinburgh - approximately £80 and then £10 for them to post it to you.

So yes visit Russia - you will not be disappointed