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Original poster

Anyone ever visited Russia?

101 replies

TravellingSpoon · 13/02/2021 09:30

I am 40 on a few years and to celebrate would love to visit Moscow and St Petersburg and take my DC's.

Has anyone visited any of these two cities? What was your impression?

Forgive my daydreaming - lockdown is getting to me.

OP posts:
bumblingbovine49 · 13/02/2021 12:59

Visited St Petersburg in January for work about 20 years ago. My main memories include

Beautiful city
Cold
Hotels with MASSIVE lobbies and communal areas and tiny bedrooms
A concierge on each floor in the hotel who you asked for water and food etc
Slightly yellow shower water in the hotel
Fish and pickles for breakfast
People starting work at around 10am as it was still quite dark before then
Very friendly work colleagues having a post work get-together with me in the office at 6pm and drinking neat vodka, which was surprisingly drinkable
Street beggars dressed in furs

Mapletreelane · 13/02/2021 13:02

I lived there for a year 20 years ago and it is such an experience. Both cities have breathtaking sights and museums, theatres.

However there is also terrible crime and poverty. So if you do go i would book a package, take guided tours and don't wonder off the beaten track. And yes, as a poster mentioned it is not generally a tolerant society for minority groups.

Having said that i am saving to take the kids there in a few years as it really is quite something.

Scarlettpixie · 13/02/2021 13:06

I went to moscow about 16 years ago and travelled onto Beijing on the trans Mongolian railway. It was an incredible experience. If you want to read about the trains (including the moscow to st petersburg which I would love to do) have a look on seat61.com.

It is worth learning the alphabet if you travel independently (as we did) as it makes it easier to read signs when you know how to pronounce the letters. When we arrived with our printout from Expedia with the hotel details on it and showed it to the taxi driver he couldn’t read it as it wasn’t in their alphabet! After some consultation between drivers and just going from the tiny thumbnail picture they figured it out and we got in the taxi not knowing where we would end up. It was a but scary but all fine 😊

We paid a hotel to be ‘invited’ but didn’t stay there. I don’t recall how we arranged it but it was easy. You will also need a visa.

Moscow was amazing (the buildings, the subways etc), as was some of the scenery on the train. The people were lovely but the divide between rich and poor was stark. We had booked a taxi to the station from the hotel when leaving moscow but got stuck in traffic on the way back from town. We thought we were going to miss our train but the lovely taxi driver had waited for us for about an hour! He got a good tip!

DisneyMillie · 13/02/2021 13:11

Did a Baltic Disney cruise a few years ago with the kids which stopped in st Petersburg - really glad we went - was very interesting

Biscoffaddict · 13/02/2021 13:13

No, but I’d love to go as well OP.

thepeopleversuswork · 13/02/2021 13:15

I went to St Petersburg about 20 years ago now -- on my own.

It was absolutely breathtaking: the architecture and art etc rivals anything in Paris. Went to the ballet as well (for peanuts) and just wandered around a lot taking it all in.

This was quite a while ago and there was quite a big hangover from the Soviet era: the hotel room I was staying in had a huge loudspeaker at the corner of the room Grin. I dare say its changed a lot since then.

Surprisingly few people spoke English: I dare say that's changed now and probably more do in Moscow. The only other difficult thing about it is that the food was terrible.

Generally speaking though I'd highly recommend it. I would love to have gone to Moscow but didn't work out.

thepeopleversuswork · 13/02/2021 13:17

Also agree with Scarlettpixie that it is worth learning the alphabet. It's not an easy language but the alphabet itself is easier than you might think and if you can decipher the letters it will make things a lot easier.

I learned enough Russian to say things like "do you speak English" and "where is the toilet" etc: obviously this goes a long way and will help.

NotReallyTheVicar · 13/02/2021 13:21

I’ve been twice, once in the Soviet era and again about eight years ago. Highly recommended for a cultural visit but I would not want to live there in either period.

DE8ORAH · 13/02/2021 13:22

I agree with those who say that if you are going to be travelling independently it’s worth learning the Cyrillic alphabet so you can at least read the signs on the subway and understand the “next station” announcements.

And a few phrases of tourist Russian will also be helpful.

ChaToilLeam · 13/02/2021 13:28

Was in Moscow for a few days in 2000. I speak basic Russian which went a long way. Do try to learn the Cyrillic alphabet, the Russian language isn’t very easy to learn but the alphabet is, and you can recognise a lot of words once you know how it works. People were general quite serious and unsmiling but helpful enough. We went to the Kremlin Museum and military history museum. Metro stations were amazing.

XelaM · 13/02/2021 13:33

I'm from Moscow originally, so feel free to ask any questions.

I actually think Moscow is very ugly outside the Red Square/Kremlin, so I would spend a lot less time in Moscow than in St Petersburg, which really is absolutely unique in its incredible beauty. Take the overnight train.

I would advise to go in June when there are "white nights" in St Petersburg (it doesn't get dark). St Petersburg is truly unique and absolutely worth visiting (also please go to all the surrounding areas likes Peterhof etc). It is incredible.

PinotNoisette · 13/02/2021 13:38

I went to both cities as part of an organised trip about 20 years ago (wow I feel old!). It was an amazing experience, albeit extremely cold as it was February.

No idea how things might have changed there for tourists in the intervening period but I felt safe as part of a group. I wouldn't go independently and certainly wouldn't stray off the tourist track. There's so much to see though that I really feel you wouldn't miss out by being shepherded from place to place.

DuringDinnerMints · 13/02/2021 13:40

We did the trans Siberian trip and spent a few days on Moscow. We loved it. Just walking around, taking in the history was fascinating. The metro system is easy to use and some of the stations are stunning. I'm not sure I could fill more than a few days though. I've heard St Petersburg is beautiful, would love to visit one day.

Bluntness100 · 13/02/2021 13:42

Yes, twice, both times for work to Moscow. It’s very different. The Kremlin, red square, all the tourist spots are something to behold.

I recall the first time I went, it was evening when I landed. It was dark, and snowing, and there were patrols on the streets, in dark clothes and hats, it really was surreal and like something out of dr zhivago. The kremlin is huge and takes up a whole large street.

It’s expensive though. But personally I think it’s worth a visit

Taikoo · 13/02/2021 13:46

Yes, I have been to both.
They are very different cities to each other.
Moscow is very soviet, St P is more European.
But both are really great.
Personally, I prefer St Petersburg.
Try to go in the summer, when its bright till really late.
I also recommend taking the train from Moscow to St P.

Laureline · 13/02/2021 13:46

Both are beautiful and very different - I preferred Moscow, but I went there several times in different seasons (I had family there), compared to just a summer visit to Saint Petersburg. But both are amazing.

Taikoo · 13/02/2021 13:49

I was there in May 2014. On my own.
Travelled on to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania overland. No problems at all. It was such a lovely holiday.

Margie70 · 13/02/2021 13:53

I visited what was then Leningrad in the 70s and loved the city and the summer palace - we camped at a campsite where the majority were Russian holidaymakers- an amazing experience!

ImRealHonest · 13/02/2021 13:54

Been to both 3 years ago. Absolutely adored st Petersburg, it was an odd mixture of very Western European with the best bits of ex soviet places.

I need more time in moscow. I went during the World Cup, so didn’t get a proper impression of it. I feel I’d love it even more though.

I really want to go to Siberia.

katy1213 · 13/02/2021 13:58

Many years ago - did the Moscow-St Petersburg trip by train, it was still Leningrad then. Brilliant trip, one of the most memorable I've done.

Blackletterofthelaw · 13/02/2021 14:02

@TravellingSpoon I want to do the same for my 40th, everyone has been telling me it's a strange choice so glad to see I'm not the only one! I have also been warned about potential racism against minorities, has anyone been recently and still thinks that is the case?

Oblomov21 · 13/02/2021 14:05

Many times. I was a Russian student. I love Moscow. St Basil's is my fave. St Petersburg is so beautiful.

A trip to both is easy to do.

cherryolives · 13/02/2021 14:07

I spent a week each in both cities. Like a PP said, St Petersburg is more European than Moscow. You absolutely must go to the Hermitage and also to the Yusupov Palace and if you can get up to the Solovetsky Islands I'd recommend it.

In Moscow do go on the underground, the stations are amazing, just write down the station names you need to get on and off at so you can compare them to the signs and you can't go wrong.

Oblomov21 · 13/02/2021 14:08

I think I was on the same school trip as Punching and Mog Grin

TeenMinusTests · 13/02/2021 14:10

I went as part of an organised trip ~25-30 years ago when they did an attempted coup d'etat on Gorbachev.
Can't remember much about it, but the underground in St Petersburg (I think, could have been Moscow) was fab - chandeliers, that sort of thing.