Anyone ever visited Russia?

[TravellingSpoon]

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.

It's a huge culture shock, an amazing one, but not without its scary bits! black market passport sales on the underground (25 years ago), prostitutes in the lobby of the hotel, machine guns on the armed guards, propaganda everywhere, lots of pick pockets, and bad food (loads of cabbage)! But amazing art, some wonderful people, MASSIVE buildings and amazing energy. Definitely go if you can.

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We went a few years ago over Christmas (ours not theirs). I think I preferred Moscow over St. P! It was snowy and icy, so cold but a lot of fun. I think my favourite place is this bizarre adventure theme park on the outskirts of Moscow - it's like old style Communist celebration of the USSR, really good fun. Except it was huge, dusk falling and I lost my husband there who'd wandered off to take a work call (and thus unreachable by phone), and was wearing a big fuzzy Russian hat like every other man there. Found him evantually, but it had run through my head that he might have been kidnapped!

Visa was a bit PITA - I think you have to list all the countries you've been to in the past x years - but it is doable with persistence.

I went on school trip in 1976. I think Bresniv was in charge back then if I remember correctly. St Petersburg was called Leningrad.

@TravellingSpoon

It sounds amazing.

I definitely want to do a sleeper train.

I've done the Highland Sleeper to/from Inverness, the Night Riviera between Taunton and Reading and the Prague-Warsaw sleeper. Much more civilised than flying. OBB have been adding loads of new routes lately. The Brussels-Vienna one should be useful for connections with Eurostar. There's a Paris-Moscow sleeper which takes two nights too.

Few people seem to be aware that there's this environmentally friendly network of sleeper trains (including couchettes if you're on a budget) criss-crossing Europe. Instead people get up at 3am with their miniscule luggage allowance to catch a flight at silly o'clock.

I have been to both cities and loved them both, but if I had to choose my favourite it would be Moscow. The food is amazing. Both cities felt very safe and I would happily take children.

I went to Leningrad as it was called back then in 1976. It was very much Soviet Russia, and we had a guide who took us all over the place. It was obvious we were tourists as we were all wearing jeans. No-one spoke English, or German or French, and communication was very difficult. The only foreign words the locals knew were "chewing gum", and I remember quite a few coming up to us to just say chewing gum . The city was beautiful with lots of fine buildings and canals. There were no high rise buildings as it wasn't allowed.

We took the hydrofoil down the river Neva to Peterborough Palace, and that was beautiful.

The food wasn't very good, but they made phenomenal ice cream!

An Aussie friend went to Moscow and on his second day was locked in a taxi and driven somewhere dodgy by the driver and made to handover the entire contents of his wallet. He said it was the scariest thing that had ever happened to him. The police we’re uninterested. He said there was a general air of menace and he wouldn’t trust the police to help foreigners.

To anyone who knows Moscow and St Petersburg well — how much am I going to struggle as a vegetarian?

I love Russia! It is one of my favourite countries. I lived in Moscow for a year and it was fantastic. There is so much culture and history. The parks are beautiful. Winter was stunning.

Agree with the comments about the train to St. Petersburg. That is a phenomenal experience.

Somebody asked about vegetarian options. There is a lot of meat there but there a lot of salads and soups that are vegetarian. Some meals / events are where there are different dishes like a mini buffet. I can not wait to go back!!!

Did people actually feel safe there? Or threatened?

Went to Moscow and St Petersburg during the Cold War (1970s) on a school trip and last year went to Moscow again for first time since communism fell—we just got the trip in before lockdown. I love Russia but if I were to go for a first time now I would just spend a couple of days in Moscow and spend a week or more in Petersburg. In either place don’t miss the Georgian restaurants—fabulous food. Also devote a few days to the hermitage and palaces in and around Petersburg. A tip—learn the Cyrillic alphabet before you go. It really helps to be able to read street signs and the words for restaurant, pharmacy etc.

And yes first time there I went on the train between Moscow and Petersburg—wonderful experience. For vegetarians I advise the Georgian restaurants, they do great veggie food and meat and fish for the carnivores. For the poster who asked if I ever felt threatened, absolutely not, I found it a very safe place to visit and the people especially in Petersburg were lovely.

Just seen my auto correct. We visited Peterhof Palace.

I love St Petersburg. The Hermitage is the most incredible art gallery and the Summer Palace (outside the city) were two of my highlights. Our overnight train from Lithuania to St. P was a true adventure, especially when the train stopped at the border in the middle of the night and armed police shone a torch in your face and asked to see your passport and visa.

School trip in...1988. Stayed Moscow, then Tbilisi (should have been Yerevan but there was an earthquake) then Sotchi on the Black sea. We were followed everywhere very openly by KGB. Moscow GUM store was fascinating to Western teens. St Basil's beautiful. We didn't go in to it, can't remember why. No plugs in our hotel...it might have been the Metropol but I can't remember...it was v plush by Russian standards. Train across the country to Sotchi overnight was amazing. We sang 'Yellow Submarine' to a group of elderly tourists in a spontaneous fundraiser for Yerevan ...that's outing if anyone else remembers it!!! I'm learning Russian now with s view to taking my own teens to St. Petersburg one day.

Fascinating thread! Not strictly relevant but my Dad served on the Russian convoys in the Second World War, taking supplies to Russia. A very dangerous and cold journey. He said how lovely the people were - and they were made so welcome of course. He docked in Murmansk and Archangel at various times. He also praised the quality of the vodka! He was so thrilled when Russia gave all those British merchant seaman on the convoys a medal. I so wish I'd asked him more about it now, It's got me thinking that we should go and see this amazing country.

I really, really want to go too. It’s a hell of a long way from Australia but it’s always fascinated me.

I’m building up quite the future travel fund during Covid so hopefully in a few years I’ll get there.

we lived off bread, chicken ice cream and lemon vodka!

Guessing those of us who went in the 70s/80s went with the School Travel Service (those badges were the right size to use as a plug in the sink)
As a treat every morning there was one small, white breadroll and a small pat of butter. Often we'd have stuffed marrow/cabbage/other root vegetable for lunch, and then again at dinner.
But always ice-cream for dessert.
We also lived of these little frikadelle/rissole type things that you could buy on every street corner, for some reason we called them dormice.
2nd trip i was in the 6th form and we went out drinking vodka with the guides and teachers, and it was bloody fantastic.

Yes, I've been to both. I was living in Finland at the time, so I went via the sleeper train which was good fun. Getting a visa for independent travel was quite tricky and involved getting an invitation and a trip to the Russian embassy in Helsinki.

I really liked both. Getting vegetarian food was tricky. Loads of things to see. Excellent night life too.

@grassisjeweled, I felt safe, but we stayed central in a posh hotel and used the hotel concierge to book taxis and restaurants for us. Both cities are quite walkable for a weekend break.
St Petersburg feels much more western than Moscow.
The most scary experience was probably the cloak rooms. The cloak room attendants take their jobs extremely seriously to out it mildly.
I am also not a big meat eater though I do eat chicken and I eat fish. I absolutely love Russian food.

I want to go again, though, and do the trans-mongolian railway. It sounds fantastic!

@Barkleyspaubles i went to Sochi in 1992 on school exchange so lived with Russian family. Was fanatstic , bbqs, days on the beach. Even went to a tea plantation! I was so well looked after. Was a stunning place (if you could overlook the communist architecture! Although i do find that fascinating too).

We have Moscow and St Petersburg booked for July - it won't happen. It would have been our last proper holiday with ds before he goes to uni. Its just postponed as its on my bucketlist. I'm not reading this as its depressing me!

No, but I'd love too!