Russia

[MrsGuyOfGisbo]

Thinking of going on a citybreak to St Petersburg or Mocow for a few days.
Any advice - recommendations?
TIA

Don't go in high summer, it gets incredibly hot and very busy. That is if you are doing the touristy stuff.

thanks - will maybe postpone till later in the year.

Oooh, I have no suggestions as I haven't been yet, but we're going in April! We're doing a few nights in Moscow then taking the Red Arrow overnight train to St Petersburg and having a few nights there. I have a hotel booked for Moscow and an apartment in St Petersburg. I just need to sort visas closer to the time!

I'm very excited in case you can't tell

Be prepared to use the metro in Moscow. The traffic is horrendous and taxis are almost non existent, so metro is essential.

And if you really want to see the Hermitage "half properly", you need an entire day there. It is even bigger than you might have imagined. I did it with a guided tour, which allowed early entrance, and I think it was worth it.

However, for Catherine's palace, I would do it without a tour, as most tours don't give you enough time to see the fountains properly

I've been to St Petersburg twice. It's a good trip. There's a lot to do, but if you go in high summer everywhere is rammed (The Hermitage etc). Wait until it's a bit calmer. It is hot in the summer, but last week it wasn't much different to average weather here, to be honest. August is worse. Russians we spoke to said they'd been having weirdly cold and rainy summers for a few years; they all believe fervently in climate change! St Petersburg is built around a couple of rivers (it's loads of little islands), so a boat trip is a really scenic thing to do. Otherwise, we walked around.

Thank you - really helpful. Would definitely use the metro as I like to seal 'real life'

Try and get to grips with the basics of Cyrillic if you are planning to use the metro - it really helps with identifying the stations! When I went I took the Insight Flexi Map which has a map of the metro on it. Have a wonderful time!

I know this is very slightly out of date but we are thinking of doing this next summer with the DC as I have a big birthday coming up and I have always wanted to go to St Petersburg, and then I heard about the trains between there and Moscow so became obsessed with this blog about travelling there with small children!

We were originally thinking of school summer holidays (the blogger went in summer I think and it's not like it's a peak UK family destination cost-wise) but maybe May half term would be better (our DC's school has inset days for most of the week before so we could take 2 weeks).

I am wondering about staying in an Air BnB as several of them advertise that they will work with you on visas plus they look a lot nicer than cheap hotels and a lot cheaper than nice hotels!

Any further advice??

PS the DC will be 3 (or nearly 3 depending on the exact date) and 5 1/2.