Russia - holiday destination

[Slaphead in Qatar]

I'm planning a tourist holiday there - Moscow and St Petersburg. But I'm a little concerned with all the various bad news stories concerning Russia recently i.e the poisonings, the election interference, Ukraine issues etc.

Has anyone been recently - is it safe for UK passport holders?

[H4usuallysitting]

Never been, but I understand the Taxi driver's can take a bit of a liberty.... only hearsay

[Southcoastffc]

I'm planning a tourist holiday there - Moscow and St Petersburg. But I'm a little concerned with all the various bad new stories concerning Russia recently i.e the poisonings, the election interference, Ukraine issues etc.

Has anyone been recently - is it safe for UK passport holders?

If he doesn't see this thread, why not message Russian Rob?  He seems a good guy.

[Slaphead in Qatar]

I'm planning a tourist holiday there - Moscow and St Petersburg. But I'm a little concerned with all the various bad new stories concerning Russia recently i.e the poisonings, the election interference, Ukraine issues etc.

Has anyone been recently - is it safe for UK passport holders?

If he doesn't see this thread, why not message Russian Rob?  He seems a good guy.

I have just done that

[sunburywhite]

I think you are only in danger if you look like upsetting Mr Putins mafia

[Milo]

My sister works in Moscow, and I go out to visit her. I am planning the next trip in late March/April to do the same as you.

I will probably fly to St P (flights as cheap as £40 via Luton provided you don't mind risking your life on a Hungarian airline), spend 3 nights there with an Airbnb (£20-30 a night) then get the fast train (4 hours ~ £30) to Moscow and spend a further 3 nights there (£50-60 a night) before flying back to Luton again for the same price.

To get a VISA fill the online form on the official website and not 3rd party websites. Print it out, take passport sized photos as it says, passport, and your invite from the hotel/Airbnb/company you are staying with (ensuring all the dates add up) to the VISA office on a walk in basis. Manchester takes 10-15 minutes as never anyone there, but I've heard London is busier. So I often combine trip with a visit to Manc Art Gallery etc. Costs £115 for the VISA and more for express. Your passport will be gone for 20 days and sent back to you by post.

I found as a 20s male you get a fair handful of suspicious looks. The men tend to look at you to work you out as they can tell you're not Russian. However the vast majority of cafes, restaurants etc in Moscow are friendly and there will always be one English waitress. It is like being in another civilisation that has gone its separate way from us 100 years ago.. a lot of the food and shops etc are similar but there's something 20-30 years behind about it all you can't put your finger on. I love Russia, am learning the language, and want to spend more and more time over there. Unfortunately doctors are paid very poorly (£400/m!).

I honestly did not have any problems with safety! Sorry! To answer your question.

Enjoy the Georgian Saparavi, syrniki pancakes, caviar and vodka (pronounced Vot-ka). Try get tickets to the Bolshoi (pronounced Bal-shoy meaning large) for the opera even if you can't afford the ballet (£30 tickets c.f. £300). Let me know what you think!

[Milo]

Ps read Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov and visit Patriarch Ponds in Moscow, his museum, various cafes full of gorgeous Russian women etc.

[Slaphead in Qatar]

My sister works in Moscow, and I go out to visit her. I am planning the next trip in late March/April to do the same as you.

I will probably fly to St P (flights as cheap as £40 via Luton provided you don't mind risking your life on a Hungarian airline), spend 3 nights there with an Airbnb (£20-30 a night) then get the fast train (4 hours ~ £30) to Moscow and spend a further 3 nights there (£50-60 a night) before flying back to Luton again for the same price.

To get a VISA fill the online form on the official website and not 3rd party websites. Print it out, take passport sized photos as it says, passport, and your invite from the hotel/Airbnb/company you are staying with (ensuring all the dates add up) to the VISA office on a walk in basis. Manchester takes 10-15 minutes as never anyone there, but I've heard London is busier. So I often combine trip with a visit to Manc Art Gallery etc. Costs £115 for the VISA and more for express. Your passport will be gone for 20 days and sent back to you by post.

I found as a 20s male you get a fair handful of suspicious looks. The men tend to look at you to work you out as they can tell you're not Russian. However the vast majority of cafes, restaurants etc in Moscow are friendly and there will always be one English waitress. It is like being in another civilisation that has gone its separate way from us 100 years ago.. a lot of the food and shops etc are similar but there's something 20-30 years behind about it all you can't put your finger on. I love Russia, am learning the language, and want to spend more and more time over there. Unfortunately doctors are paid very poorly (£400/m!).

I honestly did not have any problems with safety! Sorry! To answer your question.

Enjoy the Georgian Saparavi, syrniki pancakes, caviar and vodka (pronounced Vot-ka). Try get tickets to the Bolshoi (pronounced Bal-shoy meaning large) for the opera even if you can't afford the ballet (£30 tickets c.f. £300). Let me know what you think!

Thanks - all good info.

I will be travelling from Qatar - so will use local travel agency to get my visa.

[Russianrob]

Ordinary people in Russia are normal and in general might even be described as pleasant and even take an interest in foreigners.However,the authorities take a negative view of Americans and the British at present.Crazy politics l think.l cannot even get a visa for my close family to visit me.l wouldn't mind so much but my Russian wife doesn't even like football and will not support Fulham.What a heathen!!

[filham]

I had a magnificent Moscow/Petersburg holiday some years ago with overnight train to connect the two cities. I am sure you will enjoy everything. Just a few words of warning:;
1. The Russians were late issuing the visas, they arrived at the departure airport about 30 minutes before the booking in deadline.

2. If your hotel is outside Moscow the traffic into the city was awful, we never did the 10 mile journey in less than an hour, it usually took up to 2 hours.

3.The St. Petersburg Museums and Palaces are breathtaking but crowded and St Petersburg has a reputation of being the pickpocket capital of the world.

4. A lot of Chelsea fans in Moscow.

[Milo]

A lot of Chelsea fans in Moscow.

Oh dear. Never mind. Skegness?

[YankeeJim]

I suppose not relevant for this thread but I went over in 1973 during "Glasnost". It was part of a US State Department trip and the second flight to do so. I found it fascinating. The museums were top notch and the subway was a thing of beauty. We took the overnight Red Arrow Express from Leningrad (St Pete) to Moscow. Looking out the window at night at the endless snow covered landscape made me think I was an extra in "Dr Zhivago". The people were great. Most had never seen a bunch of Americans before. The authorities watched us like a hawk. We had a man in our party who spoke and read Russian so we took off on our own once and when we got off the subway a couple of goons met and followed us. We made a game of it. I was 23 and just back from Nam so I had a bit of an attitude. Lucky, I suppose, that I didn't have an "accident". The food was repetitive and tasteless and the beer was disgusting. The Vodka was fantastic. A fellow tried to buy my Levi's in Red Square for $70 US. Remember this was 1973.
It was a wonderful experience that the drudgery of the Soviet system couldn't dim. Fast forward to now and my youngest son is married to a Russian immigrant, the daughter of a former Russian Naval Officer. I love the dinner parties with her family. 7-8 Hors d'oeuvre, 3-5 main courses and the same number of deserts. My wife tells me I don't have to eat them all but when in Rome!

[Logicalman]

Make sure it's in the closed season, you cannot get FFCTv there apparently!!

[I Ronic]

Never been, but I understand the Taxi driver's can take a bit of a liberty.... only hearsay

What's Russian for "I don't go south of the river, mate'?

[Woolly Mammoth]

I don't like Russian Dolls, they are so full of themselves.
Also never play Roulette with a Russian.

[RaySmith]

I have a love of classic Russian literature, obviously mostly 19th century, though have read The Master and Margarita, and  just about to  start Vassilly Grossman's Stalingrad - newly published hear in translation- his Life and Fate was one of  the greatest books I've read.

His work has such humanity and compassion, even though describing often terrible events and suffering -  about the Second world War, including  The Holocaust and Stalinist oppression.

Reading Russian literature has made me think i have an affinity with  Russians, though when you're adopted you can  imagine you have an exotic background, though my birth mother , whom I've never met, actually came from  Newcastle and i was born in Brixton.

I've never been to Russia, and am highly unlikely to go now.

[Woolly Mammoth]

I once met a Russian woman in a bar in Moscow, she called herself Girder, I think her first name was Iron, she was a very strong woman.
She asked me if I had read Marx on Communism, I said I haven't, but I have red marks elsewhere.

[fcfulham55]

It's a fantastic place, very welcoming. The state people get in after a few helped me to blend in.

[Lighthouse]

Went to Moscow and St Petersburg back 78. People were very friendly then and the young very well informed and couldn't do enough to help strangers without wanting anything in return. May well not be the same now. As well as the Palaces, The Hermitage, Red Square etc. Take a trip on the underground. Wonderful spectacular stations.