Russia
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You are currently reading a thread in /trv/ - Travel
You are currently reading a thread in /trv/ - Travel
I'm interested in going to Russia, especially Moscow and Saint Petersburg. I'm also looking for a smaller Russian city (Stavropol or Volgograd?) and maybe a town to experience the tundra. Is this a good idea? Any recommendations?
I'm European if that makes a difference.
I know some people that really love Russia and some that really hate it, but I think you would have a great time.
I heard something about the visa and you have to do something with that every time you go somewhere new and sometimes its a little annoying to visit multiple cities. Maybe somebody can clarify that for me
>>1105981
Ah thanks. I've heard about visa issues before. Definitely have to check it out.
What did people seem to like the most about Russia?
>>1105968
Volgograd, while having an amazing (and I mean amazing) museum, Rodina-Mat' zovyot, Pavlov's House, and the biggest statue of Lenin, doesn't have too much more too offer after that. Don't get me wrong, if you love history, it's a great city but once you exhaust those options it's pretty dull. I went during Den' Pobedy and it was great though. Niznhy Novgorod is beautiful. I lived in Samara, so I love it. That said, it's not the most exciting, but it's still very Russian compared to Petersburg and Moscow.
If you have more questions I'm happy to answer.
>>1105981
As a foreigner, you need register every time you go to a new city. You can thank the leftovers of soviet bureaucracy for it. It depends on how long as I recall, some cities being for three days some being seven. If you stay at a hostel/hotel, they'll typically do it for a fee or free. If you couch surf, you'll need to do it yourself, as will your host. It involves doing duplicates of paperwork by hand which is a nightmare. It was bad enough that when I was in Ekaterinburg I almost went to a hostel just to get it done.
>>1105968
I would recommend the trans siberian
>>1105999
Thanks for the reply!
>but it's still very Russian compared to Petersburg and Moscow
This is part of why I want to go there. It seems to have a lot left over from the Sovjet days. Any other city that's very Russian that you would recommend?
I'm gonna be staying at hostels so I guess visa wouldn't be too much of a problem? Anything else I should be aware of?
Also, lastly, where should I go if I wanna meet locals who can speak English and are willing to talk to foreigners? I heard that was a bit of a problem in some parts.
>>1106003
>This is part of why I want to go there. It seems to have a lot left over from the Sovjet days. Any other city that's very Russian that you would recommend?
If that's what you're after, Samara is great. There's an English speaking group, but I can't remember the details on where. Ekaterinburg is beautiful. If you want, you can visit Ganina Yama, where the tsar and family were dumped.
>I'm gonna be staying at hostels so I guess visa wouldn't be too much of a problem? Anything else I should be aware of?
The visa isn't the issue (though you'll need to go through an agency to get it more than likely). The registration is different than the visa. You'll need to book your hotel/hostel first to get an invitation letter which will start the visa process. I wish I could tell you more, but I went with a volunteer group so they did most of the heavy lifting for me.
>Also, lastly, where should I go if I wanna meet locals who can speak English and are willing to talk to foreigners? I heard that was a bit of a problem in some parts.
Moscow and St Petersburg will be pretty easy to find English speakers. As for others, maybe look on VK for English speaking groups.
>>1106005
Thanks for all the info! I'll look those cities up. VK is probably a great idea too.
What did your volunteer group do in Russia?
>>1106009
Depends on what we wanted to do. I first worked at a hospital and then a kindergarten for children with down syndrome.
>>1106026
That sounds pretty cool
>>1105968
Saint Petersburg is very interesting and comfortable city for walking within city center. Wherever you will go you will find another pretty interesting or beautiful place.
In Moscow there are also plenty of exciting places, streets, cosy cafes, etc. But Moscow is a huge city that's why you risk to get to the industrial areas with really endless fences or to the dusty highways or to the boring commieblocks kingdom. Even in center of the city. To avoid this shit you better to get acquainted with locals, who know city well.
Interesting places in Moscow are like islands in ocean of boredom. But if you find it, you will never forget about them. I don't even mean sightseeing, however there are a lot of ancient sites. I mean for example secret soviet bunker, bohemian (intelligent, not gypsy) caffes, interesting exhibitions and so on. If you need to know about some certain places I can describe it for you.
Don't listen about other distant cities of Russia. There is nothing interesting in them at all. Completely! I've been in several of them. Espessially in big towns like Stavropol or Volgograd. There you find:
1. Boring church.
2. Lenin statue.
3. Some dull and talentless places dedicated to WWII.
4. Perpetual forest of commieblocks.
That's all! It hard to believe that in Russia there are almost identical towns from west to east, But it so. You can make sure of it with google streetview.
If you want to inspect other cities aside from Moscow and Petersburg you better go to Vladimir, Sergiev Posad, Kolomna, Alexandrov or other ancient city not far from Moscow. You can reach each of them within 2-3 hours by train.
So if you are still here and interested in Russia, I can answer your questions.
>>1105968
For a non-Russian, you should stick to Petersberg and Moscow... maybe Sochi. But all other cities really have nothing touristy to do, and can be quite dangerous for tourists. I think you would be very disappointed with Stavropol or Volgograd given the distance to travel and lack of anything interesting when you are there.
Plus you will really need to plan well for your visa you won;t be able to wonder the countryside freely by your visa terms. So keep that in mind.
![1680x1050_459993_[www.ArtFile.ru].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/g1Wmrm0.jpg "1680x1050_459993_[www.ArtFile.ru].jpg")
I think wild part of the country will be interesting too. But you shouldn't go there alone, you need some russian buddy to come together. So Russia is not only Sochi and Moscow as people say here. Look at the East. Also golden ring around Moscow is pretty cool
>>1105968
how is velikhy novgorod and niznhy novgorod? They both look like cool historic cities
>>1105968
Anybody here do the transiberian? Thinking starting in Beijing, stop for 5 days or so in Irkutsk and then finish in Moscow, before continuing into Western Europe.
>>1106811
I'll starting it this summer.
>>1106344
Thanks for your response. I'm not OP but I'm interested in expat work in Russia next year via teaching.
>>1106811
>>1106994
I'm always wondered how transsiberian become so attractive among the foreigners. This fact is becoming even more intriguing because there are practically no russians who consider transsiberian like something interesting.
Really guys, think twice before you get this kind of journey. I can imagine that you, perhaps, think: 'Oh, Russia is so big, it definitely should be a lot of ethnographic differences between regions, and so on'. But Russia is everywhere the same, sorry for that, thanks to commies. The real diversity of Russia is in its beautiful nature especially in extremely distant places. Like Ural mountains, Kamchatka, Karelia and many other beautiful sites. Unfortunately those places aren't near transsiberian.
During all travel you will see from the window only woods. It's usually become boring in one hour. So I can travel by train for 3 or even for 5 hours. 7 hours for me are a real trial. The whole day is a torment. Also trains in Russia don't very comfortable as they could be. There is very tightly. And there is no shower. So after two days the train stinks like a shit. Just imagine in what it'll turn in 9 days. And neighbours are not always pleasant.
I consider the transsiberian journey as some kind of overriding. Like mounting to an Everest or volunteering in Uganda. This is a hard task with privations and tedium but in the end you will get a new level and prove to yourself that you can cope with it. That's the only reason I can understand. But you shouldn't confuse transsiberian with enjoing.
>>1106445
>quite dangerous
Kek. Maybe if you go to some true shit hole in the middle of nowhere, otherwise it's not so bad. In an entire year there the worst I dealt with some bums who got a little pushy when they figured out I wasn't Russian. I told them I was Canadian (a lie) and asked if they wanted a cigarette, and after that it was fine.
>>1107049
You are welcome. What will you teach?
>>1107155
>DETAIL_PICTURE_616523.jpg
You are doing it wrong.
.
Looking to go Tallinn - St. Petersburg - Moscow.
Anyone ever entered Russia by bus from the EU?
Also to you need an invitation from each city that you visit?
>>1107155
I'm not doing the whole ride in one trip. I'm stopping at many places along the way from Vladivostok to the west.
>>1107615
I've already described how different are russian cities. So don't expect a lot of interesting.
>>1107156
You must speak Russian?
A burgertard would not fare well without it.
>>1107661
This.
>>1107661
Good grief. I knew it was bad, but this bad?
>>1107751
I speak very little, just enough to get by but not enough for proper conversations.
It's getting worse.
bump for info on cool shit to do in Moscow that's not a museum, statue or government building
>>1107159
I'm planning on teaching English.
I heard they don't make good money though but I just want to live comfortably and travel.
>>1108235
Here I've marked some pretty noticeable places and streets for you. There aren't all of them.
At first beware wide streets, especially yellow ones. There are very tedious and dusty. It's normal for Moscow to have highways in the city center. Also there is practically nothing interesting outside the Garden Ring with rare exceptions like parks. Interesting streets are marked by red.
Kitay-gorod is a place what you have to see besides Kremlin, Red Square and other touristic shit. The same with the Chistye Prudy (very old school Moscow on the map). Very atmospheric, cozy and interesting place.
If you are interested in parks. I would recommend you Tsaritsyno, Kolomenskoye or Kuskovo. You can reach them by subway. Tsaritsyno is a most beautiful one.
What can I say you about places? It almost depends on your taste. Someone likes something underground and counterculture, another one likes hipster places, another one - small cozy streets or historic architecture, another - cafes and clubs... There are a lot of them in Moscow. I've marked some of them which I know. I would be pleased if another muscovite or tourist would append my advises. By the way if you describe your tastes I'll tell you about Moscow more precisely. Also if you would like we could get in touch by skype or smth else. Here is my mail [email protected]
I've a lot to say about my city but I afraid it doesn't seem to be interesting for everyone.
Wish you good time in Moscow!
>>1108286
Oh, here are a lot of English courses have sprung up like mushrooms in Moscow since not so long. Just have a look: https://yandex.ru/maps/-/CVTi68Yj
Also native speakers, who are not so many in Moscow, are very appreciated. Now the average price is about $10 for an hour with russian teacher. And about $15-20 with native-speakers.
I think you'll be in demand.
Got a question that's probably asked a lot: do you actually need to have your passport with you all the time, for the militia/cops?
>>1108406
It is best to have documents. Russian police makes sudden inspection on the streets not rarely especially for foreigners.
>>1108397
Hey bro, thanks for this. Really helpful information.
Basically I'm travelling with 3 of my mates. Generally it will consist of seeing the "must see" tourist sites, museums, etc during the day, then hitting bars at night (hipsterish or chill bars and maybe some clubs too). Where locals uni students/ young people go would be cool.
Maybe check out some underground or historical areas not really a fan or getting tourist trapped (pub crawls/ice bars or meme shit like that)
Only will have 4 nights there so your map is a great help as I'd like to have some plan to areas to go and where not to go
>>1108415
OK, I got it.
I used to visit clubs earlier, but I don't go there often recently. Usually there is difficult to communicate, because of very loud music. And usually people go there to get drunk. By the way here are the most prominent night clubs: Propaganda, China-Town-Cafe, Shop & Bar Denis Simachev. The last one is very expensive and pretentious with severe face-control.
Perhaps the rock bars can be more interesting for you. There are plenty of them. Usually we go in that place where our favorite musician group takes concert. Here is a schedule of some concerts will be going in Moscow:
http://www.concert.ru/Actions.aspx?ActionTypeID=1&GenreTypeID=2
Choose your genre. Mind that quite almost russian musicians are crap with rare exceptions.
There are a lot of chill-cafes on the each street of Moscow. But most of them are shitty. I knew several really good places. But unfortunately cafes in Moscow tend to be closed each time. Here some remained ones in the city center: Китaйcкий Лeтчик Джao Дa (jao-da), Eat & Talk, Люди кaк люди.
I know one meme-caffee called 'In the dark'. Where you can eat in pitch darkness with blind waiters and with surprise menu.
Historic places. There are lots of them. Beging from cozy ancient courtyards and ending to gigantic totalitarian skyscrappers. It'll be best if you get somebody who knows the city. If you want I with my wife can join to your company. It would be great. Anyway you have my contact.
Also you can easily get acquainted with walking locals on the Boulevard Ring.
Anyone would like to go to MOTHEЯ ЯUSSIA(especially Moscow) during the summer(middle of july - august)?
>>1108403
Thanks again. Your information is greatly appreciated.
I don't don't much Russian. I just started studying last month and now I can read Cyrillic. I'm hoping to study and be prepared by 2017 Summer or Fall.
>>1108764
Actually you don't have to speak Russian well. It's better to know Russian to live here of course. But for teacher it's even better to speak only English. I was always been frustrated when my teacher turned to Russian. What a waste of time I thought at that moments.
>>1105968
Is there any way to get a visa for 3 months or longer?
I really want to live in St. Petersburg for a few months to try and learn the language.
Tourist visa is only 1 month though.
>>1109178
I think Russia allows for volunteer visas, but those are for three months at most I think.
