Greetings,

I am wondering how many in the FT community travel to Ukraine and/or Russia on a frequent basis.

There may be room for an exchange of information for those of us who do.

I travel once a year to ODS usually via IST on DL then on THY.

Also speak Russian and love the language in case we have an linguistic experts out there http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

U Videmsya!

I prefer to stay close to the Western borders, so St. Petersburg and maybe Moscow would be the furthest I'd go in the current economic and safety situation.

Zhelaju uspesnih poletov.

Hi!

My husband and I are travelling to Russia for the first time this year. We're doing some roaming in Germany first then flying to St Pete's, training back and forth to Moscow.

My first question is: what's the deal with the visa situation? Some guides say I need to account for every night I'm staying in Russia, others say just one or two nights is sufficient. What's the real scoop?

My second question is: Do you have any recommendations for day trips out of St P's and Moscow? We'd like to see stuff outside the cities too.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

j

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by hoptoit:


My first question is: what's the deal with the visa situation? Some guides say I need to account for every night I'm staying in Russia, others say just one or two nights is sufficient. What's the real scoop? </font>

As far as I am aware you don't need to account for anything as long as you have a tour or something planned. On top of that you can be travelling just as a private tourist without anything organised. You can buy a tour but no one will force you to go on each and every tour with them. You can do whatever you want and not a single person will blame you for it.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"> My second question is: Do you have any recommendations for day trips out of St P's and Moscow? We'd like to see stuff outside the cities too. </font>

Well, if you are a risk taker then sure but if I were you then I wouldn't venture out of the main cities on your own without someone you trust who speaks the local lingo. Foreign toursist are very often targeted by criminals who believe that Westerners carry wads of $$ with them. Organised bus tours can be bought from the main hotels or if you can then check out the local newspapers for some special tours.

Visa requirements are dependent upon country of origin. Very strict for Australians.

For US Citizens, go to Russian embassy site in DC, and follow Visa requirements. One of the links is a visa purveyor in Arlington VA. We used them. The rules either have changed since April, when we went, or are in the process of changing for US.

We stayed at Sheartons and they provided the necessary forms for visas.

In Petersburg. Go down the street from your hotel, and find a non-hotel cab. We found them safe. Agree to a fee for the day, or for each hop. We paid 100 rubles per hop, and had no trouble keeping the cab. Have them pick you up after any events or dinner you go to. They do not cruise the streets at 10pm. We thought it very safe, but did not want to walk 3-5 miles home.

Rent for the day, and go to Peterhof and to Catherine's summer home. There is also a ferry in summer. We missed it by 2 weeks.

Had trouble finding cabs in Moscow. Used the subway. People flag down private cars for cabbing. The subway is usually much faster.

The overnight trains are great, and very inexpensive. The rooms are very nice, the bathroom is very rank.

Have the hotel send a car to meet you at the airport.

We spent a week in each place, and had plenty to do.

Many roads outside of the Moscow & Petersburg are not so good. Check before leaving.

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regards

jer

Thanks for all the info on visas. As we're the independent traveller-types, I suppose we'll go through our hotel for help. Speaking of which...

Do you have any great recommendations for lodgings in St P's and Moscow. I'd like to spend no more than $150-175 USD per night. (Obviously cheaper would be even better-but the one in St P's should be at least spendy enough to send a car for us from the airport). I've only heard of two: the newish Matisov Domik (10 min walk from the Mariinsky) and the Hotel St Petersburg. Do either of these ring a bell with anyone? For better or for worse...

j

Hotels in both places are very busy. Now found,and friendly and on everyone's "been there, done that" list.

In Petersburg, we stayed at the Sheraton ($250), a friend stayed at the Moscow ($100). The Moscow was acceptable, and spoke English. I could not find hotel discounting anywhere. Be sure not to take a place that is out of town, as Petersburg is large, and spread out.

In Moscow, we stayed at the Sheraton ($230), and our friend stayed at the Ruyssla ($80). The Ruyssla is horrible.

If you are going this summer, get a reservation now. Start your visa ap a month or 6 weeks in advance.

The night trains are great, and very inexpensive. I don't know the price, as the hotel messed up the ticketing and the charges, and gave us almost all our money back, along with the tickets. Be prepared for a taxi attack at the train station also.

Both hotels filled on occasional days in April, which was well before tourist season.

This is very close to what we saw:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A57408-2001Jul26?language=printer

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regards

jer

We just returned from a River Cruise from Moscow to St. Petersburg. The trip was wonderful and hassle-free. You can read my entire trip report at &lt;www.cruisediva.com&gt;. At this home page go to articles and then misc. articles and read the report on the Sergei Kirov. Try Russia, you'll enjoy it!