Moscow in my next DONE4 - any advice?

[Febs]

Hi guys,

Despite still being on my first DONE4 (just LAS left, then home ), I'm currently planning my next one, leaving mid-Sept.

As I did with this one, I'm planning another super-quick series of visits to different countries, with the plan of "getting a taste" of them and seeing if I'd like to return for a longer trip later (this current one included DXB, LHR, HEL, JFK, ANC and LAS - each one between 2 and 4 nights).

Russia has been somewhere I've wanted to visit for a while, and I've managed to squeeze it into a work DONE4, so providing the quote comes back OK, it should be a goer (routing is SYD-LAX-MIA-DFW-MTY-DFW-MCI-ORD-CDG-HEL-SVO/DME-NRT-SYD (DFW, ORD and HEL are transits).

I'm just wondering if anyone has any advice about travelling to Moscow? I've heard it's expensive (and can be dangerous), but apart from that...any tips? Looking into the VISA situation...but what do you recommend I see and do there? I'd be there for 2 nights, with almost 2 days to kill (I know this isn't long at all, but trust me...this is how I see the world ).

(MIA, CDG and NRT would also be 2 night trips..everything else is for work).

Appreciate any advice...but before everyone says "2 nights isn't enough time", remember this is just to get a taste of these places, and 3 nights was plenty for me in LHR.

Cheers,
- Febs.

 

[laffer]

Ive been told to make sure I am with a reputable guide/travel company. You also need a Visa and must have a travel agent for the Visa (apparently.).

 

[sr81]

I am doing something quite similar in Nov. but mine is a 9 day tour from St. Petersburg to Moscow. Getting a VISA can be difficult but you need to go through an agent.

Go to your local travel agent, ask them to organise you a two day stay in Moscow and have them find you a hotel that will issue you an invitation, you must be invited to visit Russia. Most hotels will issue invitations but you need to obviously stay there and can charge quite a bit for this service.

Also look at the organised tours they can sometimes have short stay tours. Unless you speak Russian this maybe an option given you don't want to spend two days just trying to work out how to read the subway map.

This is one stopover that I would still be using a good travel agent with experience in Russia.

 

[Happy Dude]

Hi Febs,

I visited Russia solo (ie not on a tour/package) a few years ago. I went through a visa agency and paid for an express service. I reckon a specialist travel agency here will do what you need, but you will pay handsomely for that and the hotel. It'll be worth it for the convenience though.

Moscow wasn't as expensive as I'd imagined but I had time to seek out places away from the main sites. Be prepared for a few 7 dollar latte's though.

With two full days you'd be hard pressed to get out of the Kremlin, Red Square (incl Lenin's tomb), St Basils, and the state museum.

My favourite aspect of Moscow was just wandering around, in the shadows of the Seven Sisters, along beautiful boulevardes bordered by buildings bombarded by local boozed-up tank-jockey Boris Yeltsin (excellent alliteration!). It's a very atmospheric city in that sense.

It's also a great place for public drinking, so grab a Baltika #3, head to a 'ploshchad' and ogle lunching secrataries.

There's also Gorky Park (quite a big portion was a tacky amusement park), a million Pushkin/Tolstoy/etc museums, incredible churches and so forth.

I'd recommend a few rides on the subway just to see the art and hear the muzak. A decent guidebook will help you narrow it all down. Enjoy!