Russia is the largest country in the world by area and is located on Europe and Asia.

Moscow

The capital Moscow of Russia with the famous Red Square, where thousands of people romped. Impressive were the fortified complex of the Moscow Kremlin, the St. Basil’s Cathedral with colorful,round and pointed towers, the beautifully decorated metro stations and the colorful shopping center GUM.

St. Petersburg

The city of Saint Petersburg has one of the largest museums in the world, the Hermitage. Impressive were the White Nights in June, when it was never really dark at night, the Blood Church and a ballet performance in the Mariinsky Theater, which reminded me of a musical.

Planning

  • I traveled to Russia on a backpacking trip through several countries in Eastern Europe. I flew from Chisinau (Moldova) to St. Petersburg and explored the city for several days. Then it went by train to Moscow, where I also spent several days. Then I went by train to Minsk (Belarus).
  • I have used the Lonely Planet for Europe for planning and can recommend it for Russia.

Transport

  • In Russia, almost everything is written in Russian only, which is a Cyrillic script. By comparing symbols, as in elementary school, I could even find my way around Moscow Metro without the Internet. I only got lost once 😉
  • For the fastest and easiest way from St. Petersburg to Moscow,  I can recommend the train. I bought the train ticket on the Russian website of the train operator, which I translated with Google Translate. It's recommended to buy the ticket a few days in advance, otherwise it could be booked out.

Accommodation

  • I booked the hostels on HostelWorld.
  • My hostel was in an apartment of a private house. Finding the front door was difficult as there was nothing written on it. The directions and exact marking on Google Maps helped me.