Boat Travel

Moscow has a river-taxi service that runs from the Kiev train station to the Southern River Terminal from April to October, with stops at Gorky Park and the bottom of Sparrow Hills. The open-top boats are more of a tourist attraction than a form of commuter transport, although they can beat the traffic snarls. Tickets cost 450R for adults and 200R for children; the timetable can be found at the ferry stops. Trips last about 1[1/2] hours and it's possible to buy drinks and snacks on board. The same company organizes longer tours in and around Moscow (www.cck-ship.ru). In St. Petersburg, canal tours are offered at several locations in the city center. Look for the signs near the bridges and along the Fontanka. There are also pleasure cruises from St. Petersburg that pass by some of the summer palaces and have trips to Valaam Island, Kizhi Island, and Moscow.

Cruises

Many major cruise lines visit Russia, but they only dock at St. Petersburg for a brief stop-off. Crystal Cruises has tours that go between Copenhagen and Stockholm and between London and Stockholm with three days in St. Petersburg. Cunard has a Russian Rendezvous tour from Southampton that stops off in St. Petersburg for two days. It also visits Poland and Estonia. Princess Cruises sails a round-trip from Copenhagen that stops off in Berlin and spends two days in St. Petersburg. Regent Seven Seas has a tour from Stockholm to Copenhagen. Its visit to St. Petersburg includes a day spent at the Hermitage and its restoration workshops and an onboard lecture from a Russian art expert. Other cruises dock in Sochi on their Black Sea itineraries. Check the Sochi Seaport's website for more info (www.seaport-sochi.ru).

International cruise lines offering tours to Russia usually disembark in St. Petersburg and continue to Moscow by land. Some cruises follow the Volga River between Moscow and St. Petersburg on a journey of up to two weeks. It's also possible to take longer trips calling at destinations such as the southern cities of Volgograd and Astrakhan and east to Kazan.