my friend and i are looking to take a few day european vacation, and have found cheap tickets to Moscow.

i'd love some info as follows:

1. how bad is the weather there now?
2. we would be in Moscow for about 4 days, and want to experience the city. ive searched all posts about moscow, but no one ever indicated if Moscow is a nice place to visit! is it a beautiful city? we dont want to be dissapointed!

3. As we are Jewish / Israeli, we are trying to find out about spending Shabbat in moscow. Any Chabad or Hillel program with communal dinner? we'd like to get the full Jewish Experience there.

any info welcome!!

1. It's winter but that doesn't mean the weather is bad exactly just cold, approx 15F to 30F

2. Moscow is different, exciting, has beautiful architecture, has history and atmosphere, can be challenging, it is ever changing, has nightlife, great restaurants, has much to see in only 4 days. Parts of it are beautiful, parts of it quite grim. It is one extreme to the other. I absolutely love visiting Russia but it is not to everyone's taste.

Can't help with the last question but hope you are aware you need a visa most probably.

HI, FireDragonll -

As Odin says, there are parts of Moscow that are stunningly beautiful, and other parts that are anything but. I am very glad that I visited Moscow, but it is not an easy place to visit if you don't speak or read Cyrillic. And IMHO, it is a city best seen with a fair amount of advance research, so you know what you want to see and how you plan to do that. I'm not sure I would pick it for a last-minute destination, but that's just me. Hope that helps!

If you have the opportunity to visit, GO! It's faily easy to get around using the underground (Metro)-the stations themselves are amazingly beautiful. You don't expect to see chandeliers hanging from the ceiling-but you will! Odin summed it up very nicely. Enjoy!

Here are several contacts you may use to find a place for Shabbat:

Moscow Jewish center
(495) 645-50-00
e-mail: [email protected]

Grand Synagogue
(495)940-55-57

Jewish student Hilel group
(495)290-70-17

Israel Embassy
(495)230-67-00


Enjoy your trip!