We are taking our first trip to Russia. We will be in Moscow for a week. We are arranging the trip ourselves. Any suggests or advice for while we are there? We have heard a lot about safety concerns.

Don't worry but be careful! Yes, crime is high in Russia, but Moscow is not so bad as it almost can't be called Russia because the welfare here is much higher than in other Russia. <BR>You just have to follow common safety rules as anywhere in the world. If you plan to hire a car, (it's hard to live there w/o it, but on other point taxis are very cheap), be very careful because traffic rules mean nothing there (people very often drive through a red light; most common speeding ticket is 100RUR=3.5USD, so as you can imagine a lot of people are speeding badly). <BR>Finally, enjoy your trip - hehe, at once you will experience smth totally different!

Hi, I was there in,1995 we went w/ East/West tours out of NY. iT WAS REALLY cheap $1100 for 11 days including everything. Knowledgeable guides, good hotels, air fare NYC to Russia, food, train to & from St Petersberg/Moscow. But is you want to do it on your own. See Gorky Park, a folk dance performance, the subway- lots of art down there, guides know which stations Red sq . Not many restaurants except in hotels, food not great. Good lucl I LOVED Russia.

Charlene, you wouldn't recognize this city now! There are really a lot of restaurants in Moscow now. Food is good, if you know the places. <BR>FOR TINA: you MUST visit St. Petersburg if you go to Russia. If you're not planning to go there, I would even say don't spend a week in Moscow, spend there 3 days and take it to St. Petersburg!!!!

Tina-We recently returned from a trip to both Moscow and St Petersburg-yes, Moscow can definitely keep you busy exploring the city and its surrounding areas, but if you get a chance, visit St Petersburg as well-we took the overnight train(9 hr trip)between the cities, and was it a great experience! First of all, invest in a good travel book(personally I perfer the DK Eyewitness books)of the area you plan to visit. The major sites to vist are obvious-Red Square, the Kremlin, Lenin's Tomat Red Square), strolling the Old Arbat. There are countless museums to visit, and if you're not hiring a car, make use of the safe, efficient and cheap(20 roubles per person for a one way trip-less than $1.00)Metro-I could have explored the Metro stations for a week given time-they're beautiful and quite oppulent. Visit a weekend flea market for some great bargains. You shouldn't have any safety concerns if you use common sense-don't flash the cash and all that. Also suggest making a stab at learning the Cyrillic alphabet so you can put some words together, especially if driving or using the Metro. English is not widely spoken, so learning some basic, key phrases would be useful. Take in a cultural performance-a folk show, the Moscow circus, a concert or the ballet. There are quite a few ATM machines around town, but wouldn't suggest taking travellers checks. Many vendors will accept(prefer)cash, although some won't and many restaurants will only accept payment in roubles. Not all places accept credit cards either. Be sure to take toilet paper with you. Moscow is a very beautiful city which you can't help but enjoy. E-mail directly if you have other questions. Happy Travels

I would definetly try to include St. Petersburg - it's a beautiful city!<BR>In Moscow tke the metro, it will get you to the most of the places. Another Moscow must see - Pushkin's museam.<BR>