Flying into Moscow and out of St.Petersburg is not possible for us now. We read that it would be easier to take the train to St.P rather than fly because of the language issue. Is it not so bad?

I also re-checked our flight schedules and found that we are arriving at 9 am (i somehow assumed we are arriving very late and had written off that day). Which means we will get half a day more in Moscow - which now gives us 2 full days and 2 half days in Moscow + 3.5 days in St.P. Should i add one more day to St.P instead?

The train between Moscow and St P, the fast Sapsan service, is a better option than flying. Not so much the language issue as the time it will take to get to the airport, check in, fly and then get luggage and get to your accommodation. In that time you could have boarded the Sapsan, had a snack, a nap and arrived in St P 4hrs later.

As for arrival day in Moscow, allow for a bit of jet lag (it's not too bad coming from Singapore to Europe, it's going back the other way that can suck), but do plan to do a little walking, sightseeing, etc to make the most of your time and to counteract the jet lag as much as possible. Staying up all day until around 8pm is a good way to get into the timeline of the country, but you may b on a bit of a go-slow, so don't plan anything too strenuous in terms of ground to cover.

If you want to take the earlier train to St P on the departure day NOTE: it's around 7am, then you can sneak that extra time into St P on arrival. Otherwise the next train is around 1.30pm so you won't arrive to St P until 5.30pm.

>>We read that it would be easier to take the train to St.P rather than fly because of the language issue<< I've not encountered staff on trains that speak English & I have done the trip several times. The info at the stations does not come in English either. The scenery between Moscow & St Petersburg is not that interesting, so you could take one of the slower, later overnight trains and spend more time in Moscow and arrive early morning St Petersburg, after having slept. Bear in mind the cost, although it could be cheaper than a hotel. Or you could fly. There are 3 airports in Moscow and online check in does exist plus train services getting to those airports. The airport in St Petersburg is not far from the city centre. From the railway station in St Peterburg, some of the hotels at the end of Nevsky Prospect are walking distance or you can easily take a taxi. Only you can weigh up the pros and cons.

Deciding where to spend the additional day would depend on your interests. Moscow has the onion-domed churches & the Stalin skyscrapers, St Petersburg does not have as many churches. Moscow has the ornate metro stations, St Petersburg does not etc. They are very different cities.

<i>Odin wrote: I've not encountered staff on trains that speak English & I have done the trip several times. The info at the stations does not come in English either.</i>
And I've encounted the opposite - last did the Sapsan journey St to Moscow in late November 2010 and found a few staff who did speak English, far better than my Russian too! The announcements on the train were in both Russian and English and the literature provided on the train (a Sapsan magazine and a location/security flyer) was also in several languages. Signs on the train (next station, door signage) were in both Russian and English. True that information in stations in English is hard to come by, but it is there, just in very small writing. If not, I just matched up my Cyrillic notes with the signs and found my way upon arrival.