I have a chance to work in Russia for two weeks next summer. My husband would like to join me for a week or so after that. Should we meet in Moscow or St. Petersburg? Should we just meet somewhere other than, but close to, Russia? Has anyone been?

If you're husband has a choice between either Moscow or St Petersburg, I'd go with St Petersburg. Moscow has some interesting places (the Kremlin, Red Square and St Basils) but when we were there you could only see from the outside. St Petersburg has a great art museum (the Hermitage) and you can visit the summer palace of Peter the Great (Petrovedets, I think its called) and St Isaac's cathedral. I aslo thought the circus was fun and the icre cream delicious. <BR>

I, too, would meet in St. Petersburg. They call it the Venice of the north--it has more bridges spanning more rivers than any city in the world (I think). It's really beautiful, very sophisticated and very much like other European cities. Moscow should also be on your list to see, however. Take a train up from St. Pete's, but be wary of thieves.

Any suggestions on where to stay. Even the expensive places sound not so good. I'm not big on spending a lot to spend the night, but I do like something somewhat clean. Can he fly into St. Petersburg from U.S.?

Yes he can fly from the States into St. Pete but via a European city. I may however dissent from the other advisers here. I'd go for Moscow: Red Square, Lenin's Mausoleum, the Kremlin, GUM Department Stores, Bolshoy Theatre, the old and the new circuses, Sergey Pozad (80 km from Moscow, famous for the churches and monastery), the "Golden ring" of ancient cities like Suzdal and Vladimir, the Pushkin Museum, Chekhov's House, Krasnaya Polyana (Tolstoy's house where he wrote War and Peace), etc, etc. There is so much to do in Moscow you'd need two whole weeks to see everything I've recommended. Of course St. Pete is worth to see but so is Kiev and other cities still important during comunist times but not as brilliant as Moscow. <BR>Good luck <BR>

I just returned from a month travelling in Russia (St. Petersburg, Moscow and the entire length of the Trans-Siberian Railway). If you can only do one city, I would say St. Petersburg -- an absolute jewel of a city! If you can do both, by all means Moscow is worth visiting, too! Two diverse cities, two different atmospheres. <BR> <BR>I would consider Moscow to be the "grand dame" of Russia -- very stately. St. Petersburg is chock-a-block with 18th and 19th century former palaces -- very elegant! <BR> <BR>Any four-star hotel in either city will be very nice -- definitely up to U.S. standards! In St. Petersburg, we stayed at the Pribaltiskaya (on the Gulf of Finland); caters to Americans and Western Europeans/Scandinavians. Not as expensive as the four-star hotels "downtown", and somewhat out-of-the-way, but bus #7 (stops across the street) goes right "downtown" (Alexander Nevsky Prospekt)! Big, clean rooms, great bathrooms (plenty of hot water!), and CNN on the tv. <BR> <BR>Get yourself some good guidebooks (most include both cities), and keep checking the Internet for info! Good luck! <BR>