How's the weather in Moscow and St Petersburg at the beginning of April? Sunshine or clouds?

Is it difficult getting around those cities without knowing any Russian (or with what little I can learn in two months)?

Hi, mrwunrfl -

> Is it difficult getting around those cities without knowing any Russian (or with what little I can learn in two months)?

For me, it wasn't as easy as (say) Japan, but it is definitely doable. As with anywhere, a few key words and phrases will be greatly appreciated and will help tremendously. I would encourage you to try to learn to transliterate from Cyrillic - that can make a big difference.

Moscow and St. Petersburg are truly wonderful cities - enjoy!

Agree that's it doable, but you definitely need to learn the Cyrillic alphabet, and take a good phrase book. The Moscow metro is great, if crowded (and watch out for interchanges, they can result in a route march), but the St. P. is not as useful as it is much smaller.

I don;t think it's the sun or clouds you need to bother about - and who would know that more than 2/3 days in advance anyway? It's the temps and precip you have to consider.

We were in St Pet for my birthday - mid Sept - and a couple of days the highs were in the mid 40's. At the beginning of April you could still have very cold temps and snow - or something like spring.

I would look at the averages to get an idea.

As for touring on your own - it's easy. We just either walked or did cabs (which were very cheap). And who wants to ride on a sardine subway on vacation when there's a cheap option?

I was in St. P. in mid-May and it was very cold (although brilliant sunshine some days) - astoundingly cold, and windy of course, blowing down the canals and across the open river. Rained some days - anything is possible.

Make a good effort to learn the cyrillic alphabet - it helps to decipher words that, once deciphered, make sense because they come from non-Russian European language backgrounds that you know - as long as you can decipher them.

If I knew how to type in cyrillic here I'd give you a few examples, but if you go to YouTube and such places and look at street scenes and traffic signs etc., and take a moment to decipher some, you'll see what I mean.

Thanks for the encouragement about getting around. I've figured things out in other places. Was able to decipher Greek, based on my math education and a little study. Actually, I did take a look at Russian once and with more study I should do ok. A couple of good maps will do.

If I decide to go then I will be prepared for the cold. Looks like highs in the low 40s or upper 30s. Precip numbers look ok. Average days of sunshine per month is a stat I want. Some places are predictably sunny or cloudy. But it sounds like that region might not be too predictable. Sunny days make a difference. Also have to check out the sunrise/sunset times. Am not going if the sun sets at 3PM.

Have to decide by Jan. 31 - the day when air and hotel special deals end.

I visited StP and Moscow alone and was fine. Although I went in November so I can't help you on the weather in April. Learning the Cyrillic alphabet and a few words and phrases got me much further than I expected. Learning Cyrillic is key as none of the street signs are in English.

IMHO, a trip to Moscow is not complete without seeing the metro. Some of those stations are works of art.

Weather stats are just that - stats, anything can happen away from the average/median. But days will be long already, in St.P. it will be dark around 9PM, and you can almost witness how that gets to be later and later from day to day.

Sunrise 5:55AM, sunset 7:10PM, so that is good. A bit more daylight in Moscow than in L.A. on April 3.

It could rain and snow for the whole time I would be there, but I like my chances of clear skies.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_of_Moscow

Getting around on the metro would have been difficult for us. Fortunately we had a guide with us on the day we used the metro to tour the Kremlin. Cabs are relatively cheap if you pick them up on the street. The major hotels seem to have a racket going. When they get you a cab, they take a big cut. Price can easily be 400% more than on the street. Just get your hotel to write out your destination in Cyrillic. And also keep a card with your hotel name on it. My limited college Russian was somewhat useful with the cabs, but really not needed. With the Metro tho, I flunked.

I agree that the metros can be tricky, particularly because many destination names seem quite similar, so you have to pay very close attention. It is possible, though. And as trsny pointed out, many of the metro stations are worthy tourist destinations in and of themselves!

"With the Metro tho, I flunked." - but why? I was in a home-stay a good ride out of the center, but I managed the metro just fine - aside from the route-march at the intersections. The maps are good, just count the stops.

I didn't take cabs except for pre-arranged pick-up/delivery to/from the train stations, but apparently the approved local method is to just take any passing car that will stop, and negotiate the price - not so easy for tourists, though.