While we expected to favor Petersburg, we found Moscow vibrant, exciting. I'd return to Moscow sooner than Petersburg. OMG, just to be on Red Square is breathtaking, iconic. Most spectacular place we've been. Take the free tours with the cruise and also take private ones.

Like Bedar, I preferred Moscow to St. Petersburg. Some of that was because I don't care for baroque, and there is much more diversity of architecture in Moscow. Some of it was because I was not as wowed by the Hermitage as most people - I had just spent four months crossing Europe and seeing a lot of European art, when I got to Russia I wanted to see Russian art.

If you did the Uniworld cruise, rather than the Seabourn, you could easily add on to both ends, seeing the Golden Ring towns around Moscow, and some of the Baltic capitals (don't miss the Art Nouveau in Riga). I suspect the Seabourn would be more luxurious, though.

Debbe, staying extra days in St. Petersburg was my thought as well when I looked at the itinerary. And I have a referral for a driver/guide that friends of ours used there, so the logistics would be pretty easy.

Thursdays and Bedar, it is interesting to me that you both preferred Moscow to St. Petersburg. While I am an art-lover, I know that I might get there and find I prefer Moscow - who knows?

I really do appreciate all of you taking the time to tell me about your experiences.

I also found Moscow more interesting ( to my surprise )
SP is truly beautiful ...it was founded in early 1700 , seems very much a European city. I saw the Hermitage more for the place than the art . Like many here, I have seen
many Eyropean art museums.
Moscow is old, Russian , Soviet. It is not a pretty city , but it has a vibe
hard to describe . The old Ortodox churches inside Kremlin are some of the most beautiful and mysterious
places of worship I have ever seen.

It also says on the Unitours website that the tours on the shore excursions are subject to closing days etc. That is what we found so difficult about travelling in Russia. Even the guides we hired for the day would call up places to see if they were open today. It seems almost that they closed on a whim. Another reason to tack on days pre and post, to make sure that you get the attractions most important to you done. We were not able to do some of the places we wanted to because of that.

I did really enjoy the art museum in Moscow as mentioned above it was the only place we really saw any Russian art.

We were in Moscow the day before Putin was sworn in, and there were demonstrations all over Moscow and probably a different visit than most would have had. Lots of riot police and things closed down. It was exciting too however.
Debbe

Sorry, one more thing Kathie. If you have time you may want to be sure to go into the Church of the Spilled Blood. It is fantastic from the outside, but the inside is amazing.

I loved both cities and for very different reasons, as they are extremely different places -- St. Petersburg is very European; Moscow holds much of traditional Russian architecture and ambience. I visited them back in 1984, when it was (by all accounts) far more difficult than today, and it was by no means the hardest place to travel that I've been.

The advice to learn to transliterate into Cyrillic is very good. You don't need to be able to read it -- just to get from the Cyrillic characters to Roman (i.e., English) lettering. It will help when you are trying to find subway stops, street names, etc.

If you have any latitude in the timing of your trip, consider visiting St. Petersburg during the White Nights. They don't reach Moscow, but even there, the longer days will be to your advantage.

Plenty of wonderful art in BOTH cities. The Hermitage is, of course, a special treat for those of us with a passion for art. St. Petersburg also has the Russian Museum, with (among other treasures) one of the most stunning collections of Russian icons anywhere. And Moscow has both the Pushkin (which, if it weren't for the Hermitage, would probably be counted among the worlds finest collections of Western art) and the Tretyakov (for Russian art). Not to mention the stunning works of art in palaces and churches, etc.

3 days in St. Petersburg and 3 days in Moscow are quite enough. Definitely go in the end of May or in June, because this is the time of White Nights in St Petersburg, and it is absolutely amazing! And the weather is usually better than during the other seasons, as I`ve heard.

Thank you, thank you to all of you. I posted this question on a whim, but last night Cheryl and I talked more in depth about this possible trip - the cruise plus added days/nights in both Moscow and St. Petersburg. If we do it, we would go during/near the time of the White nights. This would be a trip for 2017, I expect.

I'll have to pull out my Russian history books!

I know you're not normally tour people, but I was just sent a link to this, which looks interesting:

http://www.mircorp.com/trip/insiders...-rediscovered/

Thanks, Thursdays. I went back and read your "Rainy Russia" report. Your stories are much like those I've heard from other friends who visited Russia about the same time. Believe me, no way would I opt for a homestay!

I also looked at the tour itinerary. While we are not "tour people" tour itineraries can be useful in figuring out where to go/what to do.

It's cold and wet and dark here in Seattle, so researching places to go is a fine task until we head off on our annual Kauai trip mid-February.

No, the homestay experience was certainly interesting, but not one I plan to repeat!

Research is always fun... I think MIR would be a good company to use, but expensive! I was looking at their train trips, but they're just stratospheric. Of course, for really expensive travel to Russia, I'd look at: http://www.exeterinternational.com/

I read "the Winter Palace' which I thought was wonderful.

Kathie, we went to St P a couple of years ago for a long weekend and managed to see a lot ( get Cheryl to show you my pictures on FB)
I know you don't like guides but Bob recommended a driver to us who was brilliant and could organise anything and made the most efficient use of our time there.
I would very highly recommend him......anyway we arrived on a Fridayvafternoon and left on the Monday and packed a lot in!!

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