inessa0923

Hi everyone,

I'm planning a trip to Russia (Moscow and St. Petersburg) in a few weeks and was looking for peoples opions on tourist sites in those cities that they left were completely not worthwhile, and why.

Thanks in advance for your help,
Inessa

katya_NY

Hi inessa-

I think it would be hard to specify things that are not worth doing without knowing a bit more about your interests, plans, etc. How long will you be in Moscow? Piter?

Let me know some more, and I can try to help!

inessa0923

Thanks for your time Katya, we would really appreciate any information! We'll be in Moscow and Piter for a week each, staying in central locations in both cities. We're in our early 30's, I'm a native Russian speaker who grew up in the States but am still completely comfortable speaking Russian. My friend can't say anything but 'spasibo'. When we travel, we want to learn something about the history and culture of hte places we go to, and to feel like a local while we're there. We like to see museums and stuff, but don't feel like we have to see every single thing in a city. Generally, we do one or at most 2 'tourist' things and spend the rest of the time just wandering around, having a coffee or a drink, looking at the various neighbourhoods. We don't like shopping. We enjoy a nice dinner out with a bottle of wine but aren't looking for any super wild late night partying. We're conscious of cost, but are not on a super tight budget. Hope that helps.

thanks again for your help!
Inessa

E_M

This is MY OPINION, so there is no need to write back saying I am wrong.

I would leave out things like the Catherine Palace. In fact, most of the large palaces are like Versailles. Unless you like gilded walls and such, you can skip them.

The Hermitage has a magnificent collection of Impressionists, and really, a lot of collections on a variety of subjects. But, unless you love art, again...you could prolly skip it. Of course, if you are a student, you get in free. And if you go on a day when it isn't so crowded, it would be worth it, I think.

I recommend highly the Russian Museum. I have never seen Russian Art like this (especially from the pre-revoluntionary era) and it was simply gorgeous.

inessa0923

topping

BillJ

Just returned from St Pete. You did not say if you will be using a guide for St Petersburg. Whether you do or not, if you want to see Hermitage, be sure to schedule it early as possible in the day. We toured it in small group of eleven, but it was a Tues afternoon (July 4) (It is closed on Mon) The crowds were impossible. We had a very good guide and she was heroic in getting us around, but very difficult to concentrate on the exhibits. Couple of big guys in our group had to physically run interference a couple of times. Seriously.
So plan it for early in the day, or maybe not on Tues, since Tues seems to get two days worth of people, counting people who could not see it Monday and have only two days in town.
I would definately visit Catherine's Palace. You don't have to see the inside of Peterhof. That place is all about gardens and fountains.
Just my himble opinion.
My wife counted the days until she could see the Russian ballet. Mariinsky was not staging a ballet, we we saw one at can't-remember-where theater. You know the place. Right on a canal. Yeah, that's the place. Anyway, she thought it an "average" performance of Swan Lake. She's the expert, I'm only reporting.

katya_NY

Sorry I didn't get to write earlier.

I think it's great that you are going with a friend, as a Russian speaker. As you probably know the language barrier in Russia (even Moscow & Piter) can be more than what is found in other European cities. I hope you're up to translating!

I have acted as translator quite a few times for family and friends. I found that my sister started to be able to "read" Cyrillic after about a week (hearing the words for our subway stop, seeing them, etc.) even though she had never studied Russian.

So your friend will be fine, but I would give him or her a quick crash course- basic words (gde, skolko stoit, dobrii den) so that s/he will be more comfortable. My boyfriend thought it was hilarious to show off to my Russian friends with his memorized phrases- ("mne nuzhno amerikanskii advokat", "gde amer.posolstvo&quot...

I think that between Moscow and Piter you can get a good feel for the differences between the cities. Obviously, Piter has a much more European feel, and the palaces and museums reflect that. I wouldn't write off Catherine Palace, as it holds the fantastic amber room. You can easily catch a tour bus on Nevskii Prospekt to the palace, or you may have your own transportation.

I do agree that Peterhof is best appreciated for the gardens, and if you are visiting Tsarskoe Tselo (Catherine Palace) and the Hermitage, you don't really need to go inside. But missing Peterhof in the summmer??!? STIDNO!

You can do it the Russian way- plan on exploring the cafes and gardens for the day, rather than running with a tour group. It can be a nice, relaxing day if planned well- take the hydrofoil across the gulf (leaves from near the Hermitage) and enjoy the ride! That would be more my taste- it is a great place to people-watch,too. You can take a bus, but the ride is fun on the hydrofoil and the bus takes FOREVER.

If you stroll on Nevskii be sure to stop in the Cathedral on the Spilled Blood- it is so much more than a Saint Basil's lookalike. The interior is incredible, all mosaic tiles and marble. A walk on Nevskii is a must. The cafe culture is alive & well in Russia, so you can try out a bunch!

My friends in Piter are fairly well traveled, young Russians, who search for months before I arrive to try and show me something new. I think its hilarious, because the best times are just sitting in cafes chatting, or over the long dinners with many bottles of wine. If you have family or friends in the city, see if they are dacha-bound on the weekend. That is one of my favorite things about Russia- the fact that people do take the time to slow down and just enjoy each other.

Okay! Moscow- hustle & bustle. It is very similar to a NYC type-feel these days. If you get away from the central area, it is much slower and it makes you want to pick up & move there (I know it does for me!).

I would hit the Tretyakov gallery for a non-overwhelmingly large museum experience, all Russian art. It is a nice space with a good afternoon's worth of works.

It would be a shame to miss the Kremlin, and I enjoy the Armoury tour, too. And no matter how many times I walk on Red Square, I always find myself holding my breath as I do. It is just so much to take in, and it makes me feel centered.

Moscow has some lovely areas- take the subway and explore! When I studied at MGU I lived on Kutuzovskii Prospekt, and I really like that area. Since you can read Russian, I would recommend checking out www.menu.ru for restaurant suggestions. For inexpensive Russian meals, Yolki Palki and Mu Mu are good options, both chain restaurants, both in M&P.

Okay... I can go on & on, but let me know if there is anything I have forgotten, or if you have other questions!

BillJ

It was the Bolshoi Theatre on the Fontanka. 65 Fontanka Embankment.
Looked through my stuff and found the prgram. Didn't mean to sound flippant above. Sounds like you will have a great trip.

goldwynn

Inessa: On my last trip to St. Petersburg I rented an apartment and was there for a month and a half so visited many smaller museums. Outside of The Hermitage, my favourite was The Russian Ethnographic Museum. Spread out over 24 halls, these contain ceramics, textiles, jewellery, metal and wooden works, national costumes, as well as different attributes of rituals and festive ceremonies. The museum also boasts numerous photos that help visitors to visualize calendar, wedding, funeral and other rites, many of which are of a magic character.

This I think you would find most interesting as it concerns your heritage. It is located right next to The Russian Museum....they open one hour later at 11:00 AM. I must have visited 5 or 6 times during my stay. Absolutely enchanting to view the costumes from the various regions of Soviet Russia.

The Natural History Museum was another treat.

I hope you have a wonderful stay in glorious St. Petersburg.

BRR

If money is not an object, last summer two of us in St. Petersburg had a private tour guide for the Hermitage, she was able to get us past the crowds, into rooms that were "closed" to tours, we were alone in many galleries, I don't know if she has "arrangements" or not, but we also saw the gold rooms exhibit which is absolutely unbelieveable. We were unhampered by crowds, and this was during "white nights". Agree with the tip on visiting Spilt Blood, take the hydrofoil out to Peterhof if you can. ALso enjoyed visiting the czars tombs at Peter and Paul Fortress. In Moscow, the Kremlin museums are very interesting, you are fortunate to be a Russian speaker! Ride the metro, the stations are fabulous. We had fun wandering on old arbat as we needed to pick up some souvenirs, there is a 'mu mu' restaurant there.

inessa0923

Many thanks to everyone for your replies! For those of you that have used a guide for the Hermitage, would you be able to pass along contact info for the person or agency that you used?

thanks again
Inessa

carylspall

We took a 1 hour boat trip in Moscow and found it really boring. Loved all the other stuff though.
Would try not to eat in Macdonalds if we went back, but at the time we were desperate for something "normal"!
We went to Uncle Vanyas one night and adored the meal there. The best blinis and caviar we had.

LOVED Peterhof! Even though we were on a tour it just felt so special. Looking out to the sea from the beautiful gardens is one of my treasured memories.

Hope you have a lovely holiday.

BRR

Our private tour guides in both Moscow and St. Petersburg were arranged through Intourist. My understanding is that Intourist is a company that used to be state owned by the USSR. I don't know who owns it now, and perhaps no one else does either (like the Rossia Hotel in Moscow).
We used a U.S. travel agent, and she connected with Intourist. Please bring home some vodka!

merckxxx

So many people here must have no appreciation for art & architecture. To skip the Hermitage - just to miss Rembrandt's "Return of the Prodigal" or some of the rooms in the H. is to completely misunderstand Russia. In Mosc. the Tret is not some avg museum - it is absolutely to die for - and no mention of the Pushkin -w/probably the greatest art collection in the world. In Petersb., St Isaac's is 2nd to nothing else in the world. What do you people travel for? Shopping? To wear out shoe leather?

katya_NY

<So many people here must have no appreciation for art & architecture>
<What do you people travel for? Shopping? To wear out shoe leather?>

merck- Did you read what we wrote? Or did you jump to conclusions on your own?

If you noticed, the OP stated that she does not like to go to too many museums- is she not entitled to make her own travel choices?

Please don't make posts just to start arguments. It is rather unpleasant. Next time, make a valid point or go wear out your own shoe leather.

swfeken

Hard to say what Not to do...though I understand your reasoning. I visited Moscow back in 1991. I was in high school, so with a chaperoned group, but honestly can't remember anything that I wouldn't recommend (granted this was 15 yrs ago...). However...due to this post I want to pull my album back out and relive the memory. We were in Moscow and took a train to Kiev, then a boat down the Dnieper River to Odessa (my favorite, a shame you're not visiting that far south).

I found the entire experience amazing. My fascination with Russian culture continues to this day. I collect Matryoshka and have several pieces of Russian art I brought back that I treasure (a watercolor, a batik, a stone box, among other things).

If it's not too late, I will revisit this post with anything I found not "worthwhile," despite my young age at the time.

FauxSteMarie

I could not imagine going to Petersburg and not going to The Hermitage.

The Tretnyakov in Moscow really blew me away. I was not all that familiar with Russian art (aside from icons). The Tretnyakov collection is only now beginning to circulate to exhibitions outside Russia. This was a highlight of Moscow for me. The other one was the Kremlin.

In Petersburg, you will want to take a canal boat ride and do go to the palaces. The gardens and fountains at Peterhoff are gorgeous. The Catherine Palace has the Amber room (reconstructed; the original disappeared during WW II).

Best shopping for the usual souvenirs can be found in the Arbat in Moscow. There is shopping in Petersburg, but not as good.

I did a two week trip with elderhostel in 2004 and absolutely loved Russia. Try some of the entertainment in the evening. I saw both the Bolshoi Opera and Bolshoi Ballet. I wasn't able to fit in the Marinsky, but, since the Marinsky (Kirov) comes regularly to The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, I treated myself to a performance of "Boris Godunov" when I got back. There are lots of different venues where you can see music and dance. Since my Russian is at the elementary level, going to the theater was not possible.

BRR

I'll come to Merck's defense a bit...I didn't mention the Tret, the Pushkin, or St. Isaac's in my post. But to me they would be assumed, not to miss.

In Moscow, for another "different" thing, we enjoyed walking through the sculpture gardens by the University of Art, and it was interesting to see the statues of former Soviet leaders that had been "deposited" there, having been removed from other public places and buildings. There was also an exhibit by local artists/students there, with art for sale, and it was amazing. My friend bought a beautiful piece from one of the artists. I don't know if that is a regular thing, the art show, but it was fun (and was a respite from a sudden thunderstorm)
It's right across the avenue from the main entrance to Gorky Park.

Merck , your comments on the Peter the Great Statue please? It did help in our navigations along the Moscow River banks, kept us from getting lost. Is it true that the sculpture meant it to be Christopher Columbus, but things turned ugly for Chris in 1992 and the U.S. wasn't interested? That's what our moscow city guide told us...oh, and the moscow guide took us by a lake in Moscow that inspired "Swan Lake", as did our St. Petersburg guide, so I guess we'll never really know...we did however, get to see the last performance of Swan Lake before the Bolshoi closed for renovation last summer, and that was definitely a highlight. Just had to boast a bit.

petitepois

I loved Moscow and Piter too! One thing I COULD have skipped, however, was the Tretyakov - not because I don't love this period of Russian art (I do) but because more than half of the collection was on loan to China! Most of the museum was closed when we visited - a huge, huge disappointment (but a reason to return! . If time is short, I suggest getting a local listings magazine or picking up the Moscow Times, so you know what's on exhibit and what's on loan. If I had known the Tretyakov was going to be so depleted during our visit I would have saved it for next time and gone back to the Kremlin and Armory, which we unfortunately rushed through.