How to go to Russia. by angelofporcelain

"Amazing and so inspirational."

How I did it: My school (sixth form college) organised a trip to Russia, so £1600 and a few months later we all met in the Theatre car park and headed off to the airport. Hilariously, our flight was held up in London by snow yet upon arrival in Russia it was hot!

We stayed in St Petersburg first, an amazing place, and then travelled on the overnight train to Moscow - far more modern! I arrived still drunk and wearing pyjamas.

We went to the biggest hotel (moscow) I've ever seen, and in both cities I made the most of the lack of smoking ban and lax rules about having a few bevs :-) Very relaxed and lovely culture.

We saw the most amazing traditional russian show, and a beautiful ballet. We also saw an Orthodx church and many palaces. Everything was exquisite, but my biggest interest was the everyday people who are generally more traditional in SP and more westernised in Moscow. They were amazing people and had such strong culture that I would love to go back there and see more.

Lessons & tips: Be very careful of pickpockets and hide all important/expensive property if it cannot be taken with you.

Save up, and enjoy yourself!

Visit the main sites, but don't over-do it; take your time.

Resources: School (6th Form).
Parents.


 

Feb 15, 01:44PM PST | 2 comments | 3 cheers


Comments:

corinth2489

cost

hi,
what do you think about the cost of living there? I mean the foods, hotels…how expensive are they?

Apr 14, 02:38AM PDT | Thread | Respond to this

angelofporcelain would like to feel more.

I would gather it to be considerably less than the UK or USA, but you do have to be careful and take into account things like becoming accustommed to their water (buying bottles until you’re ok with it).

Food – relatively cheap, have all the same fast food chains as UK and also some yummy traditional foods for good prices too. However, Moscow is more expensive than St Petersburg and local shops cheaper than shops in very tourist orientated streets. We found a shop with HUGE HUGE apples for about 30p.

Hotels – Depends where you stay. I would NOT go for a really cheap hotel, especially in Moscow. It is slightly cheaper than hotels over here, but read the reviews carefully before hand – it will give you a realistic idea of what you get for your money.

Flights – Pretty expensive, and when we changed at Czech on the way back we had a looooooong wait and a very eleborate search.

Tourist Shops – Mostly expensive, but more local shops very cheap. Street Sellers start expensive until you haggle them. :-P

Jul 12, 10:26AM PDT | Respond to this


angelofporcelain has gotten 3 cheers on this entry.

 

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