Hi,

    I am going to Moscow and St. Petersburg in August and would love some help planning.  Last time I toured Russia was when I was a baby so I am starting with a clean slate.  Any recommendations for hotels or better yet apartments?  Any great restaurants to check out?  I was thinking about reading a guide, but I was a bit more authentic experience :)

 

Thanks,

Tanya

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Take a lot of cash with you or at least major credit cards. I don't know about St Petersburg but Moscow prices (for everything) might just shock you. I remember going to Russia in 2001-2003 and taking $500 cash and comming home with a suitecase full of clothes, souveniers and other stuff. Those times are long gone.  And who goes to Moscow and askes about restaurants, really? Especially somebody visiting Moscow for the first time? There are SO many increadible places to see (musems, churches, red square etc), who cares about restaurants?

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Well, I'm sure Tanya can get information about places to see (museums, churches, red square) in a visitor's guide. It's perfectly normal to wonder if there are any special restaurants that she should experience as well.

Anyway, I haven't been there in over 7 years so I definitely wouldn't know what to recommend. But I do know that you can get a very nice deal if you stay in an apartment instead of hotel. A deal not just financially but location-wise. My cousin went to Moscow for a few weeks this year and the year before. Both times she "registered" with a hotel for just about $100 but ended up staying in an apartment with a view of Red Square and walking distance to Arbat. And it didn't break the bank either.

 Other than that, just prepare to be shocked by prices like Karkusha said. Enjoy your trip!
 

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