Adventure World

Russia

After so many years under the Soviet Union and communist rule a visit to the “new” Russia is like visiting an undiscovered land. From the imperial city of St Petersburg and efficient Moscow, to the timeless village life of Siberia and Irkutsk, Russia is celebrating the wealth of its past and looking forward to a bright future.

Top Highlights

Moscow: There is a lot to see and do in Moscow and one good advantage is that the ‘must-see’ sights are all adjacent to each other - Red Square, the Kremlin, St Basil’s Cathedral, Lenin’s Mausoleum, GUM Department Store and the Bolshoi Theatre are easy to cover in two days.

Lenin's Mausoleum is open Sat-Sun & Tue-Thu. Visitors must dress respectfully.

St Basil’s Cathedral is spectacular from the outside but not so on the inside.

The Kremlin is the ancient citadel of Moscow. A very large walled stronghold built to withstand attack from the East. It is possible to visit Cathedral Square, Patriarch’s Palace, and Ivan the Great Bell Tower which are all located within the Kremlin.

Other things to see and do in Moscow: Bolshoi Theatre, Obratztsov Puppet Theatre, Moscow Theatre, Arbat Street (artists, paintings, souvenirs), Gorky Park (ice-skating in winter, circus in summer), Tretyakov Gallery, Pushkin Art Museum, boat ride on the Moscow River or take a traditional banyas (Russian bath).

The Moscow Metro is clean, safe, quick and extremely cheap. There are around 150 stations and many are elegantly decked out in marble and beautiful frescoes.

St Petersburg: Known as the ‘Venice of the North’ and one of Europe’s most beautiful cities, St Petersburg was founded by Peter the Great in 1709.

Nevsky Prospekt is the artery of this fascinating city and a walk along the Prospekt gives visitors an immediate feel for the city. Nevksy runs alongside the Neva River and is lined with stores, restaurants, cafes, tea-houses, theatres and art salons.

The stunningly beautiful Winter Palace was the Royal Residence of the Tsars from the time of Peter the Great until 1917. A visit to the Winter Palace shows the lifestyle of the world’s richest-ever Royal Family, including the ballroom, the Royal bedchamber, the private theatre, throne room, and the State Hermitage Museum which houses one of the best collections of Russian art in the world.

Founded in 1703, the Peter & Paul Fortress is the oldest building in St Petersburg and where the remains of Tsar Nicholas II, his wife, three of his five children, their doctor and three servants were buried in the Romanov family crypt on 17 July 1998.

30kms from St Petersburg city centre on the Gulf of Finland is Petrodvorets Palace, the opulent summer residence of the Tsars with impressive parklike gardens and fountains.

The sumptuous palaces and parks of Pushkin & Pavlovsk are 29kms from St Petersburg, and were created under Empressess Elizabeth and Catherine the Great. Pavlovsk’s park of woodland, rivers, lakes, little valleys, avenues, classical statues and temples is one of the most exquisite in Russia.

The Golden Ring: North-east of Moscow is a loop of very old towns with well preserved buildings.

Popular are: Suzdal, a pretty rural town with lovely one-storey wooden cottages, old monasteries, convents and churches surrounded by green fields and sitting above the Kamenka River; Sergiev Posad (aka Zagorsk), with its Monastery of St Sergius is one of Russia’s most important religious and historical landmarks and place of spiritual pilgrimage.

More Highlights

Murmansk is located midway between Moscow and the North Pole, it is the largest city in the Arctic Circle. Lapland Biosphere Reserve is UNESCO-protected and consists of 2784 sq km of almost pristine wilderness; about half of it is virgin tundra and the rest consists of alpine grasslands, marshes, rivers, lakes and five small mountain ranges.

Founded in 1930 to protect the area’s reindeer herds; today over 1000 reindeer live here, along with 33 species of mammals (including brown bears, elks and wolves), 201 bird species, and 15 species of fish. Best time to visits are Mar/Apr, Jun and Aug/Sep.

Fact Sheet

• Country Dialling Code: + 7
• When to Go: April to June and September to October is best. It can get very warm and wet during the high summer months of Jul-Aug, which are their main holiday months.
• Capital: Moscow
• Official Language: Russian
• Currency: Rouble (ROO-bl)
• Tipping: Restaurants 10%. Elsewhere 5% to 10%.Guides US$5-$10 per day.
• Bargaining: Prices in stores are set. Can bargain in markets but not much.
• Credit cards: Visa and MasterCard are usually accepted in larger hotels in Moscow and St Petersburg. Recommend clients carry US$ cash as US$ travellers cheques incur charges and can be time consuming and inconvenient to cash.
• Electricity: 220V, 50Hz AC. Two round pin plugs.
• Geography: 17 million sq km make Russia the world’s largest country. Most of it is flat with hundreds of rivers snaking across the country. The longest river is The Volga at 3690km long. Europe’s highest mountain, Mt Elbrus, is on the Russian side of the border with Georgia and is just under 6000m high.
• Gateway Airport: Moscow, Sheremetevo-2