" Information
And Maps
" Money
And Banks
" Communications
" Getting
Around
" Food
And Drink
" Emergencies
" Russia
On The Net
" Opening
Hours And Holidays
" Explore
Russia
European Russia stretches
from the borders of the states of Belarus and Ukraine to the Ural mountains, over 1000km
east of Moscow; even without the rest of the
Russian Federation, it constitutes by far the largest country
in Europe. It was also, for many years, one of the hardest to
visit.
Today Russia is far
more accessible, and although visas are still obligatory and
accommodation often has to be booked in advance, independent
travel is increasingly an option. Nonetheless, Moscow and St
Petersburg remain
the easiest places to visit, and these are covered below. For
the adventurous, travel further afield can be booked through
various agencies in Russia and abroad, and there are an increasing
number of Web sites offering advice and travel services for the
less standard routes.
Moscow and St Petersburg
are mutually complementary. Moscow , the capital, is hugely enthralling.
It is not a beautiful city by any means, and is a somewhat chaotic
place. However, Moscow's central core reflects Russia's long
and fascinating history at the heart of a vast empire, whether
in the relics of the Communist years, the Kremlin with its palaces
and churches of the tsars, the wooden buildings still tucked
away in backstreets, or in the massive building projects of the
mayor, Yuriy Luzhkov, which have radically changed the face of
the centre.
By contrast, Russia's
second city, St Petersburg , is Europe at its most gracious,
an attempt by the eighteenth-century tsar Peter the Great to
re-create the best of Western European elegance in what was then
a far-flung outpost. Its position in the delta of the River Neva
is unparalleled, full of watery vistas of huge and faded palaces.
St Petersburg has not been revamped anywhere near as much as
Moscow, which many consider a good thing, and it preserves a
unity and stability lacking in the capital.
You will not be bothered
by the so-called Russian mafia in either city, but, as in any
other big city, you should beware of petty crime
OTHER POPULAR DESTINATIONS IN EUROPE