Moscow (Russia)

...review by saying nothing in Moscow is easy. We spent a great deal of time in confusion! This is partly because of the language barrier. In France, Italy or Spain you can make out at least some of the written word or you find you actually remember something from school after all. Russian cyrillic is, however, incomprehensible to the English eye. Then there's the fact that Moscow isn't really set up for tourists at all. Nobody "tells" you ...
...brief respite from the confusion, Moscow emerges as a city of contrasts. There is the magnificence of St Basil's and the gold domed cathedrals of the Kremlin glinting in the sun while the opposing river bank, which should be some of the most expensive real estate in all of Russia, is drab and run down. Similarly there is the beautiful and uber sophisticated GUM shopping mall running along the right flank of Red Square, while just to the north of ... more

General Impressions

Let me start this review by saying nothing in Moscow is easy. We spent a great deal of time in confusion! This is partly because of the language barrier. In France, Italy or Spain you can make out at least some of the written word or you find you actually remember something from school after all. Russian cyrillic is, however, incomprehensible to the English eye. Then there's the fact that Moscow isn't really set up for tourists at all. Nobody "tells" you anything. Nothing is signposted or explained. For example there did not appear to be a single sign pointing to the Lenin Mausoleum (and I wish I could tell you where he was now, but I still don't know, we never found him), the metro stations are often unmarked and unsigned and there is nothing explaining the three different types of ticket that can be bought at the three different ticket booths for the Kremlin. Finally there's the city planning - or lack of it. Paving is broken and uneven (health and safety in this country would have a fit), pavements just stop or are completely blocked by parked cars and pedestrian crossings are non-existent forcing you into the insalubrious subways.

Once you get a brief respite from the confusion, Moscow emerges as a city of contrasts. There is the magnificence of St Basil's and the gold domed cathedrals of the Kremlin glinting in the sun while the opposing river bank, which should be some of the most expensive real estate in all of Russia, is drab and run down. Similarly there is the beautiful and uber sophisticated GUM shopping mall running along the right flank of Red Square, while just to the north of the square there is the most awful seedy shopping street. One minute you can be somewhere quite lovely, the next you'd doubt you were in a first world city at all.

Getting Around

We found Moscow a very easy city to navigate our way around, but a good map is an essential piece of kit. Our Insight fold out map, purchased from Stanford's in Covent Garden prior to our trip proved invaluable. The "must see" tourist attractions are all contained within one small area of the city which can be walked around easily. However if you are not lucky enough to be staying very central, and with hotel prices as expensive as they are in Moscow this is likely, the metro system is your saviour.

The Metro

Or Metpo as known to Russians! Once you've mastered the system, it's a fantastic way to zip around the city and exceptionally cheap at 15 roubles (29p) a ticket purchased from the "kacca" lady. You will need a metro map with Russian to English translations, our Insight map of Moscow was again indispensable. If you do not have a map like this navigation is almost impossible with all signs written in incomprehensible Russian.

Once on the (hopefully correct) tube train you can count the stops on the coloured lines so you hop off at the intended station (as you whiz into the stations the names are not in the slightest bit obvious unlike with the London Underground).

But, aside from being an easy and fast way to get around the city, there is another reason you should try and travel on the metro. The stations are tourist attractions in themselves - they are very spacious and beautiful and each is unique, often including works of art, mosaics, guiding and statues from the Communist era. Of all the metro stations we used Komsomolskaya (Leningradsky Station) and Ploshclad Revolyutsii were worth the 15 roubles just to take a look - relics of a bygone era.

What To See

St Basil's Cathedral - The unmistakeable and instantly recognisable icon of Moscow and, in fact, Russia. The multi-coloured, onion domed cathedral is situated at the southern end of Red Square, visible from the river, is breath-taking to see. It was built by Ivan the Terrible in the 16th century to celebrate his victory over the Tartars.

Red Square - The vast square (7.5 ha²) is the traditional site of processions, rallies and demonstrations. It is flanked on the western side by the imposing red wall of the Kremlin, at the north there is the blood red building of the History Museum, as previously discussed along the east side there is the GUM shopping mall (representing the wealthy side of new Russia) and to the south stands St Basil's Cathedral.

The Krelim - Once you've managed to get your ticket from one of three different booths (nothing is very fast, kacca ladies especially) access to the Krelim is via a bridge in Alesandrovsky Park to the west of the huge complex. There are three different ticket prices ranging from 100 roubles (£2) just to get inside and view the exhibition, to 300 roubles (£6) to enter all the cathedrals within the Kremlin. It is very much worth the bargain entrance fare just to take a look around inside - the cathedrals are simply stunning, topped with the finest gold onions in all the world!

Other Notable Attractions - The early 18th century Bolshoi Theatre, home to the most famous ballet in the world, is definitely worth a look and to see a performance here would be most memorable. Tickets can be booked at www.operaandballet.com.
n.b. please see Traveller's Tips.

The guide also recommends a visit to Novodevichy Covent and Cemetery in the south-west of Moscow and the All of Russia Exhibition north of the city for Soviet ear history. We did not have time for either of these, but we did make a trip to Gorkogo Park in the southwest. From Park Kultury metro station the walk over the bridge is very interesting, particularly thanks to a bizarre monument to the left. The park itself is like a relic from the 1950's with fairground rides and ice cream stands, but is obviously still extremely popular on a sunny day!

People & Manners

Hmmm, not the friendliest people I'm afraid to say. The country seems to be run by fierce looking women and it's difficult to raise a smile. However they might not tell you what you should be doing, but rest assured they are very quick to tell you when you are doing something you shouldn't!

Food & Drink

I wish I could tell you we found fabulous Russian restaurants and I'm sure they exist but we didn't know where to look! Instead we found the standard fare - Italian, American etc. Restaurants are often surprisingly sparse, especially around Red Square, and when you do find them the food can be a little plain. A good area to try is the Arbat which has numerous bars and cafes including the Hard Rock. Meals are generally cheap, we usually paid just £5 a person.

Geography & Temperatures

Moscow is located to the west of the Russian Federation and is a land-locked city. Although only as far north as Copenhagen and Edinburgh, Moscow, along with most of Russia, experiences very harsh winters. The extreme cold of Russian winters are a combined result of the huge land mass of Europe and Asia isolating the country from the influence of warm ocean waters and the Arctic Ocean coastline. The harshest months in Moscow are December, January and February with recorded temperatures of -32°C! The winter lasts a long time, but then spring arrives quickly in around April and the months of May, June, July and August can be surprisingly warm.

We visited Moscow in mid May and the weather was very warm and sunny, reminiscent of the glorious weather we left behind in England. Most of the time we were wondering around in just a T-shirt and jeans, although in the evenings a cardi and jacket is advisable.

The Train to St Petersburg

If, like us, you are planning to take a train between Moscow and St Petersburg, and I can not stress this enough, BOOK IN ADVANCE. As with everything booking in advance is not simple. Our travel agent at home quoted us the overnight train price of £90 each but as we wanted to see the Russian countryside (as it turns out mostly trees) so we decided to buy our tickets once we arrived is Moscow. We asked at our hotel where we were quoted a reasonable price of 2000 roubles (£40), plus a 400 rouble (£8) delivery fee, however as it turned out, they were unable to deliver our tickets over the weekend.

Not to worry, we thought, we'll just buy them at the station. Would that be okay? We asked at our hotel. Yes, yes, the train to St Petersburg goes frequently, no problem. So we turned up in good time for the 10 o clock train - and were eventually made to understand that every train was full until 8pm meaning we would not arrive in St Petersburg until 5am! In the end we had to pay a ticket tout a fee and miraculously suddenly the lady managed to find tickets for the 4.30 "express" train. Surprisingly a Russian girl was also forced to secure her ticket in this way proving just how corrupt the system can be. We were then forced to wait 6 hours at Leningradsky, a typical station environ the outside is as insalubrious as the inside with drunks careering around all over the place! However when we did finally get on our train it was very comfortable and thankfully arrived bang on schedule.

So book in advance either via your hotel if you are prepared to pay a bit extra, or go to the station at least 2 days in advance for cheaper tickets - 1300 roubles (£25) for the 8 hour train or 1650 roubles (£32) for the 5.5 hours express service.

Traveller Tips

• As of writing this review (May 2006) the renowned Bolshoi Theatre, famed throughout the world as the very best ballet, is shrouded in scaffolding and performances are taking place in another, smaller, venue. We choose to see the Kirov ballet in St Petersburg and I am very glad that we did because I would have been furious paying £100 plus per ticket and then not even being in the famous theatre.
• We were warned not to attract the attention of the groups of policemen that patrol the streets of Moscow. Luckily we didn't find out exactly why as we heeded this advice and didn't run into any trouble. You also need to keep your papers (passport etc) on you at all times.
• Prices, like everything else, can be very confusing in Russia. In one eating establishment a pizza slice cost me 80p, a glass of Coke about 50p but a salad (and not a nice one at that) £4.50! Check prices carefully, especially when ordering any food or drink in the hotels which can be very expensive (e.g. £8 for an open tuna sandwich).
• It is useful to have a bundle of 10 rouble notes to hand to pay for the public toilets, plus some loo roll and wet wipes as they are not the nicest. Some, even in quite posh establishments, are squat toilets.

Conclusion

From Moscow our journey continued to St Petersburg (review to follow) and the comparison is, I fear, unfair. I am very glad to have been to Moscow and I felt it was very representative of "real" Russia, unlike St Petersburg which feels far more European. However, I must acknowledge that the experience is challenging and I would only recommend a stay of around 2 days. If I was only to go back to one of the cities I visited in Russia - put it this way - it wouldn't be Moscow!

Thanks for reading & I look forward to hearing your comments. Triciax 

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