Russian Adventure? It’s all in the planning.
Visiting Russia may not be as straightforward as many other European countries, but once there you will find it offers a wealth of rich, diverse cultural and social dimensions.
Planning ahead is required, as you’ll need to apply for your visa at least three months prior to your intended travel date. This is only granted once you have an invitation from a Russian resident, but this can be easily arranged by your hotel or place of accommodation. Don’t be put off by local officialdom - they are sometimes keen to point out that visitor entry is very much at their discretion, but the application is usually a formality, as they really do want the tourist trade.
The first thing you have to decide is where to base yourself. The obvious choices are St Petersburg or Moscow but, for my money, it has to be St Petersburg. It’s a busy, vibrant city, but has a charm reminiscent of the Russia of the tzars, with its stunning architecture and quirky romanticism. Choose carefully when to visit - summer and winter can be very beautiful in different ways, autumn can be quite breathtaking but spring brings the great thaw, and sometimes everything just turns to slush.
One of the main problems with the city is the appallingly poor air quality - after some hours in the carbon monoxide choked streets, I found myself getting quite wheezy. It was always a good excuse to pop into one of the many hostelries for a superb local beer or the odd glass or two of red wine. I found both these aided my breathing quite well really.
The sights and sounds can be quite overwhelming until you get used to them. We were convinced armed guards were about to approach us and confiscate our passports for the first day or so, but then felt really silly when we realised that they were actually only uniformed students from the city’s nautical college. The stories of KGB intimidation we’d planned to tell… oh well, it’s actually quite reassuring to discover that St Petersburg is actually as relaxed as any other European city of the twenty-first century once you’re there.
