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Russia travel guide

Russia - Moscow

Meet Russia Russia weather report Getting into Russia From the Russian kitchen From the Russian bar Currency in Russia Major airports in Russia Did you know?

Meet Russia

Russia is enchanting. An immense land of contrasts, culture, activity and diversity, it allows visitors to get off the beaten track and discover a world that is unique, compelling and absolutely mesmerizing. Russia’s riotous and chaotic history has forged a people who are fiercely strong willed, often sceptical and yet strangely convivial under the right circumstances. Religions practised ranged from Christianity to Islam, Judaism and Buddhism in a population that totals more than 142 million.

The country has so much to see and do that good planning is vital in order to make the most of your stay. A visit to Moscow is essential and the city’s many sights, experiences and delights will leave visitors reluctant to depart. Visit the world famous Red Square which is the beating heart of this dynamic city and attracts a veritable catalogue of interesting subjects for people watchers. Moscow is also the place to check out the Kremlin, a building that is so intensely entwined in Russia’s history that it is essentially a part of the story in its own right. Attractions like St Basil’s Cathedral and the renowned Bolshoi Theatre entrench the cultural significance of this wonderful capital.

Visit St Petersburg with its intricate array of mini rivers and clever canal system and marvel at the creativity that has gone into the construction of the city’s many bridges. The city is also famous for its cathedrals such as the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul and the beautiful Cathedral of St Andrew. With celebrated monuments like the “Bronze Horseman,” statue of Catherine the Great and The Alexander Column, as well as a host of superb arts and culture museums, St Petersburg has a great deal to offer.

Brave travellers can push out into the hinterland and explore some of the most captivating and astonishing wildlife environments to be found anywhere in the world. Push your boundaries when visiting and soak up everything the country has to offer, it is well worth it.

Russia weather report

Russia is an enormous country. As such, various weather patterns exist throughout its territory from the bone chilling Arctic areas of the north to the dry, energy sapping heat found in the inland desert areas. However, as a rule, the two seasons that typify the country are summer and winter. Spring and autumn are shorter, transitional passages between the two extremes rather than standing as distinctive seasons in their own right.

Moscow is one of the biggest tourist attractions and enjoys a humid, often hot summer with temperatures reaching as high as the low to mid 20s. The best months for enjoying sunshine in Moscow are between May and August which are also the warmest months. The city experiences extremely cold winters with the coldest months (January and February) regularly plunging as low as -10˚C. The coldest ever recorded temperature in Moscow was -42.2˚C which should put the winter into perspective.

The rest of the mainland experiences similar weather patterns, but it is worth remembering that the further north and east one travels, the colder it is likely to be during the winter months. For someone unaccustomed to the bitterly cold weather it can be a shock to the system. Thus, if you’re travelling in winter be sure to take appropriate clothing.

For the latest weather info use the Pampo weather forecast tool.

Getting into Russia

All nationalities require a valid passport along with a visa to enter the country. Visas fall into two main categories: business and tourist.

If you are planning a short holiday, the tourist visa is the best one to apply for and is valid for 30 days. Should you wish to stay for longer than 30 days, you will have to apply for a “business” visa, which is quite common among tourists who stay for extended periods, and for those wanting more flexibility with their travel arrangements.

Russian Customs and Immigration has strict guidelines on items being brought into the country so it is a good idea to declare anything which you think could be contentious. As a rule, if you are carrying more than US$3000 in cash or a large amount of securities, stocks or travellers checks, you should declare these when entering the country. The same applies to the importation of alcohol (more than 2L) and/or cigarettes (more than 100).

From the Russian kitchen

Perhaps one of the first things that will strike visitors about Russian cuisine is the high premium placed on soups. Both hot and cold soups are genuinely savoured in a country which experiences bitterly cold winters.

To get a better idea of why soups are so popular try the local Borscht, a hot beetroot soup that is often served with a variety of carrots, beans, onions, tomatoes, cabbage and complemented by chicken, beef or pork.

Another hit with the soup enthusiasts is Shchi which is a sauerkraut-based hot soup made with a combination of winter vegetables.

For those that like their food hot and spicy Solyanka is the way to go. A soup which can be ordered in fish, meat or mushroom varieties and often contains sour cream and dill, as well as spices to enrich the flavour.

One of the more popular main course options is Tsyplionok Tabaka a delicious chicken dish served piping hot with garlic, tomatoes and fried potatoes. For fish lovers and those with adventurous taste buds, Ossetrina pod Syrom is an exciting and distinctive dish. Consisting of Sturgeon baked with cheese, carrots, parsley, bay leaf and sour cream with a fine bread crumb topping, it is an enticing blend of flavours complete with a lovely aroma.

From the Russian bar

Russia is notorious as the home of heavy duty drinking, especially when it comes to vodka, so much so that statistics show that the average Russian drinks 18 litres (or 24 bottles!) of pure alcohol per year. This is a nation fond of their tipple and it would be rude not to sample some of the variety of vodka brands available.

Some of the better known vodka brands include Stolichnaya, Russian Standard Vodka, Streletskaya, Dovgan and Rodnik. Vodka however is fairly nondescript on its own so unless you intend taking on the locals at their own game it is a good idea to have a few creative ideas up your sleeve when ordering. Try a well known vodka cocktail such as a Bloody Mary, Screwdriver, Vodka Collins, Moscow Mule or Black Russian.

Beer is the second most popular drink in the country after vodka and there are some quality choices to try out.

Baltika beer is a celebrated choice being pale and slightly bitter with what is often described as a velvety taste. It goes well with red meats and makes for a good, sociable beer with an alcohol content of 4.8%.

Klinskoe and Vorsin are two more favourites both of which have a distinct, full flavour. Klinskoe is an easy drinking lager with a natural head and crisp aftertaste, and Vorsin is a darker, stronger ale with a honey aroma and sweeter, more delicate taste.

Currency in Russia

Russia uses the ruble (plural rubles) which is symbolised simply with the abbreviation RUB. One ruble is made up of 100 kopeek (singular kopeika, which are coins) and notes are available in 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500, 1000 and 5000 ruble denominations. For the latest info on your rates, please use the Pampo exchange rates calculator.

Major airports in Russia

Domodedovo International Airport (DME) Moscow

Sheremetyevo International Airport (SVO) Moscow

Vnukovo International Airport (VKO) Moscow

Vladivostok International Airport (VVO)

Irkutsk International Airport (IKT)

Sochi International Airport (AER)

Koltsovo International Airport (SVX)

Did you know?

Russia is the largest country in the world occupying 17,098,242 km²

The country shares borders with Estonia, Finland, Norway, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, China, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, The Republic of Korea and Mongolia

The country is so big that it spans 11 time zones

The longest river in Russia is the Lena River which stretches 4400km

As well as sharing maritime borders with Japan and the United States, Russia is bounded by 12 individual seas including: Barents, White, Karsk, Laptev, Eastern Siberian and Tchukotka seas (Arctic Ocean); Bering, Okhotsk, Japanese seas (Pacific Ocean) and the Baltic, Black and Azov seas (Atlantic Ocean)

Russia is considered an energy superpower and contains more natural forest reserves than any country on earth

Yuri Gagarin was the first human being to be launched into space as part of the Russian Space Programme, aboard the Vostok 3KA-3, which entered orbit on the April 12, 1961