Travel Tips: Россия aka Mother Russia
- Mian Wei
- Jul 9, 2019
- 6 min read
Updated: Jul 12, 2019
Do you feel empty inside after The Americans ended and Chernobyl was only a limited series? Same. But your Russian adventure doesn't have to end with prestigious cable dramas. Russia is a beautiful country and surprisingly easy to visit as a tourist. You might want to learn some very basics of the cyrillic alphabet but other than that, even a dumb American can navigate this place without much problem. The exchange rate is extremely favorable so you'll be spending very little compared to other European cities (~60 rubles to 1 USD).
Get Pumped!
Part 1: Moscow
The first thing you'll notice arriving in Moscow is how insanely DEEP underground the metros are and how often the trains come (never waited more than 1 min for any train here). They're also very cheap in American dollars, something like $1.50 per ride with easy to use ticket machines that take credit cards. Some of the lines were built during the Cold War which means they were also preparing them as nuclear shelters in case WW3 broke out and that means very long escalator rides up and down these stops. They're also extremely clean and some stations are famous for their beautiful murals, stain glass and tile work. You'll notice a lot of Lenin and just a general celebration of the working people in these murals. I would highly recommend buying a single ticket (since you'll never have to leave the stations) and just riding around the metro to all these beautiful stops at night after all the big attractions are closed. And because of how frequent trains are, you'll often find the station empty for photos in between arrivals/departures. Take advantage!
If you loved Chernobyl on HBO, you'll definitely want to visit the Novodevichy Cemetery and Convent. Many famed historical figures are buried here including Gogol, Prokofiev, and Chekhov but more importantly two of the characters from the HBO series, Valey Legasov and Boris Shcherbina, are both buried here. I didn't see them cause I went before the show aired and had no idea who they were but you can visit them. It is pretty hard to find graves here unless you know the alphabet slightly or have a screenshot on your phone of what the grave looks like. Otherwise, it's fun to just wander around the cemetery and the grounds of the convent.
Red Square is the main tourist center of the city and I don't know if I have much to add about it cause most people know what's here. I would just say it is usually going to be crowded, especially the Kremlin and St. Basil's Cathedral but the crowds are nowhere near as crazy as in Western European tourist attractions (your Paris, London, Rome's). The Bolshoi is also walkable from here. You'll also really want to go out on a nice sunny day to take photos cause, I mean look at all that red. It just doesn't look as bright on a cloudy or rainy day. You can also visit Lenin's tomb but at very sparse hours so I didn't bother (I already saw Mao's body in Beijing and it was meh).
St. Basil's is my favorite church in the world. It's just so colorful and fun, in contrast to the gray concrete you see in most cathedrals. It was built by Ivan the Terrible from 1555 to 1561 and is now mostly just a museum cause communism. The exterior is famous for looking like it's from Candyland but the interior also has some wild acid trip frescoes and mosaics. The building is actually so unique, it literally cannot be categorized into an architectural style because there's truly nothing else like it.
Also in Red Square is the giant shopping center, GUM. I definitely recommend visiting at night cause it's so much prettier. Stuff is pricey in here so I wouldn't come here to shop necessarily but there is a famous Soviet-style cafeteria on the top floor (Stolovaya 57) with cheap food and interesting Soviet dishes like pigeon milk cake? Hmm..
If you wanna check out some interesting architecture and shopping outside the city center, make the journey to Izmailovksy Market, which is apparently a bustling flea market on weekends but I wouldn't know cause I went on a Wednesday and it just looked like a creepy abandoned carnival out of a horror movie. It's still really cool cause the buildings are wacky as hell and slightly off putting? Makes you feel like you stepped into a different world.
For the literary travelers, a must visit museum is the Tolstoy House. It's easy to get to in the middle of the city and really fun for anyone with any interest in Russian literature. It's a self-guided tour of the two story winter house. It's also just a nice quite enclave in the middle of a busy city.
If you want a half day away from the crowds and city, the Kolomenskoye Park is perfect. There's both amazing history and nature, as it is a former royal estate on a sprawling park. Peter the Great spent his childhood here in a small cabin and the white Ascension church is really cool and BIG in person. There's also a modern reconstruction of a huge wooden palace, which is cool looking but not original cause idk I guess wood isn't the best choice for longevity.
Food
Because of the exchange rate, food here was very cheap by American and Western European standards. There's also a lot of variety so you have many options. Georgian and Ukrainian cuisine is super popular in Russia. Also, note that fine dining here is much more affordable than elsewhere so definitely give that a shot if you're tempted. You'll definitely want to make reservations for popular restaurants especially for dinner as they tend to be very strict and expect people to dine for several hours (like most European countries). I generally found walking in without a rez to be fine for lunch since a lot of people are just there on lunch break and turnover is quite rapid but don't mess around with dinner. I would also cater your food needs to where you're going to be tourist-wise as there are pretty good restaurants all over the city and hours are quite long and generally no random closed days like other countries in Europe (yo France....).
Mizandari Cafe
This Georgian restaurant is very close to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior (the iconic gold domed church), the Peter the Great Monument and Gorky Park (old communist statue garden) so if you're in that area, this is a great place to stop by for lunch. Everything was really good and very affordable, less than $10 per dish for sure. The veal cheese casserole is definitely the MVP here.
White Rabbit
Featured on the World's 50 Best Restaurants List and on Netflix's Chef's Table, White Rabbit is a pretty trendy/upscale spot so definitely don't come in dressed like a slob. It's actually on the top floor of a tall building with nice views and you can see the famous Ministry of Foreign Affairs building (a prime example of Stalinist architecture). It's definitely a bit pricier but again, because of exchange rates, it still wasn't that much. Probably around $25 per person for a pretty filling meal honestly. The rabbit pate was actually amazing.
Odessa Mama
Ukranian food is super trendy in Russia apparently cause a lot of the highly rated restaurants tend to be either Ukranian or Georgian. This restaurant has three locations but the most convenient is probably the one close to the Bolshoi Theater. Again, everything was very good and affordable here and easy to get a table during lunch hours.
General Tips
-Don't ask random people for directions. I feel like you should know that already but they probably won't understand you. English is still a pretty rarely spoken language here, even among staff in smaller local hotels. Our check-in lady at the hotel had absolutely no English comprehension at all. The credit card machine wasn't working when we checked it and we basically had to google translate our way through the situation. Even at tourist attractions, the people behind the ticket counter are kind of hit and miss in terms of English but restaurants are much better.
-Credit cards are surprisingly accepted at many places. Definitely have a good card with no foreign transaction fees cause you can really use it for a lot of things instead of having to carry around a lot of cash.
-Prepare to walk a lot. While the metro system is very good, the stops are generally quite far from each other. If you're expecting NYC style subway stops where you can literally just walk 5 blocks to the next stop on the line.. just no. If you accidentally get off a stop too early or late, you will probably be walking A LOT so just get back on the train and take it to the correct stop.
-Follow the floor signs at metro stops. The orientation of the metro stops especially if you need to transfer aren't always intuitive for foreigners I think but things are well labeled and there are signs on the ground that point you to certain lines (number and color coded). Make sure you know where you're going and don't just get herded around with the crowds cause the underground system is really extensive and you'll be doing a lot of unnecessary walking.
-Overall, Moscow is a very safe city for tourists. There isn't much risk of being pickpocketed or robbed. Obviously, still exercise caution if you're alone at night.
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