Russia

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Quick Facts

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Local name

Rossiya

Capital

Moscow

Government

Federation

Nationality

Russian

Population

144,530,000

Languages

Russian

Religions

Christianity (Russian Orthodoxy), Islam

Currency

Russian Rouble (RUB)

Calling Code

+7

Time Zone

UTC+3 to UTC+12

Daylight Saving

UTC+4 to UTC+13

Contributors

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Introduction

IMG_1138

© All Rights Reserved hazelnutty

At the start of the 18th century, Napoleon made one of the biggest errors of his life when he invaded Russia in winter; Hitler attempted a strikingly similair move less than a century and a half later. The vast, cold expanses which make up Russia's landscape have long proved its greatest ally in warfare. Now, with its economy down in the pits, Russia's natural wonders are once again beginning to lend a helping hand. Travellers are recognizing Russia's awesome potential for mountaineering, hiking, skiing, cycling, and kayaking. But perhaps the best way to see Russia's vast wilderness is via the Trans-Siberian Railway.

In those areas which are inhabited, however, Russia's rich cultural and historical heritage is everywhere. Onion-domed churches, bleak Soviet style architecture and the elegant designs of pre-Stalin Russia can be found within blocks of each other, making for fascinating peeks into the complexity of Russian history.

Brief History

Geography

Russia shares international borders in Europe with Finland, Norway, Estonia, Latvia, Belarus and Ukraine. To add, the exclave of Kaliningrad Oblast borders both Poland and Lithuania.
Russia also shares international borders in Asia with Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and China. There is ferry service to Japan.

Regions

Russia is divided into seven federal districts. Each district is administered by an "envoy" who is in constant liason with the Russian Government.

• Northwestern Russia
• Central Russia
• Southern Russia
• Volga Region
• Urals Region
• Siberia
• Far Eastern Russia

Oblasts

• Kaliningrad Oblast - One of Russia's many Oblasts. It is unique as a region in that it is separated from the rest of Russia, lying between Poland and Lithuania.

Cities

• Moscow - The nation's capital.
• St. Petersburg
• Irkutsk
• Vladivostok
• Novosibirsk
• Khabarovsk
• Krasnojarsk
• Jekaterinenburg
• Murmansk
• Omsk

Sights and Activities

Trans-Siberian Railway

Trans-Mongolian Express - Station

© All Rights Reserved nbennion

The Trans-Siberian Railway is an attraction of its own, being the longest possible single train journey in the world. And to add to the attraction, you will stay in the same country. The railway passes through the remote and beautiful Siberian countryside on it's way to the Pacific Ocean, a journey of seven days, eight time zones and over 9250 kilometres and travels between Moscow and Vladivostok. Read more about details and detours of this magnificent journey in the Trans-Siberian Railway article.

Lake Baikal

Ship with mountains Lake Baikal

© All Rights Reserved adamandmeg

Lake Baikal is located in the Asian part of Russia, known as Siberia. Closeby is the city of Irkutsk where the Trans-Siberian Railway stops. Many traveller make a stopover here to visit this lake, which is the deepest lake anywhere in the world, at 1700 meters. It also is the oldest lake (25 million years) in the world and to add, it contains 20% of the world's total unfrozen freshwater reserve. The age, islolation and the depth have created one of the world's richest and most unusual freshwater faunas, which is of exceptional value to evolutionary science. Therefore it is place on the Unesco World Heritage List.

Kamchatka

Kamchatka is located in the far east of the Russian Federation and is one of the natural highlights of the country. The volcanoes of Kamchatka are placed on the UNESCO World Heritage List and a visit to this place is absolutely recommended, albeit not cheap. Kamchatka forms one of the most outstanding volcanic regions in the world, with a high density of active volcanoes. The combination of active volcanoes, glaciers, wildlife and beautifully located green mountains forms a landscape of great beauty. Wildlife includes huge variets of salmon and dense concentrations of sea otter, brown bear and sea eagle. Getting around Kamchatka involves some form of airtransport on top of 4wd travel. Usually, helicopters are used to get to some more remote parts, which definately is recommended but comes at a cost of course.

Other sights and activities

Suzdal 2

© All Rights Reserved J.P.Photo

There are numerous other attractions in Russia, which is not suprising of course as it is the largest country in the world. Even the cities of St. Petersburg and Moscow can keep you busy for many days, if not weeks. But further east there are some beautiful landscapes and deserted parts in Siberia which are very hard to get to in the first place. Below are just a few examples of both the cultural and natural significance of this country.

• Historic centre of Yaroslavl
• Suzdal and Vladimir
• Curonian Spit
• Altai Mountains

Events and Festivals

Weather

Russia is the largest country in the world and although much of the country has rather warm summers and cold winters, differences in the country can be huge as well.
Russia has a continental climate, with warm to hot summers in some parts and cold to extremely cold winters in that same and other parts of the country. Spring and autumn are very short and not more than a short transition period between summer and winter.
The European part of Russia in general is warmer, both during summer and winter. Also, southern regions here are warmer than central parts which in turn are warmer than areas more north and towards the Ural Mountains, the natural border between Europe and Asia.
Moscow for example has summer temperatures of over 20 degrees Celcius during the day, while in winter average nightly minimum temperatures are around -15 degrees Celcius in January. Precipitation is quite evenly spread out during the year, with somewhat more mm during summer. In winter, most of this falls in the form of snow of course. To the north, both winters and summers in for example Archangelsk are colder, while to the east (like Perm) temperatures are lower in winter and equally high in summer, although summers are shorter here already compared to Moscow.
Towards the European south, temperatures rise both during winter and summer. Astrakhan for example has averages round 30 degrees in summer, while in winter temperatures vary between 0 and -10 degrees Celsius. It is also much drier with low precipitation in all months totalling aroun 200 mm a year, a semi-arid climate.
A totally different area is the eastern shore of the Black Sea. Sochi for example has much warmer weather and long and dry summers, with average maximum temperatures above 20 degrees from May to October, topping 27 in August on average. Winters are well above freezing with even nights averaging around 3 degrees Celsius. Most of the rain falls during the wintermonths.
Finally, the Asian part, Siberia, has very cold winters, averaging between -15 degrees and -30 degrees Celsius (day and night respectively) in cities like Jekaterinenburg, Omsk, Novosibirsk, Tomsk and Irkutsk. Summer here are warm but short, lasting from June to August. This is also when most of the precipitation falls. Further east and northeast where the Siberian lowlying areas become more mountainous, extreme temperatures occur. Verkhojansk and Ojmjakon are the coldest permanently inhabited places on earth and also have the largest differences between summer and winter, sometimes over 100 degrees Celcius! Between November and March, temperatures are below -40 degrees and both places have seen temperatures over around -70 degrees Celsius! In the very short summers, temperatures can rise up to 35 degrees Celsius on the other hand. This is also when most of the precipitation falls. In winter, there isn't much because it is simply too cold. Most of the snow falls between the end of September and early November and only starts melting in May.
Still, further southeast towards the Ocean, places like Vladivostok are milder, but still cold and comparable with temperatures in Moscow, both during summer and winter. Most of the rain falls in summer here.

Getting There

By Plane

Aeroflot is the national airline of Russia and is based at Sheremetyevo (SVO) near the capital Moscow. Destinations include Amsterdam, Bangkok, Beijing, Berlin, Cairo, Delhi, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Geneva, Hong Kong, Istanbul, London-Heathrow, Los Angeles, New York, Paris, Rome, Shanghai, Tokyo, Toronto, Washington-Dulles and Zürich. KLM from Amsterdam and Air France from Paris have flights among a few dozens of airlines as well.
Domodedovo (DME) is another airport in Moscow which has many airlines serving the airport with Transaero having the most international destinations. S7 Airlines has a number of flights as well.
Pulkovo Airport (LED) serves St. Petersburg and Rossiya Airlines (former Pulkovo, merged with other airline) has numerous flights to destinations in Europe and several outside. Many other airlines from European, Asian and former USSR countries fly to and from here.
Other international airports with less flights are located in Novosibirsk, Irkutsk among others.

By Train

See also: International Trains, Trans-Siberian Railway

Russia - Finland
The only direct train links to and from Finland are the ones to Moscow and St. Petersburg in Russia.
Between Helsinki and Moscow, there are direct daily overnight trains with 'The Tolstoi', taking roughly 13 hours to cover the routes. Trains are fast and comfortable.
There are two daily trains ('The Sibelius' and 'The Repin') between Helsinki and St. Petersburg, both travelling during the day and evening. One train is Russian, the other one is Finnish. Both trains take about 6 hours to cover the route.
Trains also stop in Lahti, Kouvola and Vainikkala in Finland and in Vyborg in Russia.

Russia - China
There are two routes between Moscow and Beijing: the Trans-Mongolian and the Trans-Machurian routes, both of which are southern branches of the better-known Trans-Siberian Railway. The first train goes via Ulan Bator, cutting across Mongolia and then into China. It leaves Moscow every Tuesday night, taking about 6 days to reach Beijing. The second cuts into northern China at Manzhouli and continues to via Harbin. Trains leave Moscow on Friday night and takes about 6 days as well to cover the distance to Beijing. For more information look at the article: Trans-Siberian Railway or check the Timetable directly for exact schedules.

Russia - Kazakhstan
There is train every second day between Moscow and Almaty in Kazakhstan, leaving Moscow at 10:30 pm and arriving on day 5 early in the morning in Almaty. Going from Almaty, trains leave at around 7:30 am, arriving on the 4th day at around 10:30 am. Check this site for schedule details.

Russia - Kyrgyzstan
Two trains a week link the capitals of Russia and Kyrgyzstan. From Moscow, trains leave on Thursdays and Sundays at 11:15 pm, arriving in Bishkek on Mondays and Thursdays respectively at 2:30 am. Trains leave Bishkek around 10:00 am on Mondays and Thursdays, arriving in Moscow on Thursdays and Sundays just after 3 in the afternoon.

Russia - Uzbekistan
There are three trains a week between Moscow and Tashkent (Uzbekistan). Trains leave Moscow on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 11:15 pm, arriving 3 days later at 7:15 pm in Tashkent. In the opposite direction, trains depart from Tashkent at around 7:00 pm on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays, arriving in Moscow 3 days later at just after 3 in the afternoon.

Russia - North Korea
There is one train a week between Moscow (Yaroslavski station) and Pyongyang, usually leaving on Friday from Moscow, and Saturday from Pyongyang. It takes a week to complete the entire journey.

By Car

You are allowed to bring your own car, but be sure to have every official document in order. These include passport and visa and car registration number and full details of your route, itinerary and hotels where you stay. You also need a form provided by customs upon arrival at the border which guarantee that the car will be taken out of the Russian Federation on departure. A road tax has to be payed when entering the country and insurance for travel within the Russian Federation has to be arranged before departure or when entering the country at one of the offices of Ingosstrakh, the Russian Federation foreign insurance agency.

By Bus

There are many road links and bus connections with neighbouring countries, but many people either fly into Russia or travel by train to the country. For bus links from many European countries to Russia, check the Eurolines website. There are also regular buses between Kirkenes in Norway and Murmansk in the northwest of the country.

Finland
Two daily buses provide services to Vyborg and St Petersburg from Helsinki in Finland, one of which originates in Turku. There's also one daily bus from Tampere and three weekly buses from Lappeenranta. Check Matkahuolto for more information about prices and schedules.
In the north, Goldlines has buses three times a week between Rovaniemi via Ivalo to Murmansk.

By Boat

• Russia - Japan vv

From July to October a ferry runs twice a week from Vladivostok to Fushiki, near Toyama, but most people are business people importing and exporting cars. Still it's possible to book tickets with Bisintour.
The Heartland Ferry has sailing between Wakkanai in Hokkaido and Korsakov on Sachalin.

• Russia - South Korea vv

Dong Chun Ferry runs two trips a week in winter and three in summer between Sokcho in South Korea and Zarubina (south of Vladivostok) in Russia.

• Russia - Sweden vv

Lisco Baltic Service has ferries between Karlshamn in Sweden and Baltysk in Russia.

• Russia - Germany vv

Trans Russia Express operates a ferry between St Petersburg and both Sassnitz and Lübeck in Germany.

Lithuania

• Lisco Baltic Service between Klaipeda and Baltysk in Kaliningrad.

Getting Around

By Plane

Most flights originate and terminate from any of Moscow's four airports. Domodedovo (DME) is one of the biggest airport and handles hundreds of flights a day. Vnukovo (VKO) and Sheremetyevo (SVO) airports are options from the capital.

Russia has dozens of airlines flying to literally almost everywhere in the country. For example Aeroflot flies from Sheremetyevo International Airport (Moscow) to and from Adler/Sochi, Anapa , Astrakhan, Barnaul, Irkutsk, Kaliningrad, Kemerovo, Krasnodar, Krasnoyarsk, Magadan, Mineralnye Vody, Nizhnevartovsk, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Perm, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Samara, St. Petersburg, Surgut, Tyumen, Ufa, Vladivostok, Volgograd, Yekaterinburg and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. Other major airlines in the country are Rossiya Airlines, Transaero and S7 Airlines. Check the list of airlines for the dozens of options choosing an airline in Russia.

By Train

See also: Trans-Siberian Railway

Russia has an extensive railroad network, but it is hard to get reliable online information. To get some idea of the sheer size and granularity of the network, have a look here.

The Trans-Siberian Railway is one of those journeys that every traveller would like to make sometime during their life. Besides the 'original' that runs from Moscow to Vladivostok, there are connections to cities and towns around the country.

For buying (inter)national tickets you can go to the nearest station or book online.

By Car

Renting a car in Russia is getting more and more popular and routes are being upgraded all the time, especially in and around the bigger cities in European Russia. Still, getting around can be a little bit of a hassle with potholed rural roads (or even 'highways'), absence of street signs and petrol and some policemen wanting bribes. It's not unsafe though and you will be able to rent cars in most airports and bigger cities. You need an international driving permit and national driver's licence translated into Russia. Driving is on the right and be sure to have a detailed itinerary and route with you, as hotels must be booked in advance.

By Bus

The most interesting is to ride across the Russia by bus, because you can see more sights inside and outside the cities. There's a search engine tracing routes of Russian intercity buses.
It's a great addition when travelling to some smaller cities where trains are absent or go less frequently.

By Boat

Travelling around Russia on one of it's many rivers and lakes is an adventurous way of getting around, especially more to the east which is much less popular. The summer season is of course the best season as many rivers are (partly) frozen from October to April. Apart from regular passenger services there are cruise options as well, but these are totally organised and expensive and your itinerary will be fixed. Better to go for the public boats and meet some Russians. The most important routes are between Moscow and St Petersburg, and between Moscow and various points on the Volga and Don, including Yaroslavl, Nizhny Novgorod, Volgograd, Astrakhan and Rostov-on-Don. Further east travelling along the surface of the Ob and Jenisej rivers is great as well.

Red Tape

The Russian visa process is a nightmare because it changes constantly and some embassies or consulates have different rules. For most countries an invitation is required via an approved travel agency. These approved travel agencies usually add a pretty expensive charge on top of the visa cost unless you use one of their tours. Also many embassies and consulates will sometimes just not issue visas for anyone or certain countries for no practical reason. Examples are the Russian embassies in Beijing or Ulan Bator that have a very strict process that will only use one or two local travel agencies, will take a week no matter what and sometimes just not approve people even after all that. While the consulate in Shanghai doesn't seem to really care at all and will just approve the visa no matter what. Therefore check what the situation is with the embassy or consulate you plan to get a visa from.

Money

See also: Money Matters

The ruble (RUB) is the official currency of Russia. The ruble is subdivided into 100 kopeks.

Banknotes are in denominations of 5 (rarely used),10, 50, 100, 500, 1000, 5000 rubles.
Coins come in 1, 5, 10 (rarely used), 50 kopeks, 1, 2, 5 rubles.

Work

Study

Language

Eat

Sleep

Drink

Health

See also: Travel Health

Safety

See also: Travel Safety

Keep Connected

Internet

Phone

See also: International Telephone Calls

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