Advice for getting about in Russia

[King David]

Hi there, I am starting to plan an expedition to climb Mt Elbrus in the Caucasus Mountains. I know that there are some pretty well travelled types around these parts and I was wondering if anyone has any experience of travelling around Russia.

Brief research has shown that I could get a flight to Moscow pretty cheaply (around May time) but then I would have to travel to the Baskan Valley - possibly via Mineraline Vody (spelling?). My questions really are what kind of costs is it to travel in Russian and what are the best and safest methods? I would need a few permits, are these typically fairly easy to get nowadays or is it a case of allowing a lot of time for paperwork.

If anyone has any advice or experiences I would love to hear them.

[King David]

Quick bump to give this another go. Has no one travelled around Russia?

[DBSV8]

direct Flights to Moscow BMI ( better than BA ) book early return flights in the region of 250 -300 quid depends how far in advance you book

not sure the region you are travelling to I use UTAIR direct to Siberia

http://www.utair.ru/en/

then use rail network link here , you can buy tickets on line

http://eng.rzd.ru/isvp/public/rzdeng/express?sheet...

If you book trains make sure you book Coupe class ( 4 berths ) or even better Lux ( 2 berths )

dont travel economy cattle class otherwise youl end up 6 up in multiple carriage with sweaty vodka stinking old Babushkas and grandads farting and wafting smelly socks in your face all night !!


give you more info 2 morrow ,busy 2night teaching our comrades how to make a curry

[Alfachick]

One thing that will help a LOT is learning the cyrillic (sp) alphabet. Makes sign reading sooooo much easier. Its not hard to learn, try here for it...

http://www.practicerussian.com/

You may be able to get the train a few places, its much cheeper than flying, but also much slower and not as comfy, but a good experince. If you do this, buy any food (and beer) that you will need before you get on the train, as they often run out of a lot of stuff from the restraunt car, and the trolleys that come round are full of out of date stuff that is rank.

Don't really know about permits etc. Have you got your Russian visa sorted out already?

Also be prepeared for the Russian folk to think that you are totally mental for wanting to visit their country outside of Moscow. They haven't really cottoned on to the whole tourism thing really.

[King David]

Thanks for the responses so far. I haven't got a visa sorted yet. Right now I am trying to figure out the feasibility and cost of the trip before commiting to anything. I think that is good advice about figuring out their alphabet as I got lost on the first page of the train network website.

I know you can't really generalise with a country so vast but what is the general attitude to foreigners as you leave the larger cities? Is it a place where you should travel in large groups or are you typically ok if you keep yourself to yourself?

[Rach*]

I loved Russia and found the people in and out of cities very welcoming. Highly recommened




A friend of mine has just been travelling about Russia for a few weeks by train, he had a smashing time too.