Moscow and Golden Ring

File: IMG_20170311_131051.jpg (5MB, 3264x2448px) Image search: [Google]

5MB, 3264x2448px

you chose strange objects to visit.
[spoiler]**passing from saint-p**[/spoiler]

>>1226323
Oh, I'd really love to visit Saint Petersburg as well, however, I don't think I will be able to fit it in my 30 day visa without having to rush through everything. I am even worried I won't be able to finish the Golden Ring. I have two more trips to Russia planned, one to Saint Petersburg, Novgorod, Arkhangelsk and the Solovetsky Islands and the other to the Far East and Siberia. Was thinking if I can get a Russian friend from uni to say that I am visiting him so I can get a private visa which allows me to stay for 90 days, however, it will probably require effort on his side and I don't want to be a burden. Also, it just dawned on me that the World Cup will be next year meaning that a lot of the prices will be heavily inflated, therefore, I might have to reschedule the trip for summer 2019 seeing that I don't really want to visit in the winter.

File: P_20161015_161713.jpg (2MB, 3264x1836px) Image search: [Google]

2MB, 3264x1836px

>>1226207
The museum in the Korolev is closed not only for the intrants, but also for the Russians, you need to fill out a lot of papers to get there. But this if you believe the Internet, maybe you will be allowed to go there without any problems. In Moscow by the way there is a good museum of astronautics. The second largest statue of Lenin really is in Dubna. If we talk about the golden ring, then I advise you Sergiev Posad, Suzdal, Murom and Costroma for a long time to talk about the merits of these cities, but i love they. A very beautiful monument to Ilya Muromets, a monaster in Sergiev Posad and the whole architecture of Kostroma. In other words, it was in the past the main cities where the new Russia was born.

>>1226343
I am not in Russia now, so I can hardly help you in the near future, but I can answer the questions)

>>1226698
What would you say about Rostov Veliky and Alexandrov, are they worth a stay, or day visits or should I just skip them entirely? I was also wondering about Borodino, I read there is a really nice panorama in Moscow so visiting the battlefield itself will probably not be worth it as well as being difficult. In general I am fascinated by the cosmos so I'd also love to visit Zvyozdny Gorodol, but once again i feel as if I'm trying to cram up way too much stuff for a mere 30 days.

>>1226343
When you're going to come here? I'm muscovite and I'd help you. Also I'm interesting in having a foreighner friend too (for language practice).

I'm going to SPb for a week from 22 to 30.07. SPb is ultimate nice city that has to be visited.

>>1226207
Don't waste your time on Ivanovo if you're not a russian constructivist architecture addict. I really don't know why this city listed in GR. It has absolutely no any ancient locations and buildings, the city was found as a textile manufactory workers settelment in XIXc on the place where had been ordinary small village of XVIIc. Anyway, constructivist buidings are nice but stay in decay now.

You should check out Gremyachiy saint spring next door to Sergiev Posad and spring of St Irinarch near to Borisoglebsky. Very cozy locations, I love to visit it from time to time.

File: Volgograd_082.jpg (97KB, 600x900px) Image search: [Google]

97KB, 600x900px

>>1226207
Golden Ring is an itenerary for around a week:
Day 1:
Moscow - Vladimir
Day 2:
Vladimir - Suzdal
Day 3:
Stay in Suzdal
4:
Suzdal - Ivanovo - Kostroma
5:
Stay in Kostroma
6:
Kostroma - Yaroslavl
7:
Yaroslavl + Rostov day trip
8:
Yaroslavl to Moscow

All the trips between the cities are 2-3 hours by local trains or buses. You could stay in Ivanovo and day trip to Plyos and Shuya (I managed to do it on the same day in summer). Pereslavl-Zalesskiy is the only official Golden Ring town where I haven't been. From Moscow you can day trip to Sergiev Posad and Kolomna/Zaraysk (I actually quite enjoyed Zaraysk, it's like deep sleepy province but still located in Moscow region and has a small fortress with little pieces of farming land inside).
If you have 30 days and wish to postpone the northern part for another visit, you could as well go to Volga basin region: Kazan, Yoshkar-Ola, Cheboksary, Nizhny Novgorod.

By the way, the biggest statue of Lenin is in Volgograd, near the beginning of Volga-Don channel. There used to be a statue of Stalin of equal size there, but it was taken down on the day when the city was renamed, and replaced with Lenin a few years later. Pic related.

>>1226207
Do you speak Russian? I am quite interested in traveling around Russia and I think the main tourist interest stuff you could see in 2 months of traveling. But without a basic level of Russian I'm a bit put off, I recently visited Prague and not being able to order in the restaurants or read stuff in more smaller museums is just boring when I could just travel to Latin America and understand it all.

>>1227350
Thank you for the information, sadly I think the earliest I can make the trip will be in 2019. I already have other stuff planned for this summer, the initial plan was doing it during the next summer, however, due to the World Cup it will probably be twice as expensive and overcrowded. I doubt I'll be able to afford it, seeing that I don't want to visit Russia in the winter, realistically I believe the earliest I can do is May/June 2019. If I am lucky enough to get a scholarship I might do it next spring, but it's not really a big possibility.

>>1227381
Useful information, thank you. I was looking at pictures of Sergiev Posad and it looks like a lovely place. If you are saying I can do Golden Ring in one week I might be able to do something along the lines of 1 week Moscow, 1 week Golden Ring, 1 week St Petersburg. Will probably need 3-4-5 days to see everything I'm interested while in Moscow and STP without rushing and the rest of my stay there will be day trips to near towns. Kolomna and Zaraysk both look great from what I see on google images.

>>1227410
I only speak a little bit of Russian, but I can read and understand almost everything. I suppose most of the big cities will have a lot of English speaking people so the language will not be a problem while there, as for the small ones, I suppose I'll just have to do my best to communicate with the locals.

Something I want to do is go to a Russian bath, is it worth it as a tourist experience? What are some other more unusual things that I can try?

File: 544x286[1].jpg (43KB, 516x286px) Image search: [Google]

43KB, 516x286px

»1227440
Kolomna and especially Zaraysk are really worth. The second one is my favorite town in Moscow region though. However Dmitrov and Volokolamsk are not bad too. Also Moscow region has some more small but cute locations - museums, estates, springs, towns, monasteries, etc.

From town to town you actually could go by backpacking, it's easy to do it out of 20-50km limit around Moscow where people isn't so mercantile and avid as muscovites are. Mass transportation out of big cities and far from radial ways go from and to Moscow is not in very good condition and russians are commonly very hospitality and helpful.

Yes, you probably could have some problems in communication with locals without speaking Russian far from big cities. It is the same problem in whole Europe maybe except Scandinavia. In Golden Ring towns is some tourist infrastructure with English-speaking staff, but it is commonly a bit expencive as it seems to me, locals-oriented infrastructure may be cheaper. Anyway, Russians are really very hospitable and locals often will try to help you if you ask.