St. Basil’s Cathedral: G!Z (flickr)

I recently wrote a post on international airfare savings during winter, and found that one destination that offers very good airfare savings during the winter months is Russia. Unfortunately the savings only seem to apply to North American airports, as airfares originating in Europe and Australia are roughly the same in the winter and summer, but for US and Canadian travelers the savings are significant. A recent search of Kayak.com revealed February roundtrip airfare to Moscow, Russia at around $555 (New York), $720 (Miami), and $815 (Los Angeles). These prices are quite low when compare to July airfares which run around $1045 (New York), $1080 (Miami), and $1335 (Los Angeles). The average savings is $455 or 40% off if willing to travel in the winter months.

So it seems the price is right, but what is there to do in Russia during the winter months? In an attempt to answer this question, I recently had the privilege of interviewing a very experienced Russia traveler, Ruth Imershein, who also maintains an informative website on Travel in Russia. Read on to hear what Ruth had to say about wintertime travel in Russia!

Hi Ruth! First let’s get formally acquainted. Tell us a little about yourself, what you do, and what kind of experience you have traveling throughout Russia

I am a physician employed by the US Department of State and currently residing in Bangkok, Thailand. I have been married almost 27 years and have three children in their 20s. I started traveling in Russia in 1993 and have returned perhaps 20+ times since then. I think I have been there in every month except March which I have avoided on recommendation of friends. I have traveled as far north as the Solovetsky Islands in the White Sea and as far east as the Chinese Russian border at Zabaikalsk. I’ve spent time in many of the Golden Ring Cities, Kaliningrad, Siberia and Altai.

Nice, a real world traveler! Why have you been told to avoid Russia in March?

March and to some degree April and November are iffy months. The chance of freezing rain or snow and the melting snow and refreezing at night reportedly make it a miserable time to be in European Russia. Probably Karelia, the Urals, Siberia and the Far East are ok then and more miserable in April and May.

Which would you consider to be the best winter months for travel in Russia? The worst?

The best winter month is probably February. You can be sure that it will be cold and that the likelihood of rain is slim but there is also more daylight then in December and January. November and March are probably the worst months. November for the possibility of rain and increasing darkness, March for the reasons mentioned earlier.

What do you consider the highlights of a trip to Russia during the winter months? How is travel to the region during this season different from travel during the high summer season?

Suzdal, Russia: Doc Kozzak (flickr)

Anyplace in Russia looks 100 times better after a recent snowfall, but perhaps one of the most magical places with a fresh dusting is the city of Suzdal.

A visit to a banya and a roll in the snow is a unique winter experience.

I haven’t done it yet but a Russian girl friend and I hope to one day spend some time up north going reindeer sledding.

For some it might be seeing the Aurora Borealis. My daughter used to live in Northern Michigan and occasionally saw it there but the likelihood of seeing it is greater the farther north you go so if this is an interest, then a trip to Murmansk, the largest city within the Arctic Circle, might be in order.

Other winter activities are cross country skiing, snow mobile riding, ice fishing, dog or reindeer sledding, troika rides. A troika is a sled drawn usually by three horses. I am not much of a sports participant so except for a rare cross country ski outing, i personally haven’t done these things but know that they can be arranged.

The other issue that one needs to take into consideration is the amount of daylight. In summer it stays light quite late and many northern jurisdictions turn off the street lights from May to mid August but in winter the street lights may be on all day. This means that some photo opportunities may be limited to a few hours during the middle of the day and thus even outdoor monuments and statues that don’t require entrance and fees aren’t worth visiting early or late.

OTOH there are other opportunities in winter. The ballet, theater, concert schedule is much fuller. The museums often have more special exhibitions in winter. BTW one nice convenience, almost every venue has a cloakroom where your coats and bags can be checked for free or at minimal cost. Lots of women wear warm comfortable shoes or boots and carry a tote with nicer footwear for evenings indoor.

Interesting. So it seems winter is the high season for cultural events. What could a traveler based out of Moscow hope to do in terms of cultural activities: theater, ballet, live music, museum exhibitions, etc?

Mariinsky Theatre: Wikipedia

There are quite a few venues for ballet, opera and concerts. The most famous are probably the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow, the Mariinsky Theater in Petersburg but there were others. For museums, for Russian art the Tretyakov Galleries, both the old and the new are excellent in Moscow. For international art in Moscow the best place in the Pushkin Museum. For Russian art in Petersburg the Russian Museum is the place to go and for international collections, nothing beats the Hermitage. Of course, these are all the most famous venues for these things, but Moscow has a huge contemporary art scene with various media and both Moscow and Petersburg have lots of galleries, smaller theaters, clubs, casinos, etc. These days a little bit of everything can be found there.

The Symphony Orchestra of Russia, which might be considered the Moscow Philharmonic, has a website, www.symor.ru, which lists their performances at the three venues where they perform, the Great Hall at the Moscow Conservatory, the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, and the State Central Concert Hall (inside the Kremlin.)

Russians interested in the visual and performing arts often buy a weekly or monthly magazine called “Afisha” which means the poster. It lists the gallery exhibitions, museum shows, movies, club and theater performances, etc. Unfortunately, it isn’t in English so foreigners have to look other places for this information. The Moscow Times English language paper is a good resource for this information, especially the weekly edition of Context.

What should a traveler expect regarding winter-time travel in Russia?

Shorter lines, fewer fellow travelers. OTOH There are also some winter holidays that mid summer visitors don’t experience and these can wreck havoc with making plans to see things during the shorter hours of daylight. Operation schedules are never strictly kept in Russia but during winter factors like holidays, weather and illness will cause unexpected closings. During Soviet times Jan 1 through 14 were usually considered holidays. (7 Jan is Orthodox Christmas and 14 Jan is Old New Year) Now with increased Western influences, the winter holiday seems to run from 25 Dec to 14 Jan.

Getting laundry done in Russia is always difficult but getting it dried is next to impossible. There are few laundromats. Most laundries don’t have dryers. Locals dry their clothing on the hot water pipes in the bathroom or during winter, let it freeze dry outside, then bring it in and beat it a bit until it softens enough to wear. This means one needs to think carefully about the clothing that you bring, and its ability to be washed and dried quickly as cold wet clothing can be dangerous. People die from hypothermia.

Travel in winter requires more clothing and careful thinking to be comfortable. Dressing in layers is essential as the temperature and wind are unpredictable. One year I took my middle son in April when there was still lots of ice and snow. Petersburg in particular, was quite windy and miserable but we managed. Another year I traveled with some coworkers at the same time; it was pleasant, green and sunny so all one needed was a medium weight jacket.

Don’t expect to stay clean. Grit and ash is used to make the ice less slippery, but this combined with car exhaust and air pollution makes the snow and slush black within a short time and it’s guaranteed to get on your clothing.

Summer travelers don’t generally pack gloves, hats, long underwear, heavy socks, waterproof boots, etc., but these are essential for winter travelers. In fact, I often suggest carrying two of certain things unless you want to spend part of your vacation replacing a misplaced or lost, but necessary, item such as gloves or hats.

Don’t expect the streets to be cleared of snow and ice. People need to walk very carefully. Locals cover the same territory regularly and know the ground surface while visitors don’t. Travelers need to look out above and below. Apocryphal or not, I don’t know, but there are stories of people being killed by falling icicles. And then there is the issue of slipping and sliding, stepping into something that appears solid only to discover slush or ice or a deeper hole than expected.

Expect to be cold, even indoors. Many Russian homes and buildings are poorly insulated and drafty. Don’t expect to go barefoot. Even in summer one is expected to wear slippers indoors but in winter, I wear slippers with socks. To be comfortable on trains, I sometimes have to sleep with a knit cap or scarf on my head.

It always seems to me that there aren’t that many Russians wearing eyeglasses but perhaps that is because going in and out the cold the glasses fog over and you can’t see anyway so why wear them. I mention this because when entering the metro, this can be a problem.
Generally I try to remember to remove my glasses so that I don’t get caught sightless and moved along by the masses racing to the turnstile entrances.

Expect outdoor activities to cost more than you anticipate. Expect organizing things to take longer. It takes longer to leave where you are staying, longer to get places. Expect that things won’t go entirely according to plan but then they rarely do.

Great tips Ruth, thank you! One last question, if you had about 2 weeks and roughly $1000 USD to visit Russia in the winter time (assuming airfare is already covered), what would you do?

My first impulse would be to call a girlfriend in Moscow and see if she were free and then, it would depend. As I said, I have always wanted to head north in midwinter for the experience, so I might take the train to Murmansk where my friend’s parents live. My plan would be to spend a few days a couple of days in Murmansk and also try to get to the Lovozero settlement, the capital of Russian Lapland for a few days. I know the train takes about 36 hours and costs about 90 USD each way. I have no idea about accommodation costs in Murmansk or the Lovozero settlement or the cost of transport to the settlement. I know that there are some tours there in winter but these are expensive - perhaps 525 USD per person for a group of 6-8 people for 4 nights. OTOH this probably wouldn’t fit in your budget.

Hermitage Theatre: Wikipedia

My next option might be Moscow for a few days and Petersburg for a few days, see what special exhibits are at the Pushkin and the Hermitage, get tickets for some Russian theater and perhaps a ballet. There is a private banya in Moscow to which I have access through a friend and I would arrange an afternoon there with some friends. I haven’t been to Veliky Rostov and Yaroslavl in winter so a train ride to Yaroslavl and then back to V. Rostov for a night or two each might be a nice option.

A long train ride is often fun if I have someone with whom to travel so I might head south to Saratov, a Russian town on the Volga with an old German settlement that I read a Moscow Times article about perhaps 5 years ago and is still on my list of places to go.

Sorry but it is hard for me to figure within this budget since I rarely pay for accommodations or some meals and often this is an expensive part of staying in Russia.

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