Contents:
1. Be extremely alert on buses in St. Petersburg !
2. Economical hotels in Moscow (This article has been revised)
3. A good place to change your travellers’ cheques in Moscow
4. A reliable place to buy international air tickets in Moscow
5. Prices in general
6. Suzdal and Rostov Veliky
1. Be extremely alert on buses in St. Petersburg !
I was almost robbed on a trolleybus on Nevsky prospect in St. Petersburg. They were about five men working together, well dressed and didn’t look like thieves at all. They got on the bus with me while surrounding me, disguising themselves as ordinary passengers, though I didn’t notice it until later. They surrounded me completely and pushed their bodies toward me in the crowded bus, then tried to rob my wallet, bag, etc. Fortunately I was with my Russian wife, she talked to them and then they backed away a little, at that time the bus arrived at a bus stop and we narrowly escaped from the bus with all our strength. I don’t think I could escape their assault if I were alone in the bus. (This happened in March 2001)
2. Economical hotels in Moscow
There are certainly more economical hotels in Moscow than written in the LP guidebook. For example, in September 2000, we stayed at Gostinitsa Zarya (ulitsa Gostinichnaya, d.4, k.9, 127106 Moskva. Tel. 095-482-2169, 482-2345, 482-2574 Fax. 482-0692), 10 minutes’ walk from Metro (Grey Line). A comfortable semi-deluxe double room with bathtub, sofas & TV cost US$22 per night. They can also register your visa (You have to go to their office in person the next morning). The hotel has many buildings and each building has its own reception desk. We stayed at Building #9 and #11 so we know at least these buildings accept foreigners. It is advisable to take a taxi from the metro station to the hotel for 50 roubles (US$1.80) when you go there for the first time, because the way is a bit complicated. When you walk, you can use a short cut so it is far shorter than going by car. The hotel can arrange a taxi for Sheremetyvo airport for US$15, so it’s convenient to stay there before you fly out of the country.
In August 2000, we obtained a small booklet from a Russian travel agency which contains some introduction of economical hotels in Moscow for Russian travellers. The above hotel was included in this booklet. Here I also list other hotels mentioned in this booklet, so that you can check them out by yourselves:
Gostinitsa
Voskhod
Altufevskoe
shosse, d.2, 127273 Moskva. (150 metres from metro Vladykino)
Tel.
401-9984, 5034, 4143 Fax. 401-8439
Gostinitsa
pri Akademii Narodnogo Khozyaistva
Prospect
Vernadskogo, d.82, 117571 Moskva (100 metres from metro Yugo-Zapadnaya)
Tel.
434-3325 Fax. 434-3248
Gostinitsa
Kuzminki
Volzhsky bulvar, kvartal 114-a, korp.9, 109462 Moskva
(10 minutes by trolleybus #27 or 38 from metro Tekstilshchiki)
Tel.
179-0879, 6845 Fax. 179-1311
Gostinitsa
Ostankino
Botanicheskaya ulitsa, d.29, 127276 Moskva
(15 minutes by trolleybus #9 from metro Alekseevskaya)
Tel. 247-6275 ext.4008 Fax. 247-6275 ext.0555
Gostinitsa Sayany
Yaroslavskoe shosse, d.116, k.2, 129337 Moskva
(20 minutes by trolleybus #76 or bus #172 from metro VDNKh, get off at ulitsa Fedoskinskaya bus stop)
Tel. 188-4485, 183-1056 Fax. 183-1265
Gostinitsa Universitetskaya
Michurinsky prospekt, d.8 / 29, 117192 Moskva
(At metro Universitet, exit toward MGU, take bus #67,103, 130, 187, 260 or trolleybus #34, get off at the third stop - ploschad Indiry Gandi)
Tel. 939-9215, 9261 Fax. 956-1155
It seems none of the above hotels are written in the LP. I hope someone will investigate those hotels and find out more cheap hotels in Moscow for backpackers and budget travellers. If you have some inquiries about this booklet, call Association of Moscow Hotels at Tel / Fax (095) 936-6438.
3. A good place to change your travellers’ cheques in Moscow
Vneshtorgbank, ul. B. Molchanovka 17 / 14, entrance on Novy Arbat on the north side several minutes’ walk from the metro Arbatskaya, changes your dollar travellers’ cheques to dollar cash at only one percent’s commission. You need to show them your Sales Advise. I changed Citicorp cheques there but I think they accept all major travellers’ cheques. After obtaining dollar cash you can change it to roubles at any of the numerous exchange offices at a better rate. (This information is as of April 2001)
4. A reliable place to buy international air tickets in Moscow
Kosmo Travels, ul. Vorontsovskaya, d. 1 / 3, str. 2, on ploschad Taganskaya a few minutes’ walk from the metro Taganskaya (Tel. 095-9566082, 9564960, e-mail cosmotravels@hotmail.com), sells international tickets on most airlines at 7 percents off the airline tariff. They have on-line computers and issue your tickets at once. It seems there aren’t any real discounted international air tickets in Russia apart from some charter flights. (This information is as of April 2001)
5. Prices in general
I visited Russia in August last year, then again in March this year. It seems the prices in roubles have risen about 20 to 30 percents during these months, whereas the dollar has risen only 3 percents against the rouble during the same period. (Now one dollar is worth 28.5 roubles). So for foreigners almost everything is now about 25 percents more expensive than last year. The airfares, train fares and hotel prices have risen about 30 percents. Train fares are still very reasonable though. For example, a kupe (4-berths-compartment) ticket from Moscow to St. Petersburg (650 km) cost US$17 on train #4, which was much cheaper than is written in the LP. The carriages were new and very comfortable. There are no longer foreigners’ prices for train tickets and everyone pays the same price. But the hotels usually seemed quite overpriced. We stayed at Hotel Oktyabrsky Filial in St. Petersburg, a standard double with bath cost US$35 including breakfast, but the room was small, smelly and not very clean. This hotel is not very secure, it’s an office building so anyone can get in, the door is thin and the lock seemed very easy to break. One day we saw an angry Russian woman at the reception, she said someone had entered her room during her absence and stole many valuables from her bag.
6. Suzdal and Rostov Veliky
We visited Suzdal in March 2001, and despite the muddy streets and snowy weather, the visit was very rewarding and memorable. It’s hard to believe the place had maintained its medieval appearance during the 70 years of Soviet era. If you like to visit a beautiful town in the countryside, I heartily recommend you to visit this place, especially in early summer. We stayed at Hotel Rizopolozhenskaya (Tel. 20553, the number written in LP is mistaken), a standard double with bath cost US$12.30, a deluxe double US$17.55, but there was no hot water. We were told that the whole city had been without hot water for months, because the hot water factory couldn’t pay for the fuel. The town was almost totally dark at night, because the municipality couldn’t pay for the electricity cost for streetlights. It’s sad to know that a town with such a huge tourism potential lacks even very basic infrastructure. We also visited Rostov Veliky, and we liked it, too. We stayed at Dom na Pogrebok, a clean, spacious double room with sofa, TV, shower and toilet cost US$14. There was an electric water heater so the hot water was no problem. The room commands a view of the patio of Kremlin and a cathedral. Despite the sour and unhelpful reception staffs, we heartily recommend you to stay there.