<p>I'm spending the summer doing language study at MGU. While I'm thrilled to take in Moscow (and later Petersburg and other cities in the Golden Ring) in all of its/their glory, I'm looking to do some things which are off the beaten path. I'm hoping to have the chance to roam a bit about the countryside (outside of Moscow), see WWII memorials and remnants, have chance amazing encounters with random people, and take in the less urban elements of the russkaya dusha. For anyone on here who is Russian or who has extensive experience there, is it feasible for a foreigner with limited language experience to do some exploring around the outskirts of the major cities? For what it's worth, I'm hoping to make a side trip to Volgograd over a long weekend, but there's only so much which I can experience looking out a train window.</p>
<p>If the movie 'Peculiarities of the National Hunt' provides any frame of reference, I'm looking to do something like that involving marginally less vodka and substantially less criminal mischief.</p>
<p>Sposibo bolshoi!</p>
<p>Why do you want to go to Volgograd? It’s quite a distance from Moscow and it’s very ugly. If I were you I’d spend that weekend taking the train from St Petersburg to Helsinki, and then from there a short ferry to Tallinn. Do you have time to do the trans-siberian? If you want to see the country, there’s no better way. </p>
<p>I don’t know what to suggest so I’ll just tell you some places I’d like to go:</p>
<p>Vyborg (originally a Swedish city)
Bogolyubovo
Murmansk (very close to Kirkenes in Norway which is also worth a look)
Kizhi
Petrozavodsk
Kazan</p>
<p>I’m interested in Volgograd for its WWII history. I won’t get to be in Russia often, and I figure that while I’m there, I should visit the ground upon which Russia saved Western Civilisation :). I think I’d be taking the train there, so I’d make a long weekend out of it.</p>
<p>I unfortunately don’t have time to do the Trans-Siberian. I’m doing language study, which will require me to remain in Moscow for most weekdays. I’m also only going on a single-entry visa, so once I leave Russia, I can’t return.</p>
<p>I’m planning on doing a week and a half of travel about Eastern Europe after I’m done in Moscow, so I will get to see some stuff outside of Russia.</p>
<p>I’m just curious as to whether it’s feasible for a foreigner to get outside the city and get around reasonably well. I don’t think I’d be able to drive, since I can’t drive stick and I’m not anywhere near ready to take on Moscow’s streets.</p>
<p>If you need to be back in Moscow for weekdays I don’t think you can expect to do huge amounts of traveling, certainly not beyond the golden circle. I think it takes 20 hours just to get to Volgograd by train from Moscow, and another 20 hours to get back - is it really worth it? Vyborg is a very Swedish looking city in Russia so I think that’s worth a seeing, as is Kizhi and Kazan.</p>
<p>Have you got any ideas where to go in Eastern Europe?</p>
<p>On the outskirts of Moscow you will find IKEA and drive through McDs…</p>
<p>I’m looking to hit Riga, Kiev, perhaps Krakow, and Munich.</p>
<p>I’ll see if they’ll let me out of classes for a long weekend. I was thinking of this being a Thurs-Tuesday morning sort of thing.</p>
<p>How far out of Moscow do people have their dachas?</p>
<p>Wow I have never seen someone(including Russians) who loves Russia so much!
Our dachas are usually around 100km, but certainly there are rich people who have townhouses right outside of Moscow; there are also people who go really far every wekkend (like 300km) to enjoy the countryside.
I would not recommend Volgograd at all. Russia is not a country when you get off touristic paths being a foreigner. I think Moscow has it all, and it is very difficult to travel anywhere far without a car.
I’m from Moscow myself, so you can PM me if you have anything else to ask.</p>
<p>Haha perhaps I just need some time there to get some cynicism about the place!</p>
<p>Perhaps I should reconsider Volgograd. I’d hate to spend $150 on train fare and commit 5 days to a trip that isn’t worthwhile</p>
<ol>
<li>Go to Moscow</li>
<li>Get in with some local students at MGU</li>
<li>???</li>
<li>Dachas, vodka, travel, girls</li>
</ol>
<p>Just don’t act like a typical American who won’t brush his teeth with the water from the tap, and you’ll be fine. A real American friend is still a hot commodity, from what I’ve heard.</p>
<p>p.s. If you want russkaya dusha, go to Siberia. Most of that stuff is geological expeditions, but the university of novosibirsk has a summer language immersion programme</p>
<p>@abnk</p>
<p>what school in the UK are you at?</p>