Russia for first-time visitors: what to know before you go

Start with the paperwork, not the itinerary. Read your own government's travel advice for Russia first: the site publishes no trip line for the country, and entry rules, flight routes and payment options have all shifted in recent years. Then confirm your visa route — visa-free lists, e-visas and invitation requirements differ by nationality and change often, so treat any blog post older than a few months as unreliable.

Moscow and Saint Petersburg are the two anchors of a first trip. Moscow is the political and business centre: Red Square, the Kremlin, the metro stations, the Tretyakov and Pushkin museums, plus day trips to Suzdal, Vladimir and the Golden Ring towns. Saint Petersburg is the imperial one: the Hermitage, Peterhof, Tsarskoye Selo, canals and the White Nights in June. Most visitors fly into one and out of the other, using the Sapsan high-speed train between them.

Beyond the two capitals, the country is enormous and distances are the main planning constraint. Kazan, Yekaterinburg, Irkutsk and Lake Baikal, Sochi and the Black Sea coast, Murmansk for the northern lights, and Vladivostok in the Far East are all realistic add-ons, but each one costs a flight or a long rail leg. Pick one region rather than trying to cover the map.

Practical habits matter more here than in most of Europe. Carry cash in rubles: foreign-issued cards may not work at ATMs or terminals, and mobile payment apps are tied to Russian banks. Download offline maps and a translation app before you fly, since English is limited outside hotels, major museums and younger urban Russians. Learn the Cyrillic alphabet — it takes an hour and makes metro signs, shop fronts and station boards readable.

Etiquette is straightforward: dress neatly for museums and churches, cover shoulders and heads in active Orthodox churches, don't photograph military sites or security buildings, and keep your passport and migration card with you. Registration rules for foreign visitors apply in some cases — your hotel usually handles it, but check if you are staying in private accommodation.

Book the Sapsan train and major museum tickets online in advance, especially in summer and during school holidays. The Hermitage and the Kremlin armoury sell out.

Keep a photocopy or phone photo of your passport, visa and migration card separately from the originals.

Use official taxi apps rather than hailing cars at stations and airports; agree the price or use the meter.

Carry small notes for metro, museums and cafés; breaking a large note is sometimes awkward.

If you take the Trans-Siberian, plan the stops rather than the whole line — Irkutsk and Lake Baikal are the classic break.