Mystic Russia in Seven / Eight Days - First Stop, Moscow - Two Nights

About Russia.

Coat of Arm of Russia

Russia always invokes mixed feeling. Being a Communist Country for many decades and hence hardly anything was known about it. Most of us know it is grand, vast and wild too but are curios to visit Russia. We do remain apprehensive as to how will we manage there as most speak only the Russian language and the country is relatively unknown

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Since we have travelled to Russia, I would like to tell the readers that Travelling to Russia is a Great Experience which should not be missed. Russia is grand, beautiful, friendly and affordable.

Obtaining a Visa for Russia.

To go to Russia, the first thing you need is Visa from the Russian Embassy. To know the full process of getting Russian Visa read my blog here -  https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?tab=rj1&blogID=5304719112013667984#editor/target=post;postID=7137100067525693452;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=1;src=link.

Which Airline to take form India?

The best way to go to Russia is, obviously, by Air. Aeroflot, the Russian airlines is the direct connection to Moscow, the capital of Russia from Delhi. Other Airlines also fly to Moscow and Saint Petersburg but they all route the passengers through the hub of the airlines, that is indirect flight. For example, Lufthansa would fly the passengers to Frankfurt and then from Frankfurt to Moscow.

Aeroflot thus is the recommended airline to fly to Moscow from Delhi. Aeroflot flights go to Saint Petersburg too but via Moscow and are still fastest.

First Stop - Moscow, Two Nights.

The commute from Moscow's   Sheremetyevo Airport to the city is easy. One can travel by Aero Shuttle Buses which are the most Economical. There is a train also available which is called Aeroexpress. The option of taking a Taxi to the city also exists. We used prepaid Uber which is not very costly compared to Aero Express Trains.

Internal commute options within Moscow city are Buses, Metro (underground) trains and Taxies. The famous 11 number bus also called Walking is an option but with limited range, it is not the most recommended one.

Moscow Metro

Moscow has good B & Bs and also boutique hotels. One can book through various websites. However, if there is a web site of the hotel or B & B, book directly. For all those who do not want to take the trouble, do reach us at enquiry@happystepstravels.com.

What to See in Moscow?

First Half Day

Most famous and well-known landmarks of Moscow are really within a 2 km distance, with Moscow Kremlin (Fort or seat of administration) as the centre. That makes them within walkable distance from each other.

Kremlin by itself, with its towers, Cathedrals and buildings can take considerable time to visit. Keep about half a day to visit Kremlin, St Basil Cathedral, Red Square, Lenin's Mausoleum, Kazan Cathedral and GUM Department store, oldest departmental store in Moscow and Russia. The whole trip is overwhelming and grandness of all the places is spectacular.

Kazan Cathedral

Saint Basel's Cathedral

On the outer Wall of Kremlin

One of the Guard Tower of Kremlin

One of the CHurches Inside Kremlin

The GUM Store is also home to the top brands of the world. How much one can buy there is a question of depth of one's pocket but a visit to GUM is must a to appreciate the grandeur, the architecture and also to have the famous GUM ice cream. it is world-class and it must be tasted. 

GUM Departmental Store

There are many museums in this area. If museums interests you, take time out and see them. If ballet is your liking, Bolshoe Theater is situated right here. The River Moskva is a place to do a boat cruise, evening cruise or a romantic dinner cruise.

Day Two

First half

Izmailovo Kremlin - This is a replica of Kremlin kind of structure which has been made of wood in 2007. It is a fun place with something for everyone. There are single museums inside like a museum of Vodka, etc. There are coffee shops, eateries, etc. 

Izmailovo's Kremlin

Kremlin Boundry

Dummy Guns

Inside the Kremlin

Vodka Museum

Inside the Kremlin

Just outside this Kremlin is once-famous "Izmailovo market" which exists form 17th century but now its a flea market where sellers from all over Russia come to sell their stuff. 

There is also a budget hotel here run by a girl who also runs a restaurant that, apart from other cuisines, Sevres Indiancusines too. This place is aptly named "MahaRickshaw". It may be worth a visit to soak in the love of India that this girl has.

After visiting this place, visiting Moscow Metro is feasible in the balance first half. Moscow Metro is by itself something that is a must in your programme. These metro stations were created to show the world the greatness of USSR. these stations are really beautiful. Visiting them gives the feeling of happiness as these stations are beautiful and are different from each other.

There are regular Metro tours operated by some tour operators. These tours last one and a half hours to two hours and cover four to five main stations which are worth visiting. The main stations are Revolution Square, with magnificent sculptures of the Soviet era, Kurskaya Station Lobby, the Hall of Fame of the WWII, Komsomolskaya, with impressive mural mosaics of Russian glorious victories and Novoslobodskaya, with the stained glass. 

Decorative Panel on the wall

Another one

Artistry on the Roof

You got to believe that it's a Metro Station

Closer View of The Roof

There is a train in the frame (to confirm its a metro station)

Grand Metro Stations of Moscow

For the second half of day two, there are many options. Visiting Gorky Park, Christ the Saviour Cathedral, Novodevichy convent is something that can be done in balance half day. Alternately one can visit Old Arabat Stree, a place worth visit and a food lover’s delight in the afternoon or the evening after visiting other sights.

With this one and a half-day trip to Moscow, one can depart Moscow next day morning for the next destination.

Self Planned Three Weeks Trip to Europe - Bookings - Air Tickets

Initial Programme (Not being used)

We had initially made a programme which looked like this:-

Day	From	To	At	Mode/ Action
1	India Location	Budapest		Fly
2			Budapest
3			Budapest
4			Budapest
	Budapest	Vienna		Rail
5			Vienna
6			Vienna
7			Vienna
8			Vienna
9	Vienna	Salzburg	Via Hallstatt	Road
10			Salzburg
11			Salzburg
12	Salzburg	Prague	Via Cesky Krumlov	Road
13			Prague
14			Prague
15			Prague
	Prague	Amsterdam		Air (Or Prague to India)
16			Amsterdam
17			Amsterdam
18	Amsterdam	Paris	Paris	TGV (high speed train)
19	Thursday		Paris
20	Friday		Paris
21		Paris	Mumbai	Air

(Note – the Yellow shaded portion was our requirement. The central Europe circuit as we perceived gets over at Prague and one can return to India from Prague)

We have kept it in abeyance at the moment but I reproduced it for two reasons. Reason no I, it is an easily doable programme for anyone interested to go through that circuit.

Secondly, it is a ready-made itinerary on which we have devoted considerable time. We are not using it at the moment but if some one gets motivated to look at it and follow it, let it be useful to them.

Final Programme

Our distilled itinerary which was finalised after due analysis and for which we had to start bookings looked something like this:-

Day	From	To	Mode	Activity
0	Mumbai	Paris	Air
1		Paris
2		Paris
3	Paris	Ghent	Bus
4		Ghent
5	Ghent	Amsterdam	Bus
6		Amsterdam		Tulips & Windmills
7		Amsterdam
8	Amsterdam	Cologne	DB Train
9		Cologne
10	Cologne	Koblenz	Car	Rhine Valley Trip
11	drive	Frankfurt		Rhine Valley Trip
12	Frankfurt	Berlin	Loco more Train
13		Berlin
14		Berlin
15	Berlin	Dresden	Car / Bus
16		Dresden
17	Dresden	Prague	DB Train
18		Prague
19		Prague
20	Prague	Budapest	Bus
21		Budapest
22		Budapest
23	Budapest	Mumbai	Air

Air Travel Booking

Making of itinerary took time but tougher then that was bookings. Myriad options and lot of confusion. For flights as well as local stay and intercity transfer, what to choose, based on what criteria, etc became all confusing. Economy, the number 1 Indian reason for any selection (Remember, Indians always ask when they look at the best of the Car, “Kitana (mileage)  Deti Hai”) finally emerged as the main selection criteria though comfort, convenience, etc also were other criteria.

To search for our flight, we took initial help from Kayak.com, a booking website for all travel needs. There are many more such portal giving out similar information but it was selected for giving comprehensive information of the flights. Once few options were shortlisted and studies, we realised that those options are the best options. Once options are shortlisted, we do the booking through Airlines website.

Initial plan was to use Turkish Airline. What tilted the balance in favour of this airline? That is very interesting. If one flies Turkish and has a layover of 6 or more hours (upto 24 hrs) at Istanbul, which is hub of Turkish Airlines operation, that person (s) can do a city tour of Istanbul, an ancient and beautiful city complimentary, including suitable meal (whatever falls in the tour time, BF or Lunch). This tour is conducted by Touristanbul (istanbulinhours.com). The temptation of visiting Istanbul as a by-product of the trip was irresistible.

We decided to let go of this temptation for the simple reason that we were not sure how much energy we would be left with after a long tour of 6 nations and 10 destinations to go for Istanbul tour. We felt that we would do a blatant injustice to Istanbul, a city which deserves due respect, if we take the tour half-heartedly. This plan has been kept in reserve for future trip (s). I mentioned trip(s) in the last sentence because I am a rank optimist.

Once we got over the temptation of flying via Turkey, realism took charge of us and we zeroed down on Air France option to fly into Paris and fly out of Budapest to Mumbai via Paris. Why Air France? Because that was the best option available among the shortlisted options.

What emerged from all this research is, options are many. Some of the options may be even more cost effective (like Aeroflot or other airline). The point that must be taken into consideration is, the selected airline will always take you to its hub (say, St Peters burg or Moscow in Russia if one flies Aeroflot) and to your destination.

A fine balance between economy and time invested on the travel needs to be made. Traditionally, all airline generally operate in classical Hub and Spoke style (unless some airline specifically has a direct flight, generally very costly). They get all in-bound flights from take-off city to their operations hub and then send out out-bound flights to the their destination.

After all the Permutations, we booked our most optimum flight for the journey.