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MALATI
Just Starting
Joined: 11 Feb 2011
Posts: 2
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 Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2011 11:12 pm Post subject: Travelling to nearby cities from St. Petersburg |
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| I am coming to St. Petersburg with a group. However, at the end of our trip, I plan to spend four days visiting to Novgorod and other smaller places. How difficult is it in these places to manage if you do not know Russian, for example. getting from the bus station to the hotel, ordering the food in restaurants, getting to the museum, getting a local guide who speaks English etc. Any advice would be helpful. |
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delphinspb
Just Starting
Joined: 13 Feb 2011
Posts: 1
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| Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 11:39 pm Post subject: Re: Travelling to nearby cities from St. Petersburg |
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| MALATI wrote: | | I am coming to St. Petersburg with a group. However, at the end of our trip, I plan to spend four days visiting to Novgorod and other smaller places. How difficult is it in these places to manage if you do not know Russian, for example. getting from the bus station to the hotel, ordering the food in restaurants, getting to the museum, getting a local guide who speaks English etc. Any advice would be helpful. |
Hi
i live in St.Petersburg
if you don't know Russian language - it's very hard |
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MALATI
Just Starting
Joined: 11 Feb 2011
Posts: 2
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| Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2011 5:23 pm Post subject: |
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| Is it not possible to make arrangements ahead of time, for example through this website? |
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kubrickc
Just Starting
Joined: 29 Aug 2010
Posts: 0
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| Posted: Thu Feb 24, 2011 5:21 pm Post subject: |
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| MALATI wrote: | | Is it not possible to make arrangements ahead of time, for example through this website? |
Yes, it is possible to make arrangements and it is not that difficult to achieve. I spent a couple days in Novgorod back in November, and the process to secure my accomodations was practically painless. Go online and look at the "Intourist Hotel" or "Volkhov" which are both fairly nice and fairly inexpensive if you're not traveling during the peak season. Be sure to see all the churches and don't leave Novgorod unless you've been inside the Kremlin--an unbelieveable vision.
The train is run once a day from St. Petersburg at the Vitbesky Rail Station, so leaving and coming back is not difficult at all. Be mindful though that the ticket booth is on the third level, is not very well advertised, and leaves at 800AM. You'll need cash--no CC.
As for speaking Russian, you should learn it simply because you're visiting the country. If you're not interested in mastering it, of course, at least parrot the essentials of direction, requests, and cost. The train station workers do not speak English (or likely won't) and if you can't communicate, you'll have a stressful experience. My girlfriend doesn't speak it, though I do a little, and she struggled as a result--menus, signs, conversation, etc. all became impossible for her.
Also, Pskov is another cool city that is within a day's travel... cool historical areas and the monestary is beautiful. |
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Jeniekrag
Just Starting
Joined: 10 Nov 2011
Posts: 5
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| Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2011 10:34 am Post subject: |
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| Novgorod has fantastic churches and there are beautiful graffiti like ornaments adorning the church. There is a great collection of manuscripts, different icons, old paintings, sculptures and many artistic things. |
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