Is Russia a beautiful place to travel to? Is it safe?

Question

Which place do you recommend to be visited?

Answer 1

while it is a beautiful place, i would stick to seeing it through pictures as it is one of the top 10 most dangerous contries to visit (up there with colombia , and iraq). It is very unsafe, please don't go, esp. if your an American.  If you look around you can find your reasons, go to www.wikitravel.org and type in russia and go down the page until it comes to the Stay Safe section. Just reading that will probably deter you.  If you must go, i would suggest looking for an American based travel agency who would specialise in doing large (30+) group trips that you can buy a ticket on. Other than that, i would never go there .

Answer 2

One of my friends just went through on the Trans-Siberian Railway and had a great time.

"The truth is that crime was greatly exaggerated in the media, and for the average tourist Moscow, Saint Petersburg and the rest of Russia are actually just as safe as most major Northern European cities. The "Russian Mafia" make for fun movies, but are absolutely not a threat to tourists—at best they and their girlfriends are a tourist attraction themselves, as they often dine in foreigner-friendly establishments."

Answer 3

I have heard first hand wonderful stories of visits to Russia and a few absolute horror stories - but my guess is that it is as safe as anywhere, really. Where is safe after all. Go or don't go. Me, I'd go.

St Petersburg and Moscow should be on your list. There is a train that goes across the country that looks interesting as well.

Answer 4

For some reason people get scared of Russia.  It is a very developed country with a lot of history and interesting things to see.  You take the same precautions as you would when traveling anywhere else in the world.  Go to Moscow or St. Petersburg, there are a lot of foreign tourists there and a lot of sites.  Many people speak English (even subway stops in Moscow are also translated into English) and you can get around fairly easily.  It's a unique experience and I would definitely recommend it.