It is possible for the budget traveller to get by on US$30 a day. Staying in more comfortable hotels and dining out two or three times a day, will cost at least US$85 a day. Dining in Moscow's finest restaurants and staying in the better hotels, will cost  around US$350 a day. Very few places in Russia expect you to tip. Top-end hotels and restaurants add 5% to 15% to your bill, while room porters expect around US$1 a bag. Shops have fixed prices, but in markets you'll be expected to bargain.

Geography: The Russian Federation is the largest of the 21 republics that make up the Commonwealth of Independent States. It covers almost twice the area of the USA, and reaches from Moscow in the west over the Urals and the vast Siberian plains to the Sea of Okhotsk in the east. The border between European Russia and Siberia (Asia) is formed by the Ural Mountains, the Ural River and the Manych Depression. European Russia extends from the North Polar Sea across the Central Russian Uplands to the Black Sea, the Northern Caucasus and the Caspian Sea. Siberia stretches from the West Siberian Plain across the Central Siberian Plateau between Yenisey and Lena, including the Sayan, Yablonovy and Stanovoy ranges in the south to the East Siberian mountains between Lena and the Pacific coast including the Chukotskiy and Kamchatka peninsulas.

It is bordered by Norway and Finland in the northwest, Estonia, Latvia, Belarus, Ukraine, Poland, and Lithuania in the west, Georgia and Azerbaijan in the southwest, and Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China, and North Korea along the southern border.

Climate:

Northern & Central European Russia: The most varied climate; mildest areas are along the Baltic coast. Summer sunshine may be 9 hours a day, but winters can be very cold.

Siberia: Very cold winters, but summers can be pleasant, although they tend to be short and wet. There is considerable seasonal temperature variation.

Southern European Russia: Winter is shorter than in the north. Steppes (in the southeast) have hot, dry summers and very cold winters. The north and northeastern Black Sea has mild winters, but heavy rainfall all the year round.

Public Holidays: Jan 1-2 2005 New Year. Jan 7 Russian Orthodox Christmas Day. Mar 8 International Women’s Day. May 1-2 Spring and Labour Day. May 9 Victory in Europe Day. Jun 12 Independence Day. Nov 7 Day of Reconciliation and Consent. Dec 12 Constitution Day.

Other Countries