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I'm planning a trip to Russia this summer in August and would love some tips. My fiancée grew up there and we'll be traveling with her and her mom, both fluent Russian speakers, and visiting her family in Severodvinsk. We're planning on going for 3 weeks. Some requests: 1 Anything worth doing in Severodvinsk or nearby. We'll be going up to her family's dacha from there so we'll get that...rustic experience. Also does anyone know if foreign tourists still need a special permit for the city? Wikipedia says yes, her family says no. 2 Any places/cities worth going to outside of St. Petersburg and Moscow ("the 2 big cities") that are either cultural or resorty. I assume the Ukraine and the Black Sea is out of the question for now due to the conflict. I'm also wary of adding more internal flights so alternatively, how about; 3 A high end resort within an hour or so of the 2 big cities that's kind of a fancy dacha and/or on a lake. 4 Restaurant and tourism recommendations for the 2 big cities outside of the major attractions like the Red Square or Hermitage. We'll likely hit all the typical highlights. Has anyone eaten at White Rabbit? 5 High end hotel recommendations for the 2 big cities. 6 Any Cold War/KGB specific tourist attractions or tours in the 2 big cities, I'm a big spy book/history buff. 7 A high end banya in the 2 big cities worth visiting, and perhaps a second recommendation that's coed. 8 Any other tips for being an American in Russia. Even though we'll have fluent speakers with us I was thinking of downloading a translation app, any recommendations? Preferably one that works offline. Its Miller Time fucked around with this message at 23:21 on Apr 26, 2017 |
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Apr 26, 2017 23:09
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| # ? Apr 27, 2024 02:38 |
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Its Miller Time posted:
It seems to still be a closed city, but OTOH it might be like Schengen border controls: theoretically they exist, but if you're a local you know to just go to a minor side-road between countries, and not take the main highway entrance, and you will never be checked. The town's own (official?) websites say it is closed to foreigners ( http://www.sevska.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1020 and http://www.severodvinsk.info/pr/670/) though both are from 2009 and I didn't find anything newer. OTOH wikipedia seems to say that it is no longer a closed city ( link ) but it doesn't list a citation. I found a thread with people talking about closed cities ( http://www.zheldor.info/forums/index.php?showtopic=9297&page=3 ) and it seems that some cities are "more closed" than others, like Norilsk. Another thread talks about it in 2007 ( link ) that documents are not checked, so long as you're not checking into a hotel (which you're not) nor stopped by police (hope not). No personal experience, was just curious if I could figure it out. Does your fiancées family actually have any experience of ever welcoming non-Russian visitors? Anyway, from those two forum threads it sounds like you can probably just drive into town no problem unless you're exceptionally unlucky and get stopped by cops, and her family would know if that's a common occurrence or not.
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Apr 26, 2017 23:58
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Wow, thanks for all the research! No, they have no experience with foreign tourists, my fiancee and her mom keep Russian passports. We will likely have to check into a hotel as the condos and datchas they have are tiny slash being somewhere you're not supposed to be in Russia sounds like a dicey proposition, so we will at least try to seek some kind of pass/permit. I'm going to the Russian Consulate this week, I'll let you know what they say.
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Apr 27, 2017 01:56
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Thought of 1 more question - my fiancee says when she travels to Russia she uses her Russian passport for entry and exit into the country, and then when she comes back to the US she uses her American passport. Couldn't that create an issue when she gets back to the US?
Its Miller Time fucked around with this message at 02:06 on Apr 27, 2017 |
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Apr 27, 2017 02:03
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Its Miller Time posted:Thought of 1 more question - my fiancee says when she travels to Russia she uses her Russian passport for entry and exit into the country, and then when she comes back to the US she uses her American passport. Couldn't that create an issue when she gets back to the US? I can't imagine it would. This is the case for most dual nationals.
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Apr 27, 2017 04:14
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Anyone?
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May 1, 2017 03:35
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If your wife leaves America on her US passport, enters and leaves Russia on her Russian passport, then re-enters the US on her American passport she will be fine.
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May 1, 2017 20:41
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webmeister posted:If your wife leaves America on her US passport, enters and leaves Russia on her Russian passport, then re-enters the US on her American passport she will be fine. This is the recommended/legal way to enter and leave all countries to which you are a citizen, with the possible exception of Europeans who are citizens of two EU countries. (Like if you're an Italian-French citizen, flying out of Paris, does it matter which passport you use?) That said if you don't do it it's not like you'll be arrested or fined, you'll just get an immigration person maybe yell at you if they notice.
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May 1, 2017 21:42
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Its Miller Time posted:Thought of 1 more question - my fiancee says when she travels to Russia she uses her Russian passport for entry and exit into the country, and then when she comes back to the US she uses her American passport. Couldn't that create an issue when she gets back to the US? Probably late as gently caress, but no, no issues. I can confirm that personally. It has occasionally created issues leaving Russia, because they want to see your travel document to where you're going and occasionally get annoyed that you have a US passport, but generally a polite "gently caress off, call your boss if you have to, but let me be on my way" generally sorts things out. quote:1 Anything worth doing in Severodvinsk or nearby. We'll be going up to her family's dacha from there so we'll get that...rustic experience. Also does anyone know if foreign tourists still need a special permit for the city? Wikipedia says yes, her family says no. As for what to do, the place used to build Nuclear subs during the cold war, so I would imagine there's some stuff around that. The museum will probably be worth visiting at the very least. quote:2 Any places/cities worth going to outside of St. Petersburg and Moscow ("the 2 big cities") that are either cultural or resorty. I assume the Ukraine and the Black Sea is out of the question for now due to the conflict. I'm also wary of adding more internal flights so alternatively, how about; Take the train from St. Petersburg to Helsinki if you want, Helsinki generally owns. Otherwise, nothing really in the vicinity. If you want to hit the Black Sea, you can go to Sochi, which is a big resort town, supposedly. Expensive as poo poo, resorts are, well, Russian, but hey, you might get to see the remnants of the Olympic mega projects rotting out there. quote:4 Restaurant and tourism recommendations for the 2 big cities outside of the major attractions like the Red Square or Hermitage. We'll likely hit all the typical highlights. Has anyone eaten at White Rabbit? I'm "Local" to St. Petersburg so that I'm a bit biased re: food, but when I want to go out to eat I generally just hit Nevsky prospect and wander around till I see something that seems ok, or there's some neat places over on the Petropavolvskaya Storona past the Mosque off of Bolshoi Prospect. Never eaten at the White Rabbit. In St. Petersburg make sure to hit the out-of-city palaces they are pretty awesome. quote:6 Any Cold War/KGB specific tourist attractions or tours in the 2 big cities, I'm a big spy book/history buff. If the service is still running, there used to be a Hydrofoil service to Krondshtat, if that's not available, there should be another way to get there. Military history, lots of WWII stuff, generally neat. Also Severerodvinsk has its own museums, so that should be neat. There's also Archangel which shouldn't be too far. quote:8 Any other tips for being an American in Russia. Even though we'll have fluent speakers with us I was thinking of downloading a translation app, any recommendations? Preferably one that works offline. Duolinguo is a neat resource for picking up a bit. Otherwise Google Translate will be ~ok~. E: Edited for clarification re: permit. OWLS! fucked around with this message at 17:53 on Aug 11, 2017 |
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Aug 11, 2017 16:17
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OWLS! posted:
Out of curiosity, how did you find it has opened up? I probably spent an hour looking way back when he started this thread (just out of curiosity) and could not find anything official dated newer than 2009, and a handful of forum posts where people said it was still technically closed but that enforcement is lax to nonexistent. I couldn't find anything new on their official town website and none of the sources on the RU language wikipedia actually link to government lists except for a handful of towns. If OP comes back [edit: to this thread], I'm curious to hear how it went!
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Aug 11, 2017 17:26
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| # ? Apr 27, 2024 02:38 |
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Saladman posted:Permits... Yeah, you are right, actually. The info on foreign travel to Severodvinsk is non-existent, and there's no info as to where to acquire the travel permit if necessary. If you're Russian though, the city has opened up, so that's all I can say. The sites I can find that say that foreigeners require a permit are just as unsourced, and I can't find any rulings of any sort anywhere, so v0v. It's fun since Russia generally assumes foreign tourists aren't going to be going to places like that so no info whatsoever will be available, and it will probably come down to the local authorities to make the final call. Ain't the motherland grand like that?
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Aug 11, 2017 17:52
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