<p>In August, my son will be married in St Petersburg, Russia. Our immediate family will travel and vacation there for about 10 days. We are two parents, two sons. S1 will be married to a lovely young woman from St Petersburg, who he met in the US. We have known her for 3 years.</p>
<p>I am looking for trip planning advice. I have checked fodor’s talk, etc, but thought the collective wisdom on this forum might have ideas to offer. We hope to rent a flat with a couple of rooms. DH and I have some dietary issues–gluten free, dairy free. Sigh. So we will be happy to create some meals ourselves, especially breakfast.We are budget-minded, as is future DIL, who will help us find lodging. </p>
<p>We are wondering about how many days are optimal. In a different country, we could simply travel to a different city or town at will. Not so in Russia. There may be opportunities to take day trips, but perhaps we will be busy enough without leaving St Petersburg. In early August, there will be very little nighttime darkness.</p>
<p>We do not speak or read Russia, although I plan to orient myself to the alphabet and basic phrases. Are the pocket translators useful for Russian?
Our DIL will be our guide at many sites, but I know there will be times when we are on our own. And I anticipate that the newly weds will not want to spend every minute with the parents. Both sons have friends and acquaintances in St Petersburg, so I foresee that they will be quite busy in the city of white nights. </p>
<p>Also, I would be grateful to hear fashion advice for this mother of the groom. I will certainly keep my mouth shut, but do not plan to wear beige. The bride has recommended that I wear comfortable shoes. Not sure what’s up with that, but I am grateful! </p>
<p>When my S2 went to Russia to study, the visa was specifically for Moscow. One is allowed to leave that city for no more than 72 hours without having to register in the next city where he was staying. To avoid that bureaucracy, his class only took short field trips out of city. </p>
<p>OP, congrats on your S’s upcoming marriage. S dated a young woman from St. P for three years and I still miss her.</p>
<p>I studied in Moscow 24 years ago, and they had that rule then. I assumed it was a “Soviet” rule and would be long gone. </p>
<p>We were able to get some kind of a transit visa that allowed us to travel to other places. We went to St. Petersburg (then Leningrad) and to some monasteries in the countryside.</p>
<p>There is more than enough in St.Petersburg and surrounding area to occupy you for 10 days. I lived there for 5 years so speaking from the personal experience.</p>
<p>Make sure to visit former tsars’ residences in suburbs - they are amazing and you would need at least a day for each of them. Then there are world-famous art museums and architectures sites such as Peter and Paul’s fortress, Isaac’s cathedral, opera house, Hermitage and Russian museum of Arts, to name a few. There are multiple theaters and exhibitions as well. You’ll be occupied, but if possible please try to arrange for a Russian-speaking escort or tour guide, since majority of people there don’t speak English. This shouldn’t be a problem since there are a lot of tourists from all over the world.</p>
<p>Apparently, travel dates to other cities or countries must be lock in in advance, unless a day trip. I had imagined that there is plenty to do, but am glad to have support for this view. DIL who speaks excellent English is looking forward to touring us. She is academically focused and has a rich knowledge of history. When S1 went to visit her in 2011, they toured many places together.<br>
As a tourist, I enjoy observing the daily lifestyle of the residents where I am visiting, such as going to department stores, grocery stores and farmers’ markets. As it happens, we live in a rural-ish area, not so sophisticated as DIL’s life has been, albeit with an overall higher standard of living. I think we will be the country mice visiting the big city. I felt that way when we were in Paris.<br>
So, a long way of saying that I will enjoy seeing some of the luxurious countryside estates outside of St Petersburg. The monasteries sound appealing, too.</p>
<p>My travel anxiety is diminishing. Still having some of the MOG anxiety that is to be expected. :)</p>