Any city around Moscow like Tver, Tula or Ryazan is fine. Keep in mind that most people you encounter there won't speak English. I also know an American who took a river cruise in central russia, gave a good feedback.
Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod - big cities, easy reach from Moscow (like 3-4 hours on train), beautiful views on Volga, old historical places, mild climate. Higher chance that people can understand English and help you in case of emergency. Foreign students were certainly studying in universities in those cities, tourists from abroad visited those cities too, so probably safe for a foreigner to stay (I mean people in big cities are used to foreigners, so lower chance of unwanted attention).
Kazan for sure. Moved here a couple of years ago. Unique Tatar culture, beautiful sights, a lot of young people around due to developed and advertised universities. The city often hosts international events so people are kinda used to foreigners and the younger generation is in general more welcoming and less conservative and prejudice. I'm from a small russian cities with on average older population and I felt the difference myself
Bookmark ВОРОНЕЖ/VORONEZH. I visited the city in early February 2024 for the first time in my life, and I want to re-visit it some day. The locals are friendly and helpful to tourists (in contrast with Moscovites). The city is within easy reach by express train from Moscow (6H25min). It abounds in sights and attractions, including an opera house, an impressive fine arts museum and Спартак/Spartacus cinema (the best I've ever visited). Food is acceptable in terms of quality, range and prices, but you should exercise due caution. I'd warn you against going there in winter: most of the city's streets turn into rough equivalents of skating rinks. We (Russians) were case-hardened and regarded it as added fun and part of the adventure and challenge, because the visit was a success. Voronezh hit the worldwide media screens last winter because some emergencies did arise.
You can try visiting Far eastern cities, they try to accommodate for tourists, and you'd find many people who rarely see foreigners (at least from western countries nowadays)
> where hopefully people will still try to hold a conversation with you even if your Russian is on a very beginner level.
In my limited experience traveling in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus, this is literally everwhere.
If you're interested in Russian culture, visit the cities of the Golden Ring, as we call them. These are: Suzdal, Rostov, Veliky Novgorod, Uglich, Yaroslavl, Vladimir, Sergiev Posad, Pereslavl-Zalessky, Kostroma.... There are many of them.
There you will see many, very many old Orthodox churches, and also the Kremlin (not the one in Moscow, we have more than one, hah). Personally, I had more than enough of Veliky Novgorod, but also Torzhok (although it doesn't seem to be part of the Golden Ring). Torzhok is a very small town that feels like it's stuck in the 19th century. It's kind of cool.
I live in Tula myself. This is a good city. 300 kilometers from Moscow. 700 thousand inhabitants. I love this place. If you wish, I can give you a tour.
How long of a travel are you planning?
Traveling along the Volga river can be cool, all the way from Tver to Astrakhan. Cities are not very far from each other (Russian scale! If you're from Europe, they are still VERY far from each other), and all of them are different enough to enjoy.
Actually now that I've come to think of it, I probably need to put it into my bucket list.
If you're aiming for a single city, try Vladivostok.
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Any city around Moscow like Tver, Tula or Ryazan is fine. Keep in mind that most people you encounter there won't speak English. I also know an American who took a river cruise in central russia, gave a good feedback.
Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod - big cities, easy reach from Moscow (like 3-4 hours on train), beautiful views on Volga, old historical places, mild climate. Higher chance that people can understand English and help you in case of emergency. Foreign students were certainly studying in universities in those cities, tourists from abroad visited those cities too, so probably safe for a foreigner to stay (I mean people in big cities are used to foreigners, so lower chance of unwanted attention).
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Ring_of_Russia
Kazan for sure. Moved here a couple of years ago. Unique Tatar culture, beautiful sights, a lot of young people around due to developed and advertised universities. The city often hosts international events so people are kinda used to foreigners and the younger generation is in general more welcoming and less conservative and prejudice. I'm from a small russian cities with on average older population and I felt the difference myself
Bookmark ВОРОНЕЖ/VORONEZH. I visited the city in early February 2024 for the first time in my life, and I want to re-visit it some day. The locals are friendly and helpful to tourists (in contrast with Moscovites). The city is within easy reach by express train from Moscow (6H25min). It abounds in sights and attractions, including an opera house, an impressive fine arts museum and Спартак/Spartacus cinema (the best I've ever visited). Food is acceptable in terms of quality, range and prices, but you should exercise due caution. I'd warn you against going there in winter: most of the city's streets turn into rough equivalents of skating rinks. We (Russians) were case-hardened and regarded it as added fun and part of the adventure and challenge, because the visit was a success. Voronezh hit the worldwide media screens last winter because some emergencies did arise.
You can try visiting Far eastern cities, they try to accommodate for tourists, and you'd find many people who rarely see foreigners (at least from western countries nowadays)
I love Novosibirsk, and Irkutsk is very beautiful too. Lake Baikal is nearby the latter, too.
Жил я в Иркутске. Уж лучше сдохнуть.
Visit Murmansk of course! Unique nature for Russia. My home town. Can help with guides of course, if you need
If you go to Murmansk, hop over to Teribreka. That was one of the highlights of my trip to Russia!
never been to Murmansk ! and you are not far I am in Petrozavodsk !
> where hopefully people will still try to hold a conversation with you even if your Russian is on a very beginner level. In my limited experience traveling in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus, this is literally everwhere.
If your intention is to travel in Russia, I would recommend to start from Vladivostok and move from the Far East to european part of the country.
A friend of mine lives in Vladimir and found that almost nobody spoke any English, which really helped her learn Russian (to an excellent standard).
Voronezh for sure
I did a semester in Krasnoyarsk and people were extremely welcoming and took us out and around the city.
Казань, Ульяновск, и Самара! Все эти города—чистые, добрые, исторические, красивые, по Волге, и не далеко от Москвы.
If you're interested in Russian culture, visit the cities of the Golden Ring, as we call them. These are: Suzdal, Rostov, Veliky Novgorod, Uglich, Yaroslavl, Vladimir, Sergiev Posad, Pereslavl-Zalessky, Kostroma.... There are many of them. There you will see many, very many old Orthodox churches, and also the Kremlin (not the one in Moscow, we have more than one, hah). Personally, I had more than enough of Veliky Novgorod, but also Torzhok (although it doesn't seem to be part of the Golden Ring). Torzhok is a very small town that feels like it's stuck in the 19th century. It's kind of cool.
I live in Tula myself. This is a good city. 300 kilometers from Moscow. 700 thousand inhabitants. I love this place. If you wish, I can give you a tour.
How long of a travel are you planning? Traveling along the Volga river can be cool, all the way from Tver to Astrakhan. Cities are not very far from each other (Russian scale! If you're from Europe, they are still VERY far from each other), and all of them are different enough to enjoy. Actually now that I've come to think of it, I probably need to put it into my bucket list. If you're aiming for a single city, try Vladivostok.
Thank you all for the recommendations, you're all very kind! ☺️ I will definitely look further into the places after my final exams 😄
Russia's Golden Ring
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