As opposed to the light dusting in Yaroslavl, in Perm we encountered snow which had settled. The temperature had also started to drop considerably and it was now below 0 degrees. We were so ill prepared on our first trip out that we had to resort to going in and out of shops just to keep the feeling in our fingers. We therefore didn't do too much outdoors in Perm, despite there being easy to follow green and red routes painted on the pavement of all the major to...

Four hours north of Moscow lies the small tourist city of Yaroslavl. This is a historical site that attracts many tourists, even in October. It also lies on the confluence of the Volga and Kostrol rivers. We arrived to snow, slightly anxious that our accommodation, having been removed from Booking dot com, may not be the best. We got to the address and found a locked gate. We asked around if anyone had heard of this hostel but to no avail. When we same a man com...

For anyone visiting Russia, Moscow is a must-see, even though the city is not really representative of the whole country. We have visited a number of capitals on our trip and they tend to come with certain pluses and minuses. + Plenty of other tourists We met more people from the UK here than on the rest of our journey. Despite it being the off season, our hostel was full of other travellers, from Germany, Chile and India among others. However, Russian tourists ...

We arrived into Saint Petersburg after midnight, having crossed the border on the train. Our taxi ride to our hostel was absolutely jaw dropping. We drove past all the main sights and in the dark, all lit up, they are really quite impressive. The size and grandeur of the Hermitage and Nevsky Prospect is not what we expected having come through the Eastern bloc. This was then surpassed when we went out to see Peterhof and Catherine's Palace. I was also surprised ...