Customer Reviews

Fodor's Moscow and St. Petersburg, 6th Edition (Fodor's Gold Guides)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This Fodor's 6th edition is substantially better than the 5th-- chock full of up to date practical info, and the metro maps have both Russian and an English version for pronunciation, which is so helpful to those who are not fluent in Russian. Even the quality of the pages themselves has been upgraded--the pages are white instead of gray. If you want lots of photos, get another guide book, but if you want truly useful info, and the one book you will carry around with you with answers to just about everything--this is it. This book was invaluable to us on our week-long trip to these cities.

As the founder of a company devoted to enriching cultural and business travel to Russia, we are always looking for a good, general guidebook for clients. "Fodor's Moscow and St. Petersburg" has good neighborhood guides to the two main cities of Russia. The entertainment, bar, restaurant and hotel suggestions are comprehensive (as far as quantity and general pricing range, although the pricing and quality levels cited are not always accurate).

One annoyance is that there are no Cyrillic displays of a sight's name (just transliterations into Latin script), which means that you are likely to miss a sign right in front of you for, for instance, the Toy Museum. It is particularly annoying to see the (inaccurate) reference to David Lean filming part of "Dr. Zhivago" in the Hotel Metropole-the closest the cast and crew came to Russia was Finland.

Note, however, that we always tell clients and other visitors to Russia that you should get the most current guidebook, as attractions, hotels, restaurants and transportation options do often change--AND THEN VERIFY THE INFORMATION! All in all, we recommend "Fodor's Moscow and St. Petersburg" as a good additional guidebook to bring if you are staying more than a few days, or if you want to bring just one book for your journey of Discovering Russia's two greatest cities, Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Marc David Miller, Discovering Russia, New York

Let me preface this by saying that I was born in Moscow and am a native speaker.

First the positives: This is a book on Moscow and St. Petersburg. So it mentions many of the major sights.

Now, the negatives. Basically this is a dismal book. Do not expect any of the maps to be helpful. They are not very detailed, and, amazingly, the metro stations are not marked on them. (If you've been to Moscow you know why this is outrageous.) The map of the Metro, one of the most important pieces of information in the book, is hidden away somewhere, unmarked and unindexed. Once you do find it, you realize it's printed over 2 pages, so much of the downtown stations/transfers are swallowed up by the binding, and are thus unreadable. Don't rely on the maps for accuracy either; a restaurant marked on a street (with the correct address) may actually be on the other side of town. In addition, there are 2 restaurants in St. Petersburg that are listed as near the same Metro station. They are about 2 miles apart. But really, this is understandable -- the names of the actual stations sound somewhat similar. All those crazy Russian names sound alike, don't they?

If you want to do something such as go to a street market, take a boat ride, etc., the book will provide you with the location, price, or working hours, but seldom all three. Maybe this is why the authors of the book are constantly suggesting that you just buy a guided tour. But if I wanted to go on a package tour why did I buy this 350-page self-guided tour book?

If you go to Moscow to check out the newly flourishing culinary scene, you may be surprised to find that one of Fodor's top choices for dining is, you guessed it, TGI Friday's.

And, generally, the organization was poor and the details sketchy. Fortunately, I speak Russian, and could have strangers on the street give me directions. For free.

As a frequent traveller who has always depended on Frommers, I purchased for the first time a Fodors guide to Russia (alas, Frommers will not publish one for a few months). I am sorry to say that I find this book to be confusing in finding activities to see in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Keep in mind that I am both a Reading teacher and an English teacher, so that if I had difficulty sorting out where to go and how to find the sight, it must really be weak. Also, some sights were overlooked. In short, wait for the Frommers addition to be published.