Moscow (Lonely Planet City Guides) [Paperback]

Mara Vorhees (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2006

Delight in the iconic onion domes of St Basil’s Cathedral, treat yourself to world-class ballet at the Bolshoi, be dazzled by chandeliers in the metro and get steamed and washed at a banya. From the splendour of the Kremlin to fine dining haute-russe, you’ll discover a city that’s cloaked in history and embracing the future. Revel in this frenetic, changing capital with this best-selling guide.

Discerning Reviews – hand-picked eating and sleeping options from Georgian cuisine to the best renovated Soviet hotels

Muscovite Nightlife – elite clubs, bohemian bars, cafés, opera and ballet

Cultural Context – insightful history coverage puts Moscow’s past and present in perspective

Full Color Maps – detailed, grid-referenced maps and a metro plan

In-Depth Language Chapter – includes Cyrillic script

Editorial Reviews

Review

Nobody covers the world like Lonely Planet.' --New York Post, May 2004

Product Details

• Paperback: 258 pages
• Publisher: Lonely Planet; 3 edition (March 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1740598156
• ISBN-13: 978-1740598156
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,345,415 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #38 in Books > Travel > Asia > Russia > Moscow

More About the Author

It was 1988 when Mara first travelled abroad, spending a summer in Scandinavia with a side trip into the Soviet Union. The high-school summer exchange program would shape her life, as it inspired her to learn to speak Russian and to try to end the Cold War.

As a student, she further broadened her horizons, circling the globe on a research fellowship from the Circumnavigators' Foundation. This trip took her from Belize to Budapest, from Senegal to Singapore, comparing the successes and failures of international development projects.

Despite the draw of many foreign lands, she still found herself returning to the former Soviet Union time and time again. Before the Soviet collapse, she taught English in Kyiv, Ukraine, for a year; and during the most tumultuous transition years, she worked on a foreign aid project in Yekaterinburg, Russia.

The pen-wielding traveller has since taken to seeing and saving the world by other means, writing guidebooks for Lonely Planet. Mara has also written for National Geographic Traveler, Executive Travel, the Boston Globe and the LA Times, amongst others. She is an on-line travel expert at Triporati.com and Tripsketch.com. When not traipsing around the planet, she lives in a pink house in Somerville, Massachusetts. Follow her adventures at www.maravorhees.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mostly Accurate and Dependable, December 27, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Lonely Planet Moscow (Moscow, 1st Ed) (Paperback)

I took this book with me to Moscow this summer. Except for prices and museum hours (which change rapidly), the guide was very accurate. It offers lots of great budget restaurants and shopping places. It has very clear and easy to follow maps of the center of Moscow. However, it has very poor, tiny, black and white maps (if any), of the outer sections of the city (Such as Sparrow Hills). If you plan to spend any time in the outer fringes of the city, you may want to consider purchasing an additional map. Overall, the guide was excellent and rarely left me stranded.

32 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Truly a kit for travel survival !, December 30, 2000

By 

Maurizio Giuliano (Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lonely Planet Moscow (Moscow, 1st Ed) (Paperback)

Moscow is a wonderful city, and Russians are very hospitable people. But, when it boils down to getting around Moscow and trying to enjoy the city's life, Moscow is not at all an easy city ! In fact it is one of the most difficult cities I know. Even for those like myself who speak Russian, it is not easy to get around by public transport, to find taxi drivers who won't cheat or even rob you, and to figure out what to do at night. Several years ago things used to be cheap, now they are expensive, and costs are another thing to watch out for - Moscow is probably the most expensive European city for tourists, almost au par with Tokyo ! All in all, Moscow is a huge unpredictable city, wonderful but dangerous and expensive. This great concise guide by Lonely Planet will truly provide some well-thought and well-researched advice on do's and dont's, some general tips as well as specific information on places to stay and eat, and a lot more. The maps are also great. By all means a great guide, so don't go to Moscow without it !

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Couldn't live without it, April 6, 2005

By 

H. Miller "ashdsch5" (Greenbelt, MD United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lonely Planet Moscow (Paperback)

I traveled to Moscow in 2003 and 2004 and took this book both times. I honestly don't think I could have survived without it. Since I spent numerous weeks in Moscow I covered a lot of territory and especially took advantage of a lot of the information provided in LP, including the info on sites in outer Moscow. Moscow is a wonderful city, but can be confusing and sometimes a little dangerous. However, I found the maps very helpful for making my way around, and especially the map of the metro. The restaurant listings are helpful as well (the descriptions of Georgian food are dead on, it's really that good), though because I lived in dorms I didn't have much experience with the hotels. Prices for museums or other attractions are iffy since they do change a lot but this book was a must for both of my trips.