Taking a Train in Russia

Russia is the place to take a train, there is no doubt about it.  I have long had the fantasy of doing a long train ride at some point, on the order of The Orient Express, but maybe not quite so luxurious and not quite so expensive.  As part of my recent trip to Russia, we took an overnight train from Moscow to St. Petersburg.

First of all, the Moscow train station at night is not at all scary.  Thr train takes off at midnight, and so you might be tempted to have second thoughts.   Do not worry.  We checked our luggage with a luggage check service in the basement and went down the block to the Hilton, which is in one of Stalin's seven sister buildings--well worth seeing in and of itself.  The food is expensive, but very good, and erhaps if we were more acclimatized to Moscow we would have found another plae to eat and stopped at the HIlton for drinks.  That would have been a good idea as well.

The train pulls in at 11:30 and each car has it;s own porter.  Lots of pomp and circumstance, but the rooms are really quite nice, and come stocked with  a light midnight snack.  Really cozy and nice accommodations, with 2 bathrooms shared between 16 people.  The train gently rolled through the night, and about an hour before we arrived in St Petersburg, we were served a hot breakfast.  And the whole thing was very reasonably priced.