If you’re spending a week or two in Russia, you’ll find it much like traveling in most developed countries. In the large cities, nearly everything you need is available, but there are a few things I recommend packing that’ll make your Russian journey even better.

• A guidebook or two. Considering how many tourists are flooding into Russia, their tourist information network is incredibly underdeveloped. You’ll rarely find any kind of tourist information center, brochures about attractions or even a map, so try and bring the information with you. Pick your favorite, but I prefer the Lonely Planet – on both my trips to Russia, I’ve used the Lonely Planet Trans-Siberian, which features both commentary covering the train route and heaps of highlights of the cities.
• A copy of the Cyrillic alphabet. It’s not so difficult to learn the Cyrillic alphabet, since many of the letters are similar to our alphabet. And if your guidebook uses normal Roman lettering, you’ll need to be able to read the streets signs so you can find your way to where you want to go. And of course being able to read a foreign alphabet is a great party trick to impress your friends with after your trip!

• A good phrasebook, too. English is still at its early days in Russia, so if you’re wanting to chat with the locals, go shopping or pretty much do anything away from a tour guide, then a smattering of Russian language will really help. Even when you do chance upon someone who speaks English (try younger people as a best bet), starting your conversation with a “Zdravstvuite” (hello) will get you off on the right foot, and they’ll be even happier to help you.
• Good walking shoes. This might be true for nearly everywhere, but especially in cities like St Petersburg and Moscow, getting around on foot will make sure you don’t miss out on some great buildings, shops and interesting people. And like you can see in the picture, even the famous Red Square isn’t exactly a smooth walking surface, so you need good shoes to keep you on your feet all day. Even if you decide to travel around Moscow using the famous metro train system, some of the tunnels and paths between tracks are so long that you’ll definitely still need something comfortable on your feet.

• Some great Russian literature. I promise you, you’ll be in the mood to read pretty much any of the Russian greats once you get there. My personal recommendation is any of Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s classics, like Crime and Punishment, but Tolstoy or Boris Pasternak would do equally as well. Reading about the Russia of old, and learning about life in the cities before modern times, really evokes the right atmosphere for immersing yourself in Russia.