Russia in October

My wife and I are looking at Moscow to St Petersburg in October. I have two concerns:

Hours of daylight at the time of year.

Daily temperatures.

Can anyone comment ? Thanks.

We sailed from Moscow to St. Petersburg, 14 days starting September 3. It was cool by th etime we got to St. Petersburg. I believe many of the companies end the season in late September or early October to avoid the water freezing.

We were is Russia last year from the middle of September until the first of Octorber. Be prepared for changeable weather. It can be warm and dry during the day but is likely to be cool to cold in the evening. Be prepared for rain. The weather can change several times during the day. It is best to dress in layers so that you are ready for whatever the day throws at you. Take a rain jacket and a small umbrella that fits in your day bag. Take a pair of gloves for cool mornings on deck. Wear comfortable shoes !! Make sure your rain jacket or rain coat is roomy enough to layer a long sleeved t-shirt, and a warm vest and/or sweater under it if the weather turns chilly ( the wind off the Baltic in St. Petersburg can make you feel much colder). You can always leave unnecessaary layers on the bus when you are on excursions. The driver always stays with the bus. Having said that, the weather can be warm and sunny at times. It isn't going to be shorts weather though.

You can wear your jacket, and vest and good walking shoes on the flight over so that you don't have to pack these itiems. You may need them as soon as you arrive anyway.

The days will be getting shorter as you move towards St. Petersburg anyway as it is further north. It will be dark by dinner for sure.

Have a great time. We loved every minute of the trip.

We took the last boat of the season St. Petersburg to Moscow. This was September 18 to October 1 2010. Having spent a week in Finland & Estonia with good weather, sunny days, & cool eveings,that quickly changed. St Petersburg was wet & windy most of our 4 days, with temps in 50-60 range. Always felt colder near the water & factor in the wind chill. The 7 days on the Volga got immediatly better about 2 hours away from St. Petersburg. During this part of the trip the weather got better & warmer. However I wore a fleece most of the time when on deck during the day. Kizhi Island was very cold the day we visited. I was well layered with a ski cap & gloves & still cold. Temp around 34-38 with wind. In Petrozavdsk it rained all day, just plain miserable. The rest of the trip & Moscow was fine but cool.

Layer, Layer, Layer...

Take a water-proof rain jacket & good comfortable shoes or hiking boots to keep dry. You can leave items on the bus you will not need. The museums have coat rooms to check your things. I used everything I packed for this trip to keep warm. The hood on my jacket helped keep me warm, with a ball cap to keep the rain off my glasses.

Be prepared for the worst & hope you don't have to use any of it.. We loved this trip & had a great time. Actually for us St. Petersburg was our favorite, inspite of having the worst weather of the whole trip.

Besh Wishes for a great adventure, John

We will leave for Kiev, then Russian River in 17 days. Should we take our umbrellas?

We were there in November a number of years ago and we had SNOW. It started in Moscow and we flew to St. Petersburg and it was really coming down. There for 3 days and when we went to the airport they kept plowing the runways out. No more flights back to Moscow so they put us on an overnight train - got to the airport in Moscow and we got the last plane back to the states before they closed that airport down. A fantastic experience. Willard

We will leave for Kiev, then Russian River in 17 days. Should we take our umbrellas?

Yes! Grab one of those small totes one that doesn't take up much space.