Traveling to Russia: Weak ruble makes Russia more easily reached by budget travel

Russia's ruble is becoming weak as current geopolitical tensions make this a good time to temper headlines about Russia with everyday people and places. As a result, booking a trip to the country becomes lower.

According to Yahoo! News, Outside the summer tourist rush is a round-trip air ticket between Johannesburg and the lovely St. Petersburg can cost a traveler less than $600, with prices for the upcoming winter season seemingly is becoming lower. Additionally, the hostel beds start at around $6 each. A balcony ticket to the ballet at the famous Mariinsky Theatre is about  $10 and the tickets for four-hour train between St Petersburg and Moscow are under  $55. 

St. Petersburg makes a good starter to explore Russia. The miles of canals, the art-filled Hermitage, overlooking the Neva River and a younger generation make travelers want to visit the country. The Soul Kitchen hostel, which has both dorm and private rooms, can accommodate a lot of guests and the freshly baked apple cake in the kitchen every morning and classical music playing in the bathroom are highly recommended by locals and tourists.

Visiting the Kaliningrad, a fragment of Russia placed between Poland and Lithuania on the Baltic Sea cost low as $40 from Moscow. The bus tour is also cheap, which can cost for about $17 to the Curonian Spit, a fragile sand dune peninsula on the UNESCO World Heritage List, and with landmarks, including the Kvartira, a cafe-art place in an apartment building that also hold its own in Brooklyn, as reported by Chron.

The country's art, Orthodox churches, urban exploration, as well as cherry dumplings also attracts people to go to the country. The Volga River also offers great views and a glimpse of the Russian culture.  Moscow, on the other hand, offers its high-end shopping and nightclubs. Art lovers are also loving both branches of the State Tretyakov Gallery. In St Petersburg, the Russian Museum and the Erarta museum celebrate the collection of more modern art.

A lot of travelers also consider the historic small town of Suzdal outside Moscow. The Soviet-era "pishki" donuts and sweet coffee for about 25 rubles, or about 35 cents, a cup at 25 Bolshaya Konushennaya in St Petersburg are said to be must- tries. Guests are also trying the caviar on buttered bread at the Mariinsky Theatre and the inexpensive but classy stolovaya, or cafeteria, at the lavish GUM department store in Moscow. 

But as claimed by Traveller 24, budget travelers should visit the country during its Russian winter as there are a lot of bargain finds. Hard-core travelers would even wrap themselves in blankets to cruise the St Petersburg canals on the decks of small boats in the fall and at night since being near the sea keeps St Petersburg and Kaliningrad temperatures more moderate than other places.

For the meantime, frequent travelers advice beginners to download free apps like SpeakEasy Russian and iTranslate. They can also add a Russian-language keyboard to their smartphone and even get a Russian SIM card to stay online and benefit from Google Translate and Google Map, just in case they will encounter difficulty in travelling to different tourist spots.