Russia Solo Female Travel Safety Tips and Advice

On this page you will find first-hand, unbiased, and real safety tips, advice and reviews from women traveling solo, submitted directly from their personal experiences in the country.

Their opinions are unfiltered and submitted independently as part of the Solo Female Travel Safety Index, a ranking of 210 countries and regions based on how safe they are for women traveling solo.

The safety scores range from 1 to 4 with 1 being the safest and 4 being the most dangerous for solo female travelers.

You don’t need to login to read the below reviews. But do sign up or login to share your solo travel experiences, country safety rating and comments.

Russia Country data

We have compiled a few data points below that can help you better understand Russia and have more context when thinking about travel safety.

Official country name: Russian Federation.

Etymology: Russian lands were generally referred to as Muscovy until Peter I officially declared the Russian Empire in 1721. The new name sought to invoke the patrimony of the medieval eastern European Rus state centered on Kyiv in present-day Ukraine.

The Rus were a Varangian (eastern Viking) elite that imposed their rule and eventually their name on their Slavic subjects.

Capital: Moscow.

Independence / foundation: The Soviet economy and society stagnated in the decades following Stalin's rule, until General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev (1985-91) introduced glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) in an attempt to modernize communism, but his initiatives inadvertently released forces that by December 1991 led to the dissolution of the USSR into Russia and 14 other independent states.

Population: 142 million.

Currency: Russian Ruble (RUB)
1 USD = 90.69 - 92.64 RUB
1 EUR = 99.43 - 101.03 RUB

Time zone: UTC+3 for Moscow.

Note: Russia has 11 time zones, the largest number of contiguous time zones of any country in the world; in 2014, two time zones were added and DST dropped

Languages spoken: Russian (official) 86%, Tatar 3%, Chechen 1%, other 10%. Note - data represent native language spoken.

Religions: Russian Orthodox 15-20%, Muslim 10-15%, other Christian 2%. Note: estimates are of practicing worshipers; Russia has large populations of non-practicing believers and non-believers, a legacy of over seven decades of official atheism under Soviet rule; Russia officially recognizes Orthodox Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Buddhism as the country's traditional religions.

Climate: Ranges from steppes in the south through humid continental in much of European Russia. Subarctic climate dominates in Siberia and tundra climate in the polar north. Winters vary from cool along the Black Sea coast to frigid in Siberia. Summers vary from warm in the steppes to cool along Arctic coast.

Real GDP (ppp – purchasing power parity): $4 trillion

Real GDP per capita (ppp): $27,500.

Main airports: Domodedovo International Airport, Pulkovo Airport, Sheremetyevo International Airport, Koltsovo Airport.

World heritage sites in Russia

There are over 1,100 world heritage sites spread across more than 165 countries. New ones are added every year, and some may be removed from the list for various reasons.

Number of UNESCO listed sites: 31.

Top world heritage sites:

- Historic and Architectural Complex of the Kazan Kremlin.
- Church of the Ascension (Kolomenskoye).
- Kremlin and Red Square (Moscow).
- Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments.
- Kizhi Pogost.
- Cultural and Historic Ensemble of the Solovetsky Islands.
- Historic Monuments of Novgorod and Surroundings.
- White Monuments of Vladimir and Suzdal.
- Architectural Ensemble of the Trinity Sergius Lavra in Sergiev Posad.
- Virgin Komi Forests.
- Lake Baikal.
- Volcanoes of Kamchatka.
- Golden Mountains of Altai.
- Western Caucasus.
- Curonian Spit.
- Ensemble of the Ferapontov Monastery.
- Central Sikhote-Alin.
- Citadel, Ancient City and Fortress Buildings of Derbent.
- Uvs Nuur Basin.
- Ensemble of the Novodevichy Convent.
- Natural System of Wrangel Island Reserve.
- Historical Centre of the City of Yaroslavl.
- Struve Geodetic Arc.
- Putorana Plateau.
- Lena Pillars Nature Park.
- Bolgar Historical and Archaeological Complex.
- Assumption Cathedral and Monastery of the town-island of Sviyazhsk.
- Landscapes of Dauria.
- Churches of the Pskov School of Architecture.
- Petroglyphs of Lake Onega and the White Sea.
- Astronomical Observatories of Kazan Federal University.

Interesting facts about Russia

- Russia is the largest country by area on the planet. It covers 17 million sq km and accounts for more than one ninth of Earth’s terrestrial area. It is split between Asia and Europe and 60% of the country is covered in forestry.

- The country is home to the longest railway in the world, the Trans-Siberian. It travels nearly across the whole country, and the complete journey would take 152 hours to complete non-stop. It is a popular tourist attraction that can be done in style or on the regular passenger trains.

- Russia has the fifth-highest alcohol consumption per capita in the world.

- The UNESCO-listed Moscow’s Kremlin is the biggest active medieval fortress in the world. It is protected by 20 towers and 2.5 kilometers of walls.

- Sputnik, the world’s first satellite, was launched by the Soviet Union in 1957. A Russian is also the inventer of Tetris. The country is the borthplace of many other inventions including the personal computer, the nuclear-powered icebreaker, the atomic power plant and the laser.

Further reading: N/A.

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Russia Travel tips

More about Russia on Solo Female Travelers

Coming soon.

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About the Solo Female Travel Safety Index

Safety matters to solo female travelers, you told us so in our annual Solo Female Travel Survey, where year after year, women prove that this is their most important concern when traveling solo.

We wanted to do something about it, so we built these country-specific pages where you can find reviews and scores for 7 key variables affecting the safety of women traveling solo.

How to use the Safety Index

On this page, you will find the country score and the personal opinions on safety of other women traveling solo.

You can sort the comments by:

• The level of experience traveling solo of the reviewer (beginner = <5 trips solo, Intermediate = 5 to 10 trips solo, Experienced = >10 trips solo).
• The age of the traveler.
• Whether they are a visitor or local.
• The date they were posted.

The safety scores range from 1 to 4 with 1 being the safest and 4 being the most dangerous for solo female travelers. 

Thus, the lower the score, the safer the country.

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Looking for more safety resources?

This entire website is devoted to helping women travel solo. Check out the links below to learn more:

Solo Female Travel Stats: Results from the the largest, most comprehensive and only global research study on solo female travel trends, preferences and behaviors published.

Thanks to Jacobo Vilella for creating the Solo Female Travelers Safety Index ❤️