Moscow/St Pete Suggestions

I just returned from my third trip from Russia and I've done most everything in both cities. One week will hardly scratch the surface. Could you narrow your interests a bit? Art? Russian History? Soviet History? Architecture? Wierd stuff? Russian and Soviet Literature? Military stuff? Do you have the whole week free?

If you can give me some specifics I can give you much better advice.

You can't go to St. Pete without seeing the Hermitage. After that I would say St. Isaac's Cathedral, Peter and Paul Fortress, a boat ride around the canals, and Peterhoff if you have time. If you know Russian Art, you will see many famous Russian works in the All-Russian museum. You will have almost 24 hours of light, but keep in mind the bridges are raised for a few hours each morning. St. Pete is a lot about walking around. Hit the museums during the day. The churches and boat rides, you can do later, as well as just walking around and seeing things such as Mars Field, the Summer Garden, etc. Sleeping and eating are secondary in St. Pete. We found a great little cafe that served outstanding soup. Soup and a beer for an 11 pm dinner every night kept us going.

In Moscow, you should go to the Kremlin, St. Basil's, Lenin (if that's your thing), and the Novodevichii Monastery. I would choose the Tretsekov Gallery before the Pushkin because, again, you will see many famous Russian works. After that, there are dozens of things to see depending on your interests.

In Moscow, you have to eat some Caucasian food. It's awesome. I have always enjoyed eating at Coffee Mania at the Moscow Conservatory.

In St. Pe
 
In Moscow I second the Tretyakovski Museum and the Kremlin. The Puskin museum was not bad. Victory park is great if you like military history. Be ready to walk alot if you go to any of the museums. They are expansive. There are many places to eat on the Arabat, but be prepared to pay high tourist rates for most of the restraunts in Moscow. One place that I remember that was cheap and not horrible was a chain called Yelki Palki.
 
Great suggestions on St. Pete. With the Hermitage, you'll have to pick one or two things to see - there's no way to see it all in one day, let alone a week. Impressionists are wonderful (though weep when you see a Monet in direct sunlight next to an open window).

The All-Russian museum is the only one I recall where you'll actually see plaques under the art in any language other than Russian. Quite maddening, actually, but as with everything there you learn to roll with it.

By the way, it's relatively easy to get by with the subway if you at least know the first few letters of the destination you're going to - you can navigate the signage (again, nothing other than Russian when I visited 10 years ago).

I remember going to a hole-in-the-wall Azerbajani place in SP, and I still remember the food. It was recommended in the Lonely Planet guide, and as I recall if you just order every appetizer and not the entrees, you'll have an excellent (and cheap-ish) feast.
 
Grab your camera and cruise Moscow's subway...in my opinion the most awesome subway in the world.

Other than that Russia is damn interesting to say the least.
Have fun.
 
If history is your thing, then I would suggest two things. First, make sure you read up on Russian history from Ivan the Terrible through Catherine the Great. Second, download a family tree of all the Tsars from Riurik on and carry it with you.

Silghtly modified list:

St. Pete

1. The Hermitage - You absolutley can't go to St. Pete without seeing the Hermitage. Besides the art, you can see the throne rooms, the remains of Alexander Nevskii, the study, Catherines bedroom, etc. There is also a nice section on pre-historic Russia that no one bothers to go see. Get there an hour before it opens or order your tickets online ahead of time (you can print out a voucher.)
2. Do you speak Russian? If not, look for a boat tour with an English guide. If you can't find one, you might want to skip this in the interest of time. The tour does cover a lot of St.Pete history.
3. Walk around and at least see the Bronze Horseman, the Admiralty, St. Isaacs Cathedral, Church of the Spilt Blood (where Alexander was assasinated), and the Kazan Cathedral. If you have time, go inside St. Isaac's and you can also climb to the top for a great view of St. Pete.
5. The All-Russian Museum has many famous paintings depicting Russian history like the one of Peter interegating Aleksii at Peterhoff. If you have read any books on Russian history, you will recognize many of the paintings.
6. You can see the Peter and Paul Fortress from the Winter Palace, but it doesn't take long to take the subway over there. When I was there a few weeks ago, I was disappointed the underground was closed and we just walked around the grounds. Just around the corner is the Aurora, which is sort of pre-Soviet history.
7. You may not have time for Peterhoff. If you go, there is a museum in the Marly House that has many of Peter's things.
8. In the Summer Garden is Peter's Dacha which also contains items belonging to Peter.
9. I haven't been inside, but the Sherementev Palace is supposed to be very good.

You can get fast food (KFC and Subway) on Nevskii Prospekt. In general, a cafe is a place where you can get a decent meal at a reasonable price and a restaurant is going to be more expensive and often has a night club.

Moscow

1. Like the Hermitage, the Kremlin is a must see. Also like the Hermitage, you will need to get there early. Go ahead and purchase tickets at the gate for the Armoury (don't skip this), which has many items of historical interest, and the Diamond Fund, which has all of the jewels of the Russian treasury.
2. You have to see Red Square. Note where Peter executed the Streltsy.
3. You have to see St. Basil's. They have English audio tours that are very good, though it's a little disconcerting to leave your passport at the tour desk.
4. On Red Square is the excellent State Historical Museum. They also have very good audio tours in English.
5. I still say go to the Tretsekov. In the Tretsekov you will find many famous icons, including the Holy Trinity by Rublev. Make sure you are there between 12 and 4 because that is the only time the church is open. Inside the church is the icon Vladimir Mother of God...read up on it so that you will know it's significance to Russia. If you skip all the portraiture, the rest of the museum is not large. You will see many famous paintings depicting Russian history such as the Execution of the Streltsy, Ivan with his dying son, Sophia at Novodevichii, etc.
5. Go to the Novodevichii convent. Take the subway to Sportivnaya and turn right when you exit the station. Go straight and you will run into the convent. Besides the architecture, you can see where Sophia was imprisoned and also Eudoxia's and Irina's quarters. Next to the convent is the famous cemetary where most famous Russians are buried if they aren't under the Kremlin wall.
6. If you exit Red Square below St. Basil's you will find yourself in Kitai Gorod on Vavarka street. There is a small museum of the Romanov's when they were Boyars and not Tsars.
7. Also near Red Square is the Archeological Museum.
8. If you want to see one of Stalin's seven sisters, go to Moscow State University. There is a great view of Moscow here and you will probably get to witness a bunch of weddings Russian-style.
9. I'll mention this just because it's one of my favorites. The sculpture garden behind the Central Building of Artists is very pleasant and contains among other things, examples of Soviet sculpture that were removed during the 1990's.

Since you will be in the center for most of the time in Moscow, one food hint is that there is a food court in Ohotnii Ryad, the underground mall next to the Kremlin. GUM, the mall on Red Square also has some fast joints. The cafe at the Moscow Conservatory I mentioned is just up the street from the Kremlin.

You are a beast if you can manage to see more than what is on this list.
 
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