Russia war history
 

Greetings..... I'm somewhat familiar with Eastern Europe though Russia is all new to me.... After my war History tour of Europe in 2016 and 2017 , I'd like to take it further into Russia for 2018...
My partner will be with me for 3/4 weeks & we will be 2up on a tiger 800 xcx ....I would like to enter Russia via Estonia/ Narva to Saint Petersburg, working my way through Moscow to Volgograd and exit somewhere into Eastern Europe around the Black Sea...
I would appreciate some advise on Points of interest, safety concerns as we are solo ... and a good way to exit back into Eastern Europe.. any advise would be great....
Cheers Phil

Let me know once you're in Estonia, I'll show you around if you want.

Crossing at Narva would normally be inadvisable (by car), but motorcycles get priority booking at the border station, basically 10 minutes out of every hour are reserved for bikes if there are any.

Around St Petersburg... I assume you mean WWII? You could look at Lake Ladoga, the Road of Life, the ice roads where convoys broke through the (rather reluctant and unmotivated) Finnish-held sections of the Leningrad blockade.

Heading straight west from Volgograd is obviously a non-starter right now and unlikely to be resolved by summer of next year. There is certainly lots of war history stuff in Crimea, but for I would discourage you from going there, both for self-evident reasons, and because even if you get through the Kerch ferry crossing okay, you may have trouble crossing north overland after that.

That said, if you swing north to cross into Ukraine, I'd recommend Odessa. From there you can go via the communism safari of Transdniester into Moldova, and then Romania (which these days is cheap, un-scary and often quite awesome).

Your other option would be to head down from Volgograd into the Caucasus and take a ferry from Poti/Batumi to Bulgaria.

Or to Odessa :thumbup1:
That ferry does the circle of the Black Sea.

For what it's worth going into Crimea shouldn't be a problem from Kerch. It would be a there-and-back trip though as there's currently no way you'll get into Ukraine from Crimea. If you're interested you could go there, return to Russia and then either circle north into Ukraine (somewhere north of the Donbass region obviously) or circle south to Georgia as suggested.
Personally I'd go for the latter as the Kaukasus mountains are simply amazing. And you'd be able to visit Stalin's birth house / shrine in Gori.

I landed in Estonia from Stockholm July 2016. immediately fell in love with " the old town" and the city in general..So much so I stayed longer than I planned...
I then headed to Latvia, Lithuania , Poland ' Hitlers wolf lair' and Zagan Home of the real great escape camp.. Czech, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece, Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Bosnia and worked my way to England... Eastern Europe was a real surprise package to me and will be coming back... Thank you for your offer it is noted and very much appreciated . I have been talking to several English riders and the general consensus is for a first timer, try and team up with other riders to travel Russia, Ukraine.
I am now seriously thinking of teaming up ....
Regards Phil

Great alternative, South to Georgia seems a popular route as the Kaukasus mountains seem to be a real plus... Stalins birth house in Gori.. thanks for the tip... regards Phil

Thank you for the tip.. website link... brilliant ... and very informative. Another vote for Georgia / Turkey... regards Phil

Remembrance of the second world war is an almost cult-like phenomenon in Russia and the Former USSR. Every town and village has a monument to it. So I think you'd need to be a little selective of where you go as you could literally spend months looking at various monuments.

Volgograd is an absolute must. I would also try to return to the EU via Belarus to see Brest, which is in my opinion the second-most impressive WW2 monument in the Former USSR (after Mamayev Kurgan in Volgograd).

There are also the 11 other 'Hero Cities' with notable WW2 connections. I've been to all of them except Novorossiysk; Kyiv, Tula and Smolensk stand out.

Near Smolensk is Katyn Forest, and a big monument to the Polish officers killed there by the NKVD.

In Belarus is a moving Soviet monument complex known as Khatyn.

There is also a monument to the Kursk Tank Battle somewhere near the city of Kursk, though I have not been there yet.

Near Vladikavkaz is a monument marking the furthest which the Axis Forces got towards the Absheron oil fields near Baku.

If you are interested in older 'war' history, there is Borodino Field between Smolensk and Moscow where the Russians fought Napoleon in 1812.

Earlier still is Kulikovo Field south of Tula where a decisive battle was won against the Golden Horde in the fourteenth century. Also on my list...

As for safety, Russia is very safe, nobody will hassle you when wild camping, people are kind and very helpful though you're unlikely to find anyone who speaks more than a few words of English outside of Moscow and St Petersburg.

You could follow the Volga south to Volgograd, then loop around through southern Russia (Voronezh, Kursk), enter Belarus and exit to Poland.

Hope this gives you some ideas :)

EO

Thanks EO
Just the information I was looking for.. bits and pieces like this help enormously
... I certainly don't mind being spoilt for choice on war history... Riding through Belgium last year, if I had stopped at every monument I think I would still be there...
regards Phil

We've been in Russia in September and visited sites around Moscow and Rzev. The area is full of monuments. Lot's of WW2 history. And as EO as it's really part of culture.

If you're close to Moscow then consider to visit the Kubinka tank museum - big collection of tanks including several one-of-a-kind pieces including the German Maus prototype. Worth a visit!

Rgds,
Martin

You already have lots of great info from other writers, all which I agree with.
There are three big outdoor memorial sites near Kursk. Visit them all! Lot's of tanks and artillery pieces.
Volgograd and its museums are a must, as has already been said.
The Caucasus is stunning, but more for natural scenery. The arms museums in Tula are great.
There is a fantastic open air military museum just west of Moscow (just outside of the Ring), not sure of the name. Great museum with lot"s of tanks, planes and artillery pieces. There is also the main military museum a little northeast of city centre.
Kiev is a beautiful city to visit and it also has a good WWII museum on the River next to the big Motherland statue. It also has a very good Afghanistan war museum 100m away including an open air part.
If that is really true about the Ukraine/Caucasus border being closed at the moment, it is disappointing as I wanted to use that next year to visit the Krim on my way to central Asia. People in Kiev told me it was only for Ukrainians and Russians that could not transit and that western Nationals should be ok, but nobody really knew for sure.
Maybe some reader can comment on whether it is fact or just rumour what the situation is.