Russia with kids is such an interesting trip. It’s one of those places that can sometimes seem intimidating. We’ve had plenty of people ask us if family-friendly vacations to Russia are even possible. We took a trip to Russia with children with our three children aged two, five and seven. We found that family-friendly holidays to Russia are more than possible. In fact, kids in Russia are so positively welcomed that we had the most wonderful trip and can’t wait to return. Read all about our top thoughts on Russia for kids based on our holiday there.
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Table of Contents
Russia for kids – planning our trip
I have to admit I was a little apprehensive before we went.
A few weeks befrore I posted a message on a traveller’s forum asking for people’s suggestions of what to do in Russia with kids. And I largely got people saying that they didn’t think Russia was very child friendly.
I started to worry that this might not be the trip I hoped it would be.
But I always say we can turn any destination into a family-friendly one and I was determined to make sure Russia wasn’t going to be an exception.
So I did what I always do when planning a new destination. I researched and planned and planned.
We decided we would visit Moscow and St Petersburg and travel by train between the two.
But I was still worried that the Russian people might be unfriendly, maybe even hostile…and I couldn’t do anything about that.
So how did we get on?
What we did
We visited museums and palaces.
And played in the fountains of the former homes of the Russian Royal family.
We found colourful installations to run through.
And there were fun playgrounds beside amazing sights.
We enjoyed fantastic water parks where buckets of water were suddenly tipped over us in the fun play area, making us all shriek.
And we ate blinis (Russian pancakes).
And tried Russian dumplings in the oldest vegetarian restaurant in St Petersburg.
There was also amazing Georgian cheese breads to try at Khachapuri Moscow.
And we loved trying Russian doughnuts in the Soviet Union era restaurant Pyshechnaya in St Petersburg.
We stayed in amazing hotels in Moscow and great hotels in St Petersburg and swam in the pools.
And we saw some truly iconic sites.
We hung out on huge beanbags in Gorky park.
And even went to the ballet at the famous Mariinsky Theatre.
We spent a night chugging through the Russian countryside on a sleeper train which was brilliant fun –
How friendly is Russia with kids?
We discovered that Russia is one of the friendliest of places.
From the moment we arrived and our two-year-old was kissed on the cheek by a very sweet Russian teenage girl. She wanted to hear all about England.
To the man on the metro who ran after our five-year-old’s hat when it blew off as the train rushed into the station.
Every metro train or tram we got onto everyone stood up to give the children their seats.
One of my favourite memories was our trip to Gorky Park.
We met a little boy around the same age as our oldest son who is seven. He didn’t speak any English but he was desperate to play.
He and our son spent the longest time running around after each other, playing zombies, play fighting, chasing, catching, laughing. All the while we watched on and smiled at their play.
My seven-year-old didn’t want to leave Russia and begged me to bring him back again soon.
He doesn’t care about politics or stereotypes…he knows Russia is full of people just like him. Good-natured, friendly people and children who just want to play.
Oh and they have lots of pancakes too.
So, how was our trip to Russia for kids? We loved it.
Completely loved it and can’t wait to return.
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10 things to do in Moscow with kids
I’m so pleased you all had a good time. The buildings are stunning. I can’t say I’ve thought of Russia as a place I’d want to visit to but your photos and the hotel post make me want to book right now!
Ah thank you so much! It really is a wonderful country to visit, I can’t recommend it highly enough. We want to go back and see what it’s like in winter now!! 🙂
It looks like you had an amazing time and embraced what Russia had to offer.
Amazing! When I think of Russia I certainly don’t picture child friendly – or even the beautiful sunshine that you had! It’s always so refreshing to get to see the world through a child’s eyes like this.
I have been to Finland, and minus the iconic buildings, it’s very similar in cuisine and attitude. Functional and friendly. I don’t think Russia will be on my list for a long time, thanks to its politics, but, thank you for showing me a side of it I didn’t expect to see.
I really believe we have an opportunity to show our children the world through their innocent eyes. I realise many may not agree with the politics of Russia but every country has questionable politics and for me the most important thing was for my children to come away from that trip understanding that people are the same the world over. The more we can instil that in other generations the more hope there is for the future…
It looks stunning but I wouldn’t dare show my boys the photos of that water park or I’m pretty sure I’d be committed to a holiday in Russia very soon!
Looks truly wonderful, such a fantastic experience to visit countries and meet all the lovely people there 🙂 and the pictures of Gorky Park especially look amazing – and very child friendly!
Oh I knew it was going to be good! It’s somewhere I’ve always thought I’d visit one day, and I rather imagined Russia to be a happy surprise where children are concerned. Mine are 10 and 7, so we’re just beginning to do more challenging trips – I think they’d love it!
As I said yesterday – I would LOVE to go back! I never visited Gorky Park – love that installation – and the swimming pool with all the flumes etc looks amazing. I think we hall have a very outdated view of Russia and challenging such outdated preconceptions is a great thing to do. Not so sure I would wish to relive our sleeper train experience again though, I’m not feeling that brave!
This looks fabulous! I love your pictures and that water park looks great fun x
Glad you liked it. We’re there every summer, and my eldest likes it more than London in a lot of ways. Russians really do love kids, and go out of their way for them, and other kids are always really friendly too. We’ve been doing museums and such more this year as the kids are older, and the welcome they’ve had from the staff has been lovely too. Though they still wouldn’t let us sit on the floor and draw the pictures in the Treatrakov Gallery. Can’t have everything!
Russia looks so different from anywhere I’ve ever been. I look forward to taking my kids there some day.
Breathtaking!! I always wanted to visit Russia after I studied Catherine the Great at A’ level. The water park looks out of this world and the buildings are just stunning.
It looks like you had an amazing time and you’ve made me really want to go! x
The pics are amazing! And it sounds like you had such a lovely time. You make me want to go to Russia and as a Finn that’s really strange, LOL
What’s so great about this is not just that you obviously had a wonderful, memorable family holiday but that it really inspires me that you can take 3 young kids (like ours) to somewhere a bit further afield and more culturally interesting. I still long to travel to iconic places like Russia but discounted it with kids so thanks so much for this great post!
this is awesome! i’ve wanted to go to russia for quite some time, and this just makes me want to go even more.
I loved seeing your trip through Instagram and I too was really surprised that the shot were not what I imagined Russia to be like! Love that shot of your eldest two arms wrapped around each other, so sweet! x
Oh I am so glad – we have been wanting to go to St Petersburg for a longtime and John is very keen and I didn;t even think about taking the train to Moscow!!! I always go in with an open mind when travelling as you never know what your going to find. I took a train from Zurich to Zagreb on my own and when arriving in Zagreb the station was run down, everything was grey and post-soviet and spray painted on and I thought – what have I got myself into – but I ended up having an amazing time staying with a playwright through couch surfing and it’s now one of my favourite cities.
Laura x
That water park looks amazing – so much better than anything we have here. Hope to do Moscow one day
I would never have thought about Russia as a holiday destination, but you’ve totally opened my eyes! What a friendly sounding place with so much to explore, can’t wait to hear about the rest of your trip!
Popping over from the carnival – had to click through when I saw the post is about Russia! Absolutely love Russia, it is such a beautiful place, and people are almost always extremely friendly. I speak a bit of Russian too, so it helps to get around, and even if my Russian is atrocious I get so many complements in Russia about it… 🙂
Been there quite a few times and St Petersburg is my favourite. Know it pretty well too after living there a couple of months a few years back. Beautiful city. Love the Peterhof fountains too, the trick fountains are fun to do, even as an adult 🙂
Thank you so much for your message! We absolutely loved Russia and really enjoyed the Peterhof – there’s a post to come on the fountains! We went to the waterpark too which was fun.
How amazing to have had the opportunity to have lived there, I’m so jealous! Thank you again for your comments 🙂
How long was your trip to Russia, I’m really tempted to go in September, my kids are similar ages to your three, and your trip looks amazing!
We only have 8/9 days free and not sure if we should just try st petersburg or go for both st petersburg and moscow
Hello, we went for about 8 days. I can’t recommend the trip highly enough, we absolutely loved it. I’ve been thinking of putting together an itinerary so will let you know if I do but in the meantime I would say DO BOTH!! St Petersburg is beautiful and very touristy but Moscow is a surprise and more down to earth. My favourite was definitely Moscow with fun Gorky Park and local playgrounds etc….did you see my post on 10 things to do in Moscow with kids? There’s lots there and then you can take the night train between the two cities which is so much fun! We were only briefly in Moscow and I wish we had longer there but it was a good taste pf the city and has made me desperate to return. Hope this helps and happy travels – it’s a beautiful country.