Me and my girlfriend (we are a lesbian couple) traveled from Moscow to Ekaterinburg, and on to Volgograd. The trip was amazing. We were a bit worried about traveling without male company, but I must say Russia is one of the friendliest and untouristy places I've ever been.

It is a big advantage to know some Russian. Outside of Moscow we met nobody who spoke English. I found Moscow very stressful and expensive. It was the least pleasant city we visited. Our next stop was Kazan, the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan. I highly recommend Kazan. It's an old, beautiful and exotic city with a mix of Tatars and Russes living there. The atmosphere was far more relaxed than in Moscow.

Kazan offers great mosques, and is the Muslim centre of Russia. It's a great place to relax and stroll about. This city has some stunning sights, including the UNESCO listed Kreml.

Our next stop was Ekaterinburg. We were told that it was situated in the Ural mountains, but we never saw a glimpse of them. Nevertheless; Ekaterinburg is a very pleasant and chilled city. It has a very western feeling to it. It's easy to find western food, as there's plenty of Irish pubs there. I recommend going to the Altay building. There you can take a lift and see the city from the rooftop. It's quite stunning. There's plenty of theatres all around the city, and even though you don't understand Russian, don't miss the opportunity to catch local theatre-troops.

A great place (although hard to find) to stay is the guesthouse called Academy of Geology. It's peaceful and has beautiful rooms.

From Ekaterinburg we went south to Ufa. Ufa is the capital of the Republic of Bashkortostan. Ufa was quite hard to get around, but it is still worth a visit. You can visit one of Lenin's homes and spot some unique architecture. The atmosphere in Ufa is, like in Kazan, very different from the Russian cities. I highly recommend the Azimut hotel (Bus stop Gore Moskva). It's a business hotel with great standards and a friendly staff.

On to Volgograd. Volgograd is probably one of the most beautiful cities I've been to. Situated on the banks of the Volga river with an almost tropical climate, it almost feels like you're in Greece. This is a city of history. The name Stalingrad might ring a bell. The most stunning thing to see in Volgograd is the huge Mother Russia statue. It's the highest statue in the world (72 m). It's an unbelievable sight when you compare it to a church that stands beside it. It looks more like a doll's church.

I also recommend the Stalingrad Battle museum, and the Volga river cruises. There are plenty of offers. Volgograd was really easy to get around in. The city centre is quite small, and it's easy to navigate because of the river. The Volgograd Hotel is cheap and amazing.

We had a wonderful time in Russia. My girlfriend knows some Russian and that came in extremely handy. We got quite used to people looking at us, but we never felt threatened or harassed. The most common comment we got from other women was that we were brave to travel by ourselves.

One thing that is difficult however, is buying train tickets. You will need to write down the information for the train you are going on, how many tickets you need, and what kind of cupee you want. And prepare for long lines. It might take hours to get your tickets. We always went in a 4-people compartment. It was a great way to travel. We shared compartments with so many different people, and it was a great way to get to know Russians. It's important to bring some food or beverage to share.

Girls; go to Russia. It is a fascinating place....

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Another lovely small cosy place I visited, it's behind the metro station Mayakovskaya, cosy and as central as it gets. Clean rooms and lovely staff. Will for sure stay there again.

Metro Mayakovskaya, www.kitainn.com

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This gay club is on Sunday nights only - during the rest of the week it is straight-ish (though very mixed on Thursdays). Being a Sunday nighter, it attracts a crowd of very cute boys who don't have to get up for work on Monday morning (or wish they didn't). Good music by Moscow standards, and the drinks are VERY cheap.

7 Bolshoy Zlatoustinsky per.; Metro: Kitai-Gorod, then follow the Maroseika Ulitsa and take the first lane on your left;
Open: Sunday 12am till 7am

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This is another large gay club, a bit further out of town. It has a very large main dance floor where they play (mainly uninspiring) dance music, a smaller room where they play cheesy Russian pop music and a (men-only) bar. This seems to attract a younger crowd than Three Monkeys. Chance also puts on cabaret but this seems to be less drag-oriented - last time I went there were a lot of cute circus boys performing acrobatics in skimpy outfits.

Shans, 19A Kuusinena Ulitsa; Metro: Polezhayeskaya;
Open: 10pm till 6am, Monday to Sunday.

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Moscow's gay scene isn't very visible, but it's still there. This is a fairly large club on three floors (dancefloor, restaurant/bar, pub-like bar) with a great outdoor bar/area - surprising as it may seem, Moscow has good hot summers!

Attracts a mixed crowd from 18 to 80 (but most seem to be in their 20s). Not great music (like most clubs in Moscow) but good fun. They have two big drag shows of an evening, cute go-go boys and it's busy till very late on Friday and Saturday.

Tri Obeziany, bldg. 1, 11 Nastavnicheskiy Pereulok;
Metro: Chakalovskaya;
Open 10pm - 7am, Monday to Sunday.

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