Is It Safe to Holiday in Russia?

Russia is technically open to tourists. You can fly into Moscow or St Petersburg from a long list of friendly-aligned countries, the visa system still works (and was significantly relaxed in 2023 with the new e-visa for 55 nationalities), and the metro still runs at three minutes' headway. The hostels still have beds. The Hermitage still has Rembrandts. Red Square still looks like a film set.

The honest answer to whether you should go is more complicated, and depends on which government's passport you carry, which Russia you imagine you are visiting, and what risks you are personally willing to absorb. This guide is not a moral argument — it is a practical look at what travelling to Russia in 2026 actually involves.

What every Western government says

Look at the official advisories before you start mentally booking flights. As of 2026 the major English-speaking advisories all say the same thing in slightly different words:

- United Kingdom (FCDO): Advises against all travel to Russia. Citing the war, the risk of arbitrary detention of foreign nationals, the risk of being conscripted if you hold dual nationality, terrorism risk, and consular limitations. - United States (State Dept): Level 4 — Do Not Travel. Same justifications. - Australia (Smartraveller): Do Not Travel. Same. - Canada (Global Affairs): Avoid all travel. - New Zealand (SafeTravel): Do Not Travel.

The advisories matter beyond their headline because most travel insurance becomes void in destinations a Level 4 / Do Not Travel advisory has been issued for. If you go and break a leg falling out of a Trans-Siberian bunk, you are paying the medical bill out of pocket, and the evacuation invoice for getting you home from Yekaterinburg is a five-figure sum.

That is the single biggest practical consequence of ignoring the advisory: you become uninsured.

Specific risks to think hard about

Arbitrary detention of foreign nationals. Several Western journalists, dual-citizen tourists and casual visitors have been detained on charges ranging from "drug smuggling" (Brittney Griner, Marc Fogel) to "espionage" (Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan). Some were released in prisoner swaps, some were not. The pattern observed by lawyers is that Russia uses foreign detainees as bargaining chips. Carrying a Western passport increases your value in this calculation; being a journalist, government employee, NGO worker, lawyer, academic, or having any social-media history critical of the war increases it sharply.

Mobilisation risk for dual nationals. If you hold Russian and another citizenship, Russia treats you as Russian and you can be drafted. Multiple dual nationals (especially men 18–55) have been detained at the border on entry or refused exit and conscripted. If this is your situation, the FCDO and State Department warnings are written specifically about you.

Aviation and infrastructure risk. Russian airspace is partially restricted for safety reasons. Drone strikes have hit Moscow and other cities. The Crocus City Hall attack in March 2024 killed 145 people. Crowded venues — concert halls, malls, metro stations — are explicitly identified as elevated-risk targets in the advisories.

Payments. Visa, Mastercard and most other Western card networks no longer work in Russia. Apple Pay and Google Pay are gone. Western bank transfers are extremely difficult. You arrive carrying cash (US dollars or euros) and exchange it; or you open an account at a Russian bank that issues a Mir card, which involves paperwork most short-term tourists cannot complete. Plan to operate in cash.

Connectivity. Many Western VPNs are blocked. Twitter / X is blocked, Facebook is blocked, Instagram is blocked, Meta is officially designated "extremist". Telegram works. WhatsApp works for now. Western news sites are intermittent. If you are used to Google Maps showing you live transit, the bigger Russian apps (Yandex Maps, 2GIS) are better.

Consular help is reduced. Most Western embassies have shrunk staffing and pulled the consular footprint outside the major cities. If something goes wrong outside Moscow or St Petersburg you may wait days for any meaningful contact with your government.

Who is going anyway, and why

Despite all of the above, tourism into Russia from non-aligned countries is up year-on-year — China, India, Turkey, the UAE, Iran, much of central Asia. For travellers from those countries the practical experience is mostly normal: visa is easy or visa-free, flights are direct, payments work via UnionPay or Mir, hotels are cheap by global standards because the rouble has weakened.

For Westerners specifically going against the advisories, the most common profiles are: people visiting Russian family or partners, journalists travelling on assignment with publisher backing and consular preparation, and a small minority of independent travellers determined to see Moscow, St Petersburg or the Trans-Siberian for themselves.

Practical safety if you go

If you have weighed the above and are still going:

- Buy specialty insurance that covers Level 4 destinations (a few brokers — High Risk Voyager, Battleface — sell it). Standard policies will not pay out. - Carry US dollars or euros in cash, in small denominations, split across pockets and bag. Plan a budget that does not depend on cards. - Register your trip with your home consulate before you leave so they have you on file. - Avoid posting anything political online — no anti-war content, no support for foreign militaries, no commentary on the leadership. Russian authorities have prosecuted foreigners for old social-media posts. - Stay out of border regions — particularly the southwest near Ukraine, Belgorod, Kursk, Bryansk, Rostov, Krasnodar and all of the occupied territories. The advisories single these out. - Skip large public gatherings — concerts, sports finals, military parades, anti-war protests. - Have a clean phone — leave your normal device at home if you can. Encrypted messages on personal devices have been used as evidence at the border.

What about the cities themselves?

Day-to-day petty crime in Moscow and St Petersburg is genuinely lower than in many European capitals — pickpockets and tourist scams are the main risks, comparable to Paris or Barcelona. The metros are clean and safe. Walking around at night in central districts is fine for most people. The risks are political and structural, not street-level.

This is partly why some travellers convince themselves the advisories are overblown. They are not. The people getting detained were not stabbed in alleyways — they were arrested at the airport, or hauled off a train, or stopped on the street by FSB officers who already knew their name.

A short answer

For most readers of this site — Australian, British, American, Canadian or EU citizens — the honest read in 2026 is: wait. The Russia of red-roofed hill towns, Trans-Siberian sleeper carriages, Black Sea beaches and three-day stopovers in St Petersburg is still there, and it will still be there when the war ends and the advisories drop a level. There is no version of the trip right now where you are not betting against the advisories — your government's, your insurer's, and the cumulative warnings of every major Western foreign ministry — and the size of that bet is your own freedom and your medical bills.

If you have no other option (a partner, family, a job that requires it), then plan with the seriousness the situation demands: insurance, cash, clean phone, no border regions, a low profile. If you are choosing it for the photographs, choose the photographs you can take three years from now instead.