St. Petersburg
The State Russian Museum: This and Moscow's Tretyakov Gallery are the country's two most important collections of purely Russian art. They're similar, and your time is short, so unless you're a Russian painting and icon nut, skip one. I found the Tretyakov's collection to be meatier and better arranged.

The Stroganoff Palace: It's conveniently located right across the Moika Canal from the Eliseev Palace Hotel, but it's yet another 19th-century palace, and the Yusupov Palace, from the same period, is far more interesting.

The Hermitage Theater: Catherine the Great built this theater in her home (the Winter Palace) in 1785 so she could produce the plays she wrote. It's a jewel box of a theater, and I loved seeing Swan Lake there, but the performances are for tourists, and the dancers are sloppier than the Mariinsky's. If you're planning to see only one ballet in St. Petersburg, it's got to be the Mariinsky. If you're up for two, then go to the Hermitage.

Affordable Hotels

Moscow
The most charming and well-located of the three-star hotels I saw was the Hotel Budapest (7-495-621-1060; hotel-budapest.ru; doubles, $263, including tax and breakfast). Before ruling out the four- and five-stars, however, keep in mind that Exeter International gets special deals because of the large volume of business it does with these hotels. At the five-star Baltschug Kempinski, for instance, you might pay for two nights and get the third free.

St. Petersburg
Don't dismiss the Grand Hotel Europe as unaffordable before asking Exeter International what rate it can get you. This is the city's historic grande dame and a convenient hub of swank activity with four fine restaurants (7-812-329-6000; grand-hotel-europe.com; before May 1, doubles from $601). The Petro Palace, centrally located but charmless, is the equivalent of a U.S. three-star (7-812-571-2880; petropalacehotel.com, doubles from $355). If you're going to have a car and driver, you could overlook the Hotel Dostoevsky's mediocre location. Your view at this equivalent of a U.S. 1.5-star hotel may be of the inside of a shopping mall, but look at it this way: You've got easy access to a quick, cheap food court (7-812-331-3200; dostoevsky-hotel.ru, doubles from $216). All rates quoted are for late April/early May (unless noted otherwise) and include tax and breakfast. Prices shoot up in mid-May!

More Notes from the Field

Wendy blogged nightly during her trip to Russia. For more of her tips, go to The Perrin Post.