The list of souvenirs you can get during your trip to Russia will be very extensive and varied: here, this list will also include handicrafts made of wood, various kinds of toys (such as famous nesting doll dolls), items of traditional clothing (scarves, and fur). hats, famous Russian earflaps), souvenirs representing the Soviet period of Russian history, traditional metal utensils (primarily famous samovars), products made of precious stones (for example, from amber, or the famous malachite or green marble), Porcelain dining sets, and, of course, well-known in the Russian food and dishes, such as, for example, eggs and marshmallows (sweet dish, cake, reminiscent of the Iranian marshmallow). Are you thinking about what is the value of my nesting doll, how to appraise them. Here is the guide for you.

If you are in Russia now and have come to watch the World Cup games or are just planning a trip to this country, by all means and best of all, in advance think about where you should buy souvenirs for yourself and your friends and acquaintances. As you can see, the choice before you is very large. But in this article we will try to help you navigate the main outlets where the above-mentioned Russian souvenirs are sold, point out the most popular ones, introduce the main trading establishments and describe their features.

Buying Souvenirs

In modern Russia there are actually a lot of places where you can buy Russian souvenirs famous all over the world. In fact, it is touted as a famous island of nesting dolls. There are especially many of them on the streets and avenues of Russian cities, which always attract tourists, and above all, in Moscow: the real center of souvenir trade in the Russian capital is the pedestrian Arbat Street. It will not be superfluous to look into the famous GUM on the main square of all Russia, Red Square, or reach the Sparrow Hills. You can find many souvenir shops in the Izmailovo district in the eastern part of Moscow (united under the general name Izmailovo-Market). Souvenirs are always sold at special stands of Moscow museums. If you visit food supermarkets or hypermarkets, you should also look for stands dedicated to the sale of souvenirs. Try buying dolls for your wife. She will surely love it!

You can also buy online, see nestingdolls.co.

Places to buy Souvenirs

If you forgot about buying souvenirs and remembered this, when you leave Russia, you still have a chance to buy them at airports, but remember: just don’t buy anything there, the prices for souvenirs that are offered at retail outlets Russian air terminals, several times higher than in shops and souvenir shops, which you will visit during the walks around the city.

First of all, I will tell you about the famous handicrafts made of wood, which you must certainly bring from a trip to Russia. Let’s start with the dolls.

The wooden doll “Nesting doll” is perhaps the most popular object among tourists visiting Russia. Outside the country, this doll has already become a kind of symbol of Russia, since it is known everywhere: not only in Europe and America, but also in the Far East and in African countries. The nested doll is, in fact, a set of cool wooden figures, each of which is inside the larger of them in size: in the largest nesting doll, unscrewing the upper part of it, you will find a smaller figure, revealing it even smaller, and so on, sequentially, from the biggest figures to the smallest. However, the history of this doll, which everyone associates with Ancient Rus, is not so ancient at all: it goes back to the end of the 19th century. Ethnographers even call the exact date – 1890.

Read this article which narrates the history of nesting dolls.

The number of dolls in the set varies.

You can meet the most common set of 5 figures; there is also a set with a much larger number of figures – 20, for example, or even 75. The painting on the faces of these dolls is also diverse. Previously, it was always only a woman’s face, framed by a traditional scarf. But the XXI century brought new trends now you can see dolls representing and famous political figures of Russia and the world, famous athletes, or famous characters from the sphere of show business, Russian or global. Nesting doll is considered one of the cheapest Russian souvenirs; in addition, these figures are very light. So for the traditional set of 5 figures there will always be a place in your travel suitcase.

Now tell a little about the “Khokhloma.” So called sets of wooden utensils, spoons, dishes, plates, bowls, painted in a special traditional style, which is called “Khokhloma.” The peculiarity of this style is bright and golden colors on a dark or black background. This style of painting wooden dishes dates back to the second half of the 17th century and originates from Nizhny Novgorod, one of the central regions of Russia.

One of the most advantageous features of Khokhloma souvenirs for tourists is that these products are also very light in weight, but keep in mind that these dishes are not designed for storing liquids, so it is not suitable for eating first courses or for tea drinking. However, many in Russia are very fond of this style of painting: in this way mobile phones can be painted, someone decorates computers like this, someone even decorates cars.