From Norway to Moscow in a 1991 Cadillac: John’s Chronicle

John Andersen lives in Larvik, in southern Norway. In September 2025 he drove the whole length of his own country to the Arctic, crossed into Russia at Storskog, and kept going: Murmansk, Nikel, Saint Petersburg, Moscow, and finally out through Minsk. He did it at the wheel of a 1991 Cadillac Brougham, which turned out to be the best travel companion he could have picked — border guards, petrol station attendants and complete strangers all wanted to talk about the car.

If you like road trips into Russia, you may also want to read Miki’s winter drive from Girona to Sarapul. John’s is the summer, Arctic version — and a reminder that the vehicle you arrive in can change the whole tone of the trip.

What follows is John’s own account, with his own photos. Thank you, John, for sharing it.

Approximate route of John’s road trip. The dashed lines are the legs outside Russia (Larvik to the Storskog border, and Moscow out to Minsk); the solid line is the journey inside the country: Murmansk, Nikel, Saint Petersburg and Moscow.

Crossing at Storskog: the border guards wanted to talk about the car

This was a car trip. After driving from the south of Norway all the way to the north, I entered Russia at the Storskog border station. It went very easily — maybe because I was driving a 1991 Cadillac Brougham and the border guards were interested in cars, so we ended up having a good conversation. I travelled on a regular tourist visa, and taking your own car in means sorting out the paperwork for the vehicle too; if you are planning something similar, Irena’s guide to driving into Russia and the one on the compulsory OSAGO insurance cover what you need.

Murmansk: Soviet industrial aura and the latest iPhone

My first stop was Murmansk. The city has a nice Soviet industrial-city aura to it, and at the same time I was genuinely impressed by the shopping mall: they had everything — the latest iPhone models, Burger King, Coca-Cola, you name it. Not what you expect if all you know about the Arctic north of Russia comes from photographs.

I made a short stop in Nikel as well before pointing the car south towards Saint Petersburg. If you have more time up there than I did, this is the region where you would go looking for the northern lights or book one of the excursions around Murmansk — I was on a road trip, so the road was the point.

Driving in Russia: more aggressive, but far fewer police

On the way south I noticed that driving culture in Russia is not the same as in Norway. People drive more aggressively, the way they do in many countries in the world — Italy, maybe? The positive side is that there were very few police controls, so I could spend my attention on the road and on the traffic instead of scanning for a patrol car ready to hand me a fine the size of a month’s salary just for going a little too fast.

Saint Petersburg: I came for the city and left talking about a motorway

Saint Petersburg is a nice city, but since I was on a road trip what impressed me most was the road itself — the Western High Speed Diameter — and the views you get from it. There are trips where the monuments are the memory. On this one, a lot of my memories are of tarmac.

Saint Petersburg to Moscow: world-class road, and people who come over to talk

The road from Saint Petersburg to Moscow was also world class: good speeds, and big, clean, modern petrol stations with food. And friendly people who kept coming over to talk about the car. That happened again and again on this trip — the Cadillac did more for me than any phrasebook could have.

Patriot Park: the thing that blew my mind

In Moscow my main attraction was Patriot Park. It was mind-blowing: the huge church and the museums are like nothing I have ever seen before, in size and in detail. You drive in past a roundabout with an armoured vehicle and a pair of fighter jets, and from there the scale just keeps growing.

Inside the cathedral, the detail is what gets you: mosaics running across every surface, stained glass, and that dark green that makes the whole building look like it was cast rather than built. Outside, the memorial esplanade is so wide that no photograph of mine does it justice.

The rest of the park is a museum in the open air, and then some. There are rows of vehicles and artillery you can walk right up to, an indoor space hall full of satellites, a shooting range — and, my favourite oddity of the whole trip, a tank painted from top to bottom in the blue-and-white floral patterns of Gzhel porcelain.

The bank card I should have sorted out beforehand

The main thing I need to improve before my next trip is to put some effort into getting a MIR bank card. It would make paying at the road tolls far easier — and on a trip like this you meet a lot of tolls. I stopped at a bank in Zelenograd on the way to Moscow and the staff were very helpful, explaining exactly what I would need to get a card. Next time I will arrive with that already done.

For the internet I got by on the Wi-Fi of the hotels I had booked in advance, which worked, but it does tie you to the hotel. Next time a SIM or an eSIM would be genuinely useful, especially for navigation on the road.

The food: same as home, only cheaper

I tried the lot: ordinary food shops, restaurants and fast food places. Honestly, the food was just like in Norway. The only real difference was the prices, which were lower. Even the self-service screens at the fast food chains worked in English, so ordering was never a problem.

Out through Minsk

I left Russia by driving from Moscow to Minsk. Nice road — and the border guard, once again, turned out to be interested in cars. It felt like the right way to end a trip that had started exactly the same way, one Arctic border and a whole country earlier.

Have you travelled to Russia recently and want to share your experience? Tell me about your trip here and I will publish it in this section, with your name or anonymously, whichever you prefer.