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Russia Tourism Tips

Russia Tourism Tips

Russia Tourism Tips on Business Hours

Most shops and department stores are open from 10 AM until 7 PM or even as late as 9 PM six days a week. Fewer and fewer break for lunch for an hour in the afternoon, although consulates, governmental offices, ticket agencies, and exchange offices persist in doing this. The smaller shops are unlikely to be open on Sunday (although you might be lucky) and restaurants and shopping arcades rarely have days off. Although business discipline in this respect has become much better, note that nothing stands between Russian businesses and public holidays, and the major ones often involve a break of at least two days -- three if they coincide with a weekend.

General hours for most businesses and banks are from 10 AM to 5 PM. They are usually closed on weekends, and many take an hour off for lunch. In general, pharmacies are open from 9 or 10 AM until 9 PM. There are, however, a number of 24-hour pharmacies in the major cities.

Museums keep varying hours; many are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Last entry is usually an hour before closing time, and museums often close an hour earlier the day before their closed day.

Russia Tourism Tips on Customs and Duties

Upon arrival in Russia, you first pass through passport control, where a border guard will carefully examine your passport and visa, and retain one sheet of your Russian visa. You can speed your transit through passport control by bringing along a photocopy of your visa and handing this, along with the original, to the border guard.

After retrieving your luggage, you fill out a customs form that you must keep until departure, when you will be asked to present it again (along with a second, identical form noting any changes). You may import free of duty and without special license any articles intended for personal use, including clothing, food, tobacco and cigarettes, alcoholic drinks, perfume, sports equipment, and camera equipment. One video camera and one laptop computer per person are allowed. Importing weapons and ammunition, as well as opium, hashish, and pipes for smoking them, is prohibited. The punishment for carrying illegal substances is severe.

You should write down on the customs form the exact amount of currency you are carrying (in cash as well as traveler's checks); you may enter the country with any amount of money, but you cannot leave the country with more money than you had when you entered. You should also include on your customs form any jewelry (particularly silver, gold, and amber) as well as any electronic goods (cameras, personal tape recorders, computers, etc.) you have. It is important to include any valuable items on the form to ensure that you will be allowed to export them, but be aware that you are expected to take them with you, so you cannot leave them behind as gifts.

If an item included on your customs form is stolen, you should obtain a police report to avoid being questioned upon departure. (You are allowed to bring into the country up to $2,000 of consumer items for personal use and gifts. But customs at the airport has been enforcing this rule sporadically at best, and will not likely challenge you on this front unless you have an excessive amount of luggage.)

Russia Tourism Tips on Electricity

To use electric-powered equipment purchased in the United States or Canada, bring a converter and adapter. The electrical current in Russia is 220 volts, 50 cycles alternating current (AC); wall outlets take Continental-type plugs, with two round prongs.

Russia Tourism Tips and Health and Medicine

The Russian medical system is far below world standards. Anyone visiting these countries runs the risk of encountering the horrors of their medical facilities, and individuals in frail health and those who suffer from a chronic medical condition should take this risk into careful consideration. You may want to purchase traveler's health insurance, which would cover medical evacuation. Sometimes even minor conditions cannot be treated adequately because of the severe and chronic shortage of basic medicines and medical equipment. These warnings aside, as long as you don't get sick, a visit to Russia poses no special health risk.

 

Russia Tourism Tips on Food and Drink

Food & Drink

You should try to drink only boiled or bottled water, although tap water wont kill you. Just try not to consume tap water often. In Moscow, imported, bottled water is freely available in shops. It is fairly cheap and of good quality. It is good practice to buy a liter of this water whenever you can. Hotel floor attendants are always able to provide you with boiled water if asked. Many top-end hotels filter their water, but it's best to double-check with reception.

Be wary of dairy products and ice cream that may not be fresh. The pierogi (meat- and cabbage-filled pies) sold everywhere on the streets are cheap and tasty, but they can give you a nasty stomachache. Be cautious of where you buy your meals.

Russia Tourism Tips on Mail

Postal rates are roughly equivalent to U.S. rates. You can buy international envelopes and postcards at post offices and in hotel-lobby kiosks. Beware that the postal system in all parts of Russia is notoriously inefficient and mail is often lost. DHL and Federal Express have offices in Moscow if you need to send something important back home. Postcards generally have a better chance of reaching their destination than letters.

The best option for mail is to go to WestPost, which whisks mail off to Finland and sends it from there, guaranteeing you European service.

Sending mail from Russia to the U.S., Europe, and Australia costs 10 rubles for a postcard and 14 rubles for a letter.

Mail from outside Russia takes approximately four weeks to arrive, sometimes longer, and sometimes never arrives at all. If you absolutely must receive something from home during your trip, consider using an express-mail service, such as DHL or Federal Express.

Russia Tourism Tips on Tipping

Cloakroom attendants, waiters, porters, and taxi drivers will all expect a tip. Add an extra 10% to 15% to a restaurant bill or taxi fare. Some restaurants are now adding a service charge to the bill automatically, so double-check before you leave a big tip. If you're paying by credit card, leave the tip in cash -- the waiter is less likely to see it if you add it to the credit-card charge. Moreover, some restaurants actively refuse to allow tips being added on to the bill by credit card. The only places with doormen who carry your bags are Moscow and St. Petersburg 's five-star hotels; in such establishments, a 100 ruble tip is a decent thank you.

 

Russia Tourism Tips on Public Restrooms

Public lavatories do exist, but they are mostly poorly marked and difficult to spot, and many are crumbling and not up to Western standards of hygiene. Your best bet, if you are unwilling or unable to buy a snack in a café or bar and avail yourself of its facilities, is to head for a mainline train station. If you do spot a rest room, have some small change ready, such as 1, 2, and 5 ruble coins, to use for tips and convenience machines.

 

Russia Tourism Tips on Safety

Exercise caution while shopping and sightseeing. You will stand out no matter what you do, and there are pickpocket and mugging rings, often operating in small bands (gypsy gangs are particularly pernicious). Don't be an easy target: Don't act flush with cash and don't stop if you encounter gypsies or bands of muggers. Swinging your arms or handbag and getting vocal often works to rout them.

You should be aware of one or two pieces of sharp practice that foreigners sometimes -- but not often -- encounter. Never change money on the street; as with con artists everywhere, counterfeit money, sleight-of-hand, and the ol' folded-note trick are practiced by men standing outside official exchange offices. As well as avoiding taxis that already have occupants, never allow your driver to stop to take an extra passenger after you have gotten in. It is possible that this is indeed a random passerby; it is also possible that he is an accomplice of the driver who has been waiting around the corner. Unlike the driver, he has his hands free to cause whatever mischief the two have planned. This is particularly applicable to lone travelers seeking a ride from the airport who are clearly foreigners and loaded with luggage. If your driver attempts to take another fare, insist that he not do it. Say nyet (no) and/or nye nada (literally "not necessary," meaning here "I'd rather not"). Better still, team up with a fellow lone traveler and split the fare.

Sadly, whereas police in the West are considered keepers of the peace, those in uniform do not enjoy this image in Russia. The reason is partly because of their habit of shaking people down to supplement their meager salaries, and foreigners make appetizing targets. Carry your passport and a copy of your visa at all times, if not the actual visa itself. Regardless of whether or not this is a legal requirement (the law is hazy on the subject), a crooked cop will use it as an excuse to demand a "fine." Pay special attention on leaving a nightclub -- the cops know that these are hangouts for foreigners and have been known to lie in wait to extract "fines" for alleged drunken behavior. There is no sure way of avoiding this -- other than not setting foot outside -- and every expat has a story of finding himself or herself in the ridiculous situation of haggling with a cop over the size of the bribe to be handed over. In all situations, be polite, allow the police to search you if they require, and stay cool; physical resistance only leads to a spell in the cells until they think you will crumble and hand over your money. This is by no means the case with all Russian police, but it happens too frequently to be dismissed as the actions of a minority. One thing you can do is ask to see the policeman's identification, but this may only serve to irritate him -- in any case, stories of criminals dressing up as cops to demand bribes are getting rarer.