St. PEtersburg: Fast Facts
Visas & Passports
- Foreign visitors must obtain a visa before entering Russia
- Beware of fake visa websites
- Cruise ship passengers joining a guided tour may be able to use their tour tickets in place of a visa
- Independent travelers must show proof of their hotel reservations
- It is required to carry your passport at all times!
- Russian
- Cyrillic alphabet may be useful to know
- 220 volts
- European two round prongs
- Currency = rouble, one rouble = 100 kopecs
- US dollars and euros are the easiest to exchange, exchange rates are better in the city than at the airport
- Major credit cards are accepted at top hotels and restaurants, but not small shops and cafes
- Keep your passport in a safe place
- Beware of pickpockets especially on the metro and Nevsky Prospect
- Men greet each other with a handshake
- Women are greeted with a nod or kiss on the cheek
- Friends greet each other with the word "privet" while "zdravstvuyte" is used for strangers formal occasions
- Young men and women should give up seats to the elderly and pregnant women on public transit
- In churches women cover their heads and shoulders while men remove their hats. Shorts are prohibited.
- Common in restaurants when the service charge is not included, 10-15%
- Most restaurants have a smoking section
- Beer: Tinka Baltica Botchkarev, and Nevsko
- Blinis: pancakes filled with anything from caviar to jam
- Borsch: beetroot soup
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- Ryazhenka: sweet, fermented milk-based drink
- Samogoon: moonshine
- Schi: cabbage soup with meat herbs and vegetables
- Solyanka: pickled cucumber cooked with meat fish or mushrooms making a soup
- Sushi is popular all over Russia
- Uhka: fish soup with potatoes onion and vegetables
- Vodka: Stolichnaya,Gzelhka
- Wine (Georgian)
- Usually open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. 7 days a week
- Prices may be negotiable at souvenir markets
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