Russia: In the Country

Accommodation

Rules For Eating Out: Most restaurants serve meals all day long and in the evening until about 23.00 hours.
A tip corresponding to between 5 and 10% of the order is often expected.

Food Specialties: Russian cusine is known for its hearty meals, but it is also inspired by lighter French tastes.

Some well known dishes:
Borscht: a beet and cabbage soup famous for its dark red colour, often served with Russian sour cream (smetana) and a slice of dark rye bread
Blini: similar to a savoury crepe; made with buckweat and served with smoked salmon, mushroom or Russian sour cream
Olivier Salad: a light, crisp dish made with cucumber, pickles, potatoes, peas and mayonnaise
Pelmeni: Russian dumplings filled with herbs, lamb, pork or beef
Pirozhki: mini-pies that are pan-fried or oven baked
Shashlik: meat served in kebab-style, usually found in market stalls and shaved right off the grill
Beluga Caviar: comes from the Caspian sea and has always been considered to be the luxury food par excellence
Drinks: Le Kvas (or kvass) is a drink much enjoyed in Russia, it is also called 'khlebnoe pivo' (bread beer). Mildly alcoholic and sparkling, kvas is made by fermenting bread in water.
Vodka or 'little water' (diminutive of voda, water) is the traditional Russian drink. It is often drunk with canapés called 'zakouski'.
Russians also drink large quantities of beer ('pivo') and tea ('tchai'), which often replaces water.
Dietary Restrictions
Table Manners: Table manners are continental.

Urban transport services: The Moscow Metro
Find an Itinerary: Expatica
Taxi services: Taxi in Moscow
A list of taxi companies in St Petersburg
Smart Moscow - ordering a taxi in Moscow

Airport	Distance	Taxi	Bus	Train	Car Rental
Moscow - Domodedovo (DME)	37 km / 23 miles	RUB 750-1000 / 90 min	RUB 30 / 25-30 min	RUB 120 / 40 min	Available

Name	Type	Domestic Flights	International Flights
Aeroflot	Major	Yes	Yes
KrasAir	Major	Yes	Yes
Rossiya (Pulkovo)	Major	Yes	Yes
DalAvia	Major	Yes	Yes
Sky Express	Low cost	Yes	No

Car rental agencies: Sixt
Avis
Europcar
Real-time traffic conditions: Real-time traffic conditions. The color of the traffic light tells how bad traffic jams are (from green to red)

Current Local Time: It is %T:%M %A In Moscow, Kazan, Saint Petersburg
It is %T:%M %A In Yekaterinburg, Perm, Chelyabinsk
It is %T:%M %A In Novosibirsk, Omsk
It is %T:%M %A In Vladivostok, Khabarovsk
Summer Time: Summer time is from March to October

Time zone

Type of Climate: The Russian climate varies as it is such a large country but winter are mostly long and very harsh, dropping down to -30^oc, except around the Black Sea. Meanwhile, summers tend to be hot and short. and can reach past 30^oc.

The best time to visit the country is during the months of May and June; July and August can be stifling hot especially in the big cities. Russia recieves the most rain in the west, often up to 750 mm a year and the Russian steppes are the driest, not getting more than 200 mm annually.
Hotel reservation websites: Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring (Rosgidromet)

Climate

Domestic Currency: Russian Rouble
ISO Code: RUB
To Obtain Domestic Currency: There are many bureaux de change. Foreign currency can also be changed in banks, certain hotels and department stores.
You can also withdraw roubles directly from the many ATMs which take European credit cards such as Visa or MasterCard.
Possible Means of Payment: Cash is generally preferred. But big hotels, stores or restaurants take credit cards.

To Find a Cash Machine Where You Need, Use the ATM locator

Official Language: Russian
Other Languages Spoken: More than 150 languages are spoken in the Russian Federation and some of them are the official language in a part of the country.
Business Language: English is more and more widespread.
Managers often understand English better than they speak it. You must be prepared to conduct negotiations in Russian.

Telephone Codes: To Make a Call From Russia, Dial 810
To Make a Call to in Russia, Dial +7
Mobile Telephone Standards: The international standard MTS leads the market. Beeline, MegaFon and Rostelecom also exist.
National Mobile Phone Operators: MTS, Beeline (Vimpelcom), Megafon, Skylink.

Internet Suffix: .ru
National Internet Access Providers: Stream.ru, Russia-On-Line and MTU-Intel.

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