Organize your stay Saint-Petersburg (Санкт-Петербург)
Money Saint-Petersburg (Санкт-Петербург)
The unit of currency is the ruble (RUB), subdivided into 100 kopeks. The era of the king's dollar is now révolue : you can change euros without any problem, they are perfectly in line with customs. You can change money at the bank or in obmen valiouty (обмен валюты), which are official counters displaying the rates with excessive signs.
The exchange rate is constantly fluctuating, so it is imperative to find out the current rate at the time of your trip.
To obtain a rate at time T, consult the universal converter at site : www.xe.com. It is set daily by the Central Bank of Russia.
Exchange rate (March 2020/ Covid-19 pandemic period):
1 € = 84.45 RUB/100 RUB = 1.18 €;
1 CAN$ = 54.48 RUB/100 RUB = 1.84 CAN$;
1 CHF = 80.07 RUB/100 RUB = 1.25 CHF.
Budget & Tips Saint-Petersburg (Санкт-Петербург)
Despite its attractiveness and success, Piter is still a much more affordable city than Moscow, and the cost of living and the exchange rate of the ruble are significantly lower for wallets in euros, Swiss francs or Canadian dollars.
Below are some recommended average daily prices. The prices are presented as follows: accommodation, catering, recreation (museums, etc.).
Small budget: 30 € + 25 € + 15 € = 70 €Medium
budget
:60 € + 30 € + 20 € = 110 €Large
budget: 180 € + 40 € + 30 € = 250 € Prepare
your trip well by having the rates for the main expenses confirmed. While the devaluation of the ruble is very advantageous for foreign visitors, St. Petersburg tends to see its prices fluctuate sharply upwards during the Sleepless Night period!
Passport and visas Saint-Petersburg (Санкт-Петербург)
Visa. If you are a citizen of a member state of the European Union, you will need a visa to travel to Russia for more than 8 days. The visa implies a proper invitation, which will be sent to you by email or fax by your hotel or the person inviting you. You can also get it from an agency via the Internet, which will send you the invitation by email, fax or post. The Visa House Internet Agency (www.visahouse.com) sends out invitation letters in a few minutes and has online support to answer any questions you may have. You can also contact the incoming agencies to request the invitation. On the basis of this invitation, you will be granted a tourist visa for up to three months.
You will also need to prove that you have an insurance policy covering you while abroad. The insurance provided by the Blue Card or taken out when purchasing the plane ticket is sufficient. Vous will also need to provide a passport valid for another 6 months after the end of your stay, a completed visa application form and a passport photo. After making an appointment on line on the website (www.vhs-france.com), the deposit of the requested documents at the Russian Visa Centre (19, rue de Ponthieu if in Paris) will usually take you only ten minutes. You will then just have to come and collect your passport and the precious visa.eVisa for trips to SPB up to 8 days. Please note that with the new law which applies since October 2019, citizens of France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Switzerland can benefit from an eVisa for 8 days (valid for 30 days). It is extremely simple and quick to obtain
: http://electronic-visa.kdmid.ru/spb_home_en.html
Warning. Nevertheless, keep yourself informed of the procedures that have been put on hold during the Covid-19 crisis, sufficiently in advance so that you can adapt and switch to a "classic" visa if necessary.
The simplest solution (in any case the least time-consuming) is still to go through your travel agency or companies specialized in obtaining visas which will take care of most of the procedures for a fee of about 150 €.
Driver's license Saint-Petersburg (Санкт-Петербург)
If you plan to stay only in the city, it is not really necessary to rent a car because the public transport network is very well developed with trams, subways, buses, marshroutkas and taxis. We also advise you to use receptive agencies to arrange transfers if you wish to travel by private car to the main points of interest around St. Petersburg. If you still want to rent a car, several international and local agencies are at your service at the airport and in the city with your driver's license and insurance certificate. Russian is preferable in this case.
Mandatory vaccination Saint-Petersburg (Санкт-Петербург)
Don't worry, St. Petersburg is a European and globally healthy city. It is advisable to leave with your vaccinations up to date (DT-polio, hepatitis A and B), but it is not mandatory to go through customs. For people who are going to spend several days in the wilderness, especially with forest crossings, it is advisable to get vaccinated against tick-borne encephalitis. This disease is carried by ticks, which are active in the summer in the birch forests surrounding the city. Every year in Russia there are many cases of death related to this disease. The vaccine can only be made at the Pasteur Institute, www.pasteur.fr.
Time difference Saint-Petersburg (Санкт-Петербург)
Since Russia decided not to change time in summer or winter, St. Petersburg is on UTC +3 all year round (Coordinated Universal Time). France is one hour ahead of UTC (UTC + 1 hour) in winter and two in summer (UTC + 2 hours). In short, when it is 10:00 a.m. in Paris, it is 11:00 a.m. in Saint Petersburg in summer and 12:00 a.m. in winter.
Please note that in March 2020, France was supposed to stop switching to winter time on 30 October 2021 and therefore remain on "summer time" from that date. If this were confirmed, the time difference would remain 1 hour longer in Saint Petersburg, whatever the season.
Spoken languages Saint-Petersburg (Санкт-Петербург)
We advise you to learn the Cyrillic alphabet before you leave, in order to decipher the road signs not transcribed in Latin letters. You will meet people speaking English, German and French, more or less happily. But more often than not, the language barrier is a real problem, especially with people of a certain age.
In social evenings, avoid big public statements in French, many cultured Russians understand the language of Molière.
There are different ways to learn some basics of the language and the offer for self-study can be made on different supports: books and workbooks or directly on the Internet.
Communication Saint-Petersburg (Санкт-Петербург)
There are a few Internet cafes, but wi-fi is free in all hotels and almost all restaurants and bars. Since 2015, free wi-fi is available on the main streets and roads of the city, some of them in the metro. In June 2017, free wi-fi appeared in the city's metro, but you will need a Russian SIM card to access it.
Electricity and measurements Saint-Petersburg (Санкт-Петербург)
The current is 220 V and the plugs are identical to French plugs. Russia uses the international metric system.
Luggage Saint-Petersburg (Санкт-Петербург)
Clothing is of course season-dependent, and you can confidently approach the summer months without carrying a Canadian or big sweaters. The temperature is around 20 to 25°C from July to early September. In late spring and early autumn, raincoats and jackets are a must, as well as small wools. Before and after, the weather can make travel difficult and some routes impossible. In winter, do not bring fragile clothing or shoes. Snow or mud will turn your fashion clothes into farmer's clothing. You might as well plan to wear jeans, sneakers or sportswear, along with walking shoes. Nevertheless, avoid ridicule (trapper or hunting atmosphere in Sologne).
