THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE VISITING RUSSIA

  THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE VISITING RUSSIA

  We are all excited about the upcoming World Cup, much more if your national team qualified. If you are from the lucky ones who will be in Russia to support your country and party your pants off, here are some tips and things you need to know to make the best out of your upcoming trip. Russia is a country with many beautiful traditions and a very rich culture but also with different mentality from western countries. Here are some points to consider before you go to Russia.    

  Take your shoes off

If you are renting an apartment or you get invited to a local’s place it is protocol to take your shoes off before entering the house. The host will normally provide “tapachki” (slippers) but be prepared with presentable socks with no holes in case they don’t.
This is a normal thing to do not just for hygiene so you don’t drag around the dirt from your shoes around the house but a long time tradition that you will have to follow if you don’t want to seem rude and disrespectful.

  White nights!

Every year for a 2 month period during summer in the most northern cities (St. Petersburg the biggest one) you can experience the mystical white nights where the Sun just won’t set. The night will pass by and the sky will be illuminated, like if the lights were softly dimmed but it won’t reach the darkness.
This year is expected on May 26th to July 23rd and the City of St. Petersburg knows how to deal with it.
During this time, you can sense a much more festive environment especially at night. Clubs and bars stay open way later, sometimes all night long and cultural activities are also available extra hours.
The Mariinsky theatre offers “the stars of the white nights” which is a series of the best classical ballet and opera every day. You need to book your tickets ahead of time since they are usually sold out weeks or months before the event.
Don’t miss the Scarlet Sails event that is the celebration of graduate students where the whole city celebrates. In the city center main square there are concerts, light shows, fireworks and past midnight a big red illuminated sailboat navigates the Neva river offering an spectacular show.
Be sure to bring an eye mask if you want to get some sleep at night. You have been warned!

  Don’t get stuck on the other side of the bridge

St. Petersburg is if you ask me, the most beautiful city in Russia. Apart from it’s beautiful neoclassical architecture it is built across channels and rivers. During the winter time the water is frozen so it’s closed to navigation but when summer hits boats are everywhere. Small size boats go around with no problem but big commercial vessels do not fit under the bridges so especially at night, following a specific schedule some bridges will open allowing the ships to cross under but that means you might get stuck on one side of the bridge for several hours. This happens between the city center and surrounding areas. In case you cannot get back from the bar, you might as well consider bar crawling for the rest of the night. It’s also worth it to stay and see as the main bridge opens, the illuminated bridge against the white nights and the beautiful surrounding architecture is worth the selfie.

  Same sex PDA

No, it’s not illegal to be gay, however, homosexual propaganda is not allowed.
In general, there is a lower tolerance for same sex couples and especially older people who are more closed-minded will see this negatively. You might be fined if caught publicly displaying affection so to play it safe, keep it low key in public and go crazy in private.

  Stand up for the elder

Chivalry is not dead, in fact many Russian men will still open the car door for you, pull the chair out and more often than not, you will see in the metro or the bus that men stand up and give their seat to an elder or a woman. This is part of their culture of respect to the elder and would be nice if we see it happen more often in our own countries.

  Be ID and document ready

Especially if you will be travelling around from city to city police might stop you to ask for your documents and better have them ready for a smooth and easy travel. This includes your passport, migration card (given in the airport when entering the country) and registration (given by the hotel or host) indicating the address where you are staying. Keep all this documents together and safe because you will need them during your stay when checking into a hotel, and when leaving the country. It might not be very likely to happen that they will randomly ask you for this documents but in case they do save a headache and be ready with them.

  Double-check your type of visa

Many countries require a visa to enter Mother Russia and in most cases this visas are ONE ENTRY only. If you have plans to travel to nearby countries, be sure to do it before or completely after your stay in Russia otherwise you won’t be able to re enter the country unless you get from the beginning a multiple entry visa. Most tourist visas normally allow you to stay for 30 days.