Russia: good to know
The general-information half of trip planning: how expensive Russia feels, what is considered polite, what is not, and the everyday practicalities - alongside our 334 written places.
Reserved in public, generous behind the front door; smiles are earned, not given away.
✓ Considered polite
- Bring a small gift when visiting a home - chocolates or flowers, always an odd number
- Take your shoes off indoors and wear the slippers offered
- Toast properly at the table - the short speech matters more than the drink
- Dress up a notch for theatre and good restaurants - going out means dressing up
✗ Better avoided
- Give an even number of flowers - even counts are for funerals
- Shake hands across a threshold - step inside first
- Smile at strangers without a reason - warm smiles are saved for people you know
- Whistle indoors - superstition says it whistles your money away
Worth knowing
- Foreign bank cards generally do not work - bring cash to exchange and budget in rubles
- Tipping is around 10% in restaurants, handed over in cash
- Coat checks at theatres and museums are obligatory, not optional
- Shops stop selling alcohol at set evening hours - typically 23:00, earlier in some regions
Plugs and voltage: Wikipedia, «Mains electricity by country» (after the IEC World Plugs list), read 15 October 2026.
Some links on this page are Amazon affiliate links - if you buy through them we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Keep planning
Customs are living things - regions differ, cities relax, generations shift. Take these notes as a friendly head start, watch what locals do, and when in doubt a smile and a greeting in the local language cover almost everything.