Money and costs
The Russian currency is the Ruble (RUB). Russia is currently a very expensive country. Moscow is one of the most expensive cities in the world, St. Petersburg is increasingly following the example and, in other less emblematic cities or in the countryside, the cost of living is decreasing, but not as much as one would expect. The main Russian cities are well equipped with ATMs and most of the most modern and sophisticated establishments accept credit card payments.
ACCOMMODATION
In St. Petersburg and Moscow, quality hotels have increased exponentially in number. and they charge more and more affordable prices for the comfort and service they offer. It has also become common for homeowners to rent their homes to foreigners through internet sites, which has proven to be an excellent solution for many visitors.
More cosmopolitan, Moscow and St. Petersburg also have a good number of guest houses at prices that could be more merciful. Unless you are in a period of ruble devaluation, expect to pay around €25 for a spartan double room and most likely cramped. From €10 to €18 for a dormitory stay.
Overnight in a real hotel in Moscow or St. Petersburg can start at €70 per night for a double room and go up to many hundreds of euros per night.
The situation in other cities with lesser notoriety can be radically different with a lack of hotels and high prices in those that exist. At times of important events, it becomes difficult to get rooms at any price in any Russian city.
Keep in mind that the above reference values can drop substantially – by half or less – during the long Russian winter.
FOOD
It's expensive in every way. The cheapest meals you'll find are in neighborhood restaurants, some with a semi-Soviet atmosphere. They allow for different combinations of ingredients, drinks, desserts etc that the customer always chooses with eye contact as he goes, gathers on a tray and pays. In these types of restaurants, a full meal usually costs between €10 to €15. More sophisticated and famous restaurants represent significantly more expensive meals up to prices so high that only Russian millionaires or visiting wealthy foreigners get used to eating them.
INTERNET
It has spread at great speed since the turn of the century, and today it is abundant throughout Russia and is achieved without great difficulty even in lost cities in remote regions. In larger towns there is Wi-Fi in hostels and hotels, cafes, restaurants and other public spaces. If you really have to browse internet cafes, be prepared to pay well.
Another solution is prepaid SIM cards with credit for calls and internet, as a rule, accounted for by the minute + GB, for example 600 minutes of calls and 3 or 4 gigabytes of traffic. You can buy these SIMs upon arrival, at airports, or all over the city