Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Like a Local
Foreigners are still conspicuous in St Petersburg. Until you've
learned to push your way through the crowds on Nevsky pr and
bark at waiters you'll remain clearly marked out. Here are some
tips to enjoy the city as a local nevertheless.
Metro Etiquette
When on the escalators going down to the platforms, be aware that you stand on the
right, while you run on the left - walkers will be unceremoniously bundled past! While
getting on and off the trains is done in the rudest possible way (leave the carriage fast
before the crowds waiting to board charge in), once inside a metro carriage it's all pos-
itively chivalrous: most young men won't even sit down when there are empty seats.
But should you be seated and any female over the age of 40 boards the train, then leap
up immediately to offer your seat and don't expect to be thanked…
Russian Prices
It's a familiar scenario to anyone who's been in Russia for some time: you line up and
pay to get into a museum only to realise you're paying twice (or even three or four
times) the price locals are charged. The excuses you'll hear are all based on the sup-
posed limitless wealth of foreigners and the endemic poverty of Russians, something
that just doesn't ring true these days. Your best response is to try for the Russian price
- just say 'adEEn' (one) gruffly and hand over the money and you might get lucky.
Don't even bother at the Hermitage, however, where you'll need a Russian passport to
get the local rate (25% of the foreigner price!).
Eating & Drinking Like a Local
Locals still disappear to their local
stolovaya
(canteen) at lunchtime for a supremely
cheap (and usually very unexciting) meal. These places, a hangover from the Soviet
