Russian Currency?

[mr green]

Does Russia accept US Dollars? john

[sultan_sfo]

Experience in St. Petersberg:

The tourist agencies accept US$ CASH only.

It is possible to buy Russian Currency in US now.

The tour guides (Red October and others) kept warning us that it is illegal to pay anyone not authorized to accept foreign currency in US $. They wanted all of us to make our purchases from their "authorized" stores. But the street vendors were very happy to quote and bargain prices in US $$.The street vendor price for fur hats (DW bought one) was 40% of the price in those "authorized" stores. Interpretation of this experience is left to you! /Sultan

 

Does Russia accept US Dollars? john

[Nik]

Yes, most people would rather have the US dollar than the ruble.

[kitty9]

But, they only accept smaller denominations and the bills must be new, clean and not creased. I don't know why that is, but on my 3 visits to Russia, that's the way it was---they don't take old US currency.

[flyaway]

That is definitely true. I used to travel to Russia for business, and they want crisp US $, not tattered ones.

 

But you will need some rubles, if you want to buy from a real store. But there are tons of exchanges around.

[ZitzBear]

The Russians like to have US dollars, but as others have pointed out, they must be small bills and in new condition. There are a lot of "flea market" type shopping areas where you usually find the better deals. The vendors often will take US dollars, but they don't want you to broadcast the transaction. They are not supposed to accept US currency so they get real sneaky about it. As for the exchanges, there seem to be plenty of them and they are generally pretty fair.

[dbh62ark]

The tour guides (Red October and others) kept warning us that it is illegal to pay anyone not authorized to accept foreign currency in US $. They wanted all of us to make our purchases from their "authorized" stores. But the street vendors were very happy to quote and bargain prices in US $$.The street vendor price for fur hats (DW bought one) was 40% of the price in those "authorized" stores. Interpretation of this experience is left to you! /Sultan

This is one of the many issues that drove me to Denrus. Denrus does not have their own stores and are simply interested in helping their passengers find the best deal. When we toured with Red October in 2003, we had the same experience. When we toured with Denrus in 2005, we were very happy with the stores Denrus frequents and were very happy to have better choices, more variety, and better prices.

 

We cruised the Baltics in 2003 and 2005 and had a little different experience with U.S. cash both times. So I'll comment on 2005 experience because that is most recent, but my point is that things change from year to year, so be advised that the best info for this year may come from the May Baltics cruisers when they return.

 

We were able to obtain rubles from Bank of America (we have accounts there and obtain currency for each country every year before we go to Europe because that method has worked best for us) in 2005.

 

Touring with Denrus, there was a huge advantage for us when we used U.S. dollars. In the stores, the prices are marked in rubles and in Euros. Most of the stores where we shopped would take 30 U.S. dollars for a 30 Euro item. With the current exchange rate, that gains you approx 20%. In addition, if you spent over $100 U.S., our guide told us to ask for a discount, and it was consistently 10%.

 

As noted, the street vendors are very easy to negotiate with. I hope you enjoy your shopping and your tour as much as we did.

 

As for the legality issues, I advise you to make your own decision. I was advised by a U.S. resident that has relocated to St. Petersburg (Stan) that using U.S. cash was illegal, but it reminded me of the speeding laws in the U.S. It seems to be a law that is frequently broken and rarely enforced. So do what works for you.

 

Have a great trip,

Donna

[dbh62ark]

P.S. On the Constellation, we were able to obtain lots of U.S. cash from the casino on the ship. If your ship has similar policies, that would be a great option for you.

[phdiva]

The Russians like to have US dollars, but as others have pointed out, they must be small bills and in new condition.

 

So they'd rather have 5 $20 bills than 1 $100 bill? I would have thought that $100s would be preferred for large purchases.