St. Petersburg Lunch Cost

[freddiebud]

We have scheduled a 3 day private tour with Denrus and wanted to know what to plan for lunch money. The first day we stop at Peterhof snack shop, The Orangerie. No details on the other two. We are figuring we will need rubles, so wanted to be sure we have enough.

 

Thanks.

[Artemis]

Freddie, we did a private tour with Denrus last summer. (Can't say enough good things about our guide & driver!) I encourage you to talk with them about your dining costs--for day one, we had pre-selected a restaurant, and the cost of that meal was built into our overall tour invoice; for day two, we agreed to "play it by ear" as to where we would dine, and the place we spontaneously settled upon either took credit cards (this is what I think happened) OR our guide paid for us & we reimubursed her. NOTE, our guide paid for many incidentals requiring rubles, and we simply reimbursed her at the end. **We never exchanged money--it is really unnecessary.** I kept a running tab of the expenses she advanced on our behalf so we wouldn't short her--and our totals were in agreement.

[freddiebud]

OR our guide paid for us & we reimubursed her. NOTE, our guide paid for many incidentals requiring rubles, and we simply reimbursed her at the end. **We never exchanged money--it is really unnecessary.** I kept a running tab of the expenses she advanced on our behalf so we wouldn't short her--and our totals were in agreement.

 

Did you give her USD? If so, what condition was the money in?

 

Thanks.

[Artemis]

Hi, Freddie, are you packed and ready???!! I just noticed you are leaving within hours.

 

Yes, we settled up the advances in USD + extended our gratuities in USD. We erred on the side of generous in reimbursing the guide so that she would not be short due to any unfavorable currency exchange. (We were also generous with tips to a slight degree for the same reason, but more becuase we felt both of them deserved special treatment.)

 

We didn't worry about the condition of the currency, although I am aware of the warning about that matter.

 

Go, have fun!