ATMs in Russia for $US

[HDS]

According to the latest "Lonely Planet" guidebooks for Moscow and St Petersburg, it is possible to withdraw $US from some ATMs in these cities.

 

Has anyone used these recently? If so, can you identify the locations of the Moscow ATMs?

 

Do they work with cash cards, i.e. cards pre-loaded with $US before departure?

 

Can Euros be withdrawn from these ATMs?

 

Were you charged more for withdrawing $US or Euros than you were for roubles?

 

Looking forward to hearing from all you experienced travellers.

[webfoot]

I cannot speak for either Moscow or St. Petersburg, but I was in Lviv, Ukraine, recently and found that I was able to use my home-based bank ATM card to get cash from the local ATM's in either the local currency or US Dollars. There didn't seem to be any difference in the percentage that I was charged between the two currencies.

 

Hopefully others can let you know their experiences in Russia! Enjoy your trip!

[Tennessee Traveler]

HDS,

We always find the ATM machine at the airport when we arrive. It has never failed to work for us. We did that in St. Petersburg & got enough rubles for the whole trip. It was easy to do. I'm sure they are available in Moscow at the airports, too. Don't forget to notify your bank that you'll be traveling to Russia before you go. TT

[HDS]

I want to make it clear that we are seeking readers' experiences about obtaining $US and Euros, not roubles from ATMs in central Moscow and St Petersburg.

I cannot work the edit faciliry to clarify my original post.

Thanks for your responses.

Deb

[orchestrapal]

I believe you can never get dollars at an ATM outside of the USA. You always get the currency of the country you are in.

[webfoot]

I did in Ukraine. I was surprised by the option ... but also pleased, as the hotel where we were staying wanted their payment in US Dollars ...

 

I don't know how common it is to be able to get US Dollars in other countries, though ... but I doubt that you can get Euros if the country's currency is something other than Euro.

 

But then I don't know that for a fact ... just speculation.

[volkoff]

In Most ATMs in St.Petersburg you can get US Dollars. (I know)

 

Good luck

[VictoriaH]

We will be on a river cruise from St. Pete to Moscow in several weeks. Our touring company told us today that the ship does not have an

ATM. Also, that all shore excursions need to be paid for in cash, not traveler's checks or credit cards. Since we do not yet know what shore excursions that we will take we cannot know how much cash is needed until we are on board the river ship. Its rather scary to carry much cash on our travel enroute to St. Pete.

Please, does anyone know if ATMs are available on the stops along the Volga river? What has your experience been?

Any suggestions would be very helpful. Thanks.

[mtcabin2]

We're going on the Viking Surkov from St. Petersburg to Moscow starting Sept. 6th (or thereabouts) 2008. Does anyone know if credit cards can be used in Russia, and if not, how available are ATM machines along this route? We don't like to carry a lot of cash and don't want to be stuck with extra foreign currency at the end of the trip. Would appreciate any advice!

 

Trish and Jim

[miamibobk]

We did Moscow to Russia on Grand Circle last year. Tours were selected and paid for by credit card, not cash, at the passenger and crew get together the first evening in Moscow. I can't imagine a river cruise company requiring cash for tours. ATM's were plentiful in Moscow and St. Petersburg, for rubles. Don't know about US$ or Euros. I don't know if ATM's were available in the smaller cities and towns along the river but other than small tee shirt stands there was no problem using credit cards anywhere in Russia.

[mtcabin2]

Thank you, miamibobk. That's really helpful. How was your trip overall with Grand Circle?

[miamibobk]

We loved our GCT Volga River cruise. It was a great combination of land (Moscow and St. Petersburg) and river cruising. Staff, tour gides, etc. were first class. Only problem, which unfortunately is too prevalent on both ocean and river cruise ships, was the nasty virus. Wife and I were both sick for one day. Russian doctor provided some mystery medicine that worked fast.

[Benita]

We got US dollars out of the ATM at the Tretykov Gallery, which we were taken to in Moscow. I was actually looking for rubles, but it dispensed US dollars. We found ATM machines almost everywhere, but did our usual when arriving in a foreign country - used the ATM at the airport and pulled out the equivalent of $200US in rubles. The street vendors all accepted US dollars - bring along a wad of about 50 $1 bills held together by a rubber band and you should be fine. Use credit cards for any larger purchases.

I never heard of a cruise ship asking for cash, instead of accepting a credit card, except for laundry, for which they want to be paid in rubles.

By the way, notify the bank or whomever issued your ATM card, as well as your credit card company that you will be in Russia, or they might deny the use. That happened to our friends who were planning on staying on in Russia after the cruise and they were in a panic over what to do. Luckily, they knew us and it was my ATM card that we used to get them the cash to continue their trip.

[MSEm]

I will be watching for your review on the Viking River "Surkov".

We board the "Surkov" on October 2.

 

Maybe someone back from the Surkov can answer:

Are there small refrigerators in the cabins?

Is there a coffe pot in the cabins?

 

Thanks,

Emily

[billyandme]

Hi Victoria H,

 

Can you tell me what line you are using? We are leaving Sunday for the St. Pete's to Moscow cruise using Viking on the Lomonosov ship. I am interested in any information in regards to the weather as well as cities you stopped in.

 

This is our first time river cruising, although we have taken many ocean cruises before. I believe all of our land tours are already included in the cost of the trip with Viking.

 

We are visiting Volgograd (flying in from St. Petersburg), Saratov, Samara, Ulyanovsk, Kazan, Volga River/Goritsy, Kostroma, Uglich and finally Moscow.

 

If you have visited any of these cities, please advise. thank you for your help.

 

Joanne

Billyandme