Money

Currency: Ruble

Meals

Budget: R110-200
Mid-range: R200-280
High: R280-440
Deluxe: R440+

Lodging

Budget: US$10-45
Mid-range: US$45-80
High: US$80-100
Deluxe: US$100+

If you're really frugal, avoiding plane trips, taxis, overseas phone calls and decent restaurants, as well as always looking for the very cheapest place to stay, you should be able to get by on US$30 a day. If you always stay in comfortable hotels and eat in restaurants two or three times a day, you're looking at more like US$85 a day. If you prefer to spend your day eating in Moscow's finest restaurants and sleeping between their crispest sheets, plan on around US$350 a day.

Very few places in Russia expect you to tip. Top-end hotels and restaurants add 5% to 15% to your bill, while porters expect around US$1 a bag. Shops have fixed prices, but in markets you'll be expected to bargain.