Taking a trip to Moscow, any tips or good sites to use?

[CharlesUS32]

I am new to this site and I'm taking a trip to Moscow soon and I'll be there for about a month for work.  Just wondering if anyone has any advice on meeting someone as I'm single?  Looking around, natasha club is the most popular link that google comes up with.  Does it have a good reputation?  I've also heard about a lot of scams involving dating sites.  Other than website staff writing back instead of genuine women, and women asking to be sent money, are there quite a few other scams to watch out for?

[Kuna]

WOW!

I just did a quick search in freepersonals.ru for you just to confirm what I was about to say.

I searched 25 - 30 yrs old (because I assume you are 32 yrs old, not born in 1932, and left almost all other criteria open and the results were... well...  wow.

Be warned,  some will say dating a Moscow woman will be difficult, expensive and heartbreaking.  Others will tell you Moscow women are "cream of the crop".  The most important thing though (I think) is to follow the ten commandments (link at the top left of this page) and enjoy your time in this wonderful city.

If you're working there for a month your situation is very different from someone flying in and out on a 1 or 2 week holiday.

Ask as many questions here as they come up because many will be happy to help you.

Lucky bugger!

;-)

Kuna

[Chicagoguy]

Read The Moscow Times English language newspaper available at many locations. Free and M-F

Look at www.expat.ru

Best Metro map is in Where magazine at better hotels. Similar to U.S. versions. Map is in English and Russian.

Have a good time !

[Al_C]

Nothing to do with dating, but get your rubles here before you leave.  Commissions and fees from the currency exchanges there tend to be quite exorbitant.

Also notify your bank and credit card issuer that you will be there so they don't shut your card down when they see a stream of charges coming from Moscow.

[Sculpto]

Do you speak Russian Charles?

if so.. and you know how to dress decent and arent a total shlub.. you will have no problems meeting women...

if no language skills.. things might be a bit harder..

stay away from nightflight and hungry duck unless you want to pay for your fun...

[Shadow]

When going to Moscow expect to land in a big city as you see many worldwide, with all that comes with it.

The scam you will most likely encounter is called a taxi driver.

Informing your credit card company would be wise, and would mean you do not need to take loads of cash as there are ATM's all around the city, including in the major hotels.

If you need tips on where to go I can recommend the Diamond Fund at the side of the Kremlin. For more detailed information the member Chivo might be able to get the latest gossips as he is living in Moscow.

[acctBill]

I am new to this site and I'm taking a trip to Moscow soon and I'll be there for about a month for work.  Just wondering if anyone has any advice on meeting someone as I'm single?  Looking around, natasha club is the most popular link that google comes up with.  Does it have a good reputation?  I've also heard about a lot of scams involving dating sites.  Other than website staff writing back instead of genuine women, and women asking to be sent money, are there quite a few other scams to watch out for?

Charles you really haven't given us enough information. For instance, how old are you, does the 32 in your profile indicate your age?  Do you speak Russian?  Where in Moscow will you be working?  Will you be working with Russians or will it be mostly expats?

If you are affable, under 40 (I'm assuming from your profile that you're 32), speak enough Russian to carry on a conversation and are working with some Russians in Moscow you will have no trouble meeting Russian women.  Some of your Russian colleagues will undoubtedly invite you out for drinks or dinner, perhaps a nightclub the rest is really not that much different from back home.  Everybody will tell you that the Russian culture is different, perfectly true.  But if you go slow, be polite and don't get drunk or act like a loud American you'll do fine, just don't plan on getting married during your month in Moscow, which actually does happen.  If however you really don't get along well in groups, are over 50 and don't speak Russian it will definitely be more difficult.    

Edit: In business in Moscow looking good is important.  Unlike the US there is no casual Friday.  So it is important to dress well at work and when you go out to party.  Shoes are important, Russian women like men to have good shoes so make sure that they are shined and in good shape.  Hair should also be neat and not long.  Beards and moustaches aren't too popular with Russian women.

[Kuna]

Charles you really haven't given us enough information. For instance, how old are you, does the 32 in your profile indicate your age?  Do you speak Russian?  Where in Moscow will you be working?  Will you be working with Russians or will it be mostly expats?

If you are affable, under 40 (I'm assuming from your profile that you're 32), speak enough Russian to carry on a conversation and are working with some Russians in Moscow you will have no trouble meeting Russian women.  Some of your Russian colleagues will undoubtedly invite you out for drinks or dinner, perhaps a nightclub the rest is really not that much different from back home.  Everybody will tell you that the Russian culture is different, perfectly true.  But if you go slow, be polite and don't get drunk or act like a loud American you'll do fine, just don't plan on getting married during your month in Moscow, which actually does happen.  If however you really don't get along well in groups, are over 50 and don't speak Russian it will definitely be more difficult.    

Edit: In business in Moscow looking good is important.  Unlike the US there is no casual Friday.  So it is important to dress well at work and when you go out to party.  Shoes are important, Russian women like men to have good shoes so make sure that they are shined and in good shape.  Hair should also be neat and not long.  Beards and moustaches aren't too popular with Russian women.

Excellent advice here...!

[Aloe]

Maybe you should try mamba.ru, its mamba dating network. Im thinking its very easy to score dates there on extremely short notice (tonight/tomorrow). It is a free russian dating website with millions of people, i just looked there, there is 100k ppl online right now, some may not be interested in a foreigner who s there just for a month, and some may not speak english, but im sure there will be plenty of those that are interested. Think thats your best bet if you are already in moscow and are looking to have fun.

[Aloe]

oh, dont know if you are aware, but everywhere in FSU women expect men to pay for everything everywhere on a date. Its normal. Be prepared

[Aloe]

Also be prepared for both hot and coldish weather. Last week in Moscow was 33 C (92 F). but typically summer is never colder than 20 C

[Aloe]

basic scam to watch out for on the ground. do not spend 500 bucks on one dinner and dont buy fur coats for 2k bucks and u ll be fine

[Aloe]

Oh, and work on what we call "brick" face Looking mean unless talking to someone! If you look too happy or smile to strangers, you will stand out immediately Cops will probably spot u no matter what you do, so better have all papers in order
Dont exchange money at the airport, the exchange rate there is the worst. Dont take the first price a taxi person at the airport gives you, otherwise you will overpay by 5 times.
Oh and never ever no matter what critisize Russia or Russians in front of russians, unless your looking to make people very upset, in spite of them maybe critisizing it right in front of you. They can do it cuz they r russian Better say something positive. Russians like to critisize, but they are extremely patriotic, so its easy to hurt somebodys feelings if you try to "blend in" by adding on their critisizm

[chivo]

Sorry Kuna but,

If you are affable, under 40 (I'm assuming from your profile that you're 32), speak enough Russian to carry on a conversation and are working with some Russians in Moscow you will have no trouble meeting Russian women.

Sorry to disagree, but plenty of women speak English here. If he knows where to go, he'll have no problem. English language club for instance, where 100-150 people meet every Wednesday and Sunday is full of RW who speak English just fine. Not to mention a very large population that speaks English.

Some of your Russian colleagues will undoubtedly invite you out for drinks or dinner, perhaps a nightclub the rest is really not that much different from back home.  Everybody will tell you that the Russian culture is different, perfectly true.  But if you go slow, be polite and don't get drunk or act like a loud American you'll do fine, just don't plan on getting married during your month in Moscow, which actually does happen.  If however you really don't get along well in groups, are over 50 and don't speak Russian it will definitely be more difficult.  

Cant argue with most of this, but the marriage thing is a little over the top. Being over 50 will make it a little harder, but hardly impossible if you're in good shape.  

Edit: In business in Moscow looking good is important.  Unlike the US there is no casual Friday.  So it is important to dress well at work and when you go out to party.  Shoes are important, Russian women like men to have good shoes so make sure that they are shined and in good shape.  Hair should also be neat and not long.  Beards and moustaches aren't too popular with Russian women.

There is absolutely a casual Friday practice here, where did you get this info from? I spend most of my week in business around Moscow from General Electric, Proctor & Gamble, General Motors, Gazprom, SAP, Media Mart, etc., etc. Do not agree with this at all. Matter of fact the dress is rather casual all during the week in many of these companies. Some women dress up at times, but most are just dressed in a casual way.

Shoes are important to all women not just RW. I wear athletic shoes the majority of the time and I have no problem with the ladies here. Sorry, some of what you say is just common sense and true, some is just outdated. Yes, make sure you clean and groomed, make sure you're polite, but Moscow has become very westernized in the last few years, and sorry to say, I can't say I totally like it.  

To the OP. You'll be here a month and it will fly by before you know it. You can, and will have the opportunity to meet several women, depending on your schedule. Contrary to popular belief, there are a lot incredible women here who are looking for love, and not just a bunch of golddigging vamps. Enjoy your stay.

[chivo]

basic scam to watch out for on the ground. do not spend 500 bucks on one dinner and dont buy fur coats for 2k bucks and u ll be fine

You are joking right?

Without going over all your posts, half of what you write is true, half is not. Can I ask you, when was the last time you were in Moscow?

Every summer I've been here has been over 20C. The police rarely stop anyone who looks this side of an Uzbek (I haven't been stopped in over 3 years), and women take me out sometimes and pay, but, true, the man usually pays.

The airport even has a decent exchange rate nowadays.

[Aloe]

You are joking right?

Without going over all your posts, half of what you write is true, half is not. Can I ask you, when was the last time you were in Moscow?

Every summer I've been here has been over 20C. The police rarely stop anyone who looks this side of an Uzbek (I haven't been stopped in over 3 years), and women take me out sometimes and pay, but, true, the man usually pays.

The airport even has a decent exchange rate nowadays.

thats what i said, summer is usually over 20 C (i looked this morning at weather website, it said 19 C in Moscow, and 26 after the midday). I distinctively remember a couple crappy grim summers with temp around 22 and no sun for long periods. I was in Moscow last year. Police stop even 14 yr olds and demand their docs, they stop anyone their left leg feels like stopping. My husband got stopped twice, on his every trip, in spite of being normally dressed blue eyed white european looking person. They can just spot a foreigner

[Chicagoguy]

Aloe is correct. They can stop anybody. But in 14 visits they have never stopped me. Just luck. It is probably best not to make eye contact. Maybe pretend to be on your cell phone or in a hurry.

Just have all documents in order [ with copies back at your residence ] and be firm if they are looking for a bribe. Even offer to go to the station with them.

[Shadow]

Instead of taking the taxi to the center, a shuttle train is now connecting the aiport with the city centre. If you do not have more luggage than you can carry, it is bound to be a good and normal priced alternative.
When a local is meeting you, the minibus is the cheapest as for around $1 you might reach the center... however its not recommended for a first trip or if you wish not to sit with 10 strangers and luggage for 20 in a cramped minibus.

[chivo]

Of course the police can stop anybody, they're the police. The police in your area can do this too.

What I was trying to do is down play all the dramatics. I have never seen one 14 yr old stopped in all my 6+ years here. The last time I was stopped, well over 3 years ago, the officer didn't even open my passport once he saw that I was an American. I've maybe seen half a dozen people stopped in the metro over the last 6 months. All people from the Caucasus's.

Medvedev has crackdown on a lot of the bribes, and this is especially true for the cops that patrol on foot. I always recommend to have the number to The American Embassey, or any said embassey in case you're stopped and they give you any crap when you're not doing anything wrong (highly unlikely) and threaten to call. Try this and see how fast you get your passport back.

Let's not make it out to be something it isn't, which is anything he should worry about. BTW, I dress the same way I did when I lived in LA.

As far as the train it goes for about $10.
http://www.aeroexpress.ru/en/

His best bet for his first time is to have someone pick him up. 1500ru will get you anywhere around the center, even with the taxi drivers at the airport.  

P.S. it was 33C at 6pm today.

[acctBill]

Sorry Kuna but,
Sorry to disagree, but plenty of women speak English here. If he knows where to go, he'll have no problem. English language club for instance, where 100-150 people meet every Wednesday and Sunday is full of RW who speak English just fine. Not to mention a very large population that speaks English.
 
Cant argue with most of this, but the marriage thing is a little over the top. Being over 50 will make it a little harder, but hardly impossible if you're in good shape.  
There is absolutely a casual Friday practice here, where did you get this info from? I spend most of my week in business around Moscow from General Electric, Proctor & Gamble, General Motors, Gazprom, SAP, Media Mart, etc., etc. Do not agree with this at all. Matter of fact the dress is rather casual all during the week in many of these companies. Some women dress up at times, but most are just dressed in a casual way.

Shoes are important to all women not just RW. I wear athletic shoes the majority of the time and I have no problem with the ladies here. Sorry, some of what you say is just common sense and true, some is just outdated. Yes, make sure you clean and groomed, make sure you're polite, but Moscow has become very westernized in the last few years, and sorry to say, I can't say I totally like it.  

To the OP. You'll be here a month and it will fly by before you know it. You can, and will have the opportunity to meet several women, depending on your schedule. Contrary to popular belief, there are a lot incredible women here who are looking for love, and not just a bunch of golddigging vamps. Enjoy your stay.

Chivo I'm an accountant who's been in and out of Moscow since the  1990's.  Like Charles I go in for several weeks or months at a time for business related events.  Later when married for family reasons.  I agree that lots of women in Moscow speak English, some that I've met over the years have gone from zero English to fluent because her company does business outside of Russia.  The reason that I think that any man interested in a Russian women should speak some Russian is so that she doesn't have to speak English all the time.  I've never met a Russian woman who didn't want her partner to speak Russian, although I know of lots of relationships where he doesn't. Strangly enough the 4 western women I know who are married to men from the former SU all speak at least conversational Russian.

I knew that when I wrote that casual Friday didn't exist in Moscow that someone would find some place that it did.    I can't argue with you, you live and work in Moscow and it's been 18 months since I've been to Moscow.  In fact my last trip was for a series of meetings with one of the companies that you mentioned.  Perhaps it's just my profession but none of the people in the meetings I attended, even the Friday meetings, wore casual dress. 

[Aloe]

What I was trying to do is down play all the dramatics. I have never seen one 14 yr old stopped in all my 6+ years here. The last time I was stopped, well over 3 years ago, the officer didn't even open my passport once he saw that I was an American. I've maybe seen half a dozen people stopped in the metro over the last 6 months. All people from the Caucasus's.

Just because you've never been killed, doesn't mean nobody out there gets killed   What dramatics am i creating? Is it too dramatic to advise having all papers in order? If i wanted dramatics, id tell you all about how my mom got beaten up by the police, or how i read on expat.ru how a pregnant fillipino woman got beaten up by the police. Or how that tadzhik person was shot in the head by the metro police guy, cuz he didnt have a ticket. Now thats dramatic.

[Kuna]

Sounds like chivo's leather g-string is pulled too far up his clacker!

Chivo,

Whilst I'm usually interested in your posts, you seem strangely "uncomfortable" in this thread...  like you're struggling to assert some sort of local prowess by nitt picking.

Everything OK up there?  Maybe time to get back to reality?

[chivo]

Sounds like chivo's leather g-string is pulled too far up his clacker!

Chivo,

Whilst I'm usually interested in your posts, you seem strangely "uncomfortable" in this thread...  like you're struggling to assert some sort of local prowess by nit picking.

Everything OK up there?  Maybe time to get back to reality?

Don't agree, so lets pull out the "your g-string to tight" or who gave me a wedgie remark. You sure you aren't jollyrats?

I've been in Russia for over 6 years so I'm part Russian  . I don't beat around the bush, and I get straight to the point. Sometimes this is uncomfortable for the reader, I get it. Sorry, but most of you looking for a mate here should/better get use to this because your women will be much worse than I.  

If you think it's nitpicking then that is your opinion. I for one thought this comment was way off base.

If you are affable, under 40 (I'm assuming from your profile that you're 32), speak enough Russian to carry on a conversation and are working with some Russians in Moscow you will have no trouble meeting Russian women.  

And while I can carry on a ok conversation in Russian now, it wasn't the case my first 4 years here and I have met scores of women. I'm also over 40, latino, short, and whatever else you want to call me. I also arrived with no friends, no language skills and no job. He (the OP) doesn't have to be anything but an average guy, and the poster made it sound like it will be difficult IMO and I wanted to tell him it won't. The marriage part of Bill's post was wack as well.

The dress code part is also outdated...sorry if this bothers you.

Come to Moscow, I'll show you around, we'll have a good great time and you will see. I have/had no problem with parts of Bill's post, but sorry, people dress very casual here, VERY casual. In offices, around the city, in clubs, everywhere. I'm sure during important meetings you should wear a suit, but away from work, and mostly there you won't.

Matter of fact I remember leaving Proctor & Gamble one day and seeing some young American manager out by the elevators. He was maybe 30-35, decent looking guy surrounded by 5 pretty cute accountants in their early to mid twenties, all vying for his attention and giggling at his every word...in English. All including the guy dressed casually, the women very much so .

If the OP has a situation similar to that and is just a normal guy without Russian skills, he'll be in heaven. Trust me.

Now, I appreciate that you like some of my posts, and I yours, but really you've gone off the deep end with things on many more occasions than me in the past.

The guy is coming to Moscow, I know this city better than most Muscovite's much less strangers or sometime visitors. I've been in just about every situation a foreigner can be in, including overstaying my visa and have lived to tell about it. Believe me when I say I haven't even begun to tell you or anybody else on this board what I know, and who I know. If I did you probably wouldn't believe me anyway, or tell me that my thong is drawing blood  . It has far, far exceeded any of my expectations. So, no brag, just facts. Maybe you and many on this board are uncomfortable with this.

I know when someone has a better understanding of something or somewhere, I for one will listen to what that person has to say without letting my ego get in the way. I care little about who, how, where or why it is given to me as long as I can benefit from it.

Russia is an emerging country, things change incredibly fast here, especially in Moscow. What was happening last year can disappear in a heartbeat. Just a fact you may or may not know that signifies this; the internet doubled from year 2009-2010 in Russia. Think about all the ramifications because of this to Russians. You want to know the main reason I'm in Russia today: the internet. Also a big reason the MOB business is all but dead here.

And the time to be afraid/paranoid about this country has long since passed. Also gone are the days of men dressed in nothing but black or women all dolled up at a supermarket. The every day girl/women I meet in offices dress in jeans and a simple blouse with flats or sandals with their hair pulled back and no make up. Even shorts are worn much, much more now than say 2 years ago...by men.

Much of what I read on this or any other board is horses**t but why bother dealing with it. You haven't been here in years if at all I'm guessing, and like many others in your boat you still think along the lines of what was happening then.

The English Language Club I mentioned is a place few if any know about here, and like I said it's packed with single women DYING to talk to native speakers. I've met many women there, have left for coffee with women I met there on the spot dressed in nothing more than jeans a t-shirt and athletic shoes, and have seen some less than desirable types surrounded by RW simply because they speak English. If he just goes there he'll be fine. No suit required.

My life is great here. I absolutely love Moscow and can't see myself living anywhere else at the moment. I'm from LA, and LA is a pretty cool city itself, but I prefer it here. I have a great circle of friends, I make great money, I date more women than warranted, like my job, can travel almost anywhere at the drop of a hat, and have advantages here that most Russians don't simply because I'm a foreigner. Wedgie that!

Chivo in Russian is a variation of what or more closely "say what". When I see BS, myths or outdated info, I call it. Nothing more, nothing less.

I mean we're here to help, right?

P.S. I'm just wondering why the OP hasn't posted since his initial post.