New Year in Moscow on Cash Alone: Sophia’s Chronicle from Singapore

Sophia lives in Singapore and spent a little over two weeks in Moscow across New Year, from 26 December to 11 January. She applied for her eVisa entirely online, landed at Sheremetyevo in the small hours with a stack of US dollars, and found out very quickly that her bank cards were useless in Russia — and that the Russian card she had gone to the trouble of opening was useless too, because nobody had told her she needed a biometric registration first.

Everything else went beautifully: a Troika card, a lot of museums, snow, and a friend who showed her the city from the inside. If you are planning a first winter trip to Moscow and the money side worries you, this is the chronicle to read. It pairs well with Bente’s chronicle, who went to Moscow on her own at 85.

What follows is Sophia’s own account, with her tips and her own photos. Thank you, Sophia, for sharing it.

The trip at a glance

Where Sophia went in Moscow

The places Sophia mentions in her chronicle. Locations are approximate.

The visa was the easy part

Just to preface, I technically travelled to Russia in 2026: I spent the last week of December and the first week or so of January there for the New Year celebrations, from 26 December to 11 January.

I’m from Singapore, and the visa application was done entirely online. It cost around 72 SGD and it was approved quickly, within one to three working days.

I flew in with Etihad Airways and passed through Zayed International Airport with a short four-hour layover, then finally disembarked at Sheremetyevo in the early hours of the morning.

My cards didn’t work, so I booked nothing online

I brought USD to change at the airport, and I took the advice of other people who had been to Russia around that time: only change part of it at first, just enough for the cab ride to the hotel I had booked.

My bank cards didn’t work in Russia, and they didn’t work online even before I had gone, so I didn’t actually book anything virtually. I just made an agreement with the hotel staff that I’d take a particular room for my travel dates, and they told me to bring the payment to them in cash after I arrived.

I dropped my luggage off at the hotel first, warmed up a little, then headed to the nearby Sberbank to exchange my USD. They rejected exactly half of it, but it was enough to cover the hotel cost and my expenses for the rest of the trip, because I’d planned the budget with a huge buffer in case of emergencies — basically doubling my projected expenses. I saved the leftover USD and thankfully never needed to use it, but it was good to have that backup money for some security.

The T-Bank card I still have and never used

I initially applied for a T-Bank card and met the bank rep that same day, after settling into my hotel room. Unfortunately I wasn’t aware that I needed to do a biometrics registration, even as a tourist, before I could actually buy a Russian SIM card. Without it I was unable to log into T-Bank’s app, so I never actually used my card. I still have it, haha.

That’s probably the number one thing I wish I’d known about before leaving for Moscow, although because I had physical cash it wasn’t the greatest inconvenience. The more inconvenient part was actually getting in touch with T-Bank and the rep: because I didn’t have a Russian number, I couldn’t message them or pick up their calls, and I coordinated everything through the T-Bank customer service chat on their site. Not the smoothest experience, in my opinion.

Apart from all that, I used my own SIM card for the whole trip. My provider had coverage in Russia, so connectivity was never an issue, and that way I could also still use my social media accounts and contact people on WhatsApp and Telegram.

A Troika card, Yandex Taxi and a lot of ice

The rest of the trip was easy and fuss-free, because I’d gone to Moscow to visit a friend. She bought me a Troika transport card and that was basically how we moved around the city — by bus, by metro, or on foot. I only used Yandex Taxi three times: once when I arrived, once at 4 a.m. after celebrating the turn of the new year at her apartment, and once more back to the airport on my last day.

Topping up the transport card was easy. Yandex Maps was reliable enough, as was Yandex Metro when I was plotting my routes.

It felt safe even navigating Moscow on my own. The only scary part was walking on icy roads, I guess — it’s just not something I’m used to, and I fell down a couple of times before getting the hang of things. It was reassuring that other locals were also slipping and sliding on the streets every now and then.

Eating well without breaking the budget

As for food, we ate a lot of nice things that weren’t very costly. We even went to a beef restaurant and I paid for the whole table — three of us, including myself — without breaking my budget. My friend fronted most of the payment with her MIR card, after which I would pay for other things with physical cash so we wouldn’t owe each other anything by the end.

There was a very cool Witcher-themed tavern in the city that she brought me to, and that was probably our most expensive meal: two mains, two drinks, two sides and dessert, totalling around 126 SGD.

Museums, parks and a lot of walking

Some highlights: the zoo, the Tretyakov Gallery (it’s so big that even with more than half a day we couldn’t quite finish exploring all the halls, because we’re the sort of people who like hanging around to read all the plaques and descriptions), Tsaritsyno Museum Reserve (so beautiful at night and in the snow, even if nothing was open), the Cosmonautics Museum, the Botanical Garden, and exploring the sleeping district that my friend lives in.

Most of the time we would just visit museums — a great way to stay warm in the winter while learning a lot of history and cultural facts — and then look for interesting stores with trinkets to buy.

We would often take long walks where possible just to experience the city, and I saw the gigantic Peter the Great statue, which was such an amazing sight. We walked around Zaryadye Park on my first night and saw the Kremlin and St. Basil’s in the distance, and it was beautiful.

A day on my own in Izmailovo

It felt safe navigating Moscow on my own, which I did for a day when I hopped over to Izmailovo to see the Kremlin there.

A symphony instead of the ballet

I also watched a symphony with my friend’s mother at the Moscow P. I. Tchaikovsky Conservatory, which was so wonderful and enjoyable. My friend and I considered watching the ballet at the Bolshoi Theatre, but decided in the end that we would save our money for things we liked more — mostly paintings and sculptures. Next time, I guess. :)

New Year, and a 5,000-rouble goodbye

The only downside about carrying around only physical roubles is that by the time it came to taking a taxi to the airport, I only had big 5,000-rouble notes left. I failed to consider that maybe drivers didn’t have that much change on them.

Well, it was only a minor issue. I decided I’d just give my driver the 5,000 roubles in payment and wished him a happy new year in Russian, and his joyful reaction was worth it.

Have you travelled to Russia recently and would you like to share your experience? Tell me about your trip here and I will publish it in this section, with your name or anonymously, whichever you prefer. Stories like Sophia’s are the ones that really help the people who are planning their own trip.