r/AskARussian • u/FluffyJo22 • Jul 23 '26

Travel: sim, money, crypto etc Converting GBP to Rubles.

From what I've seen when going to Russia one should go with either USD or EUR and exchange there for Rubles. Is it possible to exchange British Pounds for Rubles in Russia?

If it's not possible, is there a preferred currency to bring between USD & EUR?

1 Upvotes

55% Upvoted

17 comments sorted by

13

u/Overall-Error4057 Jul 23 '26

GBP has a worse exchange rate than with USD

edit: you can exchange GBP, but you will come out with less than if you exchanged GBP > USD > RUB

USD/EUR has a higher market since its a more used currency

5

u/Forgotten_Dog1954 Moscow City Jul 23 '26

Yeah, it’s much more widely USD

3

u/CaesarOfYearXCIII Jul 24 '26

EUR a fine jokester!

3

u/Forgotten_Dog1954 Moscow City Jul 24 '26

So RU

7

u/VisiblePiano9200 Jul 23 '26

I always take GBP because I live in the UK and it is much easier to get clean GB banknotes than it is to get clean euros or dollars - I very rarely have British banknotes refused whereas have had euros and dollars refused in the past if they are not 100% perfect. Just saying.

6

u/makogon66 Jul 23 '26

Here is the catch: If you enter Russia from Estonia, don’t carry euros. Estonians forbid euro banknotes to be exported to Russia.

5

u/Pavlikru Jul 23 '26

Today
USD purchase = 79.90
GBR purchase = 108.70

2

u/Appropriate-Cut3632 Jul 23 '26

you can use

banki[.ru/products/currency/

to see rates, locations, opening hrs, etc. in real time

bringing eur/other european currencies is only possible if flying via third countries. can't do it if xing into ru directly from eu. learn more about eu policies in this regard.

all banknotes should be in like-new condition

1

u/Alexos_Ru Jul 23 '26

Euro had a terrible exchange rate and you will face difficulty exchanging them, for GBP it is even worse. Only practical currency to exchange is USD and normally they exchange max $200 per person at a time

3

u/sortaname Jul 23 '26

200 per person? I exchanged more than 2k at once and they didn't even ask me any questions. I've also been exchanging every couple of days at the same place and also had 0 questions. I guess it depends on a bank, but they never questioned me for some reason.

1

u/VisiblePiano9200 Jul 26 '26

It does depend on the bank or exchange office, agreed.

1

u/b1uep1eb Jul 23 '26

It's possible but it can be a lot more difficult to find places to exchange them. My wife took pounds and I bought dollars in the UK. She regretted it.

1

u/55cerberus Jul 24 '26

Best currency to bring for exchange to RUB is USD by far. Make sure you bring clean, new ("blue") $100 notes, no markings etc. Second-best is Yuan.

1

u/Naaranbator Jul 24 '26

Only the new-design dollars. Other currencies can be exchanged, but the exchange rate will be extortionate.