Suzdal Practicalities

Like in the most of Russian cities, tourist life in Suzdal is organized along its central street - Lenina street, so it's pretty easy to orient yourself while walking in the historical town.

All basic things that you need during the trip you can find here - souvenirs, food shops, pharmacies, banks, hotels, cafes and bars. You can try but it will be probably hard to find something "local" in other places, as main life of the city is concentrated around this street.

 

Two central points are the Trading arcades on Torgovaya ploshchad (Trading square), and further - the Red square on the right side, where there's the townhall and the post and phone office. Behind the Trading arcades, further on the left there's the Kremlin buildings. Opposite to the Trading arcades, within 15 minutes walking there's the bus station. Opposite to the Red square, on the left side of Lenina street there are many monasteries and Kamenka river. 

 

The main post office in Suzdal is easy to find: it's located on the Red Square in front of the white walls of Rizopolozhensky monastery. It is opened on weekdays from 8 to 18, on Friday from 8 to 17, on Saturday from 8 to 15, and is closed on Sunday. The phone box is opened daily 24 hours a day. 

There is no need to buy a local simcard, as the main mobile companies like MTS, Beeline or Megafon are working in the whole Vladimir region, with the same price of one minute as in Moscow. If you have roaming with this company, you can easily use your cellphone there. Again, most of the phone operators offices you can find on Lenina Street.  Address: "Svyaznoy", Lenina street 63 A , opened daily 9 am - 8 pm.

Usually restaurants and cafes in Russia offer a free Wi-fi connection, so there will not be a problem to find Internet in Suzdal. Most of the places are located on Lenina street, Kremlevskaya street or Korovniki street. You can just choose where to go depending on your budget. Apart from that, hotels and hostels provide their customers with free Wi-Fi as well.

 

For money exchange you can find 'Sberbank' office on Lenina street  73 A (close to Kharchevnya restaurant).  It is opened from 9.30 to 17.30, Monday-Friday. There are also few ATM machines around the city centre, which operate 24 hours. 

 

The prices for food and clothes in Suzdal are the same as in Moscow or St Petersburg. Because this place is quite touristic, a meal in a local restaurant will be quite expensive for such small town: around 400-500 rubles in the average cafe and 1500-2000 rubles in the restaurant, unless you know some places where locals go.

 

It is highly recommended to buy some locally made products, like pickles, honey liqueur ("medovukha") or berries jam. Try to avoid tourist shops and buy it by old women ("babushkas") selling on the street. 

 

There are also good wool items like socks or kerchiefs that keep warm very well in winter (could be very useful if you travel in Russian during the winter time). All can be found in Trading Arcades (Lenina street 63 A), or on the streets, also sold by locals.