Electrical outlet standards in Russia
The most widespread outlet type in Russia is the German Schuko type. It is funny; if you ask Russians about this type, then 99% of people will call it as “Europlug” and “Eurooutlet”. Most of our people do not know this standard came from Germany, do not know it is called as “Schuko”, and think all the European countries use only this type.
Europlug (CEE 7/16) can be also found in Russia, but rare. You better be ready to find Schuko in your hotel room.
Schuko outlets do not always have a good quality in Russia. Russians pay much more attention to the price than to the quality. Europlug sometimes fixes in Schuko outlet not very well.
If your devices have the Schuke plug, then you will not face any problems. In case of Europlug, we will recommend to take a travel adapter with you. The adapter is not heavy, but it protects you from troubles.
In case of devices with US, UK, Australian, and any other plug type, we strongly recommend to take the electrical travel adapter with you. If you forget about it, it will be very difficult to find such adapter in Russia. You will need to visit a building material store, loosing a large amount of time.
We advise to be careful with travel adapters in case of the electrical voltage in your country is 110 volts. If the device is adapted only for 110 volts, and you insert it through an adapter, then the device will probably be damaged. You must check it supports a functioning in the 220 volts network. As we the Russians say, “you should check seven times before you cut off.”
Electrical outlets in Russian hotels
You can find multi-voltage outlets in many hotels in the world. They are usually located in bathrooms. You can exclude most of the Russian hotels from this list. We never saw such devices in Russia. Perhaps, you can find them in a luxurious hotel.
The second problem, you will probably meet, is a lack of outlets in your room. We do not know why, but most of the Russian hotels are equipped by the rule, “the less, the better”.
If you have one TV, one mini-fridge and two lamps in your room, then you will have four electrical outlets. You will be forced to disconnect something. Not all of Russian hotels have this problem, but many of them.
The conclusion is you better take the electrical splitter with you. It is also not heavy, but protect you from an inconvenience.
You can find free for use outlets in a lobby in many hotels in the world . This situation is also rare in Russia. We do not know, what or whom they are afraid of. This status is a mystery for us, same as for you.
Where to find an outlet outside your hotel
It is very hard. In many countries, you can find outlets in fast-foods. In Russia, there is only one fast-food network provide this service to customers. It is Burger King. There are free for use outlets in standalone eateries of this network.
The Russian McDonalds provided this service some time ago. But, after they started a free WiFi internet access, they faced a great problem. Some people were spending many hours inside enjoying with free electricity, unpaid internet, and only one cup of coffee. The McDonalds management needed to choose which of these two services to close. They decided to remove electrical outlets.
The Russian KFC is also friendly to its customers. Not every KFC snack-bar has a free for use electricity, but sometimes you will find this service.
The second idea is to visit a restaurant. Not every restaurant will help you, but many of them are customer friendly. The only problem is, how to ask about it without any knowledge of Russian language. We advise to show your electrical plug to a waiter and look at his/her reaction.
According our experience, many of foreigners got used to find electrical outlets in airports. But, you should not hope for this mercy from the Russian airports. We strongly recommend to charge all your devices before you leave to an airport.
We wish you not to forget your travel adapter when travelling to Russia. Read our useful articles (look for the hyperlink list below and on the left column of any page)
