Calling US from Russia ?
 

Any tips on calling back to California from St. Petersburg, Moscow and some rural areas. We don't usually bother calling much but we have aging parents. Phone cards, pay phones or perhaps at internet cafes ??? Thanks for any advise, John & Robin

Anybody?

Skype? My 80 year old mother in California talks regularly to a friend in St Petersburg, Russia for free.

I have talked to her in Spain too for free and with our webcams we can see each other.

We tend to call computer to computer which is free, but sometimes we call computer to land line or cell which is very low cost.

Sometimes they have skype in internet cafes. ( Set up an account before going..it is very easy).

They also have a phone but I do not know much about that, a friend used it in Italy to talk to her family in California and liked it.

We have been traveling the world for almost 2 years an find skype the best and easiest way to phone anywhere. We often use if for local calls too.

We plan on using it this year in Russia.

www.soultravelers3.com

Hello crzn1 :)

We have had good luck with phone cards purchased from Costco.

Before you leave the U.S., be sure to phone the number on the back of the card to get the access code from Russia. Without this, the card is no good.

But making the call is easy. First you get an outside line at your hotel (usually something like a 9 or a 0 or something); then you punch in the access code. Then you start using the instructions printed on the back of the card.

Other phone cards are probably similar. But finding out the particular access code for the country you're in is crucial.

Happy travels!

We and many of our clients use Peace Travel:

http://www.go-russia.com/rentacell.php

It costs about $50/wk and outgoing calls to the US are .50/minute. Local are .22/minute. They bring the phone to your hotel and come pick it up at the end.

Steve