Post: #1

I recently finished a two week trip to Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Background


Second trip to Russia, first to SP
My first trip was to Moscow: /thread-38369.html
No Russian language ability
More interested in LTR than ONS

Costs

Exchange Rate: roughly 56:1
Visa: $360 for a 3-year visa with a letter of invitation
Flight: I used miles to book from Germany to SP on Lufthansa
Accommodations: $59 per night Airbnb Apartment
Gym Membership: $100 for a one month membership at Alex Fitness (6th Floor Stockman Mall) *Bring an extra pair of sneakers to work-out in. They will not let you in unless you change your shoes.

For Russia, I found SP to be a moderately priced city. Food, drinks, and taxis aren’t cheap but the cost won’t kill you.


Logistics

I stayed half a block from Nevsky Prospect in a small studio. The location was perfect with cafes, bars, and malls all within a ten minute walking distance. My location was ideally situated between Moscow and Nevsky train station. The closer to Nevsky train station and the Hermitage, the more touristy the vibe, with historic building, churches and sites.

The city is charming and beautiful. It seems more like Europe than Russia.

Online Game

Complete bust. I had a few prospects pipelined that flaked or were out of town. Tinder on my phone was not working.

Daygame

My preferred method for meeting women. SP is ideally situated for Daygame, particularly direct street approaches on Nevsky. Due to the Northern Lights, you could potentially run daygame almost 24 hours a day. The sweet spot is from 6pm to 10pm, but possible into the later evening.

I suggest concentrating your efforts along Nevsky between Moscow and Nevsky metro stations. During peak hours, the streets are packed. Aggressive, frontstop approaching is optimal and necessary for these conditions. My sweet spot for Daygame was Stockman mall, a bit more upscale than its counterpart, Galleria. Stockman is smaller and has a perfect layout for approaching. There are also a few coffee shops in the mall. Posting up outside Stockman is ideal as you have access to street traffic on Nevsky as well as girls entering the mall.

Galleria is much larger than Stockman. You will find more girls in the 18-22 range. Posting up outside is a good idea, being located right next to Moscow station.

Having Daygamed in many cities, SP offers superb logistics consisting of volume of women, malls, cafes, coffee shops, and unlimited places for instant dates.

Nightlife

In a word, Disappointing. Although, not a night owl it is nice to have the option when traveling. The Hipster scene is alive and kicking during the night in SP. Many bars are a rip-off of Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The biggest problem is the lack of consistent talent frequenting the bars. Friday and Saturday are decent starting at around 2am, but disappointing for a city of this size.

A few venues discussed in other threads have closed: Radiohead and Circus.

Rubenstein Street: has the best talent for nightlife, with several bars to chose from, with some nice date spots. However, approaching at these bars is difficult with the talent often being in mixed sets and seated at tables.

Liteyny Street:

A few decent bars

Coyote Ugly
Neebar

Dumskaya Street:

Crowed, trashy unless you are into ugly hipsters, avoid this place.

Others:

Santa Barbara

I went on a Saturday night and the talent was probably the best in SP. I forget the exact location, but somewhere near the Kazan Cathedral.

Paradise

Upscale Restaurant and bar with high-end talent. Girls are often in large groups, seated at tables.

Rossi Club

This place is rumored to have high-end talent. I went on a Friday at 11:30 and it was dead. I also went on Saturday and gave it until 1:00 am. I may have ejected early, but I saw nothing to make me stay with the crowed being older with washed up hags.

Women

The talent was unpredictable. Some days, I was able to approach several 8s during the day. Others, I had to grind it out to find solo 7s. As mentioned the talent at night was largely disappointing and hipsterish.

Girls are feminine, sweet, cultured and intelligent. Being the cultural capital, there are numerous artists, dancers, and actors. I rate girls lower than Moscow and Kiev appearance. Many girls look great from a distance, but have skin problems. However, their demeanor and sweet attitude made dating them a welcomed and pleasant experience.

I recommend SP for a longer stay. ONSs are rare unless you lower your standards and are into Hipsters. My sense is that there are many “nice girls” with low notch counts, but they take time. They are romantic, sweet, and intelligent. Dating them is like what the 1950s America must have been like. Tea, desert and a long walk by the river or park.

I did not observe a significant age difference in couples. However, I had no problem meeting girls as young as 18. Language is of course a barrier. Roughly 50% of my approaches did not speak English sufficiently for a conversation. Some of these I was still able to number close and get out on a date. However, using google translate on these dates was a buzz kill and seemed to kill any spark that may have existed.

I met a few girls that would fall into LTR potential. I am considering seeing one or two of them again this summer.

I met a legit international model, 21 years old (9.5). Getting her out on a date was a minor victory. But she was cold and indifferent on the date.


Conclusion

If looking for fast sex and nightlife hit Moscow. If you have the time, are patient and looking for a LTR then SP might be your city. I would not come here if you are not proficient in Daygame and have strong date game.

Post: #2

Great and accurate report. I would say the vibe of SP is far superior to that of Moscow. I met up with Dantes during his stay and we discussed some of these topics. I found Tinder quite active, and went on two Tinder dates in a short span of time BUT I speak fluent Russian, which is admittedly a big bonus here. If you are considering which city to stay in, you should figure out what kind of person you are in your home city. Serious day gamer? SP. Night owl? Moscow? No game? Stay home.

The skin problem thing is an interesting observation that I also noticed. Diet? Weather? I found the on-street day time talent on the same level as Moscow.

The Stockman mall also has a nice grocery store on the lower level (called Stockman), where you can get reasonably tasty fresh food and groceries. Overall I thought prices were pretty cheap (compared to DC). With exchange rate glass of red wine is about $5-6 USD, which is about 50% less than DC/NYC prices.

I would say age difference not an issue as long as you look good. The girls here are generally sophisticated and old souls. You need to come at them with a higher level of behavior than what the pop-culture obsessed American girls like. Arguably, being older is an advantage here. I spent time with a 23 year old (almost half my age) there who I had known for a while, and she was light years ahead of most girls in US in terms of maturity and poise.

Post: #3

(07-20-2015 11:05 AM)Menace Wrote:  Great and accurate report. I would say the vibe of SP is far superior to that of Moscow. I met up with Dantes during his stay and we discussed some of these topics. I found Tinder quite active, and went on two Tinder dates in a short span of time BUT I speak fluent Russian, which is admittedly a big bonus here. If you are considering which city to stay in, you should figure out what kind of person you are in your home city. Serious day gamer? SP. Night owl? Moscow? No game? Stay home.

The skin problem thing is an interesting observation that I also noticed. Diet? Weather? I found the on-street day time talent on the same level as Moscow.

The Stockman mall also has a nice grocery store on the lower level (called Stockman), where you can get reasonably tasty fresh food and groceries. Overall I thought prices were pretty cheap (compared to DC). With exchange rate glass of red wine is about $5-6 USD, which is about 50% less than DC/NYC prices.

I would say age difference not an issue as long as you look good. The girls here are generally sophisticated and old souls. You need to come at them with a higher level of behavior than what the pop-culture obsessed American girls like. Arguably, being older is an advantage here. I spent time with a 23 year old (almost half my age) there who I had known for a while, and she was light years ahead of most girls in US in terms of maturity and poise.

Although I did not observe age difference among local couples, dating 15 yeas plus younger should not be an issue.


Shout out to Menace, JasonD and Unbowed. The two former were here a short time, but good time hanging out with them. Unbowed was in SP longer, so feel free to post your impressions. Unbowed did more Nightgame than I did.

Also for good eats, check out Apricot (Menace's suggestions) on Nevsky. For Health/Vegetarian food, Las Veggies just off Nevsky by the Radison Hotel.

Another bar is Nishbar, just off Nevsky with a reputation for girls who like foreigners. I did not see any talent to write home about, but worth taking a look.

Post: #4

@Dante,
It's interesting that you mention St. Pete as being superior to Moscow for day-game? I've never been to St. Pete but honestly I think Moscow is perfect for day-game and not because of the Red Square/Kremlin area (it's too touristy for my liking and many seem to be in a hurry to get to Teatralnaya Metro).
Actually i've never seen a place as good as Gorky Park (Moscow) in my life. Everywhere I looked I saw benches with either single girls or sets and the park stretches for kilometers. Also, no one seems to be in a hurry so no aggressive street approaches are necessary (note: I am bad in direct game) so indirect game and elderly approaches work well. Yes, many of the girls I tried to approach ended up being with guys BUT I believe if one is staying in Moscow long-term and in SUMMER then every day it is worth just to go to Gorky and day-game. I would also throw dance game in there as well... Russian's love their Patrick Swayze "Dirty Dancing" moves and the level of couples dancing was advanced but due to the positive ratio I absolutely think the area by the dance squares in Gorky is a gold-mine. Here's one from my personal archives:

Post: #5

(07-20-2015 01:13 PM)Dantes Wrote:  Although I did not observe age difference among local couples, dating 15 yeas plus younger should not be an issue.

Why do you guys think this is, Russian girls not choosing to date older Russian guys?

Post: #6

(07-20-2015 08:28 PM)TripleG Wrote:  Russian's love their Patrick Swayze "Dirty Dancing" moves and the level of couples dancing was advanced but due to the positive ratio I absolutely think the area by the dance squares in Gorky is a gold-mine. Here's one from my personal archives:

Not trying to derail this thread because Dantes is one of the best guys on the forum and I don't want to be rude. But TripleG mentioned Dirty Dancing, and this popped in my mind. I hope there are none of these fatties in Russia.





Eye Bleach

Post: #7

(07-20-2015 08:28 PM)TripleG Wrote:  @Dante,
It's interesting that you mention St. Pete as being superior to Moscow for day-game? I've never been to St. Pete but honestly I think Moscow is perfect for day-game and not because of the Red Square/Kremlin area (it's too touristy for my liking and many seem to be in a hurry to get to Teatralnaya Metro).
Actually i've never seen a place as good as Gorky Park (Moscow) in my life. Everywhere I looked I saw benches with either single girls or sets and the park stretches for kilometers. Also, no one seems to be in a hurry so no aggressive street approaches are necessary (note: I am bad in direct game) so indirect game and elderly approaches work well. Yes, many of the girls I tried to approach ended up being with guys BUT I believe if one is staying in Moscow long-term and in SUMMER then every day it is worth just to go to Gorky and day-game. I would also throw dance game in there as well... Russian's love their Patrick Swayze "Dirty Dancing" moves and the level of couples dancing was advanced but due to the positive ratio I absolutely think the area by the dance squares in Gorky is a gold-mine. Here's one from my personal archives:

TripleG,

I am in Moscow now, my second trip here. My responses have been good so far with Daygame. I hit Gorky Park on Sunday and I agree that it is good for Daygame.

My point was that the logistics on Nevsky is conducive to Daygame. These logistics will allow you to approach a lot of women without having to walk too far. The parks off Nevsky, cafes, coffee shops and the two malls, create a setting where you can meet a lot of women. Also, since the Night scene is disappointing in SP, I think it is better to focus energy on meeting girls during the day. I don't dispute that meeting girls during the day in Moscow can be fruitful, but the night scene in Moscow is superior in terms of talent and receptiveness from girls.

Post: #8

(07-20-2015 09:16 PM)Travesty Wrote:  

(07-20-2015 01:13 PM)Dantes Wrote:  Although I did not observe age difference among local couples, dating 15 yeas plus younger should not be an issue.

Why do you guys think this is, Russian girls not choosing to date older Russian guys?

I am interested in hearing Menace's thoughts on this. Even though I did not observe age difference among locals, I was able to number close and set up dates with girls 18-23. In my few days in Moscow, I have seen more age differences among couples than I saw during my few weeks in St. Petersburg.

Menace described girls in SP as being old souls. They seem to have spiritual wisdom and are romantic in nature. This city is the cultural and artistic center of Russia. It could be that older men in Moscow have more to offer in terms of status. I don't recall one girl in SP that seemed to be materialistic.

Post: #9

First, I want to agree with Dantes that I did not see too many older guy/young woman couples. I did see one grimy old looking (like 55+) white dude with a pretty attractive Asian woman, but that was it. FYI, I think Asian Russians tend to be regarded as lower status than white russians, so you can get in on the Asian russian scene here (ahem. I did. ) .

As for the reason not choosing older Russian guys, you have to keep in mind that us older guys on RVF are a cut above pretty much 95% of guys our age. Not that we're supermen, but generally accomplished, well traveled, polished, fit, etc. The average older Russian guy (lets say 40-50+) was born and raised in communist times, and their attitudes and beliefs may not comport very well with modern young Russian girls, combined with lack of travel, lack of money, lack of culture, why would she date someone like that? I think we also greatly exaggerate how many old guys with status are running around in general: it's not that many. Life is hard there. Most are nobodies.

Post: #10

thx for your report, it's interesting and useful. I have been to st.Petersburg once and what i would like to note is that this city was wet and grey at the time of my visiting. However, i wanna note one good thing about it: there are good and interesting places to hangout. I would strongly recommend Zavist bar on Liteyniy prospect,57 for people who prefer good nice girls and perfect alcohol.

Post: #11

SP during the summer is amazing with the Белие Ночи (White Nights). You can get really fucked up on the booze at lik 11pm and it'll still be light out there. I found the women to be very cheerful and they make a lot of eye contact. They are very artsy and free-spirited there from what I gathere during my 5 days there in July 2015. This may have changed.