DEALING WITH A CAR

Unless you plan to be in town for a long time the best advice about driving is not to do it. There are plenty of viable alternatives and the roads are in such a bad state that they will damage your car's suspension system. However, if you are determined, driving in Petersburg can be accomplished though it will take a while to get good at it.

The Basics: To operate a motor vehicle in St. Petersburg you must have the following documents with you at all times:

• Your home driver's license. In theory you will also need a notarized translation of it or an international driving permit from your home country with a Russian language insert, though this regulation usually gets overlooked;
• Your passport and visa (a photocopy won't cut it);
• Your car's registration certificate;
• The customs certificate you received at the border which says that you will take your car back out of the country (unless you've bought it here).

Speed limits are posted in an irregular and haphazard fashion. They are usually 60 km/h (37 mph) in the city and 80 or 100 km/h (50 or 60 mph) on highways. Traffic coming from the right has the right-of-way. There is no right-on-red law in St. Petersburg, and if you don't know what this is you probably come from a country where you drive on the other side of the road.