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Travel To Russia

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
edited January 2023 in General Chat
Please help.
Somebody travelled across Russia? How There?
I Am going to go here, advise, what route is better for choosing? Of what agency to take advantage? On the internet it is a lot of sites offering these services (gotorussia.com, russia-travel.com, 3btours.com, russia.com, etc.), but it were would be desirable to hear opinion of people which already there.
Thanks
Post edited by JustV on

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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I haven't been across Russia (it's a pretty big place) but I have been there a couple of times and I know people who have travelled across it.

    The only way to go is the trans-Siberian railway. Well, it's not the only way but it's the best way. I know nothing about prices etc. but I think it would be best to organise it, if your Russian is ok, when you get there.

    Did you know you can get a train direct from Moscow to Hanoi? It takes about a week I think.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I agree with Thunderstruck, if you speak Russian then buy your train tickets as you go along. That way you can see what a city is like before deciding how long you want to spend there. Even in the height of summer (tourist season) it's not impossible to buy a ticket for a train leaving that day, and you don't pay any less if you book in advance (and if you use an agency, you'll pay a lot more). If you don't speak Russian then at least learn the Cyrillic alphabet before you set off, so many people have said to me they would have found it so much easier to be in Russia just by being able to read things.

    There are four classes of ticket on overnight trains: SB (first class), kupay (cabin with four bunks), platzkart (carriage full of bunks, like a dorm), and sidyashi (no bunks, just seats like on a regular train). Depending on the length of journey, platzkart or kupay is the way to go - on a journey longer than 24 hours, the privacy offered by kupay is worth paying a bit extra for. Platzkart is fine for anything less than that, but sidyashi is only a bit cheaper and should be avoided if you possibly can.

    Platzkart between St Petersburg and Moscow, an 8 hour journey, will cost you somewhere between £7-10 [350-500 roubles], about double for kupay. I don't know the prices for any other journeys but it's based on the number of kilometres travelled so you can work it out approximately for yourself. Bedding is provided for an extra £1 per journey (pay on board), or you can bring your own sleeping bag. There are toilets but no showers even on long distance trains.

    The route of the Trans-Siberian is pretty simple, the main decision you have to make is whether you want to go the whole way along it from St Petersburg to Vladivostok, or whether you want to go off on the Trans-Mongolian into Mongolia, or the Trans-Manchurian into China. If you do either of these then you'll need a second visa (either Mongolian or Chinese), and if you plan to come back into Russia again then make sure you have a multi-entry Russian visa and remember to reregister it once you're back in Russia.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    failing that you could always fly....

    Though i'd totally not recommend that if you have the time to get the train!
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