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anonymous
Traveller
2469 comments

Posted 16 years ago

Hellow! I am Kirill from Moscow)-the capital of Russia. I can tell you to all questions about Russia, traveling to Russia and Russian Railways. Welcome to Russia!)))

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Peter
Traveller
9333 comments

replied 16 years ago

hey Kirill ... :)
a nice offer !!! Be sure, I will write you soon !! have some sunny days and all the best,
Peter
:)

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anonymous
Traveller
2469 comments

replied 16 years ago

Hello Kirill! Do you think it would be safe for a woman to travel alone in Russia? Also what languages are useful for communicating with Russians - besides Russian of course, which I've heard is very hard to learn- is German more useful than English, for example? Thank you for your help!

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anonymous
Traveller
2469 comments

replied 16 years ago

[quote]Hello Kirill! Do you think it would be safe for a woman to travel alone in Russia? Also what languages are useful for communicating with Russians - besides Russian of course, which I've heard is very hard to learn- is German more useful than English, for example? Thank you for your help![/quote]
Hello, Rabbits!) I think IT IS NOT SAFE travel to Russia for a women alone...it is bad, but its true... You can travel to Russia with friends or tourist group with your country it will be better). 1oo% safe only with tourist group.. But if you want go to a small city ( not Moscow, Sankt-Peterburg), is will be safe, I think. How do you want go to Russia(train or avia)? For communications with Russian useful Russian, Ukranian and English). English study at schools all Russian pupils and students. Many young people know English. But... On Russian railways, in ticket-office very-very hard find people,who know English or other language... Many people know English only on basic level.
German NOT USEFUL IN Russia! Trere are not people, who know German.


Travel to Russia hard, but very interesting). Russia is situated between Europe and Asia. For Europeans it will be very interesting). You can go to Russian from Berlin, Paris,Budapest by train(RZD).
I ansvering to all qurstion about traveling in Russia by train)).

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anonymous
Traveller
2469 comments

replied 15 years ago

Just some late comments on women traveling alone in Russia;

I have been living as well as traveling by myself in the western parts of Russia, traveling both during day and night time. I am a female in my 20s. I did not at any point feel unsafe, BUT I am sure that the situation could have been very different if my own behavior would have been different. First of all; just forget about it if you don't speak any Russian. No-one at the trains, buses, stations or in the smaller cities speak English. If you do speak enough Russian to get by, it can totally be done. Just dress in a proper, low key way, which is enough to keep strangers guessing if you are native or not, but casually enough not to drawn to much attention. My personal tip is to always find some older women, since they will look after you regardless if it's needed or not. Travel very light, with all of your personal belongings in a purse (that you NEVER leave!!!) and stacking your larger sums of money in your bra. Just mimic the Russians; no smiling unless something is funny and don't look people in the eyes unless you seek contact.

Oh, two more things; if you never backpacked before you should probably start out with an easier country. E.g. Mexico is a walk in the park in comparison. Also if you don't have fair skin and light eyes, I would probably not do it. Racism in Russia is no joke, regardless of what some locals might say.

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sanja
Traveller
2 comments

replied 15 years ago

Dear people,

I get a position on Summer School at Baikal Lake :D and I would like to go there but I have very limited finance :'( so I try to find the cheapest way to go from Moscow to Irkutsk.
:o
Does anyone have some idea :?:

And also, if I go there I would like to stay few days more, so what is “must-visit” place in that region? :P

Any way, THANKS!
:D

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Hetman
Traveller
364 comments

replied 15 years ago

Moscow - Irkutsk (slow train 640), 3rd class :P £60

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sanja
Traveller
2 comments

replied 15 years ago

:P

thanks for this fast answer! :D

… there are few more questions!
:arr: does the prize change for summer period?
:arr: how many hour I need for this trip?
:arr: is it safe… I’m women… 24 years. Ok, I traveled alone last summer (one month), but by northern Europe… it’s quite different, I think!

:o

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Sungwon
Traveller
2 comments

replied 13 years ago

I'm making a journey which is from St Petersburg P Mosk to Moscow.

But I can't find the website to get the information..

So would you help me??

I mean.. the time and the cost and..

something that I should know before visiting??

Thanks.

I'm Sungwon Hong from S.Korea.

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Kaizeler
Traveller
5 comments

replied 13 years ago

(sorry, posted in the wrong place)

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Button
Traveller
7 comments

replied 13 years ago

Hey!

My friend and I (both female, 21 & 22 years old) are going Interrailing this summer for about 3 weeks, and we were really hoping to squeeze St Petersburg into our plans... how would you suggest the best way to do this is? We were thinking maybe it would be est to either start in St Petersburg and fly out there, or fly home from there...do you agree? How often are these trains from paris, budapest & berlin and are they expensive? Any help would be really appreciated, thankyou!! :D
xx

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Robert_Antonio
Traveller
53 comments

replied 13 years ago

IR isn't valid in Russia and Baltic countries, so you need to buy an ordinary ticket from border station to St. Petersburg.

I think the most convenient way is via Sweden and Finland. There are two daytime trains between Helsinki and St. Petersburg. The tickets are available at Helsinki train station, ticket from Vainikkala (FI-RU border station) to St. Petersburg costs € 46,60.

The second way, quite slower, is a daytime train from Warszawa to Vilnius (Lithuania), and night train from Vilnius to St. Petersburg. I don't know the ordinary fare here.

The third way is a direct sleeper car from Prague and Warszawa to St. Petersburg via Minsk, but you need Belarussian visa for it. You spend one night from Prague to Warszawa and second night from Warszawa to St. Petersburg. The fare from Brest (PL-BY border station) to St. Petersburg is € 68,50, 3-berth sleeper reservation from Prague costs € 34, the sleeper reservation from Warszawa could be probably cheaper.

Peter will add you a connection from western Europe to Helsinki and Warszawa :)

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Peter
Traveller
9333 comments

replied 13 years ago

Okay... then let's add the connection for the information Robert already gave you. :)

It is easy to get to [b]Warszawa[/b] for example from [b]Berlin[/b]: [u]https://rail.cc/en/berlin-warsaw-warszawa-train/f3965[/u]

But as well for example from [b]Vienna[/b]: [u]https://rail.cc/en/vienna-warsaw-night-train/f1544[/u]
[b]Budapest[/b]: [u]https://rail.cc/en/budapest-warsaw-night-train/f4264[/u]
[b]Prague[/b]: [u]https://rail.cc/en/prague-warsaw-night-train/f1443[/u]

To [b]Helsinki[/b]...
First to [b]Copenhagen[/b], then to [b]Stockholm[/b], followed by the [b]ferry to Finland[/b]. Copenhagen is easy to reach from [b]France, Switzerland, Netherlands and Germany[/b] by night train - or as well day trains. Just check the country topics:
[u]https://rail.cc/en/countries[/u]

Copenhagen-Stockholm: [u]https://rail.cc/en/train/copenhagen-to-stockholm[/u]
Stockholm-Finland: [u]https://rail.cc/en/ferry-sweden-finland/f1232[/u]

Peter :)

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Button
Traveller
7 comments

replied 13 years ago

Hi,

Sorry - Im slightly confused. So are you saying its possible to get a direct sleeper train from Warsaw to St.Petersburg? Because we were thinking of going to Krakow, so could we get a train from Krakow to Warsaw and then onto Russia from there? What do you think about it, do you think it is do-able? We are going for about 3-4 weeks...is it too ambitious do you think?

Thanks again,

Bethan :)

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Flo
Traveller
10724 comments

replied 13 years ago

There is a direct sleeper connection Warszawa (coming from Praha) to St Petersburg. It is crossing Belarus, so you'll need an extra transit visum! This will be ~40€ and you will need to apply at least one month in advance at a Belarussian Ebassy.

Another alternative would be to go Warszawa - Vilnius, then Vilnius - St Petersburg.


Flo 8)

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Button
Traveller
7 comments

replied 13 years ago

Great, thankyou. We have actually heard that Vilinius is really pretty so that could be an option... Or I saw somewhere that going through Riga could be an option? Do you know where I could find prices for these options?

Bethan :)
xx

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Peter
Traveller
9333 comments

replied 13 years ago

Hi.
I definitely recommend Vilnius. One of my favorite cities within Europe. A lot of culture, nice people, good night life, inexpensive hostels.
Peter :)

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Robert_Antonio
Traveller
53 comments

replied 13 years ago

Vilnius has better train connection with both Poland and Russia than Riga.

Some more details about the trip:

The direct train from Warszawa (7:25) to Vilnius (17:53) is in fact a two trains with change at border station Šeštokai, because of different gauge in Poland and Lithuania. The change is guaranteed, the Lithuanian train waits for the Polish one. At Polish territory you use IR, an ordinary international ticket from Šeštokai to Vilnius costs € 13,50, available at all international counters at European stations.

There are two direct trains from Vilnius to St. Petersburg, Peter you can add it to your timetables :)

[b]080 Ч[/b]
Vilnius 15:48 – St. Petersburg 11:00
in summer runs daily, otherwise in odd days
platskartniy class: 1974 RUB (~ € 50)
kupeyniy class: 3832 RUB (~ € 97)

[b]092 Р[/b]
Vilnius 18:18 – St. Petersburg 9:00
runs daily
platskartniy class: 2241 RUB (~ € 57)
kupeyniy class: 3522 RUB (~€ 89)

Platskartnyi class consist of 6-berth compartments open to aisle, kupeyniy class consist of closed 4-berth comparments. The tickets are available probably only at Vilnius station, but you should try to buy an e-ticket at http://poezda.net (you have to switch to Russian language version)

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Button
Traveller
7 comments

replied 13 years ago

Thats amazing. I didnt think getting St Petersburg into this trip was going to be an option at first, but its looking like a possibility now! Is it possible to get from Vilinius to anywhere else though? Its just that Warsaw isnt on our originial list, although its easy enough to change there to get to Krakow right? Im sorry, Im very new at this whole thing and am finiding it really difficult to find where to look for information like this!

Thankyou so much though! :)

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Robert_Antonio
Traveller
53 comments

replied 13 years ago

A minor correction: Šeštokai isn't exactly a border station, you should buy a ticket from Mockava Gr. to Vilnius (Gr. means tariff border point to distinguish it from Mockava station) for € 14,70

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TokyoMaple
Traveller
1 comments

replied 13 years ago

Hello.
My name is Roman. I live in St-Petersburg.
If there are questions write to me =)