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Forum Question Posted By: Replies:
Saint Petersburg
St. Petersburg - Kaliningrad by boat? Visa situation...
Posted: Mon July 26, 2004 02:57 PM UTC
I read in the Lonely Planet guide about the Georg Ots, a boat plying the Baltic sea between St. Pete's and Kaliningrad - direct.

Does anyone know what the implications of taking this boat would be on the visa situtation - ie. chance of not needing a multi-entry visa, as I wouldn't be leaving Russian territory?

I have a three month, single entry business visa, which is registered in St. Petersburg. I'm travelling within Russia until the middle of August, when I have to come back to St. Petersburg to work, and then I need to get to Germany before the 1st September. This seems like an option, as apparently tickets are a mere twenty pounds sterling. Anyone any ideas / experience?

Many thanks for your assistance,

Tim x
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Saint Petersburg
Re: St. Petersburg - Kaliningrad by boat? Visa situation...
Posted: Sat July 31, 2004 09:17 AM UTC
Tim,

There is a good busniess lunch restaurant to the east of the Moscow train terminal. Turn right and cross two interesctions. It is right on the corner. If you are looking for belini, when you hit the restaurant, turn right and go south. Tamerock is on the right hand side and the "Tea Spoon" is about a block and a half down on the left. There is a "sun" in the window. Great places for snacks, breakfast, lunch or a light dinner.

If you can not sleep and know some Russian, take the midnight tour sold in front of the St Petersberg tourist office adjacent to he Hermitage. 350 roubles, starts at 11 pm and finishes at 5:45 am. God value and darn good for an overall look at St Pete (mind you at night).

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Saint Petersburg
Re: St. Petersburg - Kaliningrad by boat? Visa situation...
Posted: Sat July 31, 2004 10:41 AM UTC
Why would there be a problem? I sincerely doubt that it would be considered as being anything other than a domestic voyage.

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Saint Petersburg
Re: St. Petersburg - Kaliningrad by boat? Visa situation...
Posted: Tue August 3, 2004 08:34 AM UTC
Er, yes. Finding blini on the way to Kaliningrad could be, er, tricky. Best to stuff yourself silly before you go.

Honestly don't know about the ferry, but it's guaranteed to be a prety long trip. Are you on a super-strict budget or do you particularly want to see Kaliningrad? The other chap could well be right about it being a domestic voyage, but then remember that you are crossing international water and thus technically leaving Russian territory. What do you think the chances are of coming off the ship in Kaliningrad without having to go through passport control?

Knowing Russian bureaucracy I'd say it's too dodgy. There may be a chance that it is technically allowable, but the guard in passport control might not know that, or might just be in a bad mood and land you in trouble.

What is your budget? There is a Eurolines bus (I think to Frankfurt) for about 100 euros-ish that definitely won't give you any problems. Or you could take a bus to Helsinki, then fly from Tampere to Frankfurt by RyanAir.

As for work, you're unlikely to find anything other than private students for such a short period. Schools won't take you, and you won't even be here long enough to pick up your wages. If you're coming back and interested in teaching, I can give you a list of schools in the town.

Another alternative; if you're on a decent budget, is to drive to Germany. No kidding. I'll drive you as far as Estonia, sell you my car there (UK registered, left hand drive, all documents in order) [cheap as I'm buying a Niva and need to get rid of my current car for customs purposes!] and it'll take you about two days to get to Germany and the experience will be a lot more fun than two days on a Russian steamboat! Or you can sell it in Poland and take a bus from there...

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Saint Petersburg
Re: Re: St. Petersburg - Kaliningrad by boat? Visa situation...
Posted: Tue August 3, 2004 08:44 AM UTC
Where are you on Vasilevskiy? My (Russian) friend is looking for a room/flat. I'm at Primorskaya, could meet for a beer if you fancy?

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Saint Petersburg
Re: Re: St. Petersburg - Kaliningrad by boat? Visa situation...
Posted: Wed August 4, 2004 09:19 AM UTC
Whether it exists already or not, there was mention of a non-stop sealed train between St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad to solve the problem of Kaliningraders being 'cut off', as overland travel requires a visa.

The George Ots solves that problem for Russians, but where foreigners are concerned, I'd advise caution as my experience with various Russian borders and OVIR has shown that one hand doesn't know what the other is doing most of the time. This is mainly due to frequent changes in rules. How these affect sea passengers I have no idea, but Russia isn't really a place to 'play things by ear', especially when you're leaving at the end of a single entry visa.

Best to find out for certain as it's just not worth the risk. Apart from possible problems entering Kaliningrad, on the way out it's possible that the border guards will be suspicious about a single-entry visa that was stamped for entry in Petersburg. I have acquaintances who recently had their paper multi-entry visas ripped up by an over-zealous guard on the train, simply because she'd never seen them before and was suspicious.

On the other hand of course, it could all go smoothly, but weigh up the risks before putting all your eggs on the George Ots. When dealing with Russian bureaucracy you can't rely on 'it should be this way...' or even 'it used to be like that...' The best thing is to speak to someone who has actually done the trip, and find out about the rules without leaving room for doubt.

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Saint Petersburg
Re: Re: St. Petersburg - Kaliningrad by boat? Visa situation...
Posted: Wed August 4, 2004 09:38 AM UTC
Sorry, should have mentioned that the train was leaving Kaliningrad. This happened at the end of last year.

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Saint Petersburg
Re: Re: St. Petersburg - Kaliningrad by boat? Visa situation...
Posted: Thu August 5, 2004 08:42 AM UTC
Oleg the Drunken Pike Fisherman

What a laugh, you could have helped us get rid of the mad poet before you departed! My fault for letting him sit down. Funny thing is, he rambled on just as incomprehensibly in Russian as he did in English. Either that or I just kept forgetting the last word he said because it was taking so long for the next one to arrive...

Good luck with Karelia or wherever, give us a shout when you get back!

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