Kaliningrad Travel Forum

I'm planning a car trip round the Baltic Sea next summer, and I'm looking for places to make the trip truly memorable. Part of the plan is to do create an amateur documentary about the trip. So in theory, anyone helping out will get some free PR, hence it would be interesting to experience real life from every profession.

Anything goes: Bar tenders, police officers, radio journalists, the mayor's daughter, worker at Children City, hotel owner, taxi driver, nurse, vampire, mime, artist - doesn't matter if you're poor or rich, as long as I don't get in trouble with the mafia. :)

Also, is it hard for a Norwegian to obtain a 3-4 day visa to visit Kaliningrad?

Contact me at cartrip@gardology.com

Hi,

would be happy to help you with some information, especially on the Baltic States and the Kaliningrad area. I'll see what I/we can put together for you on information about not-to-be-missed places and other useful tips. Meanwhile I'd recommend to browse any pages by VT-members, especially those living there, if you haven't done so already.
As for Kaliningrad, it should not be a problem to get a visa if you apply well in advance (this summer there was a problem at the Russian embassy at least in the Netherlands, so it took up to a month!). Also, when applying for a visa it's good to have a hotel booked or arrange a booking form/invitation through an agency.

And the bordercrossing can take some time, depending on weekday and location....

Good luck with the preparation, guess we'll be in touch about other points later!
P.

A car trip through Russia is a risky thing because it is very likely that your car can be stolen (I experienced already 3 car thefts in Eastern Europe, in Lithuania - where the police found my car after 3 days, in Slovakia - where I was only 10 mionutes absent from the car and blocked it even with a steel bar over the steering wheel) and in Budapest right below the castle with maybe 10 policemen around. The police was extremely unhelpful in Slovakia and Hungary but friendly and obviously normally working in Lithuania. A friend of mine even lost his car twice through theft in Ukraine, and his car had an Ukrainian diplomatic licence plate.

The risk is less if the car is an old Suzuki, Hyunday or Daewoo.

Kaliningrad might be interesting for some weird stories but the area is a complete *** but you may compare it with any former communist German territories in Mecklemburg to see in an illustrative way the difference between two civilizations.

The car is based on an old Citröen. Yes, you read that right. "Based on." In reality, it has pretty much been built from scratch by my neighbour. We are making sure that it won't look like something you'd want to steal. :)

I think it should be fairly obvious, that we're not travelling for the purpose of comfort, but rather for adventure and experience. Departure has been set to June 24th - see my website at http://www.gardology.com/page/65 for details of our progress and progress on the details.

You are misunderstanding me somewhat. If I am travelling on my own I do not do it for comfort - mayybe I have far less comfort than you but nevertheless it is great to go backpacking through Central Asia for example and as often as I can I make in a normal hotel somewhere between Buenos Aires and Tashkent the metamorphosis from a business traveller to a backpacker and after unfortunately only a few weeks back again. I think your vehicle "based on Citroen" might be rather safe, I guess you can camp with it and so you have more comfort than I ever had on my adventurous trips but I think a camper keeps you a bit at a distance from the locals. But of course to contact the locals I found it always best to travel alone - it is also an incredible help to learn at least basics of the most exotic languages (in Kazakhstan I was suspected to have been living there for quite a time because my (extremely modest) Kazakh had, other than the one of many ethnic Kazakhs living there - no Russian accent...)

I think the idea behind your trip is nice and interesting and since I know all around the Baltic Sea quite well (I have half of my roots in the surroundings of Klaipeda/Memel) I can promise you that I shall follow it with the due attention.

I see your trip plan is still well ongoing! As suggested earlier we may still be able to give you some contacts in the Kaliningrad area and Latvia. In the Kaliningrad Oblast we have been involved in a German_russian agricultural project and know some locals as well as foreign advisors, also from other countries. Just drop a line if you like to know more.
We plan to visit the area ourselves again in July, maybe you're still around then?
Enjoy the preparations,
P.