Russia - Anything intresting to see in the small part of russia that borders poland?

Hello everyone. I was just being curious this summer I am going to Gdansk, Poland for two weeks and I know I won't be all that far from the small part of Russia thats detached from the rest of Russia. Is there anything that is worth seeing or should I not bother?

Kaliningrad is actually a pretty cool place (full disclosure, I haven't been there since the mid-1990s but I did several trips there at that time). The Russia visa might make it too aggravating to bother, but it might be that it is easier to get a visa if you are only visiting Kaliningrad??? I have no idea. That said, if you are looking to get the Russia experience, Kaliningrad probably isn't the place to do it. The architecture, etc. is actually a lot more Polish/German than Russian.

I believe there is a 72 hour express visa you can try for on arrival in Kaliningrad, but only for UK, EU (Schengen) and Japanese citizens I think. To what extent it is actually straightforward and 'express' is a whole other question!

Hello everyone. I was just being curious this summer I am going to Gdansk, Poland for two weeks and I know I won't be all that far from the small part of Russia thats detached from the rest of Russia. Is there anything that is worth seeing or should I not bother?

Kaliningrad is a seaside tourist area, as said it's not the true Russia but it's Russia none the less and will give you a nice taste of their culture... I guess you can call it "Russia Light."

It's an interesting area and if you're willing to get a visa you can apply for it online and have it sent to you before you ever leave your house. You'd be looking at $190-220 for a one month Visa (makes no difference if you are staying shorter then a month). Aside from seaside tourist sights, you can also check out the large Navy port that the RU Army maintains... some cool sights.

If you're looking for a bit of adventure and want to see Russia without the hassle of Visa's and everything inbetween, you should go and check out Riga or Talinin. You can usually grab a cheap flight out of Gdansk to either (Try Baltic Air) or go with the unusual but fun experience of taking a high speed Ferry. Most routes will take you via Helsinki and would take you no more then 3hours each way... it's a fun experience.

Take a trip one of these power boats --
High Speed Ferry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fast_ferries)

Ferry Prices and schedules --
FerryLink (http://www.ferrylines.com/)

Air Baltic (www.AirBaltic.com)

Trains --
Link (http://www.waytorussia.net/Transport/International/TrainSchedules.html)

I believe there is a 72 hour express visa you can try for on arrival in Kaliningrad, but only for UK, EU (Schengen) and Japanese citizens I think. To what extent it is actually straightforward and 'express' is a whole other question!

For the most part you're correct and it can be applied for apon arrival however it's for arriving via Ferry only at this time. I believe arrival by trains will be avail this spring or summer.... planes, probably not for awhile. Same go's for St. Pete.

However, you must be a passport holder from the originating country of departure, which means this applies to residents of Sweeden, Finland and also Poland.

I went there for a day trip last year.. trip report is at:
http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Northwest/Kaliningrad/blog-398145.html

I saw pretty much all there was to see in town in just a few hours.. didn't make it up to the Curonian Spit (though you can visit this from Lithuania as well).

For the most part you're correct and it can be applied for apon arrival however it's for arriving via Ferry only at this time. I believe arrival by trains will be avail this spring or summer.... planes, probably not for awhile. Same go's for St. Pete.

However, you must be a passport holder from the originating country of departure, which means this applies to residents of Sweeden, Finland and also Poland.

Not sure where you're getting this information. 72-hour visa is real and applies to air travel to Kaliningrad-Khrabrovo, as well as the Polish border points Bagrationovsk And Mamonovo (that is, the place the bus/trains from Gdansk would enter). However, it is, as was mentioned, only available to Schengen, UK and Japanese citizens. It costs 35 dollars at the border, plus whatever you have to pay the tourist agency to send in the invitation for you.

http://www.kaliningrad.mid.ru/cons_visa.html

As a city, Kaliningrad is somewhat underwhelming. There is some stuff to see (Kant's grave, the university, the Curonian Split, cheap vodka, etc), but I wouldn't go out of my way to see all that.

Also, I'm surprised no one's mentioned Vilnius, an absolutely beatiful city that's only a night-bus ride from Gdansk.

So a U.S. citizen would need to go through the usual Russian visa hassle for a day trip to Kaliningrad? Is there some good agency to arrange an invitation letter from for this?

I'm tentatively planning a Baltic trip and I'm thinking of a day trip from Kaunas to Kalningrad for family reasons (which are also why I'm likely to spend more time in Kaunas than the average tourist would).

Correct. There are dozens of good agencies, but I would recommend getting the visa done in the US and not trying to do it in Vilnius.

There used to be a travel agency in the Vilnius train station that processed russian visas. If you entered the stations main entrance you went to the right and it was the last booth prior to exiting the station to the tracks. They used to get them in one-two days but then in about 2007 they switched to 1-2 weeks...... I got a visa in one day but paid the equivalent of about $400, only to find out after my ticket was issued that they screwed up the visa and my entry date was off by 1 day - flight arrived at about 10:00PM in Moscow but I wouldn't be allowed to just wait for 2 hours before clearing customs!!! What a nightmare :) Ended up on the 6am SU flight the next morning.

Anyways if your in Tallinn for a week or so I used that agency several times over the years - always got the visa. And there is a small shop across from the train station that did passport photos for about $6.

Correct. There are dozens of good agencies, but I would recommend getting the visa done in the US and not trying to do it in Vilnius.

Can you suggest some good agencies here in the USA that could get all the apporiate paperwork completed for me?

Can you suggest some good agencies here in the USA that could get all the apporiate paperwork completed for me?

I've used gotorussia (http://gotorussia.com) for many years and have had excelent service. They provide full visa service including the invitation letter for your visit.