pjuice87

I don't doubt politics and world tensions make it harder, but how easy/difficult was it for you to go visit Russia. Looking to hear from recent people's experiences now that covid restrictions have dropped in USA and Europe. Hope its not to much of a hassle beyond getting the visa

mlin32

Logistically it would be a hassle unless you transit/fly via Istanbul or Belgrade, as the two "sides" have blocked each other from their respective airspace and commercial flights.

And then foreign-issued Mastercard/Visa/Amex cards won't work at all either. So you'd have to carry foreign currency into RUS and then exchange it for roubles.

It's a real pity the political situation ; Moscow has been on my list for a while.

GUWonder

The Emiratis, Qataris, Bahrainis and Egyptians are still flying commercial passenger flights to/from Russia. There are some non-Russians on those flights. So Turkey and Serbia aren’t the only two countries continuing with some passenger flights to/from Russia.

pstm91

Flights are Outrageously expensive. My girlfriend (US citizen but born in Russia) was looking to go in August to visit some friends. They were $3,000+ via IST and required like a 30 hour layover. As mlin32 noted, you also won't be able to use any of your cards (including your debit card to get cash). That is fine in Cuba where things are cheap, but it would be a nightmare in Moscow.

Concerto

I think the way to do it is to get two separate back to back tickets, one into IST and then from IST to somewhere in Russia. But I was looking at bringing someone to Europe and that might be a whole lot more complicated, although I'm not that tourist visas have been completely cancelled.

Tailgater

My brother (American) just arrived St. Petersburg via bus from Helsinki, said imigration didn't ask about COVID testing----wasted $250USD on that since officially required. Take you chances, I suppose.

c1ue

I've visited Russia many times - mostly St. Petersburg.
Baltic Air/Swiss had a smoking deal: $470 round trip to Tallinn - no luggage included but $75 each way for luggage. From Tallinn, it is a 35 to 50 euro bus ride each way. The flight from SF was great: 1 stop and 15-16 hours elapsed. The bus ride and transfers add another 12 hours roughly. Not great but fine at that price.
To compare: Flights through IST or Dubai are $2000; $2500 to $3000 for economy during holiday season. Ouch! Even getting a miles ticket to IST - you still end up paying at least $800 for the round trip to/from Russia and likely will need to stay a night each way to get the timing right.

I tried to take advantage of the smoking deal: had everything ready to go but the visa was the issue.
Short summary: you normally need to get an invitation from a hotel if you are visiting as a tourist. This is quite simple - there are web sites to do this if you aren't actually staying at a hotel there.
Payment these days is challenging due to the Visa/MC cutoff, but the hotels now accept reservations with payment after you arrive.
In my case, I got the invitation and all the relevant docs. Some sort of health insurance is now required but no testing - the invitation service offered 1.8 euros/day health insurance which is dirt cheap. For everything else: bring cash. No problems trading dollars or euros for rubles in Russia but don't expect to get money via ATM or credit card or anything else remotely connected to Western financial systems.

However, the process of getting the visa itself was the problem. Even though I booked my ticket 12 business days before departure and inquired with visa companies 11 days before departure, not one single place would guarantee that I would get the visa in time.
This is apparently because nobody is allowed to do in-person visa applications anymore - not regular people nor professional services. Since everything must go by post - the Russian consulate is advising 3 weeks minimum(!) to get a visa while the services said 10 days but wouldn't guarantee it.
So I wound up cancelling Grrrrr.

lerasp

how was the bus experience? Any holdup at the border? How long did it take total?