Russian Visa

[Jahla Jahla]

We aren't planning on going until next June, but Hubby came home last night and wants to get a Russian visa so if we want we can go out on our own. I am not too keen about it as I had planned on either RO or D.

 

How do you go about getting a visa? Never too early to start.

 

Jahla

[daiseee]

http://www.russianembassy.org/

 

Click on 'tourist visas'

[Jahla Jahla]

Thanks. Think I have talked hubby out of visa.

 

 

Jahla

[SaylorGirl]

Thanks. Think I have talked hubby out of visa.

 

 

Jahla

 

We have our Russian Visa's in hand and are looking forward to being independent. We are on the Sept. 12th sailing of the Star Princess. I think St. Petersburg will be the highlight of the cruise and being able to do it on our own will be fantastic. They really are not hard to get, once you send away for them it takes about 10 days to get them back.

[Jahla Jahla]

SaylorGirl,

 

We are lucky enough to live in the DC area so I think we may be able to go to the Embassy to apply.

 

We are doing the No Eur/Med cruise this year. Since you are doing it independently, would you email me and let me know how it goes, and what you do? I may change my mind if I have an idea of how to do it and what to see.

 

Jalexan561@aol.com

 

Jahla

[km6xz]

Thanks. Think I have talked hubby out of visa.

 

 

Jahla

For people who want interact with the local culture but not see as much, individual travel is pretty attractive. No guide book can prepare you for the intensity of information and number of sights you can see with a good guide. If you are there for a week or two, it is probably a good plan to explore on your own but with tours getting in early to museums before the crowds, getting quickly between one place anf another, knowing where the highlights are and what to avoid a tour guide in St Petersburg is almost a requirement. We have a neighbor who visited last year for 10 days and did not see as much or learn as much as we did in two. Maybe they were not as curious but they spent most of their time trying to figure out how to do things. They mentioned it took all day to figure out how to get out to Peterhof for example and it closed a few minutes after they got there. They said it took a full day to fugure out how to register their visa and wasted another day in confusion. We had our guide books but noticed that except for museums, the stores and private places of interest were all changed or different stores than were listed in the guide books.

 

Memorizing the alphabet would really help since the Russian text is so strange looking. We only saw a few signs in museums in English or a European language, everything else was useless to us for information.

Jan

[SaylorGirl]

Jahla - If you scroll down through this board look for posts from a guy named Stan J. His posts are so full of information and are just great if you plan to go on your own, he also goes into great detail on Visa's.

 

There have been several people who have gone independently this year, Bollinge, Daisee, Nisa, and I know there are several more, look for some of their posts also.

 

I believe we will see as much if not more than the ones using group tours. It does take some research and I will post when we get back, but we are planning on going everywhere.

[dileep]

You can arrange for a Private Tours for 2 people with Denrus or Red October and have a lot of flexibility. It will cost a bit more than a group tour with 8-10 other people, but you don't need a visa. A guide is very useful in St Petersburg.

 

The visa can be quite expensive.

 

RUSSIA - *Passport and visa required. Tourist visa, valid for 30 days, requires 1 application form, 1 photo, confirmation and voucher from travel agency and/or hotel in Russia, cover letter from travel agency, and processing fee. Business visa requires 1 application, 1 photo, cover letter from your company, and letter of an official invitation from an authorized Russian counterpart and visa-processing fee. Single-entry visa for business/tourist visas are $100 for not less than 6 days, $150 for not less than 3 working days, $200 for next business day, and $300 for same day processing fees. For additional information, contact the Consular Section of the Embassy of Russia, 2641Tunlaw Road, NW, Washington, DC 20007 (202/939-8907 or 8918) or the nearest Consulate General: NY (212/348-0926, 0955, 0626), CA (415/928-6878), or WA (206/728-1910). Internet: http://www.russianembassy.org

[GregInCharlotte]

I can't say enough positive about this group. We saw more, traveled farther, got more detail than the bus tours for not much more than the cost of the ship offered bus tour.

 

This isn't to say Denrus isn't good. I'm just absolutely from my own experience positive Red October is first rate.