Are you planning to visit Saint Petersburg? This is a list of services that will help you to plan and organize your journey: buy tickets, book accommodations, get travel insurance, find city tours. I use those services myself and recommend them as reputable and reliable.
Russian visa invitation • Travel insurance • The best time for travelling & other tips to plan your trip
Before you apply for Russian visa, you have to obtain an invitation. It is one of the obligatory documents for getting a visa. Fortunately, you can get a visa invitation to Russia online: just order it from one of the authorized companies. I recommend using Bronevik: submit the application online and get your invitation to your e-mail box. Read more about visa invitations.
Travel insurance is an obligatory document when you apply for a Russian visa. Moreover, travel insurance protects you in case of accidents such as an injury or a baggage loss.
Fortunately, it is possible to get travel insurance online — it is not necessary to go to insurance company offices any more!
With Cherehapa, you can get travel insurance in 5 minutes! You have to fill the form, pay the fee, and you will receive the insurance in your e-mail box.
Rzhd.ru is the official site of Russian railways. Here you can purchase tickets to all Russian trains. RZHD gives full information on train itineraries, schedules, and tickets prices. When you purchase a ticket via this site, you will receive an e-ticket right to your e-mail box. There is no need to wait in line in a ticket office of a railway station.
The site has two versions: Russian and English.
Kiwi is a search engine that allows comparing prices for flights. Kiwi specializes in low-cost flights. When you plan to travel to Russia, check Kiwi.com for the best flight deals.
Aviasales is a search engine that compares rates from different companies and gives best rates.
In Russia, there is no universal bus company that operates on the territory of the whole country. However, you can check bus schedules and prices on Yandex Buses.
Pay attention: Yandex Buses includes only long-distance routes. It can be a route within one region or between different regions. Tickets for city buses (for instance, a ticket to a city bus in St Petersburg) are not available there. Yandex Buses exists only in Russian, but you can use automatic Google translation (it works well!)
Kiwitaxi offers comfortable taxi transfers from the airport to your hotel and vice versa. You can order a car of any capacity (so useful when travelling with family and heavy suitcases!) At the right time, the driver will wait for you with a sign showing your first and last names.
Kiwitaxi transfers are usually cheaper than transfers booked via your hotel.
IMPORTANT : Since March 2022, Booking, Agoda and Hostelworld do not allow booking accommodations in Russia. Instead of them, I recommend you to use these two services. They are less known but equally user-friendly and reliable:
Ostrovok.ru is a reliable service for booking accommodation throughout the world, including Russia. You have choice between 60 000 accommodations in different Russian cities and towns. Ostrovok offers information about location, rooms and their price, additional services, customers reviews, etc. Available in 15+ languages.
Bronevik booking system offers 12 000+ accommodation options in 1 600 cities of Russia. Available in Russian and English.
Sutocho.ru is an online booking service for those who prefer to rent flats, guest houses, and mini hotels. Available in Russian and English languages.
Yandex.Afisha is an aggregator where you can buy tickets to cultural and sport events, concerts, cinema, etc. If you want to watch ballet or hang out at the concert of your favourite group, you will book tickets at Yandex.Afisha. Tip: the main language of the site is Russian, but if you scroll the main page down, you will be able to choose another languages (including English).
*Disclosure: the post may contain affiliate links. That means if you buy something through them, I’ll receive a commission, at no extra cost to you. It helps me to manage the cost of running this blog.
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