If Russia is on your travel bucketlist you’re probably keen to begin mapping out your journey to this incredible country! We’ve already written up posts to help you book your Trans-Siberian railway journey, as well as what to expect once you’re on the train, but what about getting into the country to do these exciting things in the first place?

Getting a visa is one of the more tedious aspects of travel, but it’s not something you can avoid if you’re really keen to visit Russia. The good news is, the visa process doesn’t have to be a complicated one! We’re here to help you through it, so read on for a guide on everything you need to get your Russian visa.

Visas with Indian vs. American passport (and most other Western countries)

Gaurav and I often have very different visa experiences when we travel together. He has an Indian passport while mine is American. This means that most of the time it’s Gaurav who has to jump through a lot more hoops to get a visa! Hence I was a bit surprised to discover that the visa application for Russia is pretty much the same for both American and Indian passport-holders. It was a good reminder of what a privilege it is to have a passport that makes it so easy to travel to a lot of countries around the world.

Because we live in London, we had to submit all our paperwork through the local Russian Visa Application Centre—just keep in mind that this process might change depending on what country you’re applying from.

Step 1: Getting your invitation letter

First things first, before any visa application, you’ll need an “invitation letter”. This is required for most nationalities including UK, US and Indian passport-holders. There are a fair few tourist agencies online which can help you with this. An invitation letter can only be issued by official tour operators or agencies approved by the Ministry of Tourism in Russia. After doing some research, we settled on visatoruss.com. They were reasonably priced – £8.99/$11.99USD for single-entry for US/UK citizens and 20USD for Indian citizens – and once we gave our hotel details and made the payment, we received the invitation letter with the registration number within an hour on the same day.

To get started with the invitation letter you’ll need to fill out an online registration form for the agency you choose. And you’ll also need two important details in advance: your accommodation details for the entire trip, and the booking details of a hotel in whatever city you’re flying into. For the first item, we reserved hotels with free cancellations on booking.com. This offered us a safety net in the unlikely scenario that our visa application would be rejected. No one wants to end up paying for a hotel they’re not using, right?  

Below is our invitation letter (we’ve blocked out some sensitive info) so you can see the details you need and what it should look like.

Step 2: Getting your documents together

Here is a list of the documents we each submitted:

• Passport
• Completed visa application form
• 1 recent passport-sized photo
• Hotel booking form
• Russian National Tourism Office invitation letter

Step 3: Submitting your documents

Once you have all your documents together, you’ll need to head to the visa office in person to submit them. Here in London you don’t make appointments, you simply show up, take a number, and wait your turn.

The office is open from 8:30am – 3pm Monday thru Friday.

We went early on a weekday right when the office opened in order to avoid a long wait. It’s hard to know if it gets busier later in the day, but when we were there we got through the entire process within thirty minutes, which was great! Keep in mind that the closer you get to high tourist season (May-August), the likelier it is that the visa office will be busier.

Step 4: Fees and processing

You’ll make a payment for your visa right after submitting your documents. The cost for a single-entry 30-day visa is £145. Because it’s so pricey we recommend making it count by spending at least 2 weeks in Russia, or use up the entire 30 days if you can!

This standard visa takes 21 working days (around 4 weeks) to process, but if you’re in a rush there is a fast track option too. This one costs £245 and takes just 3 working days.

Step 5: Picking up your visa

Depending on which visa processing service you request, you’ll receive a slip of paper telling you the date on which your visa will be ready. Bring this with you on that day. Your passport will be given back to you in an envelope. Your Russian visa will take up an entire page of your passport and will include your photo and all your information as well as the dates for which the visa is valid.

Your visa can only be used for the specified dates.

This means you aren’t free to use the visa whenever, you have to stick to the travel dates you provided to the Ministry of Tourism when requesting your invitation letter. For us, the visa was for exactly 15 days—from April 13 to April 27—because those were the travel dates we provided.

Step 6: Get ready to have fun!

Phew! The hard part is over and now comes the fun bit: planning out the details of your trip. Check out our tour of Moscow’s beautiful metros for something to do in the vibrant Russian capital, and stay tuned for more articles with tips for visiting Russia!

Hopefully this simplifies somewhat the Russian visa process, but if you have any questions please leave us a comment below and we’ll do our best to answer them. Good luck and happy travels!

Imagine 6 days, 7 nights on a train traversing the biggest country in the world. If this sounds appealing to you, then you need to add the Trans-Siberian railway to your travel bucket list!

If you dream of doing the Trans-Siberian one day but are intimidated by the idea of a week on a train in a foreign country, don’t worry you’re not alone. Years ago when Gaurav and I first started dreaming of doing this we were discouraged by the advice we received. Many told us not to attempt it unless we had a Russian speaker with us, others said it would be unsafe, and all this made us feel very insecure about trying it.

But this year we decided to ignore the naysayers and just take the leap. We were thirsty for some adventure and ready to see what the Trans-Siberian was all about. Now that it’s over, we can say without a doubt that you should take that leap too. It was a truly amazing experience and we learned so much along the way that we’re excited to share with you. So we’re going to post a blog series dedicated purely to the Trans-Siberian railway. And to launch our series we’re starting off with a step-by-step guide of everything you need to plan and book your spot on the Trans-Siberian train!  

High Season vs. Low Season

There’s no ‘right’ time to take the Trans-Siberian. However, scenery, ticket prices, and availability will differ depending on when you book. High season starts in May and runs through September. Weather is great during this time of year and you’ll find a lot of Russian and foreign tourists travelling. This also makes for higher ticket prices and often tickets can sell out quickly—especially for the ‘Rossiya’ train which runs from Moscow to Vladivostok (we’ll talk about this a bit more later).

Shoulder season is from October through April and while the scenery isn’t as green during this time of year, it doesn’t mean you won’t have a wonderful experience. We took our trip in April and got to see a little bit of snow and newly blossoming flora. Because it was shoulder season our tickets for two beds in 1^st class were about half of what they’d normally cost during high season. If you’re looking for a more affordable experience this is something to consider. We were also able to book our tickets last minute on the ‘Rossiya’ train with no worry of them selling out. The added benefit of April is that it’s right before high season so you still see long summer days which means more time looking out the window at the scenery!

Rossiya vs. Skory

Contrary to popular lore, there actually is no such thing as the Trans-Siberian train. Instead, you can choose to book the ‘Rossiya’ or ‘Russia’ train which offers 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd class tickets. Train 002 runs from Moscow to Vladivostok on odd days (we took the train on the 17^th of April), while Train 001 runs from Vladivostok to Moscow on even days (2,4,6, etc.). These trains are the most modern trains on the Russian rail network so you’re getting to experience the best of what Russia has to offer for train travel.

If you’d like a more budget-friendly option, you may want to consider booking a ‘skory’ (fast) train. These would be train numbers 99 and 100, depending on the direction of the train, and offer cheaper ticket options with only 2^nd or 3^rd class fares. The 001 and 002 are more expensive because of the perceived prestige and higher quality of service, so it all depends on what fits your budget. Despite being called the fast train, ‘skory’ will also actually take longer and add about 20 hours to your total travel time.

Moscow vs. Vladivostok

As mentioned above, you’ll have the option of either departing from Moscow to Vladivostok or the other way around. Our Russian friends were of the opinion that Vladivostok-Moscow is the better option because you’ll travel from the less developed side of Russia to its bustling capital. We took the Moscow-Vladivostok route and honestly don’t think it matters. Vladivostok is not as exciting and busy as Moscow, but it’s still a fun city and a great place to end your train journey.

Keep in mind that whichever route you choose you’ll have to fly either back to Moscow or to Vladivostok to catch the train. Russia is huge and this is an experience in and of itself. The flight is nine hours long, so (assuming you want to return to your starting point) you’ll need to add an extra day for air travel when planning out your Trans-Siberian journey.

1^st Class vs. 2^nd Class vs. 3^rd Class

Lets get into the perks of travelling 1^st class, 2^nd class, or 3^rd class!

A 3^rd class ticket is the cheapest fare option for any of the Trans-Siberian routes. This will get you a bed in a 4-bunk open “cabin”. What this means is that your bed area is basically open for anyone walking down the aisles to see. Unless you’re traveling with friends you’ll have to share the area with other travelers and contend with less privacy and a more crowded carriage. You’ll also need to be more careful with your personal items as there’s nowhere to lock them up when you get off the train at station stops. A suitcase with a lock is a decent solution in these cases, so it doesn’t necessarily need to be an inconvenience. Just be aware that 3^rd class also won’t be as clean as 2^nd or 1^st as you’re sharing the space (bathrooms included) with a lot more people.

A 2^nd class ticket will get you a bed in a 4-bunk closed cabin. Unless you buy tickets for all the beds, you will have to share the cabin with strangers and your fellow travelers may change throughout the journey. 2^nd class does offer more privacy as well as security (you can lock the cabin if you need to) and has a nice social element to it that you might otherwise miss out on in 1^st class. Basically you’ll have more opportunities to meet and talk to people in 2^nd and 3^rd class, which we think is a nice perk. However, you have to take into account the human element and realize that you’re not guaranteed good cabin mates. It’s important to consider whether you’ll be able to handle a week on a train sharing a small space with people you may not like or get along with. We think this option adds a good dose of adventure and is relatively easy on the pocket for a once-in-a-lifetime trip. 

With 1^st class you pay more for extra little bonuses. When you buy a bed in 1^st class you get a cabin with a lockable door so you never have to worry when you get off the train or leave to go to the dining car to eat. 1^st class also comes with more privacy and quiet, though if you’re a solo traveler you may be required to share your cabin with another solo traveler (because you buy the berth, not the whole cabin). Your provodnik (male attendant)/ provodnitsa (female attendant) is more involved in 1^st class with keeping things clean, vacuuming daily, and maintaining the hygiene of the bathrooms. You also get 2 small towels, a welcome packet with slippers and a toothbrush, and a packet with a large bar of chocolate and tea bags. You’ll have access to a small kitchen area with cold drinking water, a sink for washing dishes, and a microwave. And finally, one complimentary meal from the dining car is included with your first class ticket too! 1^st class is a great way for couples especially to travel, and we really enjoyed doing it. Of course, this also means the cost goes up per ticket, so you should definitely think hard about what you want to get out of your trip.

Note: Regardless of which class ticket you book, each carriage has a samovar which dispenses hot water. We’ll have more details on this in our next article. 

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Booking your train ticket

Here’s a step-by-step guide to booking your train ticket

In the old days, the only way to book a train ticket for the Trans-Siberian was through an online agent, but luckily times have changed! You still have this option, but the easiest (and cheapest) way to book a DIY trip is to head to rzd.ru and do it yourself. There’s a convenient English language option as well which makes it easier for you navigate the website and plan your own ticket.

https://pass.rzd.ru/main-pass/public/en

1. You’ll need to register and create an account to login.

2. Once you’re logged in you can search for all available train options between your departure and arrival stations for your chosen date and time.

E.g. Here are the options for two trains on a randomly selected date.

Important Note: Make sure you enter your details exactly as they appear on your travel document. This will be checked very thoroughly upon boarding along with your passport. If you don’t have a middle name please make sure you enter ‘-‘ before proceeding.

3. Double check the train times and dates as well as the berth number and ticket class before you hit ‘enter’ to book.

4. You’ll be given the option to add insurance and it’s really up to you whether or not you decide to do this. We already have separate travel insurance so we didn’t have to add this option. However, if you’re not going to include insurance with your ticket we recommend you buy some sort of travel insurance before taking your trip. You never know what could go wrong and it’s always best to have a safety net, especially when traveling in a foreign country.

5. Make sure you check the box which says “I hereby confirm…”

6. After this you’ll be taken to the payment page. Enter your card details and rejoice! Your Trans-Siberian train ticket has now been booked.

And now you’re pretty much ready for the adventure! Hopefully this has been helpful in explaining how to book your Trans-Siberian ticket, but if you have any questions just drop us an e-mail at thirdculturenomads@gmail.com or a comment below and we’d be more than happy to help you out!