New answers tagged russia
0
How should I go about my visa registration? I was planning on getting
the hostel in Moscow to register me upon arrival and then have the
hostel in St. Petersburg do the same. Is this OK?
Yes, that's okay. That is really all you need to do (register in both cities). Any valid and legal hostel should be able to "register" you, which you are encouraged to ...
2
This site is not a travel agency, but I'll take a stab at this.
I'd think that your first option is doable. What the current situation is in western Pakistan, I don't know. But if you travel in an organised convoy, you should be fine. Keep in mind that there currently is no train running across the Iranian/Turkish border, because of the conflict in Syria. ...
1
In addition to other answers, some points that are specific to Nizhny Novgorod (I live in Nizhny myself).
Firstly, in many Russian cities the marshrutkas are small minibuses like in alamar's answer (basically, GAZelles). But in Nizhny much more common are PAZ buses. They are larger and allow for standing passangers.
Secondly, while in many cities you ...
1
As others have already correctly said, "marshrutka" is a colloquial version of "marshrutnoe taksi", that is, "routed taxi". This concept emerged in late 1930s when Moscow started operating a few ZiS-101 limousines between the city center and VSKhV (later VDNKh/VVTs, now again VDNKh), so that every proletarian could enjoy the luxury of a government limousine ...
1
In my city, we also have private buses - but they are not too different from normal buses, so people would just say "bus".
Historically, the main distinction between marshrutkas and public buses was that marshrutkas only accepted cash with a single fare for everyone, while public buses accepted city-issued season tickets and passes and provided discounts ...
1
In the city in Ukraine were I live the маршрутка (marshrutka) are basically just the buses that go around the city. They are privately owned - there are no publicly owned buses (although there are trolly buses) but regulated just like buses. They have a service contract with the city which specifies the routes, prices and how often they should run. There is ...
1
As long as your planned trip follows the general lines of your visa application or is not the first of a multiple entry visa, the border official will not mind whichever route you use.
Any entry and exit point and any departure point towards the Schengen zone is allowed.
For your next destination you need prove you can enter, which your Russia visa does. ...
12
The greatest danger of marshrutkis are lax regulations in terms of safety, driver qualifications and quality of service. Many small private companies will try to save on vehicle repairs and driver salaries, hiring underskilled drivers and forcing them to drive old rickety Gazelle minibuses for 12 hours a day. If such minibus gets into a nasty accident the ...
19
This answer would be incomplete without a picturesque Marshrutka:
(courtesy Wikipedia)
A typical 13-pax GAZel painted in yellow and with route details.
45
Just to add to the above guys answers.
Маршрутка (Marshrutka) is a slang. It's a shortened version of "Маршрутное такси" (can be roughly translated as "Routed" taxi, essentially a taxi that has a specified route that it always has to take). Usually looks like a minibus/minicab.
Therefore can behave like a bus:
has a timetable
goes through a specific route
...
5
Маршрутка (marshrutka) is like a private minibus, it is privately owned:
a way of public transport, private minibus. It is very common in Russia and other neighboring countries.#
(Source)
Dangerous?
They can be dangerous for some reasons:
On the bad side, they're crowded and speed excessively, increasing the risk of an accident.
From my experience of ...
14
Marshrutka. Dolmuş in Turkey. These are very similar things: something half way between a taxi and a bus. A shared minibus where the route, while exists, is more or less flexible -- the drivers will stop where there is no scheduled stop and sometimes even make small changes to the route even. You typically need to speak the local language so you can tell ...
0
To visit Kaliningrad, even passing through a land boarder from Poland or Lithuania, you'll need a Visa.
That used to be a challenge (Russian visitors visas are a PAIN) but I notice that it is now possible to book an e-Visa for short visits to Kaliningrad.
Details here: http://electronic-visa.kdmid.ru/klgd_home_en.html
3
Yes, there are official taxi desks in Moscow airports. Here you can see what they look like:
Source
This photo was taken at Sheremetyevo 2 years ago.
But Moscow is not the world's best place for "offline" people. I'd recommend to buy a local phone with internet as soon as possible. It would be very difficult to plan any trips or buy any tickets without ...
6
Travelling without smartphone is nuts, seriously. Fortunately Russian operators (well, at least Beeline, not sure about others) have packages that are charged _per_day_, not per month, have quite good Internet plans, and can be disabled/enabled through Internet. So my suggestion is to get local number in official operator booth at Airport (NOT an "all-in-one"...
2
You can use Wifi in the airport to request Uber or Yandex taxi
3
If you're in a taxi and there's no seatbelts, you're definitely in a wrong kind of taxi. Better not board anything like that.
This is after we exclude small remote towns where it's still not uncommon. As a rule you can expect taxi car to be in reasonable condition, and this includes seat belts for all passengers.
Sometimes for the seats in a back, seat ...
43
To avoid any trouble with taxis, you can use the Aeroexpress train.
It will get you to the city centre for ~8$ (500 RUB). You can use wireless payment options at the automatic gates: PayPass, PayWave, etc. It departs every half an hour for most of the day. The other two Moscow airports also have an Aeroexpress, with the exception of ZIA.
If you plan to use ...
28
First of all, ignore the people that run up to you when you get out of arrivals. They can see you are not a local and will charge you 4 times the price. Never pay more than 1250 ₽ for a taxi to the Red Square.
You can order a taxi from the Yandex taxi stand (Uber equivalent), located in each terminal at the arrivals section. This is open 24/7. They may ask ...
2
For Russia: an invitation is mandatory, but it is given to you by the hotel or the travel agency you book the travel, if you are staying for tourism. It is very easy to get, and as far I know, it is not really checked after you get it.
[In my case, I had to change completely the plans, and cancel a tour, but I did a much shorter tourist travel in Russia ...
Top 50 recent answers are included
