June 2010 Russia Holidays!

[:DD]

Hi gals (and guys),
 
We (A lady friend and I) am planning for a trip to Russia this year, June 2010. Is Free and Easy style "safe enough" in this country?

We are planning duration range from: 8 to 14 days (depending on our budget). My cap shall be S$ 3,500 (all in, incl the min food and travel expense).

Any recommendations - how I should go about my plans?
Anyone like to join us are welcome. I am trying to form a group of 4 to 6 max. We are aged between 35 to 40 years old, female.
 
I look forward to hearing from you! Kindly contact me: dancediver@hotmail.com
 
Cheers,  :hello2:Diva

[Karel]

Why not come to our next gathering on the 5th of February ?
Sangeetha & Edwin will present "Trans-Siberia : The Ultimate Rail Journey."

www.sgtravelcafe.com/index.php?topic=1878.0

[koldee]

Hi gals (and guys),
 
We (A lady friend and I) am planning for a trip to Russia this year, June 2010. Is Free and Easy style "safe enough" in this country?

We are planning duration range from: 8 to 14 days (depending on our budget). My cap shall be S$ 3,500 (all in, incl the min food and travel expense).

Any recommendations - how I should go about my plans?
Anyone like to join us are welcome. I am trying to form a group of 4 to 6 max. We are aged between 35 to 40 years old, female.
 
I look forward to hearing from you! Kindly contact me: dancediver@hotmail.com
 
Cheers,  :hello2:Diva

hi there! i personally feel that russia is as "safe" as any european countries these days. I did a solo trip on the trans-siberian (or rather, trans-mongolian) - started in Moscow then to St Petersburg and then back to Moscow on to Irkutsk - Ulaan Batar - Beijing. I'm female btw. I met 2 SG girls in St Petersburg and another SG girl (also travelling solo from Europe) on the train from Irkutsk to Ulaan Batar. I think I spent S$3.5k all inclusive (including souvenirs) for my 2 wk or so trip.

[:DD]

Hi people,

We have decided to go with a Tour Agency, priced at 13Days Russia + Turkey. S$ 3,488/-

Please contact myself dancediver@hotmail.com, if interested. I need one more travel buddy. Thanks!

:DD

[Karel]

Russia & Turkey in 13 days ?!! That's cruel : each destination apart could keep you busy for much more than 13 days.

[siyimi]

hi, just curious,

how the itinerity like i.e. which places you are going? hw are you plan to travel between russia & turkey? by flight?

Hi people,

We have decided to go with a Tour Agency, priced at 13Days Russia + Turkey. S$ 3,488/-


:DD

[nigo]

hi there! i personally feel that russia is as "safe" as any european countries these days. I did a solo trip on the trans-siberian (or rather, trans-mongolian) - started in Moscow then to St Petersburg and then back to Moscow on to Irkutsk - Ulaan Batar - Beijing. I'm female btw. I met 2 SG girls in St Petersburg and another SG girl (also travelling solo from Europe) on the train from Irkutsk to Ulaan Batar. I think I spent S$3.5k all inclusive (including souvenirs) for my 2 wk or so trip.

Hey, just wondering how come its so expensive to travel just 2 weeks. Did the bulk of the 3.5k go to the flights to and from moscow and beijing. and were the train tickets expensive?

Planning to go back singapore this way from exchange next june

[koldee]

Hey, just wondering how come its so expensive to travel just 2 weeks. Did the bulk of the 3.5k go to the flights to and from moscow and beijing. and were the train tickets expensive?

Planning to go back singapore this way from exchange next june

hi there!

i think the return flight cost me abt $1k. Hostels in Russia are expensive. Paid US$25-35 for a bed. The train tickets are not exactly very cheap either tho I can't quite remember how much it was exactly. I guess you can cut costs if you stay on the train rather than do stopovers like I did

[lxk]

Hi there

I read about the Russian pointers above, got me confused.

I intend to make a short trip to Moscow/St Petersburg in mid to near end May, just a short trip. The Russian Embassy replied to my visa application enquiry that first, I have to make it clear whether I am just visiting Moscow, or both/more cities, because "it will be different". Because of that, I told her i would prefer to keep it simple, Moscow will do. Then she said that I can't really go alone free and easy like that, she would need supporting documents from a travel agency in singapore. When I said that if I could print out an email note from the hotel that I would book in Moscow to stay in, and use that as a relevant document, she said that that is not the point. She strongly advised me to check with a travel agency, especially one that deals in russian tours.

Preferably I want to go on my own, rather than walking with a tour package. Can you share your thoughts on this?

[weecheng]

Hi,

Russian embassies are well known for making life difficult for tourists.  Check out this site which has details on how tourists can get Russian visas: http://www.waytorussia.net/RussianVisa/    This company can provide you with visa support aka letter of invitation without you joining a tour.  I used them in 2002 and I know many people worldwide who use their services.  You would have to specify the places you want to go in a visa application but no worry - just say as many places as you want... it doesn't matter once you get the right travel agency to sponsor you but without the need to join tour.

cheers,
Wee Cheng

[wei]

I did something similar to wat wee cheng did when I wanted to go to Russia as part of my RTW trip in 2008. Went to one website, paid 30 USD for a letter of invitation. When trying to get the letter, I just listed a few cities I may/may not visit and rough duration of trip (in this case, one month). Got a "letter of invitation" from the website within 24 hours. Printed it out. Attached it to the visa application form and dropped it at the Russian Embassy. Got my visa within days, no questions asked. I did not even have to produce proof of accommodation booked because, fact is, I did not book any. In fact, I din even have any idea where I want to go, but jus applied for the visa, stating an estimated date of arrival and departure. Only when I was leaving Mongolia, heading for Russia, then did I make a booking for hostels. I did the whole Trans-Siberia thing DIY. There are hostels in most cities for you to stay. Travelling by train by yourself is not difficult. Only difficult part is buying the train tickets cos they don't speak English. But you can always get the pp from the hostels to write in Cyrillic your destinations and time of trains and type of train tix you want on a slip of paper, and shove it to the guy at the ticket counter and you can get your tix easily. No worries abt travelling on your own!

[kevin10]

I still got abt 8,000 Ruble left since my last trip (ard S$400) .. kindly let me noe if u wanna to exchange b4 ur trip to Russia (we use Internet xchange rate) ..

thnx

Kev

[lxk]

Thanks for the helpful pointers ! You guys are surely seasoned travellers.