I just wanted to share my experience with everyone, as reading through here helped to overcome my fears and negative thoughts.   On the 21. October 2024, I took a flight late in the evening to Gdansk. Baggage collection was extremely fast and available as soon as I arrived at the Belt. I slept near the airport in the Hotel Sleep&Fly, good price although a bit noisy due to bad insulation.

At 06:00 I took a Bolt to the Central Bus Station; there I was still trying to find the location my bus would leave at. Doing so, I came into contact with an older man who regularly travels this route and also happens to speak my language.

The bus arrived on time at 07:00 but did not depart at Bus Stop 11 but therefore was waiting at the public bus stop just across. At first it was only 6 of us there, and we waited for another 6 people who came with a delayed FlixBus. We departed at 07:20 on our way to the Polish Border. When we arrived there at 8:20, we were alone. Border Control on the Polish side took around 20 minutes.

We departed to the Russian Checkpoint; A woman in red clothes entered the bus and checked everyone’s temperature. She asked a few questions, including: Who does not have a Russian passport and who wants to travel further than Kaliningrad? I failed to answer both questions, but that did not seem to make any difference at all.

Our bus stopped at the entrance gate for an hour due to another bus already being at the checkpoint, then it was our turn. Russian Border Control was seamless and quick. There were only a few questions about stamps in the passport (in my case, Ukraine), but nothing wild. After a few minutes, I was inside Russia.

They took the bus away and thoroughly checked it, which took another hour. Then we were on our way to Kaliningrad and arrived there at 12:15 at the central Bus Stop.

From there I took a taxi via YandexGo to the airport. Due to bad weather and me having big luggage with me I did not want to wait and take my original flight leaving to Moscow at 20:00 ,I bought a new ticket for around 45€ bound to depart at 14:00.

Thanks to everyone for all the information and help here, it made it easier to see my loved ones again!!!

I am planning to travel from Prague to Moscow and I found out that the cheapest option is to go by car to Kaliningrad and flight from there to Moscow. I checked and leave the car in the airport cost 450 rubles per day and I am planning to be away for 47 days, which would be 21150 rubles just for parking.

I was thinking that if it's actually safe, I could leave the car somewhere close to the airport maybe in some public space but I just worry if when I am back the car will still be there.

What do you think? Is it a good idea? or what do you suggest? maybe some cheaper parking in the city center and go with taxi?

So I’m an American citizen and I want to fly to Vilnius train to Kaliningrad and then from Kaliningrad fly to Moscow what would That process be like would my papers be given at border between Vilnius and Kaliningrad or would I have to go to immigration section of the airport in Moscow after arriving from Kaliningrad

Hi Kaliningraders.

I am a danish citizen with a hunger for soviet/russian adventures.

Last week I completed my trip to Transnistria/Pridnestrovie, and I loved it. Despite being told its dangerous/risky, I went there, and nothing was going on - just the usual daily life.

I am curious on what you think about visiting Kaliningrad during these times.

I know there is eVisa to be made, and 4-5 hours of traveltime from Gdansk

My russian is poor, but I will bring a friend who is Latvian, and speaks abit of russian.

I have a few questions

• Is it currently ''safe'' to visit?
• Which company does these trips from Gdansk > Kaliningrad?
• Can I take photos of normal stuff/areas which is not military?
• Can Mastercard be used, or do I need to bring cash?

I’m trying to go to Kalinigrad from Gdansk but I don’t find buses leaving to Riga. Just one in 29 oct, I want to spend just few hours in Kalinigrad and go from there to lithuania or latvia. Is that possible? Should I book all the buses in advance? Or can i just book them in person when I arrive there from Gdansk?? Lmk help me

Hello everyone,

I am planning a trip to Russia for two weeks time and want to know your experience with flying to Gdańsk and getting the bus to Kaliningrad.

When entering Gdańsk, did you tell them you intent to travel to Russia? Was there any issues with this?

Is the bus easy to locate? and how long to did crossing the Poland-Kaliningrad border take?

Is this a popular route? I haven’t heard many people speaking about this.

Thank you for all your information!

Dear all, for research for my masterthesis I am looking for an E-Mail contact of the city archive. Unfortunately I cannot access the website. Is there somebody who can help me?

Hello everyone.

I've been having problems to find a transport service that will be able to of taking any place from Kaunas to Kaliningrad. I've already search everything flights, buses stations and train and I can't find nothing except websites they tickets are unavailables.

Any help will be appreciated.

Hello, I’m traveling to Kaliningrad from Gdansk on Monday. My carrier, purchased trough Avl39 will be «EURO-TRANS BUS Piotr Korpet»

It’s my first time going this route, could someone explain where exactly I can find the bus stop ? I’m aware it departs behind Gdansk Glowny Will the Bus have markings or is it unmarked ?

I’d be glad for any information and experiences.

Hello, I made some threads here. I just traveled Kaliningrad and now in Riga. I just want to share my experience for another travelers and want to say thank you for people here.

I took bus from Gdańsk, departed time was 15:00. In result , we arrived Kaliningrad at 21:10. We spent time at border for 3 hours. Most of that time was spent waiting. If you see a restroom, you should go, even if you don't want to.

Most of the passengers were Russians and about 6-7 foreigners.

Buses are almost always full, recommend booking in advance. You can book ticket here pks(.)gdansk(.)pl Ticket was available before 3 weeks from departure

The border officials explain almost everything in Russian, so if you do not understand Russian, you should ask another passenger to translate for you. In my case, I was told to "raise your hand all non-Russian citizen passenger here," but that was in Russian, so I didn't understand it!

I withdraw money for euro in Helsinki as people advised me. Sberbank was okay to exchange from PLN but rate is better for euro.(sorry I forgot to take photo)

I wanted creat МИР card but my Russian friend doesn’t want to stand line, so I did not creat it.

To out from Kaliningrad , I booked bus to Riga at ecoline. I found some buses from Kaliningrad but this was the only way to book with my card. (I’m Japanese, so I can’t go back to Poland)

Entering the Lithuanian side was easier and faster than entering Kaliningrad. (The drug-sniffing dogs on the Russian side were very friendly and cute.) I recommend you to bring foods, it was long way. We had break at once around 18:00(my departure time was 8:00).

Totally, I really love Kaliningrad. I would love to back here. But access is really bad from Japan… I hope everything will be fine.

I hope everyone enjoy Kaliningrad. Ask me anything if you have questions. Have a nice trip.

Ps. I forgot to write. I spent money only 150 euro for almost 3days except hotel.(I payed for lunch and dinner for my friend. If your solo traveler it will be more cheaper)

Hi, where/how can I book hotels in Kaliningrad? Unfortunately, booking sites don’t work for this purpose because of sanctions:/ Moreover, have you got any tips? Thanks:)

Hi !! So I am a 19F Brit looking to visit Kallingrad as a solo traveler. I’m going to Gdansk in June and then going to Vilnius and so on. I’ve seen a few posts about safety but I was looking more if it’s safe as a young solo female Brit ? *Im trying to visit ever country in Europe and felt that Kaliningrad was the best way to tick Russia of the list

Also, I’ve seen people who have visited saying that at border control they’ve had to hand in their unlocked phone and something has been downloaded on it. Maybe I’m being paranoid but I’m worried about like spyware and stuff like that. Of course I understand that this is probably a requirement when visiting Russia and Kaliningrad but I was wondering what are peoples experiences with this and do people know what it actually is ?

Thank you so so much for your help 🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻

Hi, so I would like to know, as a citizen of the EU, are there areas which I'm forbidden to enter in the region (aside from Baltiysk obviously)?

Привет !! I'm gonna traveling to Kaliningrad next week. But I heard some bad news this week. Since the beginning of this week, I heard many reports that Japanese being denied entry. They said that when they asked the immigration officer "why", they were told that it was because of their nationality. Chinese and Korean passengers on the same plane were allowed to enter the country, but only the Japanese were denied entry.

They were trying to enter Russia from Moscow. Another Japanese who traveled to Vladivostok said he was able to enter the country without problems

Has anyone heard anything about changes in immigration status?

Hello I want to fly to Vilnius and then go to Kaliningrad I saw a while back that trains were suspended between Lithuania and Russia but then I saw another report saying they were operational again but it’s hard to find any schedule or a place to purchase ticket online does anyone know if it is possible and if not what the best way to cross is bud , or cab and how much I can expect those to cost thank you

Hello everyone,

I have a single entry visa to visit Russia for a week. Am I able to enter Kaliningrad by land from Poland and then fly to Saint Petersburg? Would the flight count as a second entry to Russia?

I reached out to the consulate in my country, but they seem to be confused by the question and say I need a dual-entry visa.

I would like to do it this way because otherwise I would need to detour to Egypt, Turkey, Dubai, etc and it would both cost more and be much more time consuming.

Thank you!

Hello , I’m planning to travel Kaliningrad at October. already booked bus ticket (from Gdańsk to Kaliningrad , from Kaliningrad to Riga) and hotel in Kaliningrad. I have applied for e-visa and been approved.(I’m Japanese citizen)

Q1. Is my plan okay ? Do I need something more to go to Kaliningrad?

Q2. Is it possible to exchange zł to ₽ in Kaliningrad? I’ll go to Poland directly from Japan. Should I exchange ¥ to € in Japan?

Q3. How much should I bring money ? I don't know the cost of living in Kaliningrad, so I’m not sure how much I need. I’ll be staying there 4 days.

Thank you for reading.

Hi all, I’m planning to book a flight from Mexico to Poland and then take a bus from Gdańsk to Kal, in the next months to visit my girlfriend in Kaliningrad. I have seen many places where it says borders are open and you usually don’t find any trouble crossing, but i have also read that you MAY be denied the re-entry to Poland to take a flight back to your country, in my case, Mexico.

Do you have any information about it this or if my country passport would find trouble crossing back?

I’m considering if that would be a viable option or the other option is to fly to Moscow and then to Kaliningrad, but of course that is the expensive option i would like to consider at last.

Thank you and i’m sorry if this is a redundant question in this subreddit. See you soon in kaliningrad !!!

EDIT: Do you think the Lithuanian border would be better in this case? Thanks a lot for the info.

Всем привет!

I'm looking for someone to talk to about Kaliningrad, preferably someone living there, in order to figure out some details of my plan...

I'm a french guy, in a long distance relationship with a russian girl. We try to see each other as much as possible, but it usually involves travelling to foreign countries, putting our work on hold, spending a lot of money, and ultimately not sharing each other's real life... It's complicated for her to come to me, and even though e-visa exists to visit Russia, I wasn't too eager to go because up until recently she was living in Novossibirsk.

However ! This all changed when she moved to Kaliningrad ! She's much closer to me now, and I would be able to go to her much more easily through the polish border... So I think you already know where I'm going with this considering the title I chose...

I would like to surprise her by visiting ! This is why I'm looking for some people from Kaliningrad to help me elaborate my plan. We're supposed to see each other at the end of the year, but I intend to surprise her in about a month.

So, if this sounds appealing to you, if you want to be a part of a romantic gesture, feel free to send me a DM !

Thank's in advance to those who will answer !

PS: Я тоже могу говорить по-русски, но пока говорю очень плохо...

Всем привет! I am looking to travel to Kaliningrad in April of next year, and I’m just wondering if anyone can answer a few questions for me?

Firstly, is it still possible to enter/exit Kaliningrad Oblast through either Poland or Lithuania as a British citizen? We are of the belief that you can enter through Poland, but are unable to cross back into Poland once you are inside the Oblast (not including EU citizens).

Secondly, is the avl39.ru website reliable, and is it possible to pay without a Russian Bank Account (as I believe Visa/Mastercard cannot be used within Russia), or is there a Polish/Lithuanian company that is better/more reliable?

Thirdly, is there a location at which we can exchange Euros for Rubles once inside Kaliningrad?

Finally, would we be… welcome within the city? My Russian will be reasonably good by the time of us travelling, but I would be travelling with my father and girlfriend who speak zero Russian. Me and my father have visited Moscow twice (once in 2010, and once in 2019) and naturally encountered no issues. With the… changing circumstances at the moment, my father wants to check to see if there is a significant anti-British sentiment in the city or if there are any regions to avoid.

It is important to note that we are looking to visit in April of next year, but with flight costs being the way they are at the moment, some time soon would be ideal to book them. I am unfortunately aware that the regulations on travel in Russia are likely to change, for better or for worse, over the next 7 months

Thank you for your help, and I can’t wait to visit your beautiful city. Apologies for my poor level of Russian. My lessons start next week, and I’m something of a languages nerd haha.

Наилучшие пожелания из Англии!!

Hello,

Ecolines just cancelled the route to Vilnius and I booked the ticket way too early. They are offering a full refund. I'm still asking if their route to Siauliai is still running.

Anyhow, does anyone know other company that runs this route? Either to Siauliai or Vilnius is okay. Thanks.

Hello, I'm struggling to use the PKS Gdansk website but I found tickets on busfor. Is that site legit? They quote the ticket to be PLN170.