Travel resources - Satanaya Knows

Planning a trip to Russia can be very confusing these days. Following the 2022 sanctions, many well known booking platforms became totally useless.

I have travelled multiple times to Russia, in 2022 included and I share here a bunch of travel resources you might need to plan your next trip.

Bellow is a list of websites, compagnies and booking platforms I personally use in my travels and recommend (in no particular order).

Everything mentionned here is up-to-date and relevant to travel in Russia in 2023.

Airfare

Booking flights without a russian bank card

Air Serbia

The only airline flying from Europe (geographically speaking) to Russia without a massive detour. You can easily fly from Paris to Moscow via Belgrade for example. Not cheap.

Turkish Airlines

Flying via Turkey might be the easiest way to reach Russia from the West. They offer plenty of flights to many russian cities.

FlyOne Armenia

FlyOne Armenia is a cheaper option with less availability though and long connection in Yerevan between flights in my opinion.

Fly Dubai

Another option if you either don’t mind the massive detour from Europe or if you live in the Middle East.
Dubai is such a popular place for “rich” russians that the website even has a russian language option.

Booking flights with a russian bank card

Aviasales

I’d recommend to start your flight searches here. This is the favourite booking platform of many russians. It seems to find the best deals, and its calendar view shows which days are cheapest to fly.

Yandex travel

Yandex is the russian equivalent of Google. The company has different booking platforms including Yandex Travel (Яндекс Путешествия) for flight tickets. I also check this site as a way to compare the prices with Aviasales.

Aeroflot

Aeroflot is Russia’s leading airline.
They fly all across the country as well as interntionaly. Western countries are of course out of the map but they were supposed to start flying again in South Asia and the Middle East so check it out.

Azimuth

Azimuth is an “affordable airline” as they put it. I flew with it in june 2022 and was very satisfied. Good price, good service and right on time.
They fly in Russia and internationally.

Note : Popular booking platforms such as Skyscanner, Momondo or Google flights do not offer/show flights to and from Russia anymore.

Accomodation

Ostrovok

Ostrovok is the best alternative to Booking.com in Russia, especially if you don’t own a russian bank card. You can easily filter the search to show accomodation that can be booked without a card, no prepayment required.

Yandex

Yandex travel offers more accomodation choices than Ostrovok. However in my experience a prepayment is required to book, with a card issued in Russia obviously.

Couchsurfing

You might be surprised at the amount of russian Couchsurfers out there. An amazing way to experience the country. From an isba in Siberia to a village house in a Dagestani aul, I’ve been hosted by wonderful people.

Note : Booking.com, Airbnb or hostelworld for example do not show accomodation in Russia anymore.

Transportation

Tutu Travel

Tutu is a very popular booking platform. For bus, flights, trains and even hotels. I use it to book my bus tickets so I don’t have to queue at the station. However bookings can only be made with a russian card. Even if you don’t own one, you can use it to research destination and ticket availability before heading to the station.

RZD

RZD is the national railway company. The interface (as well as the App) is very easy to use and has an english version. I recommend to book your trains on it instead of Tutu that can be slightly more expensive. Once again, russian cards only but you can do your research before buying your ticket at the station. (A VPN might be necessary to open the link)

Edem

Edem (meaning “let’s go”) is the russian version of Blablacar. Share rides with local drivers in exchange for gas. It’s an interesting way to travel if buses and trains are full. Some drivers make HUGE distances across the country.

LUX Express

LUX Express is an Estonia based bus company and your best shot if you want to travel between Russia and the Baltic countries/Europe without a flight detour. I’ve travelled with it between Saint Petersburg and Riga in September 2022 and can’t recommend enough.

Yandex Taxi

Yandex Taxi is the main taxi service in Russia.

Maxim Taxi

Maxim is the taxi service operating in Crimea, where Yandex Taxi doesn’t.

Russian bank cards

Tinkoff

Tinkoff is a neobank and has no physical branches but ATM’s all across the country. It is very easy to open an account and receive your MIR card within days. I have one and I am pretty satisfied with their service.

Sberbank

Sberbank is the largest bank in Russia. It has thousands of offices all across the country. They offer debit cards for foreigners and their ATMs have multiple language options.

Read my step by step guide on How to get a Tinkoff MIR card

VPN

VPN.ac

I have been using VPN.ac for several years now and I’m pretty happy about it : Fast speed, double encryption options (e.g. Russia – Netherlands).
Price starts from $3,75 / month.

Hotspot Shield

If you don’t wish to pay for a VPN but still want to check for example the russian national railway website, use Hotspot Shield VPN. It offers 7 days free trial and has several russian servers.

Note : Roskomnadzor, the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media in Russia has banned plenty of popular VPN providers (they didn’t block them entirely but I’m no expert) including NordVPN, StrongVPN, ExpressVPN, Surfshark …

Hike planning

All Trails

All trails is my favourite hiking App out there. Many popular russian hiking trails are listed on it. I really like the fact that there are reviews and photos of the trails by other hikers, it gives an idea of what to expect.

Rutrail

Rutrail is a russian website listing plenty of hiking trails around the country. GPX files of the trails are downloadable for free.

Maps.me

Maps.me has extremely detailed offline maps in Russia and every country in the world. Many local hikers add trails and tones of other details (like military posts, water sources etc). A must-have on your phone.

Gear

Backcountry

Backcountry (US), Bergfreunde (EU) or Alpiniste (FR), all the same online store for outdoor gears and clothes. I buy many of my travel gears on it. They have a large range of very good quality brands.

Vinted

If you live in a country where Vinted operates, check it out, you can find amazing deals for second hand outdoor and travel gears that are actually brand new.

Assimil

A basic knowdlege of russian is a must in my opinion. I’ve tried a few language learning programs and find the Assimil method to be good, intuitive and not boring.

Tour companies + Insurance

As I’ve never done any organised tour in Russia, I can’t recommend you any.

About the travel insurance, many well known ones such as Chapka, World Nomads and True Traveller do not cover for Russia anymore. To apply for my 3 months visa in 2022 I used the insurance of my Visa card (yes my french bank card), and it worked..

However, if you have a company, a guide or a travel insurance (that covers for Russia at the moment) to recommend, please feel free to email me and I can add it here to help other people in their research.

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