Unless you have been living in a cave the past couple of years, you are most probably aware of the current world situation especially between Russia, Ukraine and the entire Western World. In this post I won’t talk about whether it is “moral” or not to travel to Russia right now nor won’t express my political views because *reminder : this is a travel blog*
However you are likely to have ended up here looking for informations to actually travel to Russia in 2024.
Good news for you, us, me included : Yes, it is possible to travel to Russia now and I am going to explain you all (sort of) about it !
This guide contains everything you need to know about visas for westerners, land border crossings, flying to Russia, how to book your tickets and more.
Disclaimer : I am a regular tourist & french (EU) passport holder, not a travel agent nor embassy staff. This post is for informative purposes only.
Last updated : 14/02/2024
Getting a visa to Russia
If you don’t need a visa to visit Russia good for you ! It also mean that your country is probably not on the “unfriendly countries list“, a list published by the Russian government of countries *I quote* “hostile towards the Russian Federation”. It contains 49 countries to this day including all western countries. However it does not stop the Russian embassies and consulats in those countries to issue tourist (and other) visas.
Most of these countries’ governments only (strongly) advice against travelling to Russia but do not prohibit it : meaning it is really up to you if you decide to go or not to go.
It is definetly a case by case situation, you should call the russian embassy/consulat in your home/residence country to ask them directly if they issue tourist visas at the moment.
Speaking for France, most of Europe, Switzerland, the UK, USA and Canada they definitely do and actually never stopped.
• Travelling to Russia for less than 2 weeks ? Get an e-visa ! Easy to obtain & cheap !
• The best travel insurance valid for your russian visa application
How to enter Russia
Land borders
Lands borders are mostly open (Azerbaijan will in April 2024 and those with Finland are closed for now) for third country nationals except for the Ukrainian border of course.
I’ve crossed the Estonia-Russia border in september 2022, read my detailed guide here.
• The best bus companies to travel from Europe to Russia.
Flying from western countries
There’s no flight between the European Union and Russia now.
Your best shot to reach Moscow or elsewhere in the Federation is flying through Turkey, the South Caucasus, the Middle East (quite a detour though) or … Serbia ! Yes Serbia, right in the middle of Europe !
AirSerbia has daily flights to many Russian cities. You can book directly on their website a flight from Paris to Moscow via Belgrade for example. Serbia’s capital is the best transit place between Russia and Europe, without any massive detour.
Armenia is also a good option in my opinion if you wish to travel to the North Caucasus (or reach Moscow). There are direct flights from Paris to Yerevan, and from there you can easily fly to Krasnodar or Sochi. Check out ArmeniaFly, ArmeniaAirways and FlyOneArmenia.
Georgia can also be a great transit place as EU passport holders have visa free to enter the country. A few foreign airlines flying from Tbilissi to Moscow for example are : Pegasus, Turkish Airlines Qatar Airways, FlyDubai …
• Top 5 airlines to fly from Europe to Russia (Visa/Mastercard)
Yerevan – Moscow
Paris – Sochi via Belgrade
I take Paris as an example because it is easy to reach from any Western country.
Flying from elsewhere
Everywhere else in the world, airlines are operating as usual. For example Emirates still flies to Russia. You can book a flight from Dubai to Moscow directly on their website. You can also find flights from India and most of Asia.
Buying airplanes tickets
The well known booking platforms stopped displaying informations on flights to Russia such as Skyscanner, Kayak, Momondo, Expedia etc. It means you can’t book a flight to anywhere in the Russian Federation through them considering you can’t find them in the first place. However, flights still exist of course.
You can buy an international flight to Russia directly on the airline’s website such as Turkish airlines, AirSerbia etc as said previously.
To know which airlines fly there I recommend to check on Avia.tutu.ru and Travel.yandex.ru (google translate the page), find the non-russian airlines flying from your departure city into Russia and book directly on these airlines’ websites.
You cannot book a russian airlines flight ticket directly on the airline’s website as they only accept bank card issued in the country now, but you can book them on Kupi.com, a russian booking platform (it’s legit, I know people who booked international and national flights to/within Russia with their foreign Visa/Mastercard), the payment goes through a partner based in Dubai, UAE.
Some airlines such as Pegasus might not display flights to Russia because of your IP address location, for some reason. Use a VPN.
Let me know about your experience buying a plane ticket to Russia in the comments !
Extra things to know
Are you planning a trip to Russia anytime soon ?
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