How to get to Kaliningrad 2024 cheaply from St. Petersburg, Moscow by train, car

Kaliningrad is a European city of the Russian Federation, as well as an excellent tourist destination. The city is characterized by a high level of service, a large number of attractions and an excellent natural landscape.

How to get to your destination cheaply by train, plane or car will be described below.

Train schedule, ticket price

Everyone who wants to go to this city should know how to get to Kaliningrad cheaply. If you want to travel by train, you must have a foreign passport. Initially, this document will have to be presented at the railway ticket office or on the Russian Railways website to purchase a ticket, as well as at the border.

Citizens of the Russian Federation can make a transit document according to a simplified scheme (UPD-RAILWAY) in order to travel by train from the capital or another city by registration to Kaliningrad once and return back in a similar way. When buying a ticket at the ticket office or on the Russian Railways website, you can immediately form a request for this type of document.

At the same time, you will have to make a request for each trip. After 26 hours from the moment of submitting the request and purchasing the ticket, it is recommended to clarify this information in your personal account. There must be an inscription that travel is allowed. It is also acceptable to find out about the status of the application directly from the employees of the ticket office at the station.

At the border with the Republic of Lithuania, train passengers are required to fill out a special questionnaire for the Lithuanian Consulate. You can fill it out at home electronically, specifying the last name with the first name. The letters must be Latin and fully capitalized (this information can be copied from the passport).

After that, you need to print out the questionnaire and put your own signature on it. Then the information must be passed on to the train staff.

When crossing the state border of the Republic of Lithuania, train passengers need to present not only a foreign passport, but also a printed copy of the UPD-RAILWAY, which was received from the train conductors. 28 hours before the departure of the train, it is necessary to have time to issue an electronic ticket with a simplified form of a transit document.

If you have a valid Schengen visa or other document that confirms permission to travel through the Schengen area, citizens of the Russian Federation or other third countries can order a ticket electronically in 15 minutes. before sending the train. To do this, you need to provide all the necessary documents.

From Moscow

Tourists who like to travel by train will tell you how to get to Kaliningrad from Moscow cheaply. They advise you to leave in the evening, because the trip will take a little less time than when sending a carriage train with passengers in the afternoon. However, a reserved seat in the daytime will cost much cheaper than in the evening.

If you want to travel in a compartment car, you should give preference to the evening train, because the ticket price will not be very expensive.

The current train schedule with an indication of the approximate ticket price:

From St. Petersburg

Kaliningrad can be reached from St. Petersburg. You can leave on both weekdays and weekends. However, the train departs only every Monday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday. The duration of the route is about 28 hours.

The departure of the carriage train with passengers takes place from the Moskovsky railway station. A reserved seat will cost less than a trip in a compartment car. In the first case, the price reaches about 4,359 rubles, in the second – about 7,913 rubles.

The current train schedule to Kaliningrad:

How cheap is it to fly to Kaliningrad by plane

Tourists who travel frequently will tell you how to get to Kaliningrad cheaply. To get to your destination quickly and comfortably, it is recommended to use an airplane.

If you buy a ticket in advance, the cost of the flight will be slightly more expensive, unlike a train ride. However, if you get to the action, it will be cheaper to fly to Kaliningrad by plane than to leave by rail.

This method of travel is suitable for those who want to get to the right place in a short time and without a large number of identity documents. This is due to the fact that Kaliningrad is part of the Russian Federation, so you do not need to additionally apply for a visa and take a passport, because a person does not leave the country.

In this case, you only need to prepare an internal passport to board the plane.

There are 3 options for how you can buy a ticket to Kaliningrad without overpaying:

• When purchasing a ticket, you need to take it both ways at once – there and back. If you miss the return flight, you will have to buy a new ticket. In this regard, the period of stay in the city must be planned in advance in order to do everything in time.
• Reservation and payment of the ticket can be made online using the Internet. As a result, you will not need to pay a commission at the ticket office where tickets are sold.
• In order for the flight to be financially profitable, you should purchase a ticket for a direct charter flight and fly with budget airlines.

The duration of the flight from Moscow to Kaliningrad is about 2 hours and 50 minutes. When departing from St. Petersburg, the route will take approximately 1 hour and 55 minutes. If you want to travel by train or car, you will have to cover 1,240 km, which will take much longer than a flight.

Traveling by plane has many advantages:

• the route will not take much time;
• no need to apply for an entry permit;
• you do not need to take a foreign passport;
• the ticket price will be similar to a train ticket or cheaper if there are promotions.

In this case, you need to purchase a ticket profitably.

To do this, you need to familiarize yourself with the flight schedule of some aircraft and the cost of a ticket from Moscow to Kaliningrad:

The schedule of several flights from St. Petersburg:

It is optimal and convenient to search for air tickets through special services that independently select tickets. To select a favorable price, it is acceptable to use several comparison services at once. Where the ticket will be more profitable, you can make a payment. At the same time, this form allows you to get acquainted with the flight schedule.

The cost of air tickets for a direct flight:

• Often, the cost of a one-way flight is indicated by default.
• When buying round-trip tickets, you need to remove the check mark that stands next to the “one way” item.
• Prices may vary depending on the period of the day, as well as the day of the month and week. To find out the exact ticket price, you need to select the date and month for which the flight is scheduled.

Airline specialists know how to get to Kaliningrad cheaply. They recommend looking for promotional fares or promotions on airline websites to bargain for cheap tickets. If there are currently no promotions on several websites of the airlines you like, you need to go to the services to view and buy cheaper tickets that are available.

Some airlines provide cheaper tickets to citizens of preferential categories. This information should be clarified directly with the employees of this company.

You can buy a ticket at a bargain price:

• women over the age of 55;
• a disabled person of the 1st group together with an accompanying person, as well as a disabled person from childhood of the 2nd or 3rd group;
• persons under the age of 23;
• men over the age of 60.

It is acceptable to reserve a ticket online. However, in order to redeem it, you will have to contact the cashier directly. When buying a personal ticket and for a traveling companion, you must have an identity passport with you.

Upon arrival at Khrabrovo airport, you can take bus No. 244e to get to Kaliningrad. The departure time of public transport is every 40 minutes. There is a bus stop on the right side of the exit from the airport terminal.

If there is no time to wait, it is acceptable to take a taxi. As a result, the trip will be 2 times faster, but the price will be higher than the bus fare.

There is also a carsharing service at the airport, which allows you to rent a car for a while. In this case, you need to download an application to your smartphone to register and attach a driver’s license with a passport to confirm your identity.

After that, you can pick up the vehicle and pick it up from the airport parking lot (you do not need to pay for parking). However, to rent a car, the age must be over 23 years old, and the driving experience must be at least 3 years.

To use this service, it is advisable to download the application and register in advance, because it can take about 24 hours to check the documents.

How to get there by car

When traveling by car, you need to issue a simplified transit document or have a Schengen visa, which has not expired. If these documents are not available, it will not be possible to cross the Lithuanian border. Those who have, for example, relatives, property, business in the Kaliningrad region can get a visa.

Last year, the issuance of simplified transit documents to Russian citizens resumed again. However, to issue a document, you need to contact the Consulate General of the Republic of Lithuania, which is located in Kaliningrad or Sovetsk.

The transit pass is valid for 24 hours, during which it is allowed to stay on Lithuanian territory. If you want to stay in Lithuania for more than the allotted time, for example, to visit excursions, local attractions, you need to apply for a visa.

When departing from St. Petersburg, the duration of the route will be about 13-14 hours. However, at this time, possible parking lots with short-term stops and night sleep are not included. You will have to travel 960 km by car.

You need to go along the R-23 highway to Pskov, after which the route runs through the Lithuanian and Latvian territories or through the territory of Estonia with Latvia and Lithuania. Depending on the chosen path, the checkpoints will be different.

If there is no personal transport, it is acceptable to rent a car. There are many car rental points in St. Petersburg. You can also go on a trip with a driver who is going to go to Kaliningrad. In any case, it is necessary to prepare documents that can be used to cross the border.

There are 2 routes suitable for traveling by car from Moscow to Kaliningrad:

• Through Belarus and Lithuania. It is necessary to go along the E30 highway going to Minsk. Having reached almost the capital of Belarus by this road, it is required to cross the country’s border, providing a passport of the Russian Federation for this purpose. At the same time, you do not need to apply for a visa, because the border is considered to be of an open type. However, after passing the checkpoint, the actions of the CTP with a Russian-style medical policy will be stopped, so you will have to make a Green Card with an international medical insurance policy. Before the capital, you need to turn right to enter the M2 highway. Through MKAD-2 and E28 you can go to the road that leads to Vilnius. Next, you need to cross the Lithuanian border to check your documents. At the same time, a Schengen stamp will be placed in the passport. Through Vilnius, the route runs to Marijampole. After that, it is necessary to pass the Kibartai border checkpoint.
• Through Latvia and Lithuania. To get to Kaliningrad quickly, you need to drive along the E22 highway, passing Rzhev and Velikiye Luki. The border post is located near the village of Burachki, then there is the Latvian border. After crossing the border, you need to continue driving along the E22 highway, which later turns into the A12. The route passes by 3 cities – Martishi, Rezekne and Daugavpils. After passing Medumi, there will be the territory of Lithuania. You need to go to the city of Kaunas. On the way there will be a border with the Republic of Lithuania, where documents will be checked again. After reaching Mariampole, you need to switch to the A7 highway to get to the Kaliningrad border. Chernyshevskoye is the first settlement. Then you can take the E77 road directly to Kaliningrad.

If you drive almost non-stop, the duration of the route takes about 16 hours. At the same time, there should be no delays at the borders. Otherwise, the time may increase.

After reaching Kaliningrad by car, you can choose one of the hotels where a free parking space is provided for the car.

For example, you can stay at:

• The Berlin Hotel. The reconstructed building is located near the central part of the city. Breakfast includes a buffet.
• Mini-hotel “Old Courtyard”. The old mansion includes several rooms that are always occupied, especially during the season. The hotel is characterized by pleasant prices for breakfast with accommodation, as well as excellent service.
• The Breeze Hotel. It is characterized by a varied menu, friendly staff and clean rooms.

An airplane is considered a cheaper and more convenient way to get to Kaliningrad. At the same time, the flight will not take much time from both Moscow and St. Petersburg. The main thing is to take the necessary documents so that there are no problems during the trip.

Video about the trip

By ferry from St. Petersburg to Kaliningrad:

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