“But planes don’t fly there today. And there aren’t even trains… “: against the background of large-scale sanctions by Western countries against Russia, there is no direct connection left for tourists leaving Russia for Europe. The only option for them is buses, which are currently widely used by Russians to get to European countries, Kommersant said.
After the closure of the European sky for Russian aircraft, the famous Allegro high-speed train stopped operating on the St. Petersburg-Helsinki route on March 28. The withdrawal of the railway line was the last in a chain of interrupted railway connections between Russia and Europe. Now trains run abroad only to Belarus.
Maritime “waste” routes are also blocked. If before the war in Ukraine and the pandemics from St. Petersburg to Helsinki, Stockholm and Tallinn cruise ships went, now this option is also not available to Russian tourists.
Now you can only get to Europe from Russia by bus. This was announced by the official representative of the carrier “Amron” Andriy Volkov. According to him, the number of bus flights from the Northern capital to Finland and Estonia has increased by 50 percent compared to the off-season – these destinations are in high demand from Russians.
Fluctuations in the ruble against the background of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine tickets increased in price by almost 50 percent – “from 2.5 to 5 thousand rubles. depending on the stop, direction and time of departure”. To get by bus from Moscow to Riga (Latvia), Kaliningrad or Warsaw (Poland), you need to pay from 5 to 7 thousand rubles.
The increase in fares is a small problem, compared to the fact that many European countries still do not issue Russian tourists tourist visas. Therefore, only those who study at European universities, have a work visa or a residence permit have free entry by land.
Russian tourists who want to travel to Europe by plane have to use connecting flights through countries such as Serbia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. Probably, if there were no plying vehicles left at all, Russians accustomed to Europe would probably even go there on foot.