Roaming Around the World

Roaming Around the World is in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

16 hours ago

We've made it. After a 2-night ferry voyage from Stockholm, we're now roaming around Russia! 🇷🇺

💡 And here's a tip on how to slip into the country without the required visa!

To enter Russia, most nationalities must obtain a Russian visa, which is a fairly cumbersome, costly, and lengthy visa process. It usually takes 4-6 weeks to complete and costs a few hundred dollars.

Meanwhile, we just avoided paying any fees, nor did we have to complete a single form. Here's the loophole. Cruise passengers are allowed to enter St Petersburg, visa-free, for up to 72 hours as long as they're on an organized excursion group. But we're not on a cruise and there’s a further loophole to roam around Russia on your own, just as we are.

The St Peter Line ferry we took here is permitted under Russia's visa-free legislation since it meets the requirements of departing using the same ship within 72-hours.

Upon disembarking the ferry, we went right through immigration, didn’t even have to fill out an immigration card, and got our passports stamped into Russia, no questions asked. For visa-free travelers like us, the ferry includes a “city tour” from the ship to satisfy the excursion criteria.

The “city tour” consisted of an un-narrated, 10-minute shuttle bus from the ship to a central point in St Petersburg. From there, we were dropped off with all of our luggage and free to roam around St Petersburg, unescorted and on our own.

It wasn't a city tour at all. It's simply done to tick off the bureaucratic boxes of this visa-free program. And it works.

A further requirement for this 72-hour visa-free loophole is to stay at a hotel that can register undocumented guests like us. Even when embarking the ferry in Stockholm, our hotel reservations were checked, scrutinized, and recorded.

When we checked-in to our hotel here in St Petersburg, the girl at the front desk even commented that it was very unusual that we didn't have a visa. But she accepted us and performed the required government registration process, without incident.

Next thing you know, we’re off exploring St Petersburg independently! It all worked.

And we’re in complete awe of this city. We've now become totally inspired to one day go through the full visa process so we can explore Russia further. But this visa-free ferry method is proving to be an excellent way to get a quick, easy, and affordable intro to this intriguing country.

Much more about St Petersburg to come! 😀 ... See MoreSee Less