St. Petersburg, Russia: Visa-Free on the Ferry from Helsinki

     The purpose of this blog: to aid those fellow-travelers and travel agents who would like to visit or plan someone's trip to St. Petersburg, Russia using the visa-free policy.

     With respect to this rule, I read so many articles, TripAdvisor comments, and of course the rule itself, Russian Federation Government Resolution No. 397.  I also spoke with our own travel agent as well as others, all of whom supported obtaining a travel visa and refuted the visa-free travel; of course, all of this made me extremely nervous and highly apprehensive to visit St. P.  In my mind, the Russians were not going to allow us into St. P from the ferry, and we would have to wait the rest of the day at the harbor to return.  Even worse, we would be contained in the tiniest of cells with bread and water, no toilet, no shower, and most likely torture for non-existent information until someone from our embassy or even the President of the United States would come to our rescue; hence, the start of World War III.  Luckily, none of this occurred, and my fears turned out to be ridiculous....even laughable.
     What is this visa-free rule?  In 2009, the Russian Government passed a new rule which allows foreign tourists and persons without citizenship traveling by ferry to enter St. P without a visa and remain there for no longer than 72 hours.  These persons may include those traveling on the ferry from Helsinki (like ourselves) or those traveling on a cruise ship.  All you need is a passport (duh), your arrival and departure ticket from the ferry (they give you when you check-in), hotel confirmation (never asked for it, but we had it), and a tour booked (this could be the shuttle from the ferry into the city...already included in your ferry price).  With all of this (which isn't much if you think about it), you have a trip to St. P.

Our first time on a boat overnight.

Our VERY tiny room for the night, and of all days, PDub decided that he was running low on socks (it was like day 4) and was wearing this pair for the second time.  The sweet smell of stinky feet was inescapable.  The flask was a gift from the groom.

On the deck of the boat before heading down to dine at one of the many restaurants and hit up cocktail hour at one of the bars.

     Why would we choose visa-free instead of getting a travel visa?  Obtaining the travel visa was our other option; this required a visit to the Russian embassy and some money (would you expect anything less).  If you do not have the convenience of having embassy row next door, your next best option is to hire a travel agent to get your visa.  A couple we met at the wedding obtained two 90-day tourist visas for $1,000.  PDub thought we could spend our travel money on other things, so we took advantage of the visa-free policy and ate more Russian pancakes.
     Honestly, our choice of using the visa-free policy worked out great for us.  My nerves were uncalled for, and I think that travel agents should take more advantage of this newer Russian rule.  Shoot me an e-mail if you have concerns or questions!