russia visa info?
 

Does anyone know if I need to book a hotel for the entire lenght of a trip in Russia. As many people have ridden from Vladivstok, is it necessary to obtain a visa, or what are the minimal requirements for obtaining the visa
Regards, Chris

Yes, you need a visa for Russia.
No you do not need to book a hotel in advance for the complete length of your trip. However, it is good to have a hotel address when you apply for a visa and when you enter Russia. Once in Russia, you can of course do camping or private accomodation. In this case it is important to show up in a hotel from time to time in order to obtain a "registration stamp" for your passport (or you can get in trouble when you want to leave the country).

You will need an official invitation letter from Russia when you apply for a visa. If you are not familiar with the visa procedure, better spent a few extra bugs and let a specialized travel agency or visa service help you (recommended).
Enjoy your trip; great people there.

Michael

Try : Get Russian, They do a visa invite all within several mins over the internet and you can download all the visa application forms from the site also. You need three copies of everything to get your visa these forms you send to Russian embassy.(tourist visa upto 30 days) you then just pay to get your invite stamped after you enter the country. I found them helpful

Based on my experience last year, I would highly recommend www.russia-visa.com. Their website will answer your questions about requirements, and their application process is very simple - you can fill out the application online, no paper application forms needed.

I would second the advice above about needing hotel stamps when leaving Russia. I had some difficulty with this when exiting Russia into Latvia. At first the hotels stamped my migration permit, but there isn't much room on this little form so the Russian border authorities wanted some evidence of where I'd been for the past three weeks of my trip across their country. I had to dig through my luggage and find hotel receipts in order to satisfy them and be allowed to leave. I don't know what would have happened if I hadn't kept the receipts. So, don't throw away those stamped hotel receipts, they're important.

Hope this helps.

Mike
Idaho
www.rtwrider.net

I did not book any hotel and i stayed at a couple of intertorist hotels and the truck stops are good, I went to a company in london who sorted every thing out for me, It has a web site and they were very efficent. Did not have any problems getting in or out of russia I travelled there in 2003.

==============code fixed by Grant so it makes sense. Be careful when editing if using quotes from a post - keep the original text, and below ALL of it add in your comments.



[This message has been edited by Grant Johnson (edited 09 March 2006).]

what is the best exit out of russia in china?
also no carnet is required in Russia nor in China, right?