Russian Visas

[TheCureIsTheDisease]

I don't know if this has already been asked here, I haven't had time to really look around, but does anyone know about getting visas for Russia? Apparently, American citizens need a visa just to enter the country. On the Russian Embassy website, it says that processing fees are $100 for a tourist visa. On top of that you have to get a letter or something from the place you are staying in Russia, which for the youth hostel I had picked out, would be like $25. I had really only wanted to visit St. Petersburg while travelling between between Estonia and Finland, so this $125 charge seems a bit expensive for the few days I'll be there. I suppose I could just take a boat between Estonia and Finland, but I think it'd be cool to visit Russia, so I was wondering if there was any way I could get around the visa expense. Any ideas? My trip is already looking like it's going to be 5 or 6 thousands dollars, so I'm trying to cut any possible expenses...

[Kim]

No, there is no way around this kind of thing - it's illegal to enter a country without a required visa and you don't want to run that risk - it will cost you alot more in the long run if you get caught.

Maybe you should save it for a separate trip and really get your money's worth. The hard thing is you will never be able to see everything you want to on one trip - ours was 7 months long and we still didn't get to see everything. Sometimes you just have to accept that there will be things you have to come back for - it's tough but at least you know you have another trip in the works, which helps with the depression that hits when you get home!

Kim