Three Capitals of Russia

Skill Level — Easy–Moderate

This fully guided tour covers 220 miles (350 km) on the 9-day tour traversed at your own pace. Most roads are asphalt and lightly traveled. However, the roads are not always smooth! Usually, the general group pace is, 10 - 12 mi. an hour (15 - 20 km). It is not necessary to cycle in a group. You can keep your own pace. The group convenes at turns and the support vehicle will wait at appointed places along the route in the event you would like to take a break. An experienced guide is always available to assist. Please note that there are many transfers involved with this tour due to the distance covered.

Travel

Fly to Moscow and out of St. Petersburg. Another option is to take the train back to Moscow and depart from there.

Local Travel

We advise booking the supplemental airport transfer from the airport in Moscow to your first hotel. Please see pricing. For departing, you can opt to fly out of St. Petersburg. You can also take a train back to Moscow. Moscow-St Petersburg and reverse is the most popular train route in Russia. There are night trains with the most historic and best being the Krasnya Strela or Red Arrow. For day travel there is the Sapsan high-speed train with the journey time cut to as little as 3 hours 45 minutes.

Climate

This tour begins in Moscow and ends in St. Petersburg, a span of 713 km. Please check local conditions before your arrival and note that temperatures are on the cooler side. Do pack accordingly. A good website to research regional weather including average high/low temperatures and average rainfall is weatherbase.com.

Day of Rest

This tour is a guided and supported tour and therefore at any time you can take advantage of the support vehicle and take a day off from the saddle.

Recommended

You should bring your own helmet (not obligatory but recommended for your safety), a small bicycle bag or pannier (can be provided on request. A support vehicle will be with the group all day, so you need only a small bag for rain gear etc. on your bicycle during the day. Also bring a water bottle and do not forget your rain gear!

Remarks

Cycling as a sport is emerging in Russia and is not like cycling in mainstream Europe. Your guide will be local and will know the roads well but do expect the quality of road surfaces to be less than optimal. There are no dedicated bike paths in most of the country so you will be "sharing the road". As much as possible, the route is designed to take place on rural roads that are lightly trafficed but when entering and exiting the towns/cities, more traffic is to be expected. You must have a good command of your bicycle and good balance and feel comfortable riding in a group.

Additional Travel Details

Documents

This tour requires a visa which begins with an invitation from our local operator.  It is impossible to obtain an entry visa upon arrival, so travelers must apply for their visas well in advance. For any foreigner to receive a Russian visa, there must be a Russian sponsoring organization or individual. Usually the invitation is issued for up to 30 days because most travelers want to stay longer.  For US citizens, the US Department of State website is a good source of information. The Country Information tab in the International Travel section provides details about passport validity, blank passport pages required, etc.

For our other international clients, please be sure that you research your own country's travel requirements. It is each traveler's responsibility to ensure proper documentation.

Migration cards must be carried at all times while in Russia. A “migration card” is the white paper document given by the border police on first entry to Russia. If you lose your migration card you should ask your sponsor to assist you in reporting it to FMS and request a replacement

Visas are issued by Russian Consulates in your home country, based on an invitation (a visa support letter). 

To obtain a Russian visa, you should submit the following papers to a Consular Section:

1. Completed visa application form (one per person)

2. Valid national passport (its validity should exceed the planned date of departure from Russia by 6 months)

3. Three standard passport-size photographs

4. Invitation from an authorized Russian organization (which we will provide through our local partner)

The visa fee is paid to the Consular service issuing visas in the respective country. Its cost varies.

You will have to register your visa upon arrival in Russia and every new place within 7 working days. Most hotels can and must register your visa for free.

Tour Operator