Routes to Eastern Russia -Krasnyarsk

[Dashinka 24,514]

Wondering if anyone has experience traveling from the US to Krasnoyarsk? I have been there a couple of times and always went through Moscow (West to East). When my wife came over, we booked her Krasnoyarsk to Beijing to Detroit. My wi loved this route, but the only issue is that there only seems to be one flight a week between Beijing and Krasnoyarsk, so our dates are limited.

Does anyone have any experience on this side of Russia?

[Joe&Tonya 0]

I traveled to Krasnoyarsk over the New Year and went from DC to London to Moscow and finally to Krasnoyarsk with the same route on the return flight. I will be going again in a couple weeks and the route is the same. Since I am on the East Coast, this route makes the most sense. I anticipate after my move to the West Coast in a couple years, the more direct route will be the one your wife took. I think, however, there may be more flights from Southern Asia (e.g., Thailand) since this is a more popular vacation destination than Beijing for people from that region.

[Dashinka 24,514]

Joe and Tonya,

We checked with the Krasnoyarsk airport and the only international flight we could find was from Beijing. Almost all the other flights go to Moscow first. I have taken the West to East flight several times with no issues, but I have flown all over the world, so finding my way around CDG, JFK, Amsterdam and Moscow was no issue. The main reason we like the other route is a direct from Detroit to Beijing and only one change to Krasnoyarsk, however the options are limited on the Beijing toKrasnoyarsk route to two times a week. Regardless, that looks like the best option, now just need to figure out how to purchase the tickets for my wife, in her maiden name, or married name. I have heard both will work.

On another note, how did you like Krsnoyarsk? I have only been there twice so far and really enjoyed my visits ( and not just because my future wife was there). Stolby was great, and the CBD was very friendly. Can't wait to get back there in a month or so to celebrate with my Russian family.

[Joe&Tonya 0]

You're right, I'm sure there are limited flights coming into Krasnoyarsk. I'll have to ask how Tonya and her friends have traveled to their vacations in Thailand. She's a big fan of direct flights, so maybe she knows something that the airport isn't divulging. I will let you know either way after we speak this evening.

I really enjoyed Krasnoyarsk! It was the dead of winter - not too cold, but very snowy. We went to a few restaurants, the ski lodge, and a cabin and баня outside of the city. We are hoping for warmer weather in two weeks for my visit, as we are planning on traveling to St. Petersburg and to a village a few hours away to visit her family. When you return, I recommend the restaurant дом and the restaurant at the ski lodge (бобры-something) - both were great and fairly reasonably priced for the quality of food!

Do you two have any favorite places there?

[Dashinka 24,514]

You're right, I'm sure there are limited flights coming into Krasnoyarsk. I'll have to ask how Tonya and her friends have traveled to their vacations in Thailand. She's a big fan of direct flights, so maybe she knows something that the airport isn't divulging. I will let you know either way after we speak this evening.

I really enjoyed Krasnoyarsk! It was the dead of winter - not too cold, but very snowy. We went to a few restaurants, the ski lodge, and a cabin and баня outside of the city. We are hoping for warmer weather in two weeks for my visit, as we are planning on traveling to St. Petersburg and to a village a few hours away to visit her family. When you return, I recommend the restaurant дом and the restaurant at the ski lodge (бобры-something) - both were great and fairly reasonably priced for the quality of food!

Do you two have any favorite places there?

Joe,

Yes, there are a couple of nice places that have become favorites. One is дом, which is Katya's favorite restaurant. We went there last time I was in town and had a great meal and plenty of dancing. Also, the park area around the resturant was very nice, it was Summertime. We haven't been to the ski lodge resturant to eat, but we know where it is at as we took the back trail out of Stolby one trip and came down on the chairlift. We also ate at a nice resturant at the bottom of the Stolby main entrance, but neither Katya or I can remember the name. It also had a very nice lodge theme. We also had shashlick on a boat moored on the river that also had great dancing. My other favorite thing on my visits was meeting Katya's family. On my last trip we went to Divnogorsk, Omsk, and Abakan and her family was so very nice. I was able to experience my first true Russian banya in Abakan at the house of Katya's cousin and it was quite fun. I imagine it would be even more so in the dead of Winter.

Have fun on your trip, and I will be interested to hear what Tonya says about international flights out of Yemelyanovo.

Bill

[Joe&Tonya 0]

I spoke to her tonight about international flights from KJA and she said that direct international flights are seasonal. During vacation season, more direct flights open up. So, maybe it will worth keeping an eye on any changes. Also, although I'm not a fan of travel agencies, she said that the travel agencies often know more about finding direct flights than can be found on websites.

I'll be heading out that way next weekend and will be spending some time in rural Russia for my first meeting with her family. I am not great with the language yet by any means, so it should be quite the experience! I'll post some highlights when I return!

[Dashinka 24,514]

I spoke to her tonight about international flights from KJA and she said that direct international flights are seasonal. During vacation season, more direct flights open up. So, maybe it will worth keeping an eye on any changes. Also, although I'm not a fan of travel agencies, she said that the travel agencies often know more about finding direct flights than can be found on websites.

I'll be heading out that way next weekend and will be spending some time in rural Russia for my first meeting with her family. I am not great with the language yet by any means, so it should be quite the experience! I'll post some highlights when I return!

I hope your trip went well. Katya is in Krasnoyarsk right now, and I will be heading over in a few weeks. Katya traveled through Beijing and it was fairly easy, and only two flights. I will be heading that way as well. We plan to head to Abakan for a short visit as well as spending time in Krasnoyarsk.

Good Luck with your visa journey.

Bill

I spoke to her tonight about international flights from KJA and she said that direct international flights are seasonal. During vacation season, more direct flights open up. So, maybe it will worth keeping an eye on any changes. Also, although I'm not a fan of travel agencies, she said that the travel agencies often know more about finding direct flights than can be found on websites.

I'll be heading out that way next weekend and will be spending some time in rural Russia for my first meeting with her family. I am not great with the language yet by any means, so it should be quite the experience! I'll post some highlights when I return!

P.S. Rosetta Stone was a good investment. Although I am not yet conversational, I can at least read the language which helps.

[Dashinka 24,514]

Just a quick update. Currently in Krasnoyarsk via the Detroit to Beijing to Krasnoyarsk route. I booked my Detroit to Beijing through Delta and the Beijing to Krasnoyarsk from S7. I did find out that Delta and S7 have a baggage agreement, so we did not have to collect our checked baggage in Beijing which was convenient, and it arrived in KJA with no issues which is more than I can say about the West to East routes through Europe. I have to admit, I did not know about this agreement, so thanks to the Delta agent in Detroit that let us know. Interestingly, the flight to KJA from PEK was operated by Nordstar, but was still comfortable. The biggest surprise I received was at immigration at KJA, I don't think they see many U.S. Passports from that flight, and the officer seemed a little perplexed. I was all set with my three year visa, and my local address, that it only took a few more minutes.