Way to Russia Talk Lounge

tripchik · Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2005 3:31 pm Post subject: Kaliningrad. Tips and Tricks?

I'm planning a visit to Kaliningrad.

Not sure whether to go (from London) via Warsaw or Berlin, then by bus or train.

Warsaw is obviously a bit nearer, though still 6 hours.

Anyone visited lately?

txriverranch · Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2005 8:46 pm Post subject: Trip to Kaliningrad

I definitely recommend visiting! I went last March. Mabye not the best time of year. Most articles online describe a polluted, crime ridden city infested with drugs and AIDS. The BBC called Kaliningrad a 'Frozen Hell Town'. The truth is anything but.

I had a fantastic time. I saw only one drunk person on the streets. Much effort has been made to restore old buildings and monuments from the German time. The people were extremely friendly. The only trouble was buying a train ticket at the station. The woman working was very annoyed that I could not speak Russian. The food was incredible. Almost all was top notch and very affordable (for me as a westerner). Some places had menus in German also. I would recommend a dictionary that lists foods. Ordering was interesting at times.

Crossing the streets was a bit difficult, walk signals were non existant. I usually paired up with one of the Babushkas and crossed when she did. Drivers stop for pedestrians. Unlike Houston.

As far as getting there, flights are available from Warsaw and Copenhagen. Bus travel from Gdansk and Olstyn. There is some sort of ferry in the summertime, but I don't know the details. I took the train from Berlin, 65 Euro each way, with sleeping car. It is about a 15 hour trip. There is also a bus from Berlin. You can also get there by train from Riga, just make sure it is the express and not the one that goes through Minsk. Otherwise you must have a tranist visa for Belarus.

If you are looking for Russian culture or German history, it is the place to go. There are no busloads of annoying tourists. I am planning to return in late March or early April. Maybe I will see you there.

William B.

vorteks · Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2005 6:41 pm Post subject:

Koenigsberg has lots of history to offer, but amazingly people don t seem understand my german there Very Happy

txriverranch · Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2005 8:30 am Post subject: New way to get to Kaliningrad

Kaliningrad Avia has announced plans for two flights weekly direct from Berlin to Kaliningrad. The start date is scheduled for 28 December.
For more info see:

http://www.kaliningrad.aktuell.ru/kaliningrad/stadtnews/direktfluege_zwischen_berlin_und_kaliningrad_206.html
(In German)

tripchik · Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2005 5:07 pm Post subject:

There were no takers when I posted this thread in June and I visited in August.

I agree with txriverranch. Most of the information on the net about Kaliningrad is out of date or patently untrue. The town was smartened up for its 750 anniversary (well, as Konigsberg) and boasts a new square, beautiful new church and lots of restoration. The Moskva hotel - opposite the zoo - is no longer a dump and there are great restaurants and supermarkets.

In the end, it being such a nice summer, I drove there. I bought some car insurance in advance from Firstbroker Oy on the internet. Just 35 Euro. A new cheap flight - started September - will now take you to Gdansk, in Poland for an easy bus ride to Kaliningrad. Biggest hassle by road is the border at Mamonovo, which can take three hours to cross, but buses are processed faster than cars. You can also fly cheaply (Ryanair) to Kaunas in Lithuania and bus from there. Five hours, but Kaunas is also a nice town for a day or two.

All the same, it is nice to go by car, since there's lots of nature in the oblast and the resorts on the Baltic, like Svetlogorsk, are well worth a visit. On the way, you might like to stop at Elblag, in Poland, which has a first class camping by the river and some pretty waterways. It's 100k from Kaliningrad.

The Moskva and Chaika are nice hotels. Avoid the Deima - poor location and indifferent restaurant. In one of the new Viktoria supermarkets you can have a much better lunch for less than 10 dollars.

Kaliningrad citizens have the privilege of a Polish and Lithuanian visa, so they tend to be more travelled and Europeanised than many Russians. They also see a lot of German tourists, who come to visit what's left of the old Konigsberg. Anyway, I found the locals very helpful and service-oriented. Not like Russia at all. Wink

tova · Just Starting Joined: 29 Dec 2005 Posts: 5

I am French, but I speak good German (and only a few words of Russian).
Would it be easier for me to visit "Koenig" than "Mainland" Russia (to have a first taste of the country for a first visit)and would my fluent German be more helpful than, say, English or French, in day- to -day situations?
If anyone has a clue ????????????????????

txriverranch · Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2006 5:29 am Post subject:

I can't give you a reason not to visit Kaliningrad. It doesn't have centuries of Russian history and architecture, but it is a place to meet Russian culture. As far as language, I had one semester of Russian 15 years ago. I can speak German. Most people I encountered did not speak English or German. Young waitresses spoke some English. In stores, older women spoke some German. At the cathederal, one man spoke German. When taking taxis, I asked to go to major landmarks, Tsentralnaya Plaschod (Central Square), Iuzhni Voksall (South Train Station) Muzhei Yantarja (Amber Museum), etc. The central city is small enough that it is easy to walk most of it. No taxi drivers I had spoke English or German, one asked if I spoke French!

The hardest thing for me was Russian numbers. They have no similarity to any western European language. Fortunately cash registers have digital displays. Anyplace that charged for anything had a calculator and the clerk would punch in the number so I could read the price. Also, using the bank ATM's (geld automat) when I put my card in the screen displayed the choice of English or Russian. The fact that my card is from the US may have somehow triggered that, I don't know.

Go! Have fun! If you end up wandering around a while, so be it. You will see more anyway. I have never been the guided tour, scheduled to the minute type, so it all worked for me.

Good luck!

MIP · Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2006 8:00 am Post subject:

did you all stay in hotels?? wil be heading to Kaliningrad July/August with some Russian friends, and staying in private apartments with their family and friends, just wondereded how easy registration was there??

Mark.

txriverranch · Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2006 7:13 am Post subject:

I stayed in a hotel, so registration was a snap. The first night I left my passport at the front desk and got it back on the way out the next morning. It only cost 20 Ruble. If you stay at a private residence, you will have to register with the police, details are elsewhere on this website.

Tripchik, how far had the excavations of the castle cellars come when you were there? I read that a bunch of devil worship stuff was found down there! What were those old Prussians up to?

tripchik · Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2006 6:17 pm Post subject:

MIP wrote:

txriverranch · Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2006 8:00 am Post subject:

The cellars are a bar now? When I was there the excavations had just begun. I could only see a small areas through gaps in metal fence. Most of it had not been uncovered.

Koenigsberg was firebombed before Dresden. I guess we never hear about it in the west due to the city being closed for so long. Anyone interested in the wartime history of the city should readthis book by Michael Wieck:

A Childhood Under Hitler and Stalin: Memoirs of a Certified Jew

Zeugnis vom Untergang Konigsbergs

Закат Кенигсберга: Свидетельство немецкого еврея
Михаэль Вик

He grew up in Koenigsberg and managed to survive the Nazis, the war and the Soviet takeover of the city.

daveyf · Just Starting Joined: 15 Jan 2006 Posts: 1

If you want to avoid having to cross the land border you can get across from Elblag on a booze cruise ferry, apparently you dont need a visa on the day trip. Ive been wanting to go for years but was told it was rough by the poles, Im going now tho. Shocked

even if I do have to pretend to be a pole.

ps. theres a new pension on sw. ducha in elblag old town for the night before.

tripchik · Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2006 1:33 am Post subject:

daveyf wrote: