Саймон lives in the United States and he spent his Christmas holiday getting into Kaliningrad the hard way: a cheap flight to Gdansk, then overland. The crossing he had budgeted a few hours for took twelve. Getting back out was harder still, because Polish land borders had started turning away his nationality and he found out the day before he was due to travel.
What makes his account worth reading is that the sightseeing is almost incidental. He went to Kaliningrad to open the doors he will need for his next trip — a Gosuslugi account, a Russian SIM and a Russian bank account — and he explains exactly where the process traps you. If you are planning to come in overland through Kaliningrad, read this alongside Joseph’s winter chronicle from the same border.
What follows is Саймон’s own account, with his own photos. He asked to appear under the Russian spelling of his name. Thank you for sending it.
| Traveller | Саймон, from the USA |
| When | Over the Christmas holidays |
| Route | Gdansk – Kaliningrad – Vilnius – Gdansk |
| Entry document | Regular tourist visa |
| In | By car with a private driver, Grzechotki–Mamonovo crossing |
| Out | By car to Lithuania, Chernyshevskoye–Kybartai crossing |
| Border wait | 12 hours going in. No queue coming out |
| Cost of the driver in | $250 |
| What he came for | Gosuslugi account, Russian SIM and Russian bank account |
Approximate route. Solid line: overland. Dashed line: the flight from Vilnius back to Gdansk.
Why I flew to Gdansk instead
I had two weeks of holiday to burn up at work on top of the Christmas break, and I really wanted to get back to Russia. After a little research on flights I saw that it was very economical to fly to Gdansk and then travel overland to Kaliningrad, so that is how I ended up in Gdansk on Christmas Eve.
Gdansk, by the way, is wonderful. It was cold, but I walked miles every day and I really enjoyed visiting the famous shipbuilding district, where there is now a flourishing bohemian arts scene.
Skip the bus: why I paid $250 for a car
I had done as much research as I could on the journey from Gdansk to Kaliningrad, but when I dug into it a little more once I was actually in Gdansk, the bus I had planned to take seemed a lot less certain than I had been led to believe. I found recent accounts of bus drivers refusing to board Americans, because we can cost them hours of delay at the border. I decided to pay $250 for a car service instead. The driver was a lovely young woman with a Prius and limited English who had made the journey many times.
Twelve hours at Grzechotki-Mamonovo
I had expected a wait of a few hours at the Grzechotki-Mamonovo crossing. It stretched out to twelve. The reason was all the Russians heading home for the holidays with their cars and vans stuffed with European goods — some of it for family, some of it obviously for resale — and every bit of which had to be rigorously inspected on both the Polish and the Russian side.
When we finally reached Russian border control there was a moment of panic when the guard found a bottle of prescription pills in my luggage. My astute driver pointed out my name printed on the bottle and all was well. Always bring your written prescriptions. Smooth sailing to Kaliningrad after that, of course.
Kaliningrad: a beautiful old hotel and a very long to-do list
I enjoyed Kaliningrad. I stayed at a beautiful old hotel and ate like a king. My friend from Moscow came to visit me, and his friend in Kaliningrad acted as my tour guide.
Most of my time there, though, went on jumping through all the hoops to procure a Gosuslugi account, a Russian SIM and, the grail, a Russian bank account. All of it was preparation for my next trip.
I succeeded at all three, but I do not believe it would have been possible without hours of help from my Russian friends — even if I had been fluent in Russian. The specific trap is this: you need a Russian phone number to authenticate your Gosuslugi account, and you cannot get a Russian SIM without a Gosuslugi account. That circle is insoluble without access to a friend’s phone.
Getting out was the harder half
The return journey was more complicated than the journey in. I had researched it thoroughly, including talking to a German national who goes back and forth to Kaliningrad regularly. Even so, the day before I was supposed to leave I discovered that the commandants of the Polish land borders were refusing entry into the EU to two nationalities besides Russians: Americans and Israelis.
The situation on the land borders with the EU is fluid and changes daily — that is the part I would underline for anyone reading this. My flights were booked. I had to get to Gdansk one way or another.
After a bit more checking I found that the Chernyshevskoye-Kybartai crossing into Lithuania was open and not turning anyone away. I found another driver on Telegram — a German man married to a Russian — who picked me up at my hotel and started another scenic journey across Eastern Europe. He gave me some instructions on what to say to the Lithuanian border guard, which thankfully I never had to use. This time there was no queue at all. The guard searched my luggage exhaustively but was very friendly.
We drove on to Vilnius, where I caught a flight to Gdansk — only to find out on arrival that every one of my flights home had been cancelled because of a storm in the Netherlands. But that is a story for another day.
Have you travelled to Russia recently and would you like to share your experience? Tell me about your trip here and I will publish it in this section, under your name or anonymously, whichever you prefer. Accounts like Саймон’s — which crossing was open, how long the wait really was, what the paperwork actually requires — are the ones that really help the people who are getting ready to go.
