To enter Kaliningrad you need the same visa as for the rest of Russia. If you’re a citizen of any EU country, Switzerland, Norway or Japan, the e-visa is all you need: 52 USD, you apply online and it arrives in four days. If you’re from the US, the UK, Canada, Australia or New Zealand, you’ll need a regular visa. With the e-visa you can cross from Poland or Lithuania and then fly on to Moscow without using up your single entry; the train, on the other hand, is no good to you. I’ll explain who needs a visa, which border crossings accept the e-visa and which outdated information you’re better off ignoring.
Do I need a visa to go to Kaliningrad?
Yes, unless your passport is visa-exempt. Kaliningrad is a region of Russia like any other and has no visa rules of its own: whatever works for Moscow works for Kaliningrad. There are three possible situations:
- E-visa. Citizens of 64 countries can apply for it, including Germany, France, Italy, Poland, Lithuania and every other EU country, as well as Switzerland, Norway, Mexico and Japan. It’s the easiest option, and the one almost everyone entering from Poland or Lithuania uses.
- Regular visa. If your country isn’t on the list (the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand aren’t), or if you need more than 30 days or multiple entries, you’ll have to apply for a regular visa at a consulate.
- No visa. Many Latin Americans can enter Russia visa-free for up to 90 days: Argentinians, Chileans, Colombians, Peruvians, Ecuadorians and Venezuelans, among others. I explain it in the guide to traveling to Russia without a visa. Keep in mind, though, that to reach Kaliningrad overland you have to go through Poland or Lithuania, and there the Schengen entry rules for your passport apply.
If you’re not sure which case applies to you, the guide do I need a visa to travel to Russia? sums it up by nationality.
The e-visa, as far as Kaliningrad is concerned
Here are the essentials. The full step-by-step walkthrough, with screenshots of the form, is in my guide to the Russian electronic visa.
- Price: 52 USD (around 45 euros), paid with a foreign card on the official portal, evisa.kdmid.ru. It isn’t refunded, even if your application is refused.
- Processing time: 4 calendar days, not counting the day you submit the application. If it’s sent back to you to correct something, the clock starts again.
- Validity: 120 days from the date it’s issued, with a maximum of 30 days in Russia counted from the day you enter. It’s single entry.
- Valid for all of Russia: you can travel around the whole country, not just the Kaliningrad region.
- Medical insurance: take out a policy that covers Russia, because you may be asked for it at the border. You’ll find the options that work on the Russia travel insurance page.
- A practical tip: the Russian Foreign Ministry itself advises against using a Gmail address in the application, because notifications arrive late or not at all.
If you’d rather have someone check your application before you submit it, you can get help with your eVisa. And if you’ve already sent it and it’s been returned to you, here are the most common problems and how to fix them.
Which Kaliningrad border crossings accept the e-visa
The e-visa is only valid at the border crossings on an official list published by the Russian government, and that applies to both entering and leaving. In the Kaliningrad region, the list includes:
- By road: Mamonovo (Grzechotki), Mamonovo (Gronowo), Bagrationovsk, Gusev, Chernyshevskoye, Sovetsk, Pogranichny and Morskoye.
- By train: Mamonovo and Sovetsk.
- By air: Khrabrovo airport.
- By sea: the port of Kaliningrad, with its Kaliningrad and Svetly terminals.
Just because a crossing is on the list doesn’t mean it’s open to you. Right now, foreign tourists cross by car or bus at Grzechotki–Mamonovo and Bezledy–Bagrationovsk from Poland, and at Kybartai–Chernyshevskoye from Lithuania, where you can also cross on foot. Panemunė–Sovetsk is pedestrian only and Nida–Morskoye is closed. You’ll find all the details, with real waiting times, in my guide to crossing into Kaliningrad overland from Poland or Lithuania.
If you cross on foot at Chernyshevskoye, here’s a tip from Udo, a German reader who went through in September: long-distance trains to Kaliningrad city stop at the station next door, but there’s no ticket office and nowhere to change money. Buy your ticket online and bring rubles.
The same goes for leaving: with an e-visa you have to exit Russia through a crossing on the list. You can’t leave through one that isn’t on it, even if you got in without any trouble.
Going on to Moscow or St Petersburg: plane yes, train no
Flying from Kaliningrad to Moscow or St Petersburg doesn’t use up your e-visa entry: it’s a domestic flight, with no passport control. Afterwards you can leave Russia from Sheremetyevo, Vnukovo, Domodedovo, Zhukovsky or Pulkovo, which are all on the list. That’s what Alberto, a reader from Tarragona, did in his chronicle from Kaliningrad to the Volga.
The Yantar train, on the other hand, won’t work with an e-visa, for three reasons that add up. It goes through the Nesterov rail crossing (the border check takes place at Chernyshevskoye station), between Kaliningrad and Lithuania, which isn’t on the e-visa list: Chernyshevskoye only appears there as a road crossing, and the only rail crossings in the region are Mamonovo and Sovetsk. It also crosses the border between Belarus and Russia, where there are no crossings on the list at all. And even if both were on it, you’d be leaving Russia and entering again, while the e-visa only gives you one entry. You’ll find all the options, with prices and how to buy the flight with a foreign card, in how to get from Kaliningrad to Moscow and St Petersburg.
Watch out for outdated information: the “Kaliningrad” e-visa no longer exists
If you search the forums, you’ll see plenty of people claiming that with an e-visa you can’t leave the Kaliningrad region. That was true with the old regional e-visa. From July 2019 there was a free e-visa just for Kaliningrad: it was valid for 30 days, allowed a stay of 8 days and only let you travel within the region, so you couldn’t fly to Moscow or leave Russia through another airport. It stopped being issued in 2020, with covid, and in 2023 the unified e-visa arrived.
Since August 2023 there has been a single e-visa for the whole country, with the conditions I described above. If you read anything about “8 days” or “only the Kaliningrad region”, it dates from before 2023. And if you read “16 days”, it’s from before August 2025, when the stay was extended to 30 days: I explain this in the article on the duration of the Russian eVisa.
Once you’re in: registration
With an e-visa you have to be registered wherever you’re staying. If you’re in a hotel, they do it for you automatically; if you’re staying in an apartment or at someone’s home, it has to be done within 7 working days. I explain how in the article on registration for foreigners in Russia.
And to plan your trip, there’s my guide to what to see in Kaliningrad, the guide to the coast and the Curonian Spit and everything published in the Kaliningrad section.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a visa to go to Kaliningrad?
Yes, the same one as for the rest of Russia. Citizens of every EU country, Switzerland, Norway and Japan can enter with the e-visa; Americans, Britons, Canadians, Australians and New Zealanders need a regular visa. Several Latin American countries, such as Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Peru, can enter visa-free.
Is the Russian e-visa valid for Kaliningrad?
Yes. The current e-visa is valid for all of Russia, Kaliningrad included, and it’s accepted at the Mamonovo-Grzechotki, Bagrationovsk and Chernyshevskoye crossings, among others, as well as at Khrabrovo airport.
Can I take the train from Kaliningrad to Moscow on an e-visa?
No. The train goes through the Nesterov rail crossing (the border check takes place at Chernyshevskoye station, which is only on the list as a road crossing), between Kaliningrad and Lithuania, and through the border between Belarus and Russia, and neither of those two crossings accepts the e-visa. On top of that, you’d be leaving Russia and entering again. With an e-visa, the only way between Kaliningrad and the rest of Russia is by plane.
How much does the e-visa for Kaliningrad cost?
52 USD, the same as for the rest of Russia, because it’s the same e-visa. You apply on evisa.kdmid.ru and it takes 4 calendar days.
How long can I stay in Kaliningrad on an e-visa?
Up to 30 days from the day you enter, within the e-visa’s 120-day validity. Any days you spend in other Russian cities count towards those 30.
In short
Kaliningrad takes the same e-visa as the rest of Russia: with it you cross from Poland or Lithuania at the crossings on the list, fly to Moscow or St Petersburg and leave the country from there, all on a single entry. The only trap is the train. And if you read on a forum that the e-visa won’t let you leave the region, that information dates from before 2023.
