russian visa
 

I'm thinking about a "Round the Black Sea" trip for this summer.

Unfortunately, I'm having problems to get the Russian visa, as the consulate wants the reservation of hotels for all the trip, and the exact date of entering and leaving the country. The fact is that I don't know exactly when I'll reach the border Uraine/Russia and I don't even know exactly where I'm gonna stop for the nights during the trip.

I read in this site that many travellers rode across Russia apparently without any previous plan and freely. How was is possible?

Thanx for any advice.
pietro

Find a Visa Agent that only requires one night hotel booking (sometimes they will just do a false one if you pay a higher fee).
Second make the visa dates longer than you require. Ie have the entry date well before you plan to enter and the leaving date well after you plan to leave.
It does not matter when you leave and enter as long as they are within the dates on the Visa.
Best bet for the LOI (letter of invitation) is the internet. If doing the Black Sea check out of situation Georgan Miltary Highway. Also the trouble in Southern Georgia. I understand there is a ferry that that will let u miss these problems and take u strat to Turkey.
Cheers

Thanx for the reply.
We now about the dangerous situation Russia/Georgia, in fact we plan to take the ferry Sochi/Trabzon
P.

yeah, do it over a visa agent, you will pay a bit more, but no problems (inshallah) - visa extentions are very difficult (if you dont know the right people) in Russia. Sochi is a russian holiday town with nice beaches and nice girls. enjoy mika

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Hi,
good advice about the visa. But be weary about the ferry. When I was in Sochi, in 2002, there was a ferry to Batumi, Georgia, but it was a hydrofoil, and the captain refused to accept my bike, because, he said, it was too big to go through the door (a BMW F650!). There was a once-a-week ferry to Istanbul, apparently a bigger ship, but I was unwilling to wait a whole week, and perhaps be refused again. There was no ferry to Trabzon. Since I didn't have a visa for Ukraine, I decided to take a long detour (8500 km) via Finland, Sweden, Denmark. etc. to arrive in Turkey 10 days later, at the same time it would have taken me waiting for the ferry. (I did have a visa for Georgia, but the border was closed, probably still is.) So, it's good to be versatile, and it is also wise to give yourself some extra time on your Russian visa, which is, apparently, a stinker to get extended.