Information about Volga river(Russia)
 

Good morning everyone :)

I planning for September a trip from Athens to Moscow trough the Volga river.. I'm think to do something like this to rich Volga..

Athens - Sofia - Varna - Constanta - Odessa - Zaporozhye - Bolograd

So i want some advise about the Volga river...for example

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camp free in this area its ok(i believe it is)
the weather in September?
Its maybe better to take another road, to arrived in Moscow?

I think this questions is enough for the moment ...
bierbierbierbierbier

Volgograd
 

Weather in September will be OK ... In July-August it can be hot, October starts to get cold.

In Russia you can usually camp where-ever you want out in the countryside. Anywhere there is an unused piece of land.

As Colebatch says, pretty much anywhere throughout Russia.

I am unclear if there is a positive rule allowing this or it is by default of there being no prohibition.

The only definite prohibition is on Church land, private gardens, etc and in water collection/reservoir areas for towns. These areas are usually sign posted.

For security purposes best not to be within sight of roads.
Bears are another matter!

The Volga region is awesome, weather should be great. Definitely check out the beach scene in Samara, it is pretty cool and not what you'd expect... If you are into military history, Volgograd is a must, although I can't say that the museum is anything particularly special. Yuri Gagarin's landing spot is somewhere on the east bank of the Volga, I think a bit south of Saratov. I think the main road runs down the west bank of the Volga, try to get on the east bank, although you may need to take ferries across some of the tributaries. I would just keep following the Volga all the way to Yaroslavl, which is a great and very beautiful city. From Yaroslavl, it is only 3-4 hours to Moscow along a nice road.

thank you for the infos :))
bierbier

Does anyone knows how is the route from the Ukrainian border to Volgograd...

I was forget the bears in Russia... any tips?because i dont want to put this Ma Vie en Violette Pensée, cheymurray: Tip: Everywhere camping related they...

its all major highways and no bears

I agree, I think the Volga region is one of the nicest in Russia, and I would also say it's the most 'Russian' part of Russia, less spoilt by globalisation than parts further west. I loved Samara and Volgograd. Astrakhan, Saratov (and Engels), Ul'yanovsk, Cheboksary, Nizhniy Novgorod and Tver are also pleasant places.

As for the route from Ukraine, you can head through the Caucasus (beautiful but the police are pretty bad in places), through the Mineralnye Vody Region and Kalmykia to Astrakhan, or a more northerly route straight to Volgograd.

I would strongly recommend visiting Kalmykia, a Mongolian, Buddhist Republic in the heartland of southern European Russia. It's an intriguing and unique kind of place.

September would be a great month to do it, and there are absolutely no bears in the area!

Daniel

Looking at doing the Volga thing in August. What kind of temperatures can I expect around then?

The further south the warmer it can be. Volgograd was in the high 30s when I rode through a few years back - but that was exceptional.
You can look up historical weather averages here.
Meoweather | Volgograd weather history. Volgograd average weather by month. Weather history for Volgograd, Volgograd, Russian Federation
It is set for Volgograd but you can change it for other cities.

If you plan to pass Moscow, your route perhaps shortest. As a variant, in Ukraine you can curtail into Kerch (look mountain to Crimea - you will not regret!!) from Kerch to be forwarded on the ferry to Russia and through Krasnodar to go to Volgograd. Be careful at crossing of border Ukraine-Russia. Local frontier guards VERY MUCH love money:) Therefore properly check up all documents. And be afraid of nothing, bears in those edges aren't present:) Good luck!

Hi

Just crossed from Ukraine to Russia at Kerch-Kavkaz by ferry. No problems at the border. The process took 90 minutes. You have to fill the imigration paper for you and a special form for for the bike. Without the form for the bike your motorbike will remain in Russia (that's what the lady making the papers explained me).

All the best,
Adrian

thank everyone for the infos:thumbup1:

I didn't now for the ferry passage, throw kerch to Chushka... I'm gonna read more about this route,

because you pass for Crimea

and maybe i can go from Chushka too Kalmykia and from there, to Volgograd...

I have to say i was a little afraid from the route from Odessa to Volgograd, but whit this new route, its seem better....

asilindean after Chushka where you have be, directed?

Hi
after crossing at Kerch we went to Sochi via Novorosyk and from Sochi to Trabzon in Turkey. We are home in Romania now.
All the best
Adrian

Hi,

We crossed from Krym to Kavkaz.

The ferry we took was set to leave at 7.30 in the morning (during summer is every 2 hours or so). We were told to be there at least one hour before that. We were there at 6.
You buy the tickets from building which is to your right as you line up for the ferry. The price for 2 persons and bike was about 178 Grivna (Ukrainian currency ) which is around 22 USD (1 USD=8Grivna). 37 Grivna per person and 104 Grivnas for bike. The ferry left on time and the actual crossing was about half an hour. They asked our passports and the bike registration to issue the tickets.

We did not made any reservation, but if you are by bike it would not be a problem to find a place for it on the ferry.

I posted some more info on our trip in this topic: http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...eorgia-36335-6

This I found on internet and when checked there it was accurate: Керчь Расписание движения паромов (Керчь)
Use Google translate for the above link. Left columns are the departures from Krym, the right one for Kavkaz.

Best and safe rides,
Adrian

There is no border control to get into Kalmykia ... it is part of Russia. You dont need any more visas to visit Kalmykia

There are sometime serious security checkpoints, as immediately to the south of Kalmykia is the North Caucasus ... which are volatile, while Kalmykia is very stable. But they are not immigration checkpoints.

Gallos. If you raft of Kerch. You do not have to go through the Sochi. So you make a detour. Your road will pass through Krasnodar. If you plan to route through the Republic of Kalmykia, I recommend you stop in Dombai. This is a small village in the Caucasus mountains (look in Google) is a very beautiful place!!!!!!
Last year my wife and I traveled on the route Moscow - Odessa - Krasnodar - Dombai - Elista - Volgograd - Moscow. The road there is normal, nothing to fear. Beware of the wind in Kalmykia:))) Good luck in your journey and welcome to Russia:)

+1 for Kalmykia!
I visited it on June 29, while on the road to Kazakhstan (where my trip to Central Asia has ended due to an unsolvable problem to my bike :frown:) and I was fascinated by the town of Elista where I spent one full day.



I quote everything Colebatch said, no borders at all + friendly people and friendly Militia officers that pulled me over just to chat and have a picture together.

Don't miss a visit to the gigantic and awesome Statue of Mother Russia in Volgograd and one stop at Astrakhan, another city that I liked a lot.

Greetings,
Nick

thank you all again for the infos.. I'm very happy to discover Kalmykia and add it to my trip.. Russia is too big to know the good spot.. Tomorrow Ι will write my route from Ukraine too Moscow...

I forgot to ask about the unleaded in this area. there will be unleaded petrol?(i have a 990 adv 09)

we dit it :))
 

back in Athens my friends... Thank you all for the answers and the propositions...

http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...53829508_n.jpg
Elista :))



http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...05024789_n.jpg

Volga river somewhere in Tatarstan..

chugchugchugchug

yg: αφιερωμένο PanVas μου..