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Next, you’re going to need to buy a ticket via the officially recognized cruise line, which you can do here. After you put the first trip in your cart, the site will highlight the trips you can legally take within your 72 hour visa-free time. Buy both of those tickets and you’re all set!

You must then book a hotel that will register you with the government, something I will cover later in this article.

But after all that, you’re ready for your trip to St. Petersburg!

Where should I leave from if I want to visit St. Petersburg?

The cruise ship leaves from Tallinn, Stockholm, and Helsinki. As the standard route goes Tallinn-Stockholm-Helsinki-St. Petersburg, every option means a pretty long trip; even from Helsinki, the closest starting point (and probably the best place to start), the journey can take nearly 14 hours.

It helps that both legs to and from Helsinki are completed overnight so you can sleep through the journey, but still, beginning your trip with such a long boat ride may wreak havoc on your sleeping pattern for the next few days.

When do my 72 hours begin?

Your 72 hours begin the moment you pass through border control (and are handed a migration card, which you are to keep with you at all times), and end when you exit through border control. Luckily, the cruise line schedule is designed around these three day trips, and as a result, they leave well before the 72 hours of your visa would be a concern.

It is imperative that you leave before your 72 hours are over. If you overstay your visa, you will receive a fine and a five-year ban from obtaining a Russian visa. Don’t risk it — just plan out your trip so you have time to spare.

Are there any rules about where I can go in Russia?

During your 72 hours, you may only travel in St. Petersburg. Venturing into any other area — or utilizing other forms of transport like long-distance trains and flights — is not allowed.

If you plan additional travel in Russia after arriving via the aforementioned cruise line, you must enter with your Russian travel visa. You may not enter with visa free status, then travel to other places using your Russian travel visa. If you plan on a longer trip through Russia, simply present your travel visa to border control along with the other required paperwork (instead of opting for visa-free entry).

To be clear, you can totally use local transport (metro, cars, buses, etc.) to get around St. Petersburg, you just can’t leave the city.

Can I stay at any hotel in St. Petersburg?

The cruise line claims that you must book with one of their partner hotels, but I have heard varying stories about whether this is actually true. What is definitely true is that if you book through the cruise line, all of your paperwork will be taken care of; if not, you have to confirm a bunch of things yourself, which we’ll get into.

When you exit the ship, you will need to provide proof that you are staying in St. Petersburg, which means confirmation from a hotel and evidence that they have registered you with the government.

Hotels in St. Petersburg must register every visitor with the government. While most hotels do this anyway, you should definitely call your planned hotel ahead of time to ensure they can (and will) register you upon your arrival. Again, every hotel booked through the cruise line does this without question.

The cruise line specifically warns against booking with these three hotels due to registration concerns:

1) Courtyard by Marriott St. Petersburg Vasilievsky
2) Renaissance St. Petersburg Baltic
3) Ghotel on Nevsky

Booking through Airbnb or any other vacation-by-rental service is explicitly prohibited, according to the cruise line.

While staying at a non-partner hotel may technically be allowed, I would suggest booking through the cruise line. They’ve got a ton of options, and using their service removes the hassle of having to figure out all of this legal stuff yourself.

Passage Shopping Center in Saint Petersburg

A Russian travel visa — which allows for longer stays, entry by plane, multiple entries (if specified), and more freedom of movement — costs on average about €200 once all factors are taken into account. If you shop around, you can get round trip flights from most places in Europe for about €140; add the price of two nights in a hotel (we’ll use that same €60 figure provided by the cruise line), you’re looking at a total price of about €400.

Comparing €132 to €400, it’s obvious which one is the winner when it comes to cost.

While traveling through the cruise line visa-free may technically be a cheaper experience, what you should do really depends on what you’re looking for.

If you just want a brief trip to St. Petersburg, the visa-free cruise line is right for you. However, if you want more than 72 hours to explore St. Petersburg (a city of nearly 5 million people with a lot to do), then you may want to just bite the bullet and go through the rigmarole of getting a visa.

If I leave and come back, will my 72 hours reset?

Yes, but doing this is harder than it sounds.

The only accepted point of entry and departure for visa-free travel is through the cruise line, meaning if you want to leave and come back, you’re going to need to take another (14 hour) trip back to Helsinki, then turn around and take a (again, 14 hour) trip back to St. Petersburg. 

If you believe it’s worth it to travel an additional 28 hours for three more days in St. Petersburg, you are within your legal right to do so — though at that point I’d recommend just getting a Russian travel visa. 

What else should I know before I visit St. Petersburg?

St. Petersburg is friendlier than other Russian cities when it comes to English-speaking ability, but I would still recommend picking up the ability to read Cyrillic. It’s fast and easy — I even have an upcoming newsletter detailing how you can do it in less than four hours, which you can subscribe to here!

Otherwise, just have fun! St. Petersburg is a beautiful city with a lot to offer. Make sure you follow the advice in this guide and you should be on the right path to having a great, visa-free trip to Russia.

Have any questions about traveling visa-free to Saint Petersburg? Leave a comment down below!

**NOTE: I am not a lawyer, just a dude interested in travel. I’ve done a ton of research for this article, but laws change, and while I will try my best to keep this up-to-date, nothing I say here should be seen as set in stone, and I am not liable for anything that happens before, during, or after your trip to St. Petersburg. If you have any questions or concerns, it’s always smart to check with the cruise line or any of the other resources available to you, such as the consulate or Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.**

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