Information on traveling through
the Kaliningrad region by bicycle
Dear friends, during the last 10 years I’ve received hundreds of emails from people who were interested
in crossing the Kaliningrad region by bicycle. Below you may find some practical advice and useful
information which can help you to plan and make your trip in a more comfortable way. I support this
project on voluntary basis and I’m trying to give you a weighted and independent opinion. This
information could be more valuable if you send me your brief feedback reports on your journey so we
can improve this document together.
If after reading this some questions remain please do not hesitate to ask me: [email protected] Despite
I’m traveling a lot outside of Kaliningrad region sometimes it is possible to catch me there. So If you’d like
to meet me personally and to ask your questions on routes, sightseeing etc. you are welcome! I put my
photo here so it could be easy to recognize me. Every year I meet a number of cyclists crossing
Kaliningrad region and information exchange really help me to support this project.
Some words about political situation in 2017. Crisis in Ukraine, creeping New Cold War and different
conflicts in the World provoked general mistrust and paranoia in mass media both in the West and in the
East. However, truth is always somewhere in the middle. I am not going to overpersuade anybody. I
support this project because I like idea of traveling by bicycle over the different countries. I don't see any
changes in the relations between inhabitants of the Kaliningrad region and foreigners who visiting our
small territory. Local people divide a major politics and the normal relations between ordinary people.
Russians, at least in Kaliningrad, are still open for guests from the EU and other countries of the World.
We appreciate your interest in Kaliningrad and we are glad to see you here.
Enjoy your adventure and welcome to Kaliningrad!
Wish you a good road, many impressions, positive thinking and strong health my dear friends! Let the
wind always blow in direction you are going and never against!
Kind regards, Oleg Alferov
Updated: February 7, 2017
IMPORTANT INFORMATION: this document was regularly updated by me within the last 10 years
and over time its various versions versions began to travel uncontrolledly over many countries of
the world. There is a risk that some people can use obsolete version of the document. I made the
decision to start on March 1, 2017 the webpage where I will place all up-to-date information,
including additional materials. This page will be the unique reliable source of information on the
specified subject. Please visit www.bicycle39.ru
RUSSIAN VISA AND BORDER CROSSING
For crossing Russian border, you need to have valid Russian visa. You may apply for it in the nearest
Russian consulate in your country. For Russian visa you need an invitation. You may have confirmation
that you've booked an hotel in Russia (and visa will be issued for days indicated in confirmation letter) or
if you have an invitation from private person who posses Russian citizenship or public organization
registered in Russia and then you may get visa for period indicated in this invitation. For most of people
it's more convenient to deal with some tourism bureau or specialized companies which are offering such
services in most of countries. In Poland and Germany there are companies who even offered on-line
services and sending ready visa to you by post at the end. In Kaliningrad, the FILAND Company could
assist to foreign travelers by issuing invitation. Please contact them directly and ask for details - they
speak English: [email protected] http://filandtravel.ru/
Some bitter things. Since January 1st, 2017 we do not have anymore “visa at border” option. For years it
was very convenient way for many tourists to obtain a 72-hours Russian visa but Russian Ministry of
Foreign Affairs decided to cancel this experiment.
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If you plan to travel to St. Petersburg through the Kaliningrad region you shall apply for a double entry
visa because in that case you will cross the Russian border twice.
At entrance to Russia for foreign citizen it is necessary to fill the migratory card confirming the right to
temporary stay in the country. You must receive blank of such card at Russian border checkpoint.
Migratory card must be filled in Russian but if you don’t speak Russian you allowed filling it by using
Latin letters in accordance with data indicated in your passport. You need to fill out both ‘A’ and ‘B’ parts
of migratory card. Then it must be stamped and the Board Guard Officer must take part ‘A’ and you will
get part ‘B’. Please keep it in safe place – you’ll be asked for it when leaving Russia. After arrival of the
foreign citizen on a residence (in many cases – hotel) he/she should be registered in terms of 7 working
days. Registration can be done by inviting/hosting counterpart (i.e. private individuals with Russian
citizenship, hotels, public organizations invited person etc.). For more information on registration issue
please read here: http://www.waytorussia.net/RussianVisa/Registration.html
and here: http://visit-kaliningrad.ru/en/info/471/
Some people ask me how to register if they plan to live several days in a tent. It is a problem as your tent
not posses exact post address and more important you stay not at Russian inviting/hosting person. So
you need to find and later to indicate some existing address where you plan to stay in Russia. However,
for most of transit cyclists, it is not a problem at all because we have 72-hours rule.
Foreign citizens who have arrived to Russia for no more than three working days i.e. 72 hours (for
instance: transit from Poland to Lithuania or opposite direction) are not a subject of registration.
Holidays and weekends (Saturday and Sunday) are not counted so, for instance, if you arrive in
Kaliningrad on Wednesday you may stay in the region until Sunday evening.
When you arrive at the Polish/Russian border or Lithuanian/Russian border on your bicycle please do
not wait in a car line, just go to the Border checkpoint. Be confident and be polite.
There are no problems crossing the Lithuanian-Russian border at Nida-Morskoe checkpoint in both
directions. If you go to Lithuania it’s better to cycle along the Curonian Spit as it is a National Park with
exciting nature (sandy dunes, pine-tree woods and interesting sightseeing points) and asphalt road with
low traffic.
Situation at the Polish/Russian border looks as follows:
The Goldap-Gusev checkpoint (54020’31.00’’N 22017’54.00’’E) is opened for cyclists and you may pass
there freely, but it’s too far to east from the main road which goes alongside of the Baltic Sea. Form the
other hand it’s the famous Rominta which for centuries was a hunting wood of rulers of East Preussen. It
is really tiny place with low traffic.
The Bezledy-Bagrationovsk border checkpoint (54022’20.00’’N 20039’35.00’’E) is for cars, buses and
heavy trucks. It is used mainly for lorries so if there is no special need for you to pass border there please
try to avoid this checkpoint.
The Mamonovo-Grzechotki checkpoint (54025’14.40’’N 20003’57.00’’E) was finally opened in late 2010
and fully operational.
The Mamonovo-Gronowo checkpoint (54026’20.00’’N 19054’05.00’’E) is for cars, buses and light trucks.
There is no walking pass. Cyclists are eligible to pass there as bicycle is considered to be a vehicle. It is
worth to note that majority of cyclists want to cross the Polish/Russian border exactly there because it’s a
direct way to/from Gdansk (or Elblag, or Frombork), Poland. Since 2006 the Russian Border Guards do let
cyclists to pass this border freely. During last years I’ve no written evidences from cyclists that any
problems there with border crossing. Opposite people say to me that they cross border smooth and easily.
I recommend you to cross the border here by two reasons:
1) it’s direct way from nice and tiny Frombork town (PL) to the border
2) because 80% of cars are using the Mamonovo-Grzechotki checkpoint (so called Mamonowo-2) it's
a high chance that old road from Mamonovo to Kaliningrad will have moderate traffic
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RESTRICTED AREAS
The area of the Kaliningrad Region includes zones with limited or regulated visiting. Border zone is a
strip along the state boundary where free movement of people is limited (indicated by a green line on the
map). Area closed to foreign citizens is a territory with regulated visiting for foreign citizens (indicated
by a purple line on the map).
Foreign citizens may enter the border zone if they possess identity documents and permission
(individual or collective) issued by the Russian FSB border control.
Foreign citizens may enter the border zone having only their passports in the following cases:
- If they are registered within the border zone, or are family members of those registered;
- If they are transiting the border zone.
All the open communities and areas of the Kaliningrad Region are accessible by transit by railways or
roads. While crossing the restricted areas by transit, the special permits are not required.
The issue of passes to the border zone to foreign citizens in administered by the Border Department of
the FSB of Russia in the Kaliningrad Region: 15 Suvorova Street, 236015 Kaliningrad, tel.: +7 4012
691089, 644786. Further information about the border area: +7 4012 691179.
In order to enter the zone with regulated visiting, foreign citizens may contact a representative of one of
the following travel agencies: Anuta, Baltma, Brisen, Nocturne, Svena Tour, Universalstroy. In order to
have the pass issued, foreign citizens should provide their passport information to one of the agencies at
least 3 weeks prior to the expected date of entry.
Summary: If you are going by a public road, you are eligible to cross the restricted area. For many years
I've heard about only one case when German tourists where stopped in restricted area and most likely
they were cycled by side road in the wood close to the military object. Please follow my
recommendations on the route selection and you will not meet a problem. In case of unlikely possible
situation of checking your identity by Russian officers please inform them that you are on your transit
way from point A to point B (of course these geographical locations should be out of restricted zone) and
you are not broken the rule because you are following by the public road.
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ACCOMMODATION
It might be a good idea to spend your time in Yantarny as it’s a place of the biggest open excavation of
amber in the World (54051’50.00’’N 19058’00.00’’E). According to the statistics more than 90% of
world’s amber deposit is situated there. There are the widest sandy beaches of the Kaliningrad region
and they have a restaurant situated directly on the beach (54053’06.00’’N 19056’05.00’’E) – at this road
cross (54052’47.10’’N 19056’06.86’’E) you shall take left road (if you are going from the South) and drive
down the hill. The pearl of Yantarny is the Promenade. It’s a 5 kilometers wooden path meandering
through the dunes and even salty lake situated on the beach! I really recommend you to go there!
My best recommendation for Yantarny is ‘Aquatoria’ hotel which is located at the beautiful sandy beach
of the Baltic Sea. You have two options here: to rent the room or to put a tent in the territory belonging to
the hotel. For 10 euros per night you will get the place for a tent, access to the hotel’s toilet, WiFi and
220V socket for charging your devices. For extra 2,5 euros you will get access to shower in the hotel from
8am till 11pm. They have secured storage facilities for bicycles. Web: http://aquatoriahotel.com/ phone:
+7 (4012) 565 509 email: [email protected]
In Yantarny it is possible to set up tent at artificial lake situated close to the Baltic Sea coastline
(54052’44.00’’N 19056’32.00’’E). Lake is very clean and deep – it’s real pleasure to swim there. The place
can be crowded in Summer during a daytime because its popularity. The ‘Demersus’ diving club is
situated there. Phone: +7 (4012) 387811 [email protected] website: http://demersus.ru/en/
They have toilet and summer shower, place for open fire and barbeque, security, night light, sport tools,
playground for kids and access to sandy beach. There are nice café and comfortable toilet 100 meters
away from the club. Parking for cars is available. Because ‘Demersus’ is more diving club than campsite
please ask them directly for possibility to stay as well as for prices. Nearby to Yantarny lake you may find
‘Valterra’ campsite (ВАЛЬТЕРРА in Russian). Map and phones are here: http://www.visitkaliningrad.ru/accomodation/263/
If you want to stay overnight in your tent in other place I can recommend you a nice place directly at the
Baltic Sea – Vzmorye village (54056’50.00’’N 20001’20.00’’E). There is no official camping site but in
summer time a lot of people visit this place because the road allows you to drive your car or bicycle
directly to the beach. Some local people stay there overnight and sleep in cars or tents, so please don’t
worry about safety. This place is also considered as a sightseeing point (from the top of the hill).
In general you may sleep in your tent almost everywhere except for seven-kilometer border zone, towns
and villages. You may stay at lakes, in a wood or in a wild field.
Svetlogorsk and Zelenogradsk are resort areas so there are plenty of hotels but in summer time it’s
difficult to book a hotel because many visitors come from Russia and abroad. In Svetlogorsk it worth to
visit promenade (54056’47.30’’N 20009’15.85’’E). Try to find old Water Supply Tower (54056’35.35’’N
20009’15.50’’E) – the symbol of Svetlogorsk. If you want to buy some food especially when you leave
Svetlogorsk going toward the Curonian Spit you may find good grocery shop at the town limits
(54055’53.00’’N 20009’57.00’’E). Some small grocery shops with affordable prices you may find in the
center of the town.
If you want to stay in Kaliningrad for a night I can suggest you to look at Villa Severin hotel: http://villaseverin.ru/ It's very cosy hotel situated in tiny park zone close to the city center. Owner of the hotel is
very reliable person and his target group of customers are foreign tourists. Price range wide and starts
from low-medium margin. It's up to you to choose small cheap room or apartment. They have storage
facilities for bicycles. Staff speaks foreign languages. The hotel is very close to Oberteich lake and
beautiful park area with bicycle roads around the lake.
Another guest house with reasonable prices is ‘Paraiso’, situated on Turgeneva str., 32A, phone +7 4012
216-969, 955-447, http://ageevgroup.ru/en/hotels/paraiso/ [email protected]
Some cycling tourists stay in the hotel ‘Tchaikovsky’, which is located at Tchaikovsky str., 43, close to
Kaliningrad city center, two
kilometers
away from
the Victory Square. Web:
http://ageevgroup.ru/en/hotels/tchaikovsky/ [email protected] +7 4012 674443.
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Of course I’ve indicated only few hotels and we have hundreds of them. On www.booking.com and
www.tripadvisor.com you definitely will find more opportunities. Services www.airbnb.com and
www.couchsurfing.com also might be a good solution for some of you. It’s up to you to explore Internet
and to choose where you prefer to live.
CURONIAN SPIT
The Curonian Spit (your way to/from Lithuania) is the National Park under protection of UNESCO so it’s
not allowed to set up your tent there and to use campfire. But there are hotels and guest houses on this
wonderful peninsula.
At the entrance to the National Park (54058’33.00’’N 20031’15.00’’E) there is a checkpoint where small
ecological fee is charged from cars and motorcycles. Please note: in 2017, cyclists and pedestrians should
pay small fee, which is less than 3 EUR by current exchange rate.
For small money you may get here a booklet with most interesting places worth to visit. The Efa dune
near Morskoe (55013’19.70’’N 20053’31.35’’E – entrance road to Efa; 54013’16.00’’N 20054’25.00’’E –
Efa dune itself) is a great sightseeing point where you may watch the Curonian Gulf and the Baltic Sea at
the same time.
It's a true pleasure to cycle alongside of the Curonian Spit as it is flat and the traffic is low. Helpful info on
Kuronian Spit is here: http://na-kosu.ru/ The official website of the National Park is here:
http://www.park-kosa.ru/
INFRASTRUCTURE
There are no special roads for bikes in the Kaliningrad region so you must use the road for cycling. Please
keep eyes on vehicles going in your direction. Bright visible clothes and flash lights on your bicycle may
be a good idea.
Traffic rules in Russia are similar to EU countries. Bicycle is a transportation vehicle and it is allowed to
use a standard road. It is not allowed to use highways (autobahns). Cycling by roads is allowed for
persons who at least 14 years old. In reality, nobody check this. If you use a standard road you need to
keep as right as possible. You not allowed to turn left if road have more than 1 pass in each direction. In
that case you need to walk through a road on opposite side of it. It is allowed to use side of the road if it is
not disturbing pedestrians. It is not allowed to cycle by sidewalk. But in reality it is not a big problem and
I’m pretty sure police should be lenient to you (especially in zones with a high traffic). So in every case
you may take decision what is more safe – to take a road or occasionally a sidewalk.
In the Routes section you will find some recommended tracks for bicyclists.
In case if transit cyclists are limited in time and want to go from Kaliningrad to Curonian spit directly the
fastest and more safe way is to use A-191 road. It's old road from Kaliningrad to Zelenogradsk. Now we
have a new highway (A-217) going in parallel so car traffic was migrated from the old road to the new
one. Please note that it is not allowed to cycle by the A-217 highway.
In some parts of Kaliningrad city we have bicycle roads. In 2016 the new bicycle road was started at the
coastline between Svetlogorsk and Zelenogradsk. It was constructed only 3,5 km, but in 2017 there are
plans to extend this path significantly. During 2017 I plan to put some maps and info on
www.bicycle39.ru
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INFORMATION
If you have any questions related to the tourism in the Kaliningrad region try to visiting official website
of the Regional Tourism Info Center: http://www.visit-kaliningrad.ru/ The website is available in
Russian, English, German.
The Tourism Information Center in Svetlogorsk is situated at K.Marx str., 7a (54056’26.12’’N
20008’58.30’’E) +7 (40153) 22098 [email protected] The website can be helpful to you:
http://www.svetlogorsk-tourism.ru/ru/ It's available in Russian, English and German but only Russian
version is informative at the moment. However please check ENG version too – there is a good map of the
town).
Here is a helpful information on where to repair a bicycle in Kaliningrad and at the seaside:
http://gokaliningrad.com/where-to-repair-a-bicycle-in-kaliningrad-and-at-the-seaside/ The website
itself is interesting and you may find here some practical information.
In 2016 two German cyclists tried to leave Kaliningrad region by a bus. Here is an info, I’ve received from
them:
‘KoenigAuto’ #254 bus offers Kaliningrad to Potsdam on Thursdays at 7pm. ‘Ecolines’ running to
Potsdam on Thursdays at 3pm doesn't allow bicycles. We bought boxes for our bicycles and will put
them on Koenig bus running every day from Kaliningrad to Gdansk at 6:30AM. Onward travel to
Berlin with ‘Flixbus’.
Here is a website of international bus station in Kaliningrad:
http://avtovokzal39.ru/international.html
Not too many Russians speak foreign languages. Please take it into account. Try to learn a few common
Russian words. Young people in general speak some English.
Please note that some of GoogleEarth satellite photos are very old (3-4 years) and do not reflect the
current situation as the Kaliningrad region is developing rapidly.
ROUTES
Below you may find maps with recommended bicycle routes through the Kaliningrad region. These maps
(except one) were created by Detlef Kaden who hold consultations with me during development of it.
Detlef has visited Kaliningrad and he passed all thought the Kaliningrad part of the route. He published
interesting reference book for cyclists http://www.is-radweg.de/ It is not an advertising. Eventually it’s
your personal decision to buy his product or not, but I found it interesting and helpful. Besides maps and
GPS-tracks there are good drawings and a route description.
I know the importance of this section so in Spring and early Summer 2017 I plan to cycle most of suitable
routes and to update this section with new maps and some pictures for critical navigation points.
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Recommended bicycle routes
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The map above is correct, but I suggest you to use other road on the section Pionersky –
Svetlogorsk – see below
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