Take the visa-free ferry to Russia
Foreigners arriving in Russia by ferry will be allowed to stay in the country for up to three days without a visa, a governmental decree issued this week reads.
From before, cruise ship tourists are entitled to stay in Russia for three days without visas. The new decree mirrors that law, the Moscow Times reports.
St. Petersburg officials believe the more liberal visa regime will help give a boost to tourism in their city. According to the Moscow Times, the new visa regime only covers a handful ports, of which St Peterburg, Kaliningrad and Vyborg are the only ones in Northwest Russia.
The new practice will however be of interest also for several other Russian regions, of them possibly Murmansk Oblast.
In the early 1990s, ferries regularly shipped between the Norwegian border town of Kirkenes to Murmansk. The foreign tourists were entitled to visit the Russian Arctic city without visas. Should Murmansk be included in the new regime, that route could again see the light.
