Dear Friends,
We know how important it is to get the right information at the right time. So here we are with the update on the possible travel ways to St Petersburg. Please, be aware that this information is based on the current situation and for more details and confirmations do not hesitate to contact your administrator/coordinator who you are in touch with, they are ready to assist with all the questions.
The direct international flight connection with Russia is now on pause, so basically, we are back to the situation we already experienced in 2020. In 2020 during hard covid regulations many patients visited us, and we achieved their goals together.
Our clinic continues its regular process of arranging invitations for visas for our patients. The state offices have confirmed to us on Monday there are no changes in this process. The visas aim at two visits and last three months. Each visa includes the following information: the purpose is medical treatment and name of our clinic as the host organization. Hence each visa clearly explains that the travel is not for leisure or tourism purposes and can be seen as a necessary and essential reason for travel. Patients come to us after multiple unsuccessful attempts following their in depth and urgent need to become parents.
We know that many of you have already done a lot during your treatment preparation and do not want to put your plans on hold, so we are ready with the travel solutions for you:
Option 1: You may fly via Istanbul from European cities:
Stockholm-Istanbul-St.Petersburg (Turkish airlines): the flights take 3:30h and 3:20h and go 2-3 times daily, cost around 300 EUR per person one way (round ticket around 600 EUR). You may find options with quick and long stopover in Istanbul.
Gothenburg-Istanbul-St.Petersburg (Turkish airlines): the flights take 3:30h and 3:20h and go daily, cost around 320-360 EUR per person one way. You may find options with quick and long stopover in Istanbul.
Copenhagen-Istanbul-St.Petersburg (Turkish airlines): the flights take 3:15h and 3:20h and go 2-3 times daily, cost around 550 EUR per person one way. You may find options with quick and long stopover in Istanbul.
Oslo-Istanbul-St.Petersburg (Turkish airlines): the flights take 3:55h and 3:20h and go 1-2 times daily, cost around 200-250 EUR per person one way. You may find options with quick and long stopover in Istanbul.
Berlin-Istanbul-St.Petersburg (Turkish airlines): the flights take 2:55h and 3:20h and go 2-3 times daily, cost around 400 EUR per person one way. You may find options with quick and long stopover in Istanbul.
London-Istanbul-St.Petersburg (Turkish airlines): the flights take 3:50h and 3:20h and go 1-2 times daily, cost around 630 EUR per person one way. You may find options with quick and long stopover in Istanbul.
Routes from other cities, schedule and tickets at www.turkishairlines.com/en-gb/index.html (available in Swedish/Danish etc)
Our driver will meet you in St.Petersburg airport and drive comfortably to your hotel.
Option 2:
Step one – you take a flight from your city to Helsinki or Tallinn. These cities are not affected by any restrictions and international flights operate on regular basis.
The flights go daily (sometimes up to 5 flights daily from Stockholm and 3 flights a week from Oslo) and cost in average 50-100 EUR per person (Ryanair starts with 10 EUR!)
Step two depends on the city you have chosen:
1. If it is Helsinki, you can take a direct bus from Helsinki to St Petersburg by the company LUXexpress. The route of the bus is the following: Helsinki, Coach station Kamppi – Vantaa (Airport of Helsinki) – St Petersburg Coach station (Naberezhnaya Obvodnogo Kanala 36). And our driver will meet you at the coach station once you arrive in St Petersburg to take you to your hotel.
You may find the schedule on their website:
luxexpress.eu/en/
The trip takes around 6,5 hours.
The fee is 25 euro.
2. If you choose Tallinn, three options are possible:
➡️ You may take a direct bus from Tallinn to St. Petersburg by the company LUXexpress. You can find the schedule on their website: luxexpress.eu The fee is 16-35 euro.
The route of the bus is the following: Tallinn Coach Station Lastekodu 46, 10144, Tallinn - St.Petersburg Coach Station (Naberezhnaya Obvodnogo Kanala 36). Our driver will, of course, meet you at the coach station once you arrive in St Petersburg and will take you to your hotel.
Please note that the distance between Tallinn airport and Tallinn Coach station is about 2.5 km. You may take a taxi at the airport to get to the station.
➡️ You may take a train from Tallinn to the nearest town with the Russian border called Narva.
Please see the schedule of the train below:
Train schedule airport of Tallinn (st. Ülemiste, 1.6 km from the airport) - Narva: departure daily at 08:03, 11:22, 14:38, 17:34 + on Friday and Sunday an additional train at 19:48.
Ticket price 800-1300 rubles (around 13 euros)
Train schedule Narva - airport of Tallinn (st. Ülemiste, 1.6 km from the airport): departure daily at 07:17, 11:14, 14:30, 17:24 + on Friday and Sunday an additional train at 20:27
Ticket price 800-1300 rubles (around 13 euros)
The distance from the Narva train station to the border checkpoint is about 1.5km. You may take a local taxi at the station or go by foot. When you cross the border, you will be met by our driver, the journey from the border to your hotel takes around 2.5h and costs 100 euro per car (please prepare cash (euro or rubles)).
➡️ If you don’t want to take a train or a bus, we may arrange the car transfer for you (please, let us know in advance if you choose this option so that we can organize it for you): from Tallinn airport to St. Petersburg it takes about 6 hours by car. In this case you will take an Estonian car transfer from Tallinn airport to the Russian-Estonian border (it takes about 2.5h and costs 150 euro per one car, please prepare cash in euro), you will cross the border on foot and our driver will meet you once you cross the border and will take you to your hotel in St Petersburg ( the journey takes about 2.5h and costs 100 euro per car, please prepare cash (euro or rubles)). If you prefer this option but want to cut down on the expenses, you may cooperate with other patients and split the transfer fees, but please note that one car can take no more than 3 passengers.
So basically you may spend just 35 EUR to arrive to St.Petersburg (10 EUR Ryanair flight and 25 EUR bus).
Last but not least, 20 out of 24 patients who were planning to come to St Petersburg during the weekend of 26th and 27th February arrived safely and are now having their treatment as planned in our clinic. 4 patients have chosen to change their treatment plans and arrive later.
In hope for the peace in the world and in every family,
Your O.L.G.A. team
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