I had arranged a trip to Russia last year also for September which included both these places and was told
"Boats to Sviyazhsk operate during September" . I had a car as a Plan B.

In the end I didn't go - getting Russian visas in UK is just far too difficult and "risky" - we have to visit a consulate and get fingerprints etc and far more documents. I have no doubt that a lot of this is "reciprocal" in that we do the same for russians. The ridiculous aspect of course is that a couple of Russian assassins can easily get UK visas with false passports etc and cause death and mayhem!!! It is always the "ordinary" people who have to face the difficulties.

How much did you have to have booked/paid for in advance to get the visa
a. International flights?
b. Internal journeys?
c. Hotels?

For the invitation letter/visa support document, you 'only' need to have the adresses of the hotels where you will be staying. I booked them via Booking.com and they all are changeable. The visas are issued on the exact dates that you are travelling, so you need to match them with the international flights yourself (they don't ask you for that). I booked a, b and c before applying for a visa.

I hope I will be in Russia in September too. I just applied for double transit visa which doesn't require any additional documents but health insurance, tickets and visas to countries you are transiting, if applicable. The cost is just 35 euro, I applied directly in the consulate.

Els - After doing Trans-Siberian railway a while ago I wouldn't repeat it. WHS-wise (and more interesting) would be to go to Vladimir/Yaroslavl than to spend 50 hours on the train. And then go to Irkutsk by plane.

During summer season boat tickets to Sviyazhsk and Bolgar may be problematic. but it should be easier in September. There are daily tours however, so I am sure you'll make it.

I do understand, but I also try to avoid the hit-and-run ticking of WHS without seeing anything of the country.

To share my Bolgar and Sviyazhsk plans A, B, C en D, for future use of others:

Getting to Bolgar and Sviyazhsk
For Bolgar I have:
a. River Ferry named 'Meteor', leaving at 8 am (2h24min), returning the same day. Yandex schedule has the times and dates til when they run (easy to use with the Google translate function). Tickets can only be bought at the port.
b. Bus from Southern Bus Station, leaving at 8.30 (3h40min), also returning the same day. Also on Yandex schedule and best bought beforehand in person.
c. Shared taxi from Kazan MegaMall at 11 am, as per information of Michael Novins (I do have the driver's phone number)
d. Bus Tour with a Russian tour group - Barabanov shared with me the details of http://www.tatturist.ru/, who have tours running on my dates (Russian only). Similarly, the tourist desk at hotel Tartarstan has been recommended, running daily bus tours in Russian to various sites around Kazan.
(e. Renting a car would also be a possibility, but I believe you need an international driving license which adds to the cost - during the shoulder season of mid-September one of the 4 options above should work)

For Sviyazhsk I have:
a. Take a taxi and make it wait for an hour or 2. Because of the relatively short distance (60km) this should not be a problem. Advertised on TaxiKazan for example.
b. River Ferry, leaving at 9 am (2h10min), returning the same day. Same conditions apply as with Bolgar regarding schedules and tickets.
(c. there's a train as well, but the railway station is so far from the site you'll need another taxi (if you can find one))
(d. and there are day tours in Russian as well, see option d at Bolgar)

Els, I was in Yekaterinburg last month — like most Russian cities, very nice, clean and covered with flowers. No UNESCO sites, but interesting monument to the Beatles not far from QWERTY keyboard monument. Boris Yeltsin center is interesting — the restaurant is great.

I was in Irkutsk last summer. Plenty of minivans run to Listvyanka. The Baikal Museum of Limnology has a lot of info and some seals. And the smoked fish market is good place to try local delicacies.

I'm in Surabaya now. I visited the House of Sampoerna yesterday — historic factory for kreteks (clove cigarettes). Indonesia could make a good case for inscription.

Hi Els!
Perhaps my experiences from a Transsiberian Tour one month ago might be interesting for you, regarding Bolgar and Sviyazhsk:
I arrived in Kazan very early in the morning (before 6 am) by train from Nizhniy Novgorod. Hotel "Don Kikhot" is within walking distance from the station and very recommended! On arrival at 6 am they were very helpful with organizing the trips to Bolgar and Sviyazhsk: At first I was told to go to the harbour port (within walking distance, but I decided to take a bus), which was about to open at 7:00 or 7:30 (don't remember exactly). There unfortunately I was told, that no tickets had been left within the following five days! Perhaps the situation in September is different to the one in July...
Coming back to the hotel they provided me with leaflets from different organized tours by bus, which I could choose from and the receptionist afterwards made all the necessary calls to book the tours I had chosen. So everything had been organized right after arrival in the very early morning!
The tour to Bolgar has been really interesting – but only in Russian! Luckily one of the participants turned out to be a professional translator, who supported my with the most important information. In Sviyazhsk (also everything in Russian, but same translator on board 😊) for some reason the tour did not include the interior of the Assumption Cathedral with the famous murals. I recommend going there right after the tour has finished, since the Cathedral is closed for an extensive midday break whose end is after the departure of the bus! (Don't remember the exact times, but they are posted next to the entrance door on a small paper.)
Short remark on Kazan Kremlin: Best view of the whole Kremlin in my opinion is from the other side of Reka Kazanka across the water next to bus stop "Rechnoy Tekhnikum", easily to be reached by buses 10a, 53, 63 and 72 from the station.
Short remark on Hotel Don Kikhot: Since I had to leave in the middle of the night for the train to Yekaterinburg I even was allowed to get my breakfast of the last night right after arrival before the first night! And they made all efforts to preparing my room as soon as possible and finally called me on the cellphone to allow me to get in my room well in advance of the official check-in time.
Finally I wish you a nice trip! I really enjoyed mine this summer – but bring plenty to read!! The 60 hours from Krasnoyarsk to Moscow proved to be long...

Good to hear! I deliberately allocated a few full days in Kazan to increase my chances. Will try to avoid the bus tour, but we will see. Also whether mid-September is much different from late July/early August considering the crowds.


My longest stretch is 50 hours, but I already downloaded 3 new books on my Kindle.

I managed to visit Bolgar today, using plan D! The boats in September only run in the weekends, the public buses are inconvenient timing wise and the shared taxi driver used by Michael Novins "had sold his car". I went with a Russian coach trip organized by Hotel Tartarstan. I booked it the night before from the Visit Tatarstan information center at the end of Bauman Street. A full day tour (9-20h) costs 25 EUR including lunch and entrance fees. They are scheduled to run every Wednesday and Saturday.

I made it to Sviyazhsk as well, using option A. I used TaxiKazan and sent them a Whatsapp message a day beforehand (in Russian, with a sentence I translated with Google Translate). They replied in English and a 4 hour trip was easily arranged (1 hour drive each way + 2 hour waiting time) for 3400 ruble (ca. 45 EUR). The ferries were running as well, but that will cost you a whole day.

St. Petersburg (and Leningrad Oblast) you can now simply visit with e-Visa (from 1oct 2019); this also applies for Vladivostok and other bigger airport area's in the far east!!! You need to stay in that area. Possible in 2020 full Russia be e-Visa.

Depends on your Nationality!! Not universal.
See - https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2019/07/22/russia-offers-simplified-e-visas-to-visitors-of-st-petersburg-a66512

For some reason the link above doesn't work at the moment. In Finland has been lot of talk about this new e-visa for Saint Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast, which is available from 1st of October. The same kind of visa has been already for some time for Kaliningrad.

There are some big hopes in Finland that this would boost tourism to the old Finnish areas like Vyborg and Terijoki, and of course to Saint Petersburg. Still, Russian Ministry of Transport just announced that the free e-visa doesn't include trains from Finland and Estonia, just the Pulkovo Airport, Saint Petersburg ferry port and land border checkpoints for cars. This has been very confusing because trains are the easiest way to travel to Vyborg and Saint Petersburg. But let's see what is the final decision.