Journey from Estonia to Russia: euros are banned, but a sausage sandwich can be brought 0 19

– Estonia had five border points with Russia: "Narva-1", "Narva-2", "Koidula", "Luhamaa", and "Saatse". Point "Narva-2"
Was a pedestrian crossing and led to the Ivanovo district of Parusnik. It was closed after the start of the war between Russia and Ukraine.

Point "Narva-1"
The most popular point until February 2024 was a vehicle-pedestrian crossing, but then Russia closed its point for repairs, and traffic has been halted since then. Currently, only pedestrian border crossing is possible from 7:00 AM to 11:00 PM.

For a trip to St. Petersburg, this is the most convenient point, as there is very intensive traffic to Narva, including trains and buses. And there is a very good highway from Tallinn. It is also easy to get from Ivanovo to St. Petersburg by bus, taxi, or electric train. There are constant long queues at the border point – on average from 5 to 12 hours.

Point "Koidula"
Located in southern Estonia, it is convenient for traveling to the Pskov region. The road from Tallinn takes longer than to Narva. Additionally, the roads themselves are quite narrow, and there is practically no infrastructure around the border point.

You can reach Koidula by train, but it runs only a few times a day, and it is quite a long walk along the highway from there. You can still drive through Koidula, but the queue moves very slowly, so crossing the border can take up to several days, even with electronic registration in the queue.

There are also several direct buses from Tallinn and Tartu to St. Petersburg that go through Koidula. However, they often wait for hours to cross the border as well. You can also walk through Koidula, and sometimes there are no queues, but it’s a lottery. On the Russian side, every foreigner is met with an intensified interrogation by the FSB – unlike the Leningrad region, where such interrogations are rare.

Point "Luhamaa"
This is a vehicle border point, and the queue there also moves very slowly.

Point "Saatse"
A pedestrian border point, mainly for local residents. It is difficult to reach by public transport from both the Estonian and Russian sides. On the Estonian side, there is purely automatic control (without the involvement of border guards), and there is no customs post at all, so you can only pass through… without belongings.

Personal Experience

– It’s almost like playing roulette, and it’s always stressful because you have to guess how many hours you will stand in line, – said Viktor, a frequent traveler through Narva, – when I stood for 16 hours in the summer, thinking I had set a record, I immediately learned that my fellow travelers waited 24 hours and spent the night in a nearby hotel, sharing a room for three until morning. The euro currency is banned, so you have to exchange it right there at the exchange office.

Sometimes there is panic over the products being brought. There were amusing but very human episodes. For example, we gave away the contents to people in the queue "for eating" so as not to leave them thrown away on the Estonian side. It was clearly excessive, but it characterizes the tension of the people. I didn’t give in – and brought a magnificent sandwich with excellent sausage, for which I was loved by a very smart dog on the Russian side. We became friends and promised to keep in touch…