How to get to Sochi – by plane, train, bus, car
The holiday period is in full swing and many Russians are rushing to the Black Sea coast with pleasure and great anticipation. It is here that the majority of Russians plan to spend a week or two this year, enjoying sunny days and clear seas.
Consider all possible options for making such a trip, find out which type of transport offers the most favorable rates and conditions for travel.
air travel
Air travel is by far the fastest way to travel long distances. Aircraft have long been an integral part of the life of every business person and tourist.
With the help of an aircraft, you can be on the opposite side of the planet in a few hours, and a trip to the level of comfort is guaranteed to satisfy almost everyone.
Therefore, it is not surprising that many vacationers who go to the Black Sea coast choose this particular way of travel. And Muscovites are no exception, who actively buy tickets to a sunny resort and systematically monitor airline websites in order to find the most advantageous offers.
From Moscow
The flight time from the capital's airport to the Sochi air terminal will take from 2 hours 20 minutes. The most favorable in terms of price / speed / comfort is the offer of the domestic carrier Pobeda (departure from Vnukovo).
The cost of a ticket for an airplane of this company starts from 3,000 rubles per passenger (round-trip). It is not surprising that there are a lot of people who want to use the services of one of the most popular carriers in Russia. But flying with transfers through other regions of Russia is not worth it. You are unlikely to win anything financially, but you will spend time.
Utair also offers profitable flights at a price of 2,500 rubles. per passenger (round trip). Departures from Vnukovo. S7 airlines will take you from Domodedovo to the resort. Ticket price from 5 500 rubles. for a round trip ticket.
You can fly from Sheremetyevo aboard Nordwind and Aeroflot airlines.
It is best to book tickets on one of the most popular search engines – Aviasales. It is here that the most profitable and cheap offers for potential tourists are collected.
When buying tickets online, be sure to pay attention to hand luggage and luggage. According to the rules of the carrier, an additional payment for the transportation of things may be required.
Below, for convenience, we have added a Low Price Calendar so that you can choose the most convenient and profitable option for yourself. For your convenience, when you go to the page of selected dates, information about the baggage will be displayed immediately.
From St. Petersburg
You can also get there by plane from other cities of Russia, including from the airport of the cultural capital – St. Petersburg. So, a search query on the Aviasales service reported the following profitable flights connecting two Russian cities.
This direction is served by several airlines at once – Pobeda, Aeroflot, UTair and others. The most favorable conditions for travel are offered by the Pobeda company, whose planes are able to deliver to the cherished Sochi beaches in just 3 hours and 15 minutes (a transfer is required). Ticket price from 5,054 rubles per round-trip ticket per person.
Russia Airlines also offers direct flights. Travel time 3 hours 10 minutes. Tickets cost from 6,800 rubles. The most expensive flight will cost a / to Aeroflot. You will have to pay from 7,200 rubles. for a seat on board.
From the regions
Now let's talk about regions. Many of them also have airports regularly served by domestic carriers.
The flight from Volgograd will last only an hour and a half, the cost of which is 16.5 thousand rubles (we are talking about a direct budget flight).
Tourists will fly from Yekaterinburg in 8 hours with a transfer in Moscow, while spending from 6,800 rubles.
From Rostov-on-Don, passengers will be able to get to the resort within one hour, paying only 1,800 rubles for a ticket. But from Ufa you will have to fly at least 6 hours with a transfer in Moscow, and the cost of such a voyage will be from 6,500 rubles.
A train
Despite the popularity of air travel, which is growing every day, many Russians continue to actively use the services of rail carriers. Traveling by train has its clear advantages.
So, such a trip will always be cheaper than the services of an airline, passengers will not get as tired of the trip as is possible in the case of a regular bus, there is always the opportunity to sleep, eat sandwiches and order tea or coffee.
For those who wish, there are restaurant cars in many trains of Russian railway lines, where you will be served with pleasure and provided with all the necessary products and ready meals.
Yes, and traveling with a large company by train is always more profitable, more interesting and more fun. Another advantage of such a trip is the almost complete absence of baggage restrictions.
From Moscow
Consider railway routes and price offers. Let's start with the capital. But before that, let's pay attention to the fact that Sochi has several railway stations at once – Central, Lazarevsky, Adler, Khostinsky.
Each of them is located in a different part of the city, which should be taken into account by anyone planning a trip. We advise you to focus on the Central Station when buying tickets. This is due to the fact that the bus station is located nearby and you can get to any part of the city in a matter of minutes by minibuses.
To find the best rail travel deals, we recommend using the popular search engine trip.com.
Be prepared for the fact that the travel time will be from 22 hours. There are several options available at once. So, trains 104B (two-story) and 102M depart from the Kazansky railway station.
If you prefer to travel with increased comfort, choose the high-speed branded train 104B, in which, in addition to the basic services for passengers, the carrier has taken care of installing a wireless Wi-Fi network.
A trip on a double-decker train No. 104B will take only 22 hours and 54 minutes. The cost of tickets in a compartment is from 1,993 rubles, and in a CB from 10,389 rubles.
On the branded train 102M you will reach in 22 hours 38 minutes. For reserved seat tickets you will spend from 2,389 rubles, and for a compartment only from 1,894 rubles. Yes, sometimes a coupe is cheaper than a reserved seat and you need to use it.
Train 306M departs from the Kursk railway station. Travel time is more than 1 day 10 hours, so we will not consider this option.
Ticket sales open 90 days before the train's departure.
From St. Petersburg
The distance between these cities is 2495 km. There are only 3 trains from St. Petersburg to Sochi, 2 of which are high-speed.
Comfortable train 035A (double-decker) will take you to the city in 1 day 13 hours. The cost of tickets in a compartment is from 3,239 rubles, in a NE from 9,529 rubles.
You can also go on vacation on the 215A train, which will take you to your destination in 2 days. Prices for reserved seat tickets from 2,389 rubles, in a compartment from 2,799 rubles.
Check the cost of railway tickets from St. Petersburg to Sochi online
From the regions
Trains from the regions also go to Sochi. From Nizhny Novgorod, the trip will cost from 2,081 rubles, and you will have to spend 1 day 20 hours on the road.
Trains 139 H, 346 E follow from Yekaterinburg, the fare on which is from 2,923 rubles. You will have to get from 2 days. 12 noon
You can get from Kazan by paying for a reserved seat from 2,359 rubles, and for travel in a compartment car from 5,567 rubles.
Bus
Choosing this type of transport is for those who are not prone to motion sickness, easily endure all the hardships of a long trip on Russian roads and, apparently, just crave adventure and are not looking for easy ways.
From Moscow and St. Petersburg there is no direct bus service to Sochi. It is difficult to find a carrier that will make regular direct flights, given that buses on this route are very much inferior to trains and planes.
The same applies to regions. If you are planning a trip from the region adjacent to the resort of Sochi, you can consider traveling by bus. Otherwise, when the distance between the start and end points of the route is too large, we advise you to switch to alternative modes of transport.
An alternative would be to search for fellow travelers on the blablacar service.
What is good service? This is the perfect solution for spontaneous trips. So you returned home from work on Thursday and suddenly decided that you can take a day off on Friday to take a walk along the Sochi embankment on the weekend, listen to the sound of the surf. Go to the blablacar website and here you are. All options are in front of you. You can leave at 21:00, and at 22 pm and even at 23:00. And now, after a couple of hours, you are already racing along the highway and making small talk with new acquaintances. And you can return by plane. Ideally!
But if you still dream of getting to Sochi by bus and this is some kind of experiment for you, then you can buy bus tickets to Voronezh. The place of departure is the international bus station Salaryevo (Moscow), the journey time is almost 6 hours. Ticket price from 800 rubles.
Next, transfer to a bus that goes to Rostov-on-Don. Travel time is about 4 hours, ticket prices from 1,100 rubles. Then you will reach Krasnodar, spending 5 hours and paying from 654 rubles. And you will overcome the last segment of the route Krasnodar – Sochi in 3 hours 25 minutes. Ticket prices from 1,068 rubles.
We developed this truly unique route with the help of busfor.ua, a service for searching and buying bus tickets. With them you can get anywhere, checked personally. Everything is very convenient. You can immediately see the schedule and prices for the desired route. As Anton Ptushkin would say, you have a “recommendation” from us.
Automobile
As for traveling by car, it also has its pros and cons. In particular, you need to be prepared for the fact that you have to drive for about 20 hours, follow the road. Such a trip is extremely exhausting. Therefore, it will be easier for those who go on a journey with another driver to change each other. Or you should plan a trip with an overnight stay.
The second disadvantage of such a trip can be traffic jams, which are an integral part of the height of the holiday season.
But there are also benefits. Thus, the cost of a trip (based on the cost of gasoline) from the capital and regions will be lower than air travel. But on the condition that you are not going to the resort alone. Buying tickets for a large family is tangible for the family budget. And by car, you pay only for gasoline and can independently plan the route, make stops in interesting places.
The best route from Moscow is a trip along the M4 Don highway, which will lead you to the Black Sea coast, and then along the M27 highway. The total distance will be 1,623 km.
The same part of the route is suitable for those traveling from St. Petersburg and the regions (Nizhny Novgorod, Voronezh).
From Volgograd, Saratov, we follow the direction to Tikhoretsk and Krasnodar, from where we change lanes to the M27 highway and get to the cherished resort. Or we make a small detour and leave for the excellent coverage of the M4 highway mentioned above, which with every kilometer will bring us closer to our cherished goal.
Choose which mode of transport you prefer, analyze the advantages and disadvantages of each route and enjoy your vacation!
Tours
It would seem that a generally non-obvious method, but in fact it turns out to be one of the most profitable. Now we will show and tell everything clearly. We will demonstrate the benefits using the travelata.ru website.
We chose them because:
So, we look at the cost of tours for the coming dates.
From Moscow prices for tours from 11,319 rubles. for two. Included: Roundtrip flight and accommodation. Having paid a little less than 3,000 rubles. you can take a tour to the same hotel with meals (breakfast).
Here's another example: a tour to the popular Sochi Park Hotel 3 with breakfast, transfer and round-trip flight will cost only 15,474 rubles. for two.
Tours to Sochi from St. Petersburg will cost a little more. But the prices are still very affordable, given that they are quoted for two tourists.
To check prices for tours from your city, just change the filters on the site. And do not forget about promotional codes, so the trip will cost you even cheaper.
So we have considered all possible ways how you can get to Sochi on your own. We hope that our tips will help you find an inexpensive, convenient and comfortable option for you.