Visitor Information

The new St Petersburg e-visa
We’re delighted to announce that traveling to St Petersburg has just become even easier, and many of our guests can now plan trips on very short notice.

As of 1st October 2019, Pulkovo Airport accepts travelers with e-visas. A single-entry e-visa can be acquired free of charge online, meaning no visit to a consulate and no payment is required.

Each single-entry visa is valid for 30 days from date of issue. Within this validity period, it allows you to stay in the St Petersburg and Leningrad region for up to eight days from point of entry.

To apply for an e-visa, simply fill out the form on the Foreign Ministry website at least four days before your planned trip.

The e-visa is valid for residents of 53 countries: Austria, Andorra, Bahrain, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, China (including Taiwan), Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Korean People’s Democratic Republic, Kuwait, Latvia, Lithuania, Lichtenstein, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, North Macedonia, the Netherlands, Norway, Oman, Poland, Portugal, the Philippines, Qatar, Romania, San-Marino, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Sweden, Turkey and the Vatican. 

Traditional visa support 
If our guests are residents of countries ineligible for e-visas, we are happy to support them in applying for a normal-entry visa.

Firstly, please complete a visa support letter which needs to be printed out and filled in with the details of each guest. 

Next, please return the completed visa support letter to us by email, together with a copy of the passport or passports of guests travelling.

As soon as we receive the completed form, we will pass these details to our Visa Support Department, who will prepare the official support documents from the Astoria Hotel and send them to you. You or your travel agent then need to take these support documents, together with a completed visa application form, to the nearest Russian Embassy or Consulate.

Please be advised that visa support is issued only for the period of stay at the Astoria Hotel. The visa support documents do not guarantee that a Russian Consulate will issue the necessary entry visa as certain restrictions may apply. We always recommend that our guests contact their nearest Russian Consulate for all information about the issuing of tourist visas.

Pet Friendly
Astoria Hotel welcomes guests with cats and dogs up to 5kg of weight, on the following conditions:

Wild animals, rodents and reptiles are not permitted.

The pets must have a valid veterinarian passport with information about vaccinations, as well as a certificate from a veterinarian confirming state of health. The certificate must be issued no earlier than a week before the arrival date.

A pet fee of RUB 5000 will be charged per room, per stay, in addition to the room rate paid by the pet owner. The fee covers additional room cleaning and pet amenities – sleeping mat, feeding dishes, additional water etc.

Upon arrival to the hotel, a deposit of RUB 2000 is to be paid, to cover possible risks of damage to hotel property. If no damage took place, the deposit is refunded upon check out. Should more serious damage to hotel property occur, the pet owner must pay to cover the necessary repairs or the purchase of new property.

The pets must travel in special cages or bags.

The pets are not allowed to guest areas of the hotel such as restaurant, lounge, fitness center, spa and beauty salon, business center. While in the corridors, in elevators, in hotel lobby, the pet must be on a leash or in a special bag.