Visit to Stalingrad 2012 advice required

[robin morley]

Hello everyone,

A friend and I are hoping to visit Stalingrad/Volgograd 1n 2012. I have searched the forum to find the advice I need without to much luck. So can anyone answer the following.

Is it possible to visit Stalingrad independently. How safe is it to do this. How easy is it to obtain a visa from the UK. Is this recommended, if not why not.

Both my friend and I are if it proves over difficult to independently travel around Stalingrad willing to use guides. We would not wish to do so as part of a large group. Could anyone recommend guides in Stalingrad. Neither of us speaks Russian.

Any help and advice would be gratefully received.

Robin

[Paul E]

Hello Robin i have visted Stalingrad quite a few times and used to run Tours to the Battlefield so hopefully i can help !!

Firstly If you don't speak Russian then do not even consider visiting Volgograd independantly and apart from Moscow and St Pete it's not a good idea anywhere , you will encounter problems !! Getting a visa is no problem at all , specialist companies will handle that for you,

The only guides i would recommend are Evgeny and Galina Kulichenko i know them personally and have worked with them before , they speak excellent English and will arrange everything for you,

cheers

Paul

[sitges1990]

Robin, I can tell you from experience, Paul is a very dependable man. You can certainly trust his advice. I hope you get a nice trip worked out.

Jay

[Datrus]

As stated above it's a bad idea to travel without a guide or friends you already know in Russia. The problems you will encounter in Russia will mostly be on the language side. Think about it like this. You will end up in a country where you will not even be able to read the street signs, metro stations or ask for directions. My first time in Russia was like this. Without my local Moscow friend/friends it was extremely difficult. I had to clip out of a tourist brochure, the sections where the metro stations was written in both English and Russian and even then it's hard to find out how to transfer from on station to another. It was like a military night orientation exercise every time i went out alone. Luckily i brought my army watch with compass. It came in handy to say the least. If you plan to visit Moscow region i will be happy to help.

[robin morley]

Thanks to everyone for their replies so far.

Paul, could I contact you when plans are advanced a bit further and get contact details for the two guides you mention.

Best wishes

Robin

[Paul E]

Thanks to everyone for their replies so far.

Paul, could I contact you when plans are advanced a bit further and get contact details for the two guides you mention.

Best wishes

Robin

Of course Robin no problem anything i can help with just get in touch !!

[paragon man]

Find this article about volgagrad: Letters from the dead, NEW YORKER MAGAZINE

Febuary 3 1993 author tymothy Ryback

You will find what you should see in this article...also it mentions a battlefield guide named valery strykov...there is no other of his equal for this visit you wish to take

Jake

[Paul E]

Valery is a famous Battlefield digger in Volgograd not a guide !!

[paragon man]

Valery is a famous Battlefield digger in Volgograd not a guide !!

It is true he is a battlefield digger but noone knows the real battlefield better than he. I arranged for him to be my guide not once but twice. I arranged for him to guide friends of mine as well. If you want to see the REAL battlefield then he is your man. He does give tours.

[Paul E]

Interesting news i have met Valery before on the REAL Battlefields when i've been digging there plus he was very helpful with German veteran groups !!!

Can you post some details on how to get in touch with him directly ?

Some photos of your trips would also be very interesting ?