As we all know commuting between host cities is one of the main challenges on big tournaments like World Cup.
Especially in such a vast country like Russia where everything centralized via Moscow with limited direct flights between regional cities.
Most of free FIFA trains would also be between Moscow hub and host cities.
We already discussed how to use Russian intercity train network (RZD). Now it's time for plan B.
How to rent a car in Russia? Lets have a look.

Renting a car could be quite challenging experience in Russia. But its possible and could be a good help to travel between regions.
Here is some insights.
This industry is only developing there and very idea of car renting is not something locals used to.
Currently it is only available in major cities and mainly exists for foreigners and business travelers with expenses covered by their employer.
Competition is very limited and it's only Moscow and St Petersburg where you can find some sort of choice with Europcar, Hertz, Sixt or AVIS.
Compare to average income in Russia this option is super-expensive and generally unaffordable for locals.
Say Volgograd with population over a million has only one option AVIS represented by just a dodgy stand in airport with staff of two managing whole process.
Their fleet is also not that big as you can imagine, I recon 15-20 vehicles at most and quite often they all booked.
This along with the fact that random guy in this city would be happy to secure job paying 500 USD a month.
Renting Ford Focus for 30 days would cost you around 1000 USD, so gap is huge.



I rented with them several times for my visits to Volgograd and generally I am satisfied.
Vehicle condition is always good, no problem with that.
Process of signing rental agreement is always painful, never take us less then 40 minutes. Is very bureaucratic and clients asked to fill and sign multiple papers and they still using this old style credit card manual imprinter to hold deposit. So its not that easy as you used to just swipe your card sign electronically on the screen grab the keys and be off.
But as soon as you are on your way its ok.

Now straight to the point. I called their Moscow office to find out that pricing strategy still not set for wold cup, so no reservations possible yet as of December 2017.
But upon checking global web site avis.com I was horrified.
Check this out:
if you book Ford Focus from 3 June to 3 July price would be 955 US
But if you do it for 1 day less from 4 June to 3 July it takes off to 2335 US - that is 2,5 times up for nothing.
So hotels/airbnb etc. not along - greedathlon everywhere.
And dont try to be smart - this price is same for all cities even those not hosting wold cup like Krasnodar, Voronezh or Ufa.
Nearest place where price stay on adequate level is Novosibirsk which is 1500km East of host city Ekaterinburg.

But even this could be better option then paying greedy price. Flights to Novosibirsk (OVB) gona be much cheaper compare to any host city and you can enjoy good adventure road trip with friends right across West Siberia to Europe.
If you have 2 people driving you can reach you destination in 2 days or 3 if talking about southern cities. Of cause some people will enjoy it, some not at all. I wouldn't recommend driving in big cities especially in Moscow and St. Petersburg as the public transport system of these cities is very efficient any way. But for regional trips its good option.

In general driving in Russia as a foreigner should not be a problem as you gonna use your Google Maps app - it works fine everywhere. Alternatively you can use russian app Yandex Maps which is sometimes more accurate and shows traffic as well.
It will definitely take you day or two to adopt and should be smooth then.
Also I never heard of any problems with acceptance foreign driver licence as soon as you have Intl driving permit as well. But to be sure I would recommend to bring a translated into Russian and notarised copy on your national driver’s licence.

Do not be afraid of all that talks about driving in Russia. Of cause there are some rude drivers that don’t respect the basic rules, but if you used to drive in countries like Indonesia, Thailand or Phillipines it's actually much worth then Russia. If you are used to driving in traffic of cities home and you’re used to that hassles, then it won’t be a problem for you to do it in Russia as well.
Road police is not a problem for you as soon as you respect regulations. Nobody gonna stop you every day "just to check you licence", this times well gone. Also for summer 2018 they will get it quite clear to stay away of World Cup guests. On my opinion any corruption tricks is unlikely for you.
But just in case never get involved in any talks, straight away tell them to escort you to police station which will solve all questions.
I did it in China and Cuba and you will be able to do it in Russia no doubt.

Another good thing is cheap fuel. Service stations open 24/7 everywhere with price for 95 octane only around 80 USc per litre.

I did once mental transsiberian road trip with my mate from Australia as we bought car in Vladivostok and drove it all the way to Moscow, thats 10K km and than we sold it. And he loved every moment of it!
But there was one catch - he was fined in in Moscow airport by immigration and asked to explain how did he managed to get from Vladivostok all across the country as he fail to register along the road.
So read up our Registration in Russia for foreign tourists article.

And welcome to Russia!

If you have any additional questions just chuck a comment and our community here will be always happy to help!