Flights to Russia & Cheap Airlines

Russia is not as far away as it seems. It's only a 2-hour flight from Berlin and a bit more than 3 hours from London. The price of a return ticket from most European cities to Moscow is somewhere between €200 to €400. There are also many flights daily from major US cities, and you can get a return flight to Moscow from New York for about $450-$700 normally, depending on the season and how far ahead you book.

There are also several budget airlines that fly to Russia from major European cities. You could also use budget flights to Baltic states and then take a train or a bus to Russia. If you go for one of these options, you'll be able to make it to Russia for about €60 one way. More on that in our Budget Travel section. 

If you're traveling in Russia itself, sometimes taking a flight may be cheaper and certainly faster than taking a train. For example, a one way flight from Moscow to Irkutsk (Baikal lake) costs the same as 2nd class train. The difference is that the flight takes 6 hours, and the train takes 4 days (although of course you're losing out on the unique Trans-Siberian experience).

Finally, Russia is a good stopover point if you're traveling to far-out Asian destinations. There are some cheaper flights to Bangkok ($600 return) and to Dehli ($600 return) for example.