Krasnoyarsk (Красноярск) is a city in Eastern Siberia, Russia. It's located on both banks of the Yenisey River.
Understand
Like in most cities of ex-USSR, it's quite difficult to go without some knowledge of Russian. However, people under the age of 40 with higher education might be capable of speaking some English. But don't expect English from hotel workers or maintenance staff in tourist places, policemen, salesmen and taxi drivers.
Get in
It's not very easy to get into Krasnoyarsk from abroad, so one is adviced to fly to Moscow, Novosibirsk or Irkutsk first.
By planeThere are several planes every day from/to Moscow (airp. Domodedovo) to the local airport Emelianovo (Емельяново). There are also flights from most of the largest Russian cities, and a few regular flights from abroad — Beijing, Tianjin, Harbin, major cities of the nearest ex-USSR countries (Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan). KrasAir is a monopolist in the region, so you should check its web-site
www.krasair.ru for currently available flights.
Secondly, Krasnoyarsk airport Tcheremshanka (Черемшанка) serves regional flights only, usually between Krasnoyarsk and northern parts of Krasnoyarsk Krai.
By trainKrasnoyarsk is located on the Trans-Siberian Railway, so every day dozens of trains pass the Krasnoyarsk railway station. It takes about 12-14 hours to get to Krasnoyarsk from Novosibirsk and Irkutsk, minimum 60 hours from Moscow and Vladivostok.
By carThere is a road connecting Vladivostok and Moscow, which passes through Krasnoyarsk. However, Russian automobile roads are not very suitable for long-distance travels — no motels, no eateries, and the low quality of the roadbed does not permit fast driving.
By busBuses are available only from the nearest cities in the region and from the neighbouring Khakassia region. They arrive to the main bus station, located in the northern part of the city, which is known as Vzletka (Взлетка). To date directions and current time tables are not available on-line. A usual price for a trip up to 400km is about 200-300 rubles (8-12USD).
Get around
There is a good network of public buses, which are indeed very cheap (8 rubles in 2006, per trip, regardless the distance). In large buses the conductor walks among the passengers and gets paid once he (or, more often, she) comes by a newly entered passenger. In a minibus (
marshrutka маршрутка) the conductor sits by the driver and gets paid before passengers exit. The conductor can be determined by a roll of tickets in the hand, a belt purse and, if a bus is crowded, loud demands for payment. However, without a local consultant it's rather difficult to plan a way because route maps are not usually available on the bus stops, though there is a very comprehensive
software map of Krasnoyarsk (in Russian) which is able to calculate routes automatically.
Numerous taxi carriers have appeared during the last years. Booking by phone is possible (but unlikely your English will be understood) as well as hitching on the streets. In Russia it's a very common case when any driver who wants to earn some money stops near your risen...
