The Estonian border service issued an warning about possible delays when crossing the Estonian-Russian border during the New Year holidays. It’s wise to have a couple of hours and great amount of patience in reserve.
The most intensive traffic falls on the following periods:
— in the direction of Estonia from December 24 to January 4 as Russians are heading to nice Estonian spas, the sightseeings of Tallinn and friendly local services and shopping;
— in the direction of Russia from January 4 to January 9 as Russians are coming back packed with lots of goods and rather annoyed by the necessity to get back to work.
While on ordinary days the traffic at the Narva — Ivangorod border crossing is just 8,000 persons a day, during the holidays it increases to about 13,000, the Estonian border service said.
If you’re not in a great need of crossing the border within these peak periods, than it’s highly recommended to stay home and wait for better times, the Estonians say. If you do need to go at rush hour, visit the website www.eestipiir.ee to see how many cars and buses are at your border crossing at the moment to choose an appropriate hour to travel.
Be aware of the fact that when you are in a Russian border zone you are subject to special rules.
Cover photo: Christmas Tallinn