Yulia 
Samara is situated in South-West Russia. It is the 6th largest city in Russia and its name comes from the river which flows through it. It is one of the most visited cities in the country, because it is an important architectural and cultural center of Russia.
One of the things you should visit in Samara is Kuibashev Square, the largest market square in Europe. It has a size of 17.4 hectares, a hectare more than the Red Square in Moscow.
In the years of the Second World War, Samara was the “reserve capital” of the USSR. In 1942, Stalin expected to arrive here, and specifically for him a 37 meter deep bunker was built. After the war, the city became a capital of space. Here the first carrier rockets were built. Among them is the rocket that launched the ship of Yuri Gagarin into orbit. There is a museum with unique exhibits in the city, including modules with which the cosmonauts have descended to Earth. In addition to the missile building plant, Samara has a passenger airplane construction plant.
In 2014 the reconstruction of the Kurumoci International Airport was completed and there is a river port in the city, so getting to Samara will be easy.
With the problem of transportation out of the way, let’s take a look at some of the accommodation options Samara has to offer:
(we use Booking.com in Russia, and I recommend you searching on that web site because you will see all the options there)
Luxury hotels in Samara ($150 – $250)
HOTEL 19
Hotel 19 has a wonderful restaurant which is nicely designed, clean and stylish rooms and impeccable service with a 24-hour front desk.
On the property, free Wi-Fi and parking is provided, pets are allowed, and they even provide transport to or from the airport, free of charge!
Hotel Tonika
Hotel Tonika is located in the very centre of Samara, where all the action usually takes place. It offers a 24-hour front desk service, free Wi-Fi and has very polite staff.
The building is located in a quiet area, and the rooms have balconies from which you have a wonderful view of the city. The pedestrian Leningradskaya Street is located within walking distance from this establishment, and if you are planning to stay here, you should book it right away!
If there are absolutely no hotels left, you can try Airbnb.com, but make sure to ask your hosts in advance if they can register you.
What is registration? It is a Russian (very outdated if you ask me) law, that requires every foreigner to register in the immigration office in the first (!) day when he/she arrives. If you are staying in a hotel, they do the whole procedure for you. But in case you stay in a flat, you will probably need to take care of this by yourself.
If you are staying by Airbnb, here is my 22 EUR coupon discount for your first booking:
Middle priced hotels in Samara ($50-$100)
The Old Samara
This hotel is located in walking distance from the beach and it also has the advantage of being 1.2 km from the city centre. The establishment offers 24-hour front desk service and the rooms are well equipped.
The rooms offer a clear vantage point of the pedestrian area and guests are encouraged to walk and explore the surroundings. To be sure of your stay here during your visit in Samara, we advise that you book a room right away!
Hotel Stara Zagora
Hotel Stara Zagora offers fantastic means of recreation, consisting of a sauna, tennis court and billiards.
Public means of transportation can be found in the area but staff can provide taxis as well. The breakfast they offer is freshly made and delicious.
If you plan on staying here, you should book a room right away as they tend to run out fast!
Budget hotels in Samara (up to $50)
Nice Hostel
This hostel is located 6 minutes away from the beach. It features a shared loungeand puts at the disposal of guests free Wi-Fi access and rooms, which have balconies with a city view. The rooms are equipped to make you feel right at home and offer a shared bathroom with a shower and a hairdryer.
It is located 1.8 km. from the city centre, so you will have no problem getting in the middle of the action.
The staff is very helpful and will help guests at any times.
Nice Hostel Samara
This hostel is located 2 km. from the city centre. This means that you will be at all times right in the middle of the great atmosphere of the city!
It features a 24-hour front desk, free Wi-Fi and has clean rooms with friendly staff. Another advantage is that it is located near to the public transport.
If you are planning on visiting Samara, you should book right away, because if you wait any longer the possibility of not finding a room increases!
Type your dates below to see the rates for all the available hotels:
Booking.comTrains in Russia
Oh, I know a lot about transportation in Russia, trains and Trans Siberian in particular. Writing a detailed post that would help you guys plan your journey is in my to-do list for forever.
Before I publish it, how about you ask me questions in the comments section below this post? I promise to reply!
For now I can say that this is the official site for Russian trains, but the interface is quite poor and sometimes it doesn’t accept foreign cards.
If you have troubles, there is a great friendly website that accepts foreign cards, PayPal, sends you SMS with train updates and is user friendly, the price is 5% higher on average, but I think it is worth it because you won’t need to spend hours understanding how the official one works. And one more cool things – if you need to cancel or change the ticket, you can do it online!
If you want to go for a short distance, you can also try buses. Here is a good site for buying bus tickets online.
Conclusion:
I hope you found this article useful and you were able to find something good and fitting your budget.
I predict the accommodation situation will be quite tought in high season and the sooner you book, the better. It will not get cheaper, trust me!
Have a great time and do not hesitate to let me know if you have any questions!
Yulia
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Thank you very much. I am planning to visit Samara, Belgorod or Nizhny Novgorod with my friend.
Already I have been 3 times in St. Petrsburg, 4 times in Moscow (2015 to 2018) and Kazzan 2018.
In your opinion or other reader here, what area is comparable to Saint Petersburg? As beautiful places, gardens, and kind People and helper. …
???
Not sure what do you mean?
Samara is a smaller city that has some interesting sights to offer, but it is definitely far from St Petersburg in terms of culture and beauty of architecture.
But if you have already been numerous times to the bigger city, I ‘d recommend to go and see Samara too, I am sure you will enjoy it there!
Thanks Yulia, yes that’s what I meant… so it is far in beauty from St. Petersburg or Moscow.
I made a few research about Samara, it is very limited for tourist.
Thanks I will think about. I think St Petersburg one visit per year is not sufficient 😉
Hi, is it possible to make a camp in Samara? I want to take my tent with me and make a camp in Samara.
I am not sure, but I would say it is not allowed to camp in the city
Hi Yulia,
We are keen on going to Samara to see our national team play but the prices are becoming prohibitive even for really low key places.
Is there anything we are missing? I can’t seem any decent hotels and the only ones left which seems like a 1 star place in some industrial zone are asking £500 per night?
Are there any agencies that we can get the normal hotels through or we are exposed to speculators? if this is the case, sadly I think we’ll probably bail out of going to Russia.
Hello Miquel,
yes, like many cities in Russia, Samara is not such a touristy destination and it simply does not have that many hotels as people need for the dates of football. The demand is much more than the supply, hotels understand it and set crazy prices because they know that there will be people who will buy it. This is why for events like this it is strongly advisable to book as much in advance as possible, sorry it happened to you!
I dont think there are any agencies that will be able to find you some rooms now, as i said the city is simply not equipped for this many tourists.
What I can suggest in this situation is:
1) you can search for options outside of the city (50 km radius should be enough, ex-Chapaevsk), rent a car and go to the city for the match
2) you can search on airbnb, though I doubt you will find lower prices there (plus, as i explained in the post) if you need an invitation from them they will most probably not make one for you
3) You can come for the match and leave by (free) train back to where you have the accommodation which I really recommend getting asap, it is not getting any cheaper anywhere.
Hope this helps a little,
I hope you will be able to make it to the world cup!
Hi Yulia, Thanks for your post. We are going from Kazan to Samara, which is the best way to go? I’ve seen flights are expensive. Is there any ferry available? or do you recommend renting a car, or any other reasonable way.
Hi Juliana,
sorry for the late reply, it slipped out of my radars 🙂
The best way to get from Kazan to Samara is to go by train, you can find your tickets here .
There is a ferry indeed, but I am afraid all the info is in russian, you can use google translator though – here and here.
It might be a good option also to rent a car, I have a discount with Sixt here
What I want to say…they are fu**ng crazy with the prices during WC. I’ve never seen before such price increase for 1 month. Like they want to earn money last time in their lives.
During Euro 2008 in Austria I rent appartments, 60m for 40 euros per night. Next door to Czhech rep team hotel.
P.s; leaving in Moscow
Yeah, I completely agree, the prices are crazy!
Thats is why I recommend booking as much in advance as possible, the prices are not getting lower for sure
I liked the post … I’ve been thinking about going to Russia for this year, and I have relatives in this city of Samara. One of the favorite things about this region is the rich places to stroll and entertain.