World Cup 2018: What to do in Kaliningrad besides the football

Kaliningrad is one of the most cosmopolitan cities in Russia

The world’s biggest country has a geopolitical oddity: the region of Kaliningrad. This enclave is a fragment of Russian territory the size of Yorkshire, squeezed between Poland and Lithuania.

The capital is also called Kaliningrad, and is the westernmost host city in the 2018 World Cup. It is far from the vast majority of Russia; Amsterdam is as close to Kaliningrad as Moscow is.

As Königsberg, it was the capital of Prussia, which in turn became the mainstay of the German Empire. During the Second World War the city and its Baltic shore was a key military base, and was flattened first by British bombing in 1944 and a bloody attack waged by the Soviet Red Army.

The region was assigned to the USSR at the Potsdam Conference, and resurrected as Kaliningrad – named for Mikhail Kalinin, chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the Congress of Soviets during the first part of the Stalin era.

Today, Kaliningrad is one of the most cosmopolitan cities in Russia, with an attractive strip of seaside to the north. Culturally, the region is firmly Russian, but Kaliningrad has plenty in common with the Baltic Republics of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, as well as eastern Poland.

Getting there

The easiest access from the UK is via Gdansk in Poland, which has direct flights from many British airports. Some direct buses run from Gdansk airport to Kaliningrad, but if there are none ready to go then catch regular bus 210 to the main railway station in Gdansk. Spend the equivalent of £5 on the one-hour inter-city train to the small city of Elblag, from where there will be buses to Kaliningrad or as far as the border at Braniewo in Poland. (From here, it is standard practice to hitch-hike across the frontier; pedestrians are not allowed.) Trains run from the westernmost station in Russia, Mamonovo, to Kaliningrad’s Yuzhny (South) railway station in the south of the city, and adjacent to the international bus station.

Getting around

Buses, trolleybuses, trams and minibuses (known as marshrutki, or route taxis) are efficient. Network maps appear unobtainable so ask locals for the right number to catch to your destination. (The tourist authorities recommend approaching people under 30, since they are likely to speak English.)

On match days, supporters with a Fan-ID travel free. On other days the flat fare is only 20 roubles, the equivalent of 25p.

Taxis are reasonably cheap and drivers usually honest.

Check in

On match nights, conventional hotel accommodation is thin on the ground, but many citizens are advertising beds in their apartments for typically £30 per night.

Be warned that for “informal” accommodation, you may need to go to the police to register your presence in Russia; proper hotels will do this routinely at no charge.

For the England game there’s a pop-up campground nine miles out which is asking £50 a night for a place in a two-person tent.

Seeing the sights

Points of interest begin as soon as you leave Yuzhny station: the statue of Kalinin stands opposite. Five minutes’ walk to the west stands Brandenburg Gate: one of eight impressive entrances to the city, and the only one still to be used.

The main attraction is the redbrick Gothic Königsberg cathedral, rebuilt with the help of German donations. It was once the heart of a vibrant city-centre community. But everything around it was destroyed in the Second World War, and it now stands amid greenery on Kant Island – named for Immanuel Kant, the philosopher who believed perpetual peace could be secured through universal democracy and international cooperation.

The final days of German control are chronicled in the Bunker Museum, which is rather hard to find north-east of Lenin Avenue; it’s hidden in a patch of waste ground near the junction of Shevchenko Street. If you can see the mural of Soviet goalkeeping legend Lev Yashin, you are close.

Team spirit: the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, overlooking Victory Square in Kaliningrad (Simon Calder)

The admission fee of 150 roubles (£2) gives access to a warren of 21 rooms buried 20ft below the ground. It was the headquarters of General Lyash, who in April 1945 surrendered to the Soviet Red Army in a bid to save the lives of the surviving citizens.

The hub of the 21st-century city is Victory Square (Ploshchad Pobedy), dominated by the modern Cathedral of Christ the Saviour.

To the northeast, a lake adds to the sense of space. To the northwest, Prospect Mira is strewn with monuments – including the impressive Cosmonauts’ Memorial.

Eating and drinking

The city’s German heritage is celebrated in the Zötler Bavarian Restaurant at 3 Lenin Avenue. You might not enjoy the smoked pigs’ ears (210 roubles), but the Königsberg klops (meatballs with capers, 590 roubles) is excellent.

For a drink, the waterside bars of the reconstructed “Fishing Village”, east of Kant Island, are unbeatable on a sunny evening. (Beware of “beer snacks”, which include leathery slices of dried fish.) This location is also well placed for the stadium, about a mile’s walk. To avoid the fans, though, head for the Scala Cinema on Mira Avenue, which has a stylish cafe as well as a sculpture of Woody Allen’s spectacles; the director was born Allen Königsberg.

The football

The new Kaliningrad Stadium, also known as the Baltic Arena, has put the city’s Oktyabrsky Island on the map. Until Russia 2018 came along, the island was a wilderness. Now it is a temporary home to 35,000 fans. After England play Belgium here on 28 June, the final match in Group G, the stadium will be handed to Baltika Kaliningrad – whose average home gate is around 4,000, so 10,000 seats are going to be removed

Watch out for…

The rail station is on two separate time zones. Suburban trains are based on local time. But long-distance services to and from Moscow and St Petersburg, and the big clock outside the station operate on Moscow time – an hour ahead of local time in Kaliningrad.