Ivangorod's castle on the right, Narva's on the left

Ivangorod is a small town in Leningrad Oblast, sitting right at the Estonian border at the Narva River, opposite the Estonian city of Narva. Ivangorod was for most of its history more or less in municipal union with Narva, as the junior partner. It is part of the Silver Ring of cultural and historical centers of Northwestern Russia.

Understand

It has been much more difficult to move back and forth across the Narva river following the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the ensuing poor relations between Russian and Estonia, which has divided the populace (and somewhat stranded those on the Russian side from the city's actual centre). The river became the border only in 1945, and at the time both sides were part of the Soviet Union.

Get in

By train

The overnight train between Tallinn and Saint Petersburg calls here. There is one to two additional services from Saint Petersburg per day.

• 1 Ivangorod-Narvsky railway station. (updated Nov 2020)

By car

While Ivangorod is right at the Tallinn-St. Petersburg highway, the bridge between Ivangorod and Narva is closed to vehicle traffic since the start of the Russian-Ukrainian war. Check out Driving in Russia for what documentation you need to bring a foreign car to Russia.

By bus

Buses between Tallinn and St. Petersburg stop here.

On foot

The border crossing from Narva remains open to pedestrians, and is one of the places you can cross into Russia with a cheaper e-visa.

See

• 1 Ivangorod Fortress. Established by Ivan III in 1492, today it functions as a museum. (updated Nov 2020)
• 2 Ivangorod Art Museum (Ивангородский Художественный музей), ☏ +7 81375 51-792. (updated Nov 2020)

Go next

• Narva – On the Estonian side of the river
• Saint Petersburg