Magadan Getting there & around

Getting there & away

Land

Bus & truck

The Magadan bus station (22897; cnr pr Lenina & ul Proletarskaya) has daily bus services around the region; the furthest route goes to Susuman (R1010, 10 hours), on the way to Yakutsk. Bus 111 goes to the airport from here (R55, 70 minutes) every 45 minutes or so from 6.30am to 8.30pm.

One of the great 'extreme' trips is a rough multiday trip between Magadan and Yakutsk (2200km west) on the Kolyma Hwy, the so-called 'road of bones, ' in reference to the many Gulag prisoners who perished building it. It's most reliably travelled along the frozen Indigerka River in winter (after December, about two days); spring and summer conditions (6WD only) can turn the road to impassable slop (slushy May is an outright no-go) - other times it'll take at least four days. Hitching isn't recommended as we've heard many unlicensed gold prospectors create a somewhat criminal atmosphere, though technically it's possible to hitch from Susuman or Magadan. Hiring a vehicle from Magadan will cost about US$2000 (in winter) to US$4000 (in summer).

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Air

The airport is 61km northeast in the town of Sokol. Direct services connect Magadan with Khabarovsk (R5000, 2½ hours, three weekly), Krasnoyarsk (R9900, two weekly), Moscow (about R15, 000 to R18, 000, four weekly), Petropavlovsk (R3000, 1½hours, one weekly), and Vladivostok (R4500, three hours, two weekly). The less-popular flight to Yakutsk was suspended at research time.

Admiral-Tur (23496; ul Portovaya 1; 9am-9pm Mon-Fri, 10am-4pm Sat & Sun) can help with domestic and international tickets.

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