Widely Mother Russia has spread its wings from west to east. From the calm B altic Sea to the northernmost peaks overlooking the raging waters of the Arctic Ocean. The largest country in terms of area, occupying 11.5% of the entire earth's land surface, is famous not only for its endless expanses, but also for impenetrable forests, turbulent rivers, harsh taiga and steppe forest tundra. The journey by car from one end of the country to the other takes one and a half to two weeks, and sometimes all three, if you go in spring or autumn, when some of the roads are washed out, and some are rutted so much that the speed of movement drops to the speed of a human step. And if you can still get to the megacities of the country by moving along the highway from one city to another, then two small settlements on the map of our vast homeland usually share distances much greater than the usual straight-line travel.
Distance "Saratov - Kazan"
These two big and famous cities are no exception. There are no federal communication routes between them, despite their importance among the local population. Motorists have a choice of only regional highways, sometimes narrow and with a road surface, in some places not always of high quality, which significantly reduces the level of safety when traveling along them. The distance "Saratov - Kazan" in a straight line is 515 kilometers. However, at the end of the trip, an unpleasant surprise awaits the autotraveller in the form of completely different numbers reflected on the odometer.
Third Capital
Kazan, the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan, is often called the third capital of the Russian Federation after Moscow and St. Petersburg. And it's not in vain. The city is very beautiful, especially at night. All illuminated by lights, the Kazan Kremlin looks at the travelers from the height of the hill with a stern and cold gaze. The city even has its own subway line, the stations of which are announced by the autoinformer in three languages: Tatar, Russian and English.
By train
The distance between cities Saratov - Kazan by train is overcome easily and naturally. It seems that the train was just sailing out of the noisy center of the capital of the republic, crossing the tumultuous Volga, and after a few moments it is already merrily rolling into the Saratov railway station, the Saratov-1 Passenger station. Travel time is just over fifteen hours. Fare - 1720 rubles perreserved seat accommodation and 2460 rubles for a seat in a compartment. The distance "Saratov - Kazan", which the traveler overcomes, following from city to city by train, is already 701 kilometers, that is, 185 kilometers more than in a straight line.
By car
But there are two ways to get from one city to another by private car. A shorter route runs along the P228 and P221 highways. The route passes through such large cities as Ulyanovsk, Syzran and Balakovo, running, with a few exceptions, along the bed of the Volga River. If you use this direction, then the distance between Saratov and Kazan along this route will be 675 kilometers. At the exit from Saratov, the highway is a six-lane highway (three lanes in each direction) with a good asph alt surface, clear markings and a one and a half meter safety island, without mechanical traffic direction delimiters. However, almost immediately after the passage of the Kamaz auto center, the quality of the road surface drops and the number of lanes is reduced to one in each direction. The two-lane continues to Syzran, periodically limiting dangerous ditches with road barriers-traps, and only closer to the city the quality of the road surface increases slightly. Syzran itself can be bypassed along the M5 federal highway, and turning onto the regional A251, head for Ulyanovsk. The quality of the asph alt here is also lame, one lane in each direction, it is dangerous to overtake. Having bypassed the center of Ulyanovsk, we are rebuilding on the regional highway P241. Yam andthere are noticeably fewer potholes, in some places there is no marking, but there are quite a few emergency catchers. Then we go out to the M7 federal highway, cross the Volga along it and drive up to the end point of the route.
Option 2
Quite a large number of auto travelers prefer to take a different route, following the route "Kazan - Saratov". The distance traveled by car along this path increases slightly, but the quality of the road surface is an order of magnitude higher than in the first variant of the passage. The second option passes through such large cities as Saransk, Penza and Ruzaevka. Leaving Kazan along the federal highway M7, we leave to the west, towards Moscow, and only after the village of Chirichkasy we turn left, onto the regional highway with the direction to Kanash. The highway, though without markings, but almost deserted. Only closer to settlements the road is filled with oncoming traffic. Further, the route runs almost parallel to the railway up to Saransk, where it enters the regional highway P178. We go around the city along P180 and after the district we smoothly leave for P158, which takes the autotourist directly to Saratov, bypassing Penza and other, less significant settlements. The distance "Saratov - Kazan" on the odometer in this case will be about 750 kilometers. 75 kilometers more than in the first option, and 235 kilometers more than the straight path. Here is the arithmetic!
