There is no highway, direct trains or flights to Samara, which is the sixth largest city in Russia, from Kazan despite their geographical proximity.

The city, based on the Volga River, is slowly being overrun by Australian and Danish fans ahead of Thursday's clash, but slowly is the key word, with many supporters enduring epic and long journeys.

Among the tales are 15-hour train trips from Kazan to Samara, along with last-minute car-ride shares and convoluted two/three-leg plane journeys.

John McGauran, who runs International Football Tours which is hosting approximately 40 Australia fans travelling around Russia following the Socceroos, said options were limited.

“The options to get here were a train, which was only 350 kilometres but it took 15 hours, so it wasn’t really an option," McGauran told FourFourTwo.

“It’s really slow and doesn’t have first class cabins. It’s not the same as Europe as you generally expect, for example from St Petersburg to Moscow takes three hours at the same distance.

“There’s no direct flight from Kazan to Samara. It’s like if you had to fly from Wollongong to Newcastle, so you’ve got to go through somewhere."

Mark Silva is on the International Football Tours trip

McGauran's tour opted to organise a bus which took seven hours to make the journey through winding roads in the Russian countryside along the Volga River.

“The other option was the bus ride,” McGauran said. “It was a bit of a slog but we got through it. The roads aren’t the greatest quality.

“It wasn’t fast at times as they were pseudo dirt roads. We were riding on shoulders and waiting for trucks to go past the other way.

“Sometimes you’ve got to grin and bear it. It’s half the challenges and joys of a World Cup.

"We experienced similar challenges in Brazil because you’re playing in smaller cities that provide logistical challenges in a big country where everything is spread out everywhere and not prepared for tourists.”

Independent traveller Daniel Logan decided for the train option, although he travelled more than 1000 kms from Kazan to Volgograd by train, approximately 18 hours, after Australia's 2-1 loss to France to squeeze in Tuesday morning's (AEST) Tunisia-England clash.

He then travelled a further 800 kms back north, approximately 15 hours, to Samara from Volgograd to arrive in time on Wednesday for Thursday's encounter with Denmark.

The most efficient method seemed to be fans booking flights months ago taking them from Kazan to Moscow, approximately 800 kms west, and on to Samara (another 1000 kms south-east), totalling five hours, with the layover the longest leg and the cost around AU$150.

However, another independent traveller Mario Valentini got thrifty, although he didn't exactly get what he'd bargained for.

"I thought I’d booked a bus from back home in Australia but when I got to the meeting point it wasn’t a bus, it was just a car," Valentini told FourFourTwo.

"There were seven people who barely fit inside along with the luggage. That was an issue, because we couldn’t fit it all, so we eventually took the spare tyre out, left it behind, to fit everyone and everything in.

"I thought if we get a flat we’re stuffed!"

The Fan Fest in Samara is being overtaken by Australian fans

Valentini was alongside strangers, which included a few Australians, but mostly Russians.

He added: "The trip was interesting because the roads are really bad in some places.

"It was about five hours. It wasn’t that expensive. I thought it was 500 rubles (approximately AU$10) but when we got there it was 500 for us and 500 for our baggage.

"It ended up being 1000 (approximately AU$20) but that’s still not that much for us.”