Way to Russia Talk Lounge

tartetatin · Just Starting Joined: 13 Dec 2003 Posts: 2

Our family of 5 (3 young children) are spending 4 days in Stockholm. We then have 12 days to travel. I'd like to visit Vilnius, Riga, Tallinn, St Pete and Finland, not necc. in that order. This might be too ambitious. But my question is which method(s) of transportation we should use.
Ideally, we would drive - as it's a hassle getting little kids settled on a bus or train, esp. for these long hauls. Or waking them for a 3am border crossing. I really need to drive in Finland, as my goal is to visit modern architecture. After that, the cities mentioned will do.
I've read alot of web postings, and no-one mentions driving in the Baltics or Russia (hmm). That bad? Dangerous? I'd love a suggested itinerary with transportation details. Thanks.

WayToRussia · Posted: Sat Dec 13, 2003 7:57 pm Post subject: Driving in Russia

It's not that driving in Russia is bad or dangerous, the only problem is that you may be stopped by traffic police more often because of your foreign plates.

If you want to save your children from all the border hassle, I think the best is to travel from Sweden to Estonia by boat, take a few days and drive by car around Baltics (it's very unlikely there will be any long queues at the borders, although it is possible), then come back to Tallin, take a train to St. Petersburg or a day-time Eurolines bus (like this your children won't have to wake up in the night and the whole trip takes about 7 hours). And then afte rspending some time in St. Pete go to Helsinki by train. The train is quite comfortable and it is not stopped for a long time at the border.

Dmitri / WayToRussia.net

tartetatin · Just Starting Joined: 13 Dec 2003 Posts: 2

Dimitri, Thanks for the very useful information. Is there anything I should know about driving in the Baltics? Also, could you suggest an itinerary, good/bad routes, or at least interesting places to visit that are not in the guidebooks (I'm especially interested in 20th century architecture). Oops, almost forgot, interesting destinations for children (4 -11), too.
Thanks