Helsinki, Tallin, st.petersburg Russia, Stockholm, Amsterdam

I would skip St Petersburg on this trip if you only have one day. Instead, you could take the ferry from Helsinki to Tallinn, stay overnight in Tallinn, and then take the ferry from Tallinn to Stockholm without backtracking to Helsinki.

Do you already have a flight home from Amsterdam? It seems like the outlier in your plans. If you cut that out, you might be able to do the 3 day visa free stay in St Petersburg on the St Peter Line ferry.

Hi thanks for,your response. We are flying back home from Amsterdam and thought to visit there form2-3 days before departure. The only reason for our return to Helsinki from Tallin was to bring our son back and take this amazing night ferry to Stockholm. But your overnight stay in Tallin and ferry from there sounds like the better idea. Is the ferry from Tallin the same? If we rule out st Petersburg, should we make a stope in coppenhagen before Amsterdam? Or, again, is it too much?
Thanks for taking the time to respond.

The ferries from Helsinki to Stockholm are a bit larger and fancier than those from Tallinn to Stockholm.

If you want to visit Tallinn as a RT day trip from Helsinki so that you stay with your son, you could plan 3 nights in Helsinki (with one day being a day trip to Tallinn), 1 night on ferry from Helsinki to Stockholm, 3 nights in Stockholm, and 3 nights in Amsterdam. That leaves one extra night which you could either add to Stockholm or Amsterdam.

Thank you,
I think that is exactly what we will do. One more question, with that one extra night, could we do Copenhagen from Stockholm for one night and fly from there to Amsterdam? Or is that too much?
Thanks for your great suggestions

If you take St. Peter Line overnight ferry from Helsinki to St. Petersburg you won't need a Visa for Russia. The journey comes with a 72 hours visa valid for St. Petersburg county. It's a fun way and you are free to explore St. Petersburg completely on your own. The St. Peter Line terminal is much closer to the city than the cruise terminal and a free shuttle bus takes you straight to the city center (stop is in front of the Rocco Forte hotel).

Helsinki-Tallinn ferry experience: I recommend you take Tallink's Europa at 6:30pm down to Tallinn. You are allowed to stay the night on board in your cabin and the ship is absolutely fancy! The next afternoon return on Tallink's Megastar, the newest cruise ferry on the Baltic Sea and the one with the best traveller reviews on the entire Baltic Sea. It's another very cool, fancy vessel - and it was built in 2016.

There are two overnight ferries to Stockholm every day: Tallink's Silja vessels and Viking Line. The Silja vessels are huge, just like cruise ships. Both offer great value. While I prefer the Silja vessels the location of the Viking Line terminal in Stockholm is better than Tallink's.

A very cool alternative is to take the overnight ferry from Turku to Stockholm. The train station in Turku is in the port and right next to the ferry pier. In that case you must take Viking Grace as vessel. It's purpose-built for this route and is like a floating night entertainment resort (yet very quiet in the cabins).

Alternatively you can also do a triangle tour: Helsinki to Stockhom, Stockhom to Tallinn and Tallinn back to Helsinki. In that case make sure your Stockhom to Tallinn leg is on Tallink's Baltic Queen!

Keep in mind that if you take the St Peter Line / 72 hour visa free option, you need to allow 4 nights (2 nights on ferry, 2 nights in St Petersburg). I did this in 2014 and by the time we got through passport control and into the city, it was around noon. On the way home, we had to leave the city around 5. That is why I felt a one day trip would not be worthwhile; you just would not have enough time in this very large city. The 3 day trip (4 nights) was worthwhile.