Swedish Countryside or St. Petersburg?

I have been to St. Petersburg many times and highly recommend going there for a few days. It is far better than Copenhagen, Stockholm and Helsinki put together!! The architecture alone is worth the trip then there is the remarkable Hermitage Museum. This is one of my favorite cities. It is an adventure worth exploring.

Do you have visas lined up for St. Petersburg? I don't remember how long it took to get mine, but it was several weeks. And they are expensive. I loved St. Petersburg, but I would save yourself the hassle on this trip. Stockholm is great, and you might decide you'd like more time there. If not, nearby Uppsala is charming, and, though I haven't been there myself, I've heard great things about Gothenburg.

Caroline

Since you will be leaving from Helsinki, look at doing a round trip on the St Peter Line between Helsinki and St Petersburg, You can stay 2 nights in St Petersburg and 2 nights on the ferry. No visa is required. The ferry doesn't depart every day, so it may not work given you are working around a wedding.

A lot of people aren't aware of the 72 hour visa free option if you use the St Peter Line ferry. You don't have to have a guide like when you arrive by cruise. You do have to book their "city tour" which is just a shuttle to their hotels. This link explains the rules:
https://stpeterline.com/en/visa-free-rule

I did the 72 hour visa free option on the St Peterline Ferry back in 2014. For convenience, we just booked our hotel through the ferry line. We stayed at the Sokos Vasilievsky which is not very central but it was a perfectly fine business class hotel with very nice breakfast buffet. It was easy because the ferry took care of the hotel paperwork we needed on entry and the shuttle dropped us off there. There are some posts on tripadvisor that explain what you need if you decide to book your own hotel.

We did the following:
Day 1 - Arrived and took shuttle to hotel. It was around noon or so by the time we got to hotel. Took metro to Nevsky Prospect and visited the various churches along the way.
Day 2 - Took an organized tour that we booked through TJ Travel and visited Peterhof Gardens, Catherine Palace, and Peter and Paul Fortress. They picked us up from hotel. Guide was very good.
Day 3 - Spent about 3 hours at the Hermitage, had late lunch, and then headed back to hotel to catch shuttle (around 4) back to ferry

Rick Steves calls the Swedish Countryside the most boring countryside he's ever seen.

Sorry Ruck, I love the Swedish countryside.

I, too, love the Swedish countryside. You need to decide whether you want picturesque countryside or another city. Only you can decide that. They are completely different animals, so to speak.

Personally I couldn't travel to Russia given the political and social situation. However I was fortunate to make it to St Petersburg before it got nasty. I would prefer to travel in Sweden at the moment.

Thank you all for your input! I think after review, we'll plan on taking a bullet train from Copenhagen straight to Stockholm, and once we arrive in Helsinki, take the visa free ferry from there to St. Petersburg for a 72 hour visit. Follow up question though - is getting from Stockholm to Helsinki best by budget plane? Or take the ferry from Stockholm? Are the Baltic sea views amazing enough to warrant the ferry? Or best to save time with a plane ride over? Thanks again!

The views were very memorable when we took the ferry from Stockholm to Helsinki.

I actually think the ferry is the best option between Stockholm and Helsinki. The scenery going through the Stockholm archipelago is beautiful. The ferry can also be quite economical as you save a hotel night. Also, the ferry from Stockholm to Helsinki is much nicer than the St Peter Line.