Trying to plan a trip to Russia (St Petersburg) and wanting to spend a few days before and after in other countries that I haven't visited before. I'm really stumped!
Details: looking to go in October
Where we've been: UK, Italy, Greece, France, Netherlands
What we like: food ;) We really like animals, too - so if you know of any unique animal experiences I'd love to hear about them (we've loved animal sanctuaries in Australia, for example)
Any suggestions are welcomed! Thanks!
You know you need a visa for Russia and that process should be underway now.
A few days before and after could easily be spent in places like Estonia, Latvia. Anything else will require much more travel. And further out would be Poland. All very interesting.
You don't need a visa if you arrive via cruise ship and you spend your nights on the boat. Otherwise yes you will need a visa and that is NOT a simple or cheap undertaking. We're leaving in a couple of weeks for Moscow and St Petersburg...3 single visit Tourist Visas = $900. In all fairness we did have to expedite 1 of the Visas.
We'll be flying into St. Petersburg - I couldn't find any cruises in late October unfortunately. I'm not too worried about the visa since we can apply in person in San Francisco but will start the process right after I book the flights.
Thanks for the tips so far - keep 'em coming, please! :)
Although it's a 12 hour night train ride away, Vilnius was a real surprise to me. Several travel guides describe it as "an explosion of Baroque" and I would say that's a pretty good summary. I would also compare it to Prague in the early 1990s before the avalanche of tourists and souvenir shops set in. The food was also delicious, although Lithuania gets my vote for having the worst beer in Europe.
If you go to northern Norway around Kirkenes you could see the Northern Lights. Kirkenes is right by the Russian border. If you rent a car you could drive to the North Capp also and you would be able to see the thousands of reindeer there, it's so beautiful there. You could also visit a Lapp village.
Not much wildlife. I took a Baltic cruise, and never saw anything but gulls and waterfowl. Nothing like the Pacific coast. [Ano Nuevo is one of my favorite places.]
Tallinn was lovely, but I thought one day there was enough. Stockholm was my favorite port stop (we didn't go to Oslo). Lots to see and do, much inside (for the bad weather days).
I'm going to St. Petes at the end of July. For me it made sense to see it as part of a trip to the Baltic Capitals: Copenhagen, Stockholm, Oslo, Helsinki, St. Petes, Talinn and Gdansk.
I'm not sure this is a good area to visit in October. I normally prefer traveling in May or September but Christophe, a contributor from Copenhagen, suggested July/August as the best time to visit. We visited Italy in October and felt it was perfect because it was cooler than Summer. In the North, however, it will be cold and dark late in the year, many sites will be closed.
For animals. One of the open air museums (Stockholm or Oslo) includes a zoo. Copenhagen has an aquarium. I expect to see seals in the archipeligo approaching Sweden if not other countries.
Spending nights on the cruise ship is not enough to land in Russia without a visa. You must be on an organized tour to leave the ship without a visa. It does not have to be a ship's tour, but it must be pre-arranged.
THis is just me but If it were me I would take the trans-siberian and trans-mongolian railroad to either china or mongolia. Another option is Ukraine which I hear is a beautiful country.
Russia does not seem very welcoming and is still immensely bureaucratic and vaguely Stalinist. It almost feels as tho the Russians have decided to tell the World that: "We are Russians and you arent and that is YOUR problem". It is not a country that makes independent travel easy and it is one that constantly throws roadblocks in a traveller's way.
Ukraine has shed all of that . The Baltics (Lithuania,Latvia and Estonia) are said to be cool
Poland should not be missed
We were just in St. Petersburg late May and loved it. We got cheap flights and flew from Copenhagen to St. Petersburg, spent 4 days in St. Petersbug, and from St. Petersburg to Prague. The food in both places were great, especially pastries, not sure about animal encounters.
