LaurenKahn1

I am negotiating with someone for a home exchange about an hour out of Helsinki for 3 weeks or so next July or August.

Anyone been? Suggestions? I was thinking in terms of doing a side trip to Lapland or St. Petersburg or maybe both.

I note that trains leave from Helsinki to St. Petersburg and they offer buying a Russian visa for you. I presume that is for Finns only. Anyone do this? Do you get the visa in the US before you go or in Helsinki? I assume that the train would be faster than the ferry but I would use whatever transport is faster.

I should close the deal in the next couple of days if it is going to go down.

And I was worried that the economic downturn would kill home exchange for awhile. Maybe not.

FainaAgain

Lauren, I don't remember, were you born in the USSR? If yes, go to the consulate page to see additional visa requirements.

lerasp

take the train. it's 4 hrs, nice and easy. check about visa reqs - you probably have to do it ahead of time in the US.

LaurenKahn1

I am an American citizen. I was just wondering if I took the train from Finland, could I get the visa there? The website for the trains advertises that they can handle the visa for Russia. I presume that would just be for Finns and not for US citizens. I had in mind going for two nights. I want to see the Yusupov Palace and spend more time at The Hermitage and/or at the Peterhoff Gardens. I thought 2 nights would be about right.

The Lapland thing would be easier because no visa would be needed. Anyway, the deal is still in negotiation and it would be for July or August 2009.

Thanks.

di2315

Hello LaurenKahn1

We went on a home exchange in Finland last year, and just loved it!

I also wasn't too sure about accepting, but if we've learned one thing from exchanging homes, it's that you get to experience the unexpected and off-the-beaten-tourist-path places.

We were in Tampere (north of Helsinki) for 10 days, so didn't have as much time as you will.
We did go to Helsinki and Turku, and other small villages to the north, but really didn't have enough time to do much more than that as there was so much to see and do in Tampere.

We didn't know a word of the Finish language, but everyone (except in the smallest villages) spoke excellent English so we had no communications problems.

If you click on my screen name, you should see my report on this trip.

Happy travels, Di

LaurenKahn1

Thanks. I left you a response on your poor neglected trip report. For some people, European travel means only Paris and London. Those reports always get read. Others don't.

LaurenKahn1

And this home exchange still is in negotiation as to dates but it does seem like it is going to be a deal. I am excited about exploring a country that is a new one for me.

Any suggestions would be welcome.

LaurenKahn1

I have a firm deal. It's a home exchange in Finland for next summer!

FainaAgain

Congratulations

Nancy34

I visited Helsinki in 2006 and had a wonderful time, and also highly recommend Peterhof. The water fountains & gardens there are incredible.

LaurenKahn1

I did a tour to Russia several years back with elderhostel. Great tour but I could have used a 2nd day at The Hermitage, more time in the Peterhoff Gardens and a tour of the Yusupov Palace where Rasputin was killed. The Finns are also telling me Tallin is wonderful and I have never been there so I might go there instead.

And then there is Lapland.

I just ordered some Finland guidebooks and very basic (as in TWO) conversational Finnish CD's. I just want to learn numbers, how to ask for the toilet, etc. This will not be a mega attack on the Finnish language as I just would like to have some for the trip.

Lots of planning to do but 10 months to do it in. Home exchanges are just the best way to travel. Heck, home exchange made me a 2 minute 30 second celebrity on CNN. Ha!

nancy1652

Agree with you about home exchanges. We are just finishing a six-week exchange in Paris for our Bay Area home. We have a gorgeous two-bedroom apartment in the 5th arr., 2 blocks from Rue Moufftard. It's been an incredible experience and we've had time for short trips to Amsterdam, Bruges, and Strasbourg. Wouldn't dream of doing it any other way. This is our fourth home exchange and all have been good. And we did it on Cragislist.

LaurenKahn1

Finland will be my 38th home exchange. I have never, by the way, had an apartment in Paris as centrally located as yours was. I have had a house out in the suburbs once. I really don't look that much for Paris and London because I have been there many times (although I wouldn't say "no" if it came along).

I do not write to anyone. I wait for them to write to me. By the way, today, after I changed my listings on both homelink.org and intervacus.com to state that I had a home exchange already for the summer of 2009, I got an offer from Devon, England. The dealing is over for me this year, however. The exchanger obviously did not read my listing closely!

LaurenKahn1

One day after getting my deal in Finland, I got an offer from Devon in England. I would love to visit Devon and Cornwall. Perhaps the summer of 2010! We are talking, but I never accept a home exchange deal made more than a year in advance. My experience with those sorts of deals is that something always happens and the deal never happens.

Have fun wherever your travels take you!

LaurenKahn1

By the way, I noticed that someone asked if I had been born in Russia and I answered that I was a US citizen. I should have said I was born in the US. 3 of my 4 grandparents were born in what is now Belarus (almost Russia). I just wanted to make this clear.

LaurenKahn1

I finally booked my ticket today. I paid just under $1000 with the airport taxes (about 1/3 of the price). I will be flying from DC to NYC and then nonstop to Helsinki on Finnair for my home exchange north of Helsinki.

Looking forward to exploring a new place!

LaurenKahn1

Well, my trip is shaping up. I just had my home exchangers get me a ticket to the Savonlinna opera festival ("Madame Butterfly"). I will go there and then to Imatra to go whitewater rafting during my trip to Finland. I also plan to drive towards the Arctic Circle and experience some of the Finnish lakes. I can hardy believe it is almost time for my home exchange! You plan, you plan, you plan. Then the trip comes and, boom, it is over and done with in a blink of an eye.

Then you plan the next trip.