advice on itinerary
 

I was just looking for some advice on this itinerary for July 2014.

Moscow (5 days)
St Petersburg (5 days)
Helsinki (5 days)
Stockholm (5 days)
Copenhagen (4 days)

Is 5 days too much for some of these cities? I was thinking of maybe shortening 1 or 2 cities to 4 days if there is not much to see. We will be traveling with two kids (10 & 5). Feel free to recommend some things to do or places to see in any of the cities, thank you.

Frankly I think you will be bored stiff in Helsinki for 5 days. And you have left no time for the countryside. I would cut Helskini to 2 and add Norway for 3 - including a brief visit to Oslo and a look at a couple of fjords.

Thanks for the recommendation. After doing more research, I was also thinking of cutting Helsinki down and adding a daytrip to Tallin, Estonia. I will do further research to see if I can take train/plane/ferry to Oslo, thanks.

Would it make sense to go from Stockholm to Oslo to Copenhagen? Thanks.

I recommend also spending less time in Helsinki and adding in Tallinn. If you can squeeze in Norway, you would not regret it.

You might consider taking an overnight ferry as one of your transportation options. There is one from St Petes to Helsinki and also from Tallinn to Stockholm. We took both and really enjoyed them. I think the kids would like it also. Here is the links for those as well as the Linda line from Helsinki to Tallinn.

http://www.tallinksilja.com/en/web/int/book-a-cruise

http://www.stpeterline.ru/en/Schedule/Schedule.aspx

http://www.lindaline.ee/en/?p=256

You can fly from Stockholm to Oslo. Spend a day in Oslo and then take the NIN train to the fjords, continue on to Bergen for a night. Fly to Copenhagen and then fly home from there. This is the trip we took last year and thoroughly enjoyed it. Nice mix of cities and countryside.

Find your flights here:

http://www.low-cost-airline-guide.com/

Yes except for Copenhagen where several great days can be spend - due to a panoply of nice easy and awesome day trips the others (not including perhaps St Petersburg where I have not been) will have you thinking what can I do now?

I would suggest doing say 3 days in Helsinki and Stockhol, 4 days in Copenhagen and then head to Oslo for a day and then take the gorgeous Oslo-Bergen Railway and in Bergen the next day do the awesome Norway in a Nutshell loop, involving trains, a thrilling mountain bus ride and a fantastic boat ride on Norways's loveliest fjords and a thrilling mountain railway - all easily done and parts coordinated to loop from and back to Bergen - fly home from Bergen via some major airport.

If taking trains and ferries from Helsinki to Copenhagen and especially if doing Norway be sure to look into the Scan Rail Pass - for lots of great info on trains and boats in Scandinavia check out these IMO fantastic sites - http://www.budgeteuropetravel.com/; www.ricksteves.com and www.seat61.com. BTW the ScanRail Pass covers many boats and all trains - even in the non-Scandinavia country of Finland ( but not Russia!).

I agree that it makes sense to cut some time from Helsinki. Depending on your interests, 2 or maybe 3 days is likely to be sufficient there.

I don't see your travel days. If travel is part of the days you list, I would add a day to both Moscow and St. Petersburg so you have at least 5 full days in each. (Feel free to add more!)

I would keep at least 4 full days in both Stockholm and Copenhagen.

I haven't yet been to Tallinn or anywhere in Norway, so can't help with those.

Of course, it all depends on what you want to see and do! It is a beautiful part of the world; enjoy!