Kappy

Hello All
I will be going to Helsinki in the middle of September and would like to take a guided tour to St. Petersburg Russia for three to four days by experiencing the 5 hour train ride instead of air travel.


My question is has anyone had a good experience with the Helsinki Expert Tours or Scan Tours or any other group. I have already received great information e mail responses from Helsinki Expert Tours. I am leaning toward them for travel to Russia.

Thanks in advance.

bratsandbeer

We took the train tour from Helsinki to St Petersburg. We booked with www.nordicsaga.com The tour is run by the Finland Tourist Bureau.
They have changed hotels since our tour with them as the food was not so good at the hotel we stayed at in St Pete. We enjoyed the tour very much - the guide was excellent.

When you go by train into Russia you do need a Visa which Nordicsaga will take care of for you. It did cost $100 but this was 4 years ago.

When you cross the border into Russia the Russian customs officer will get on the train. He will take your passport and give you a paper to fill out declaring how much money you have and what jewelry, cameras etc - anything of value that you are taking into Russia. Then, before the officer gets off at the next stop he will give you back your passport and take your paper.

When you leave it is the same thing in reverse. They want to make sure you are leaving with no more than what you came with or are leaving too much money or expensive items in Russia.

The officers may inspect what you have with you, especially what you purchased. Above all do not say you bought those cheap icons or they will go through everything you have. Real icons are a no no and can not be taken out of the country - however the souvenir ones are okay. I watched a couple people really get inspected when they mentioned icons and all that had were the souvenirs.

bratsandbeer

Forgot to mention if you do inquire about the tour at Nordicsaga you may want to ask what their hotel rates are as we got cheap rates with them. We stayed at the Hotel Marski.

Kappy

Hi

Thank you very much for the great info. I have been to Eastern Europe and understand what you mean as we had a similiar experience by auto in Prague and Budapest quite a few years ago. Thanks again for another tour group and the hotel advice.

Kappy

Hi

I have already gotten a positive e mail response from Nordic Saga.
I will definitely consider them.

Has anyone had any positive experiences from Helsinki Expert? The dates in September that they tour St. Petersburg are a little better for me. They e mailed me quickly also.

I also e mailed Scan Tours but have gotten no response so they are probably off the list unless anyone has anything positive to say about them.

Thanks in advance

bratsandbeer

Not sure if this would help, but the Finland Tourist Bureau is the one who actually have the train tour to St Petersburg. You may try to contact them online and ask about signing up through them. Just a another idea.

charlieg

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Orlando_Vic

In 1985, we used Finnsov Tours <http://finnsov.fi/eng/index.php> before the days of e-mail. They booked us on an English-speaking, 4-day bus tour from Helsinki to St. Petersburg that was very well done. I am pleasantly surprised that they are still in business and apparently prospering.