How to plan an adventure

[fluffymark]

So, here I am in front of the computer, with my atlas beside me showing me a lovely map of Finland, Estonia and the bit of Russia around St. Petes, and am working out where all these strange places are I may have to go to. Wow. I've spent the past few hours on a major webhunt of useful sites so I'm going to splurge a few here for my own reference so I don't forget them. Just ignore me...

Hostels: http://www.bootsnall.com
Finnish Trains: http://www.vr.fi
Estonian Trains: http://www.evrekspress.ee
Ryanair: http://www.ryanair.com
Tallinn-Helsinki ferry: http://www.tallink.fi

And what have I found? Sadly the Finnish budget airline FlyingFinn I was originally planning on traveling with closed their Stansted-Helsinki route about 3 weeks ago. Grrrr. This was nearly a catastrophic deathblow for the whole adventure. Fortunately Ryanair offer a cheaper if slightly bizarre alternative: Tampere. Seems flights there are £9.99 and it's a 90 minute train ride from there to Helsinki. Yay. Only minus is theres only one flight a day and arrival time into Helsinki is very late evening. But thats the only way there so thats what it'll have to be. Which fails miserably to connect with the night train to St. Petes, although it seems that a bad idea anyway as I'd arrive in St Petes at 1:30AM if the connection was do-able, which would be bad. So It'll be a night in Helsinki, and then the early morning train out to St Petes arriving early afternoon, unless theres a convenient overnight coach I've not yet spotted. Hostels in st Petes are at manageable prices (at least compared to Helsinki). This is good as I may be paying for two. The Estonian leg of the journey seems better timed, theres nice overnight trains to Tallinn, and I can spend a night there, and regular and fast ferries between there and Helsinki. Finding cheap accomodation in Helsinki is not proving to be easy, but I'm sure it exists somewhere. But overall it looks very affordable adventure. Just the hassle of sorting out the Russian visa can stop me now...

Oh look, I'm off to Bruges on Thursday. Yaaaaaaaaaay! :)

Comments

Uh-oh...

[alektoeumenides.livejournal.com]

What DAY would you arrive in Petes? If it's Saturday afternoon then it's probably best for me to turn up on Sunday morning...instead of wasting a whole morning (and I've done it before, it's not fun).

If that's what's happening, let me know.

Can't Buzz.com provide a cheap flight to Helsinki?

I might be able to pay for a night in petersburg...you pay upfront, I'll owe you.

Re: Uh-oh...

[fluffymark]

It'd be teh Saturday afternoon (assuming I take the friday off work to travel to Helsinki). Yep, if can't be there who whole weekend, it'd be better if you arrived sunday morning and left on monday or tuesday (tuesday tuesday tuesday....i want more val!). I'll probably book a twin room for 3 nights anyway even for the nights it's just me, as it'll be less confusing and more secure and stuff. Don't want you wasting a morning.

Buzz.com disappeared about 3 years ago, yes they used to run flights to Helsinki, but right now it appears that there are *no* budget flights directly to Helsinki. Tampere is the only place in Finland any budget airline flies to. The non-budget flights to Helsinki start at about 150 pounds, so a bit ouchy.

Re: Uh-oh...

[alektoeumenides.livejournal.com]

Hm...ok, so Sunday it is. I think I'll head back on Monday because I really don't fancy comming back on Tuesday morning and going straight to work...some of us want to get a break at some point you know :)

STA travel has quoted me about 100pounds for a return ticket to Helsinki on Scandinavian airlines from London Heathrow.

Cheapflights.co.uk is damned useless.

Easyjet is useless.

Finnair starts at about 110 for a return flight to Helsinki.

Just thought I'd give you the options anyway.

Re: Uh-oh...

[fluffymark]

I can't complain about a whole 2 days of your lovely company, really. :) Ancaully, any more may question my sanity like it often does, so maybe it's best. I like being on my own too. :)

Oooh. Scandinavian airlines one looks like it may be more convenent - overall works out slightly more expensive than Ryanair+StanstedExpress+Tampere-Helsinki, but would be a whole lot less hassle. Thanks for that pointer. Hmmmm.

Cheapflights.co.uk has a strange definition of cheap. No I don't want to take Czech airlines and go via Paris and Prague which will cost me £600 or so pounds. Silly people.

Also may be worth looking into single flights directly to st petes - after all I'm going to get to see Helsinki lots on the way back, the only reason I'm travelling via there on the way is because I've failed to find any flights resembling anythign cheap directly there. Even Aeroflot cost a fair bit. Got any ideas?

Re: Uh-oh...

[alektoeumenides.livejournal.com]

Hm. Petes is not cheap. In many respects it's cheaper to get a return flight or to go via Helsinki/Tallinn.

On the other hand, you might win on convenience and pay about the same if you go direct. Remember you still have to get from Helsinki to Petes.

STATravel.co.uk have quoted me about 150quid for a one way ticket on Brussels Airlines. If you can get that then it's probably worth it after the Helsinki train blah blah blah.

However, unless you still have a student card handy you might not be able to benefit from their bargin fares :(

Pososhok.ru quote just under $300 one way on Aeroflot, which probably works out somewhere between 150-200 quid. Might be worth investigating further.

Cheapflights.co.uk say under 200quid.

I really must run. Good luck.

Re: Uh-oh...

[fluffymark]

Wow - thanks for all the help- you're too nice at times, dearie.

Am not longer a student, and don't think I can get away with pretending to be one either anymore.

If I *can* get a 1 way flight to St petes direct for about 150, I think I may go for it.

Choices choices choices. But thats what makes it fun! :)

My pleasure

[alektoeumenides.livejournal.com]

Here to help.

Now get moving!

[fluffymark]

Booked it! :) Yay!

Staying 3 nights at St Petersburg Traveller Hostel starting May 1st. Have emailed them about the visa support they offer. You're staying the Sunday night (the 2nd).

Found no sensible flights from the non-budget airlines - most want to have stopovers at Copenhagen and even those that don't usually arrive late afternoon/evening which makes them just as bad. So I'm flying into Tampere on April 30th, and will be in St Petes early afternoon the next day. Flying back from Tampere on Sunday May 9th, giving me lots of time to explore Estonia and Finland on the way back! :)

Well done...

[alektoeumenides.livejournal.com]

Well of course I can't buy the train tickets yet, but when I do hopefully it should all work out that I'll arrive on the morning of Sunday 2nd at Moscow station...which ought to be quite close to the hostel (in fact, the closest metro station is there I believe). So I can email you the time and you can meet me off the train.

Comming from Finland you'll be arriving at Finland station. I must reconmend that instead of going straight to the underground, stick your head outside first. There is a statue of Lenin just outside. Plus there are stalls around the station selling yummy yummy shaurma...sort of kebaby things in flatbread...and in Petes they are covered with garlic sauce. The ones around that station were my favourites.

Anyway, *yay* for being organised!

I have a mini guide to Helsinki/Tallinn which I can lend you. You can post them back to me when you're home (I do want them back 'cos they're handy). They're old (the Tallinn guide is over a year old now) but still useful.

[fluffymark]

Nothing beats gazing at a huge statue of Lenin whilst eating a Kebab-type thing, eh? *smallsmile*. I'll give it a try, dearie.

Mini-guide to Helsinki/Tallinn will be very helpful, although when I next go near a bookshop I intend to buy some travel guide covering the Baltic/Scandinavia so I've something to plan things with that's up to date. It's all very exciting. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to abuse the office Fax machine to arrange that crucial visa invite (hostel is offering a service for $25 which sounds both convenient and not too expensive). Yay! :)

[pinkdormouse.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I was very tempted to fly to Poland last night...

Gina

Re:

[fluffymark]

Poland. Why Poland? I'd like to go there at some point. It sounds nice.

Re:

[pinkdormouse.livejournal.com]

My beta's there and she was complaining about being poor so I thought I'd go over with some DVDs for her to watch.

Gina

[bluesbell.livejournal.com]

Tampere is the goth capital of Finland, you know :)

I'll try to look up cheap accommodation in Helsinki for you. If you need help with anything, I'm here!

Re:

[fluffymark]

Yay goths! I'd no idea thats where the goths of finland go to mope. I suppose it'll be a bit much to hope for an all-night goth club in Tampere on a friday night? That would save me finding a hostel in Helsinki on my way into Russia.

Please help me! You're a star if you can find me a cheap Helsinki hostel. :)

Re:

[bluesbell.livejournal.com]

It depends; if you're lucky there just might be a club, but they're infrequent. What's the exact date when you'll be in Tampere?

I found one hostel with 22,5 eur for a bed in a dormitory, which sounds quite lame, I'll try to find more options.

Re:

[fluffymark]

Assuming I fly in by Ryanair, I'll be in Tampere on April 30th, and I'll need somewhere to stay either there or in Helsinki. Later I'll be staying in Helsinki about 3 nights from 6-9 May.

That's the cheapest i've seen so far, but you're right thats a lame price for a dorm room. Erk. There must be something cheaper somewhere!

Finnish goths...

[alektoeumenides.livejournal.com]

Goths in general are quite big there...it wouldn't surprise me that they hide somewhere like Tampere.

Get some skull shaped jellies from the shop on the main street in Helsinki. If I remember correctly the name of the sweet shop was verging on the rude (ie it had something like the word "fanny" in it or something...*sigh* I'm so easily amused me.)

There were also some rather nice stuffed bready things I got in the department store (Kalinkas). I forget what they're called...they're made from rye bread and are small and oval shaped and you can get ones with cheese in them. Tasty snacky cheap. Yum.

Anyway, enough. Just get planning.

[fluffymark]

Oh oh oh! It all sounds delightful and yummy. I hope your highlights of Helsinki didn't revolve entirely around food, dearie! :? I can't wait to get there. I must get a little organized now...

[pinkdormouse.livejournal.com]

Oh and you know snowgrouse is in Finland, don't you?
Have you encountered her much on my Friends List?

Gina

[fluffymark]

Gosh no, I'd not realised that. Any help I can get form her direction will be most most welcome. :)

Re:

[pinkdormouse.livejournal.com]

I told her to look out for you.

Gina

[fluffymark]

Thankyou! She's been very helpful already. :)

Re:

[pinkdormouse.livejournal.com]

So I see :-)

Gina

[caro7.livejournal.com]

That's a pretty identical itinerary to what we'll be doing in summer, tho' missing out St P as have been there already. Haven't done much research yet (still planning for Easter's Venice-Slovenia-Croatia-Budapest jaunt!) but checked out Eurohostel in Helsinki and they look/sound good - one advantage being that they're near the port if I remember rightly, so you can just flop off the ferry.

Thanks so much for doing a dummy run for us ;-)

[fluffymark]

I'll be sure to let you know the placet to go to and avoid. As long as you tell me all about your adventures - I'm planning to head for Eastern Europe maybe later in the year so any pointers there will be welcome! :)

Travelling is so much fun! :)

[snowgrouse.livejournal.com]

Hiya, pinkdormouse pointed me out to you... Gorgeous background on your lj, btw, adore Mucha.

Anyhow, I recommend staying overnight in Tampere or elsewhere as it would be way cheaper than Helsinki. I live in Lahti, which is about half-way between the two (about 100 km north of Helsinki). There's just no way of getting cheap accommodation in Helsinki short of staying over at friends:P. Finnish hotel prices are ridiculous and we don't really have a b&b culture here.

I heartily recommend Tampere--it's a lovely town full of culture and much warmer and relaxed than Helsinki. Dunno about it being a Goth capital, but I sure as hell prefer Tampere goths to Helsinki ones (the latter seem to be rather up their own arses). *cough*.

Was the VR website helpful? I *think* you can actually take the straight train to St. Peters from here in Lahti without going via Helsinki, if I'm not completely mistaken. *checks train timetable booklet* yup, 'tis true! If you go to Helsinki from Tampere you'll end up doing another visit up here anyway before the train turns east towards Russia. I'd recommend getting off at Riihimäki or Lahti and then hopping on the St. Peters train if you want to avoid unnecessary travel to Helsinki.

Anyway, just random things that popped to my head:). I'll be here if you need more help...

[fluffymark]

Hello! How helpful you are! I like you already.

I'd come to the same conclusion about Helsinki hostels! Ow! I'll see how cheap places are outside Helsinki, and may end up travelling around Finland for the 3 days staying nights in different cities - that may be even more fun!

Have now booked flight to Tampere - will be flying in the evening of April 30th and ideally I want to catch the early morning train to St Petersburg, the one that passes through Lahti about 9AM. I'd not realised it went back on itself like that but now I look at the timetable you're right - it seems sensible to avoid Helsinki totally on my way into Russia. So my immediate problems are to find somewhere to stay in Tampere or elsewhere that will allow me to get up early enough to connect to that train. And I need to book a ticket for the train itself - how would I make a reservation, given that I'm unlikely to have any time at all to do it after arrival?

I think I'll need all the help I can get out there... :)

Re:

[snowgrouse.livejournal.com]

Um, don't know about the train ticket reservation as I've never booked a morning train to Russia myself. I take it that the Ryanair flight is arriving very late in Tampere? AFAIK the Tampere railway station should be open almost 24h/day and they have ticket machines and stuff. There may even be a chance to book a train ticket at the Tampere airport but I've never been there, so can't be sure:/. And the VR website won't even let you book a ticket to Russia online, grh. I think you can buy tickets on the trains themselves if you're in a rush, but it might cost a little bit extra. The morning train from Tampere is an expensive super express one (gah) and it seems to change for the Sibelius (the Russia train) at Riihimäki. At Riihimäki you'll have about half an hour before you need to step on the Sibelius, so at least *there* you can book in advance for your Russian trip. I don't think you need to worry about that bit too much.

As for staying overnight... Wasn't someone on this thread from Tampere?:) I'm not an expert on places to stay there, really, so can't look/ask around:(. I hope the Tampere website (http://www.tampere.fi/english_v/) will be of some assistance.

[fluffymark]

You're wonderfully helpful! I like you. :)

I arrive in Tampere airport at 20:15 on April 30th, and from the sound if it thats some way out so I don't expect I'll get to the train station (or anywhere else in Tampere) before 9PM. There will be some time, but i'll need to know exactly where I'm going and not leave things to chance upon arrival. It' really frustrating not being able to book the tivkets online before I go, and I'll have very little time to do it upon arrival. Maybe I can find a travel agent who can do it for me, but they're likely to charge a big fee for something like that. Please let me know if you find any way I can get hold of a train ticket before I arrive in Finland.

Still lookinf gor places overnight - I've been told of the Eurohostel in Helsinki, but maybe not for that first night, as Helsinki is out of the way. I don't know of anyone in Tampere - the lovely isobell who popped up last week on my journal is from Turku, which looks pretty, and I may be tempted ot do a day trip there, depending on timings. We'll see. For the moment I need to arrange my Russian Visa Invite, but that's easy now i've got a Hostel booked. :)

[snowgrouse.livejournal.com]

I don't think the Tampere airport is *that* far away from the city. I'm sure you can find somewhere to book a ticket--but I can't help you with the online booking, I'm sorry:(. Perhaps you should try emailing the VR website?

[fluffymark]

My usual experience with Ryanair is that the airports they fly to are in the middle of nowhere (London Stansted is 30 miles or so from London), but maybe this one is different. I may attempt to email the website - good idea, and thankyou again! :)

[snowgrouse.livejournal.com]

Believe you me, Finland's a bit different that way:). I just checked, and the Tampere airport is only 17 kilometres away from central Tampere, so I don't thnk you have reason to worry. It won't be a long trip:)! Go here (http://www.helsinkivantaa.fi/lentoasemat/) and click to make it show stuff in English, and look for "Tampere-Pirkkala".:)