Wobbly box to Finland

AndyB_11

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Well the plan for next summer is to go to Finland to watch the road racing at Imatra and we've decided to go via the Baltic states because neither of us have been before.

Looking at the sticky about visas and checking various websites it seems that I can get a Russian visa for either single or double entry but we want to go through Kaliningrad on the way up, straight through Russia by the shortest, quickest route to Finland then on the way home spend a couple of days in St Petersburg. Now by my reckoning that's at least 3 visits so a double entry visa isn't going to do the job.

I know we can dodge any issues by getting a ferry from Tallinn to Helsinki either on the way there or on the way back but we'd sooner drive than use ferries. The reason for visiting St Petersburg on the way back rather than on the way there is that we're going to be at Spa the weeekend before so we've got 4 days to get there and 7 to get back so it makes sense to do more sight seeing on the way home.

Is a multiple entry visa for tourist visits a bit difficult to arrange because if it is then we might well have to change our plan, have a really quick look at St Petersburg on the way there then return using the ferry to Tallinn and spend a day in Tallinn and a day in Riga on the way home and fly to St Petersburg some other time.

Apart from that long winded question, has anyone else driven a camper in that direction, what's the score for finding places to stop overnight and any recommendations regarding must see sights?
 
You will have to get a business visa if you want multiple entries, easy enough to do but will involve a trip to the Russian Embassy. Just make sure that all the paperwork is correctly filled in before you go to the Embassy. It does cost more than a tourist visa but it is the only way to go if you want more than two entries.
 
I had a feeling it might be a case of needing a business visa. I've sent an email to RealRussia who a couple of friends have recommended so I'll see what they come back with though I suspect they'll say 2 visits or get a business visa and if that's the case I might use the ferry one way because it took ages to sort out when I had to get a business visa in the late '90s.

The good thing is that we've got plenty of time to do a bit of research then sort out whatever visas we need. I want to look into the insurance part of it as well because when I was there previously on a business visa I was advised that buying insurance at the border doesn't work if you're on a business visa and I was also told by the company I was working for that I needed to take a local driving test if I wanted to drive when I was in the country on a business visa. That was a long time ago and I've no doubt at all that things will have changed but I don't want any shocks when we get to the border :(

I don't suppose anyone's been to Imatra have they? This year was the first year since 1986 that they've raced on the public roads there but someone might have visited on their way round a loop of the Baltic.
 
Ouch! Multiple entry business visas are now £550 each.

I quite fancy the idea of spending a couple of hours on the ferry between Tallinn and Helsinki :D

and more if you want them in a rush or additional support information, my last one cost over £800 and then my trips cancelled !
 
Park up your campervan. Fly on a return ticket into St Petersburg. Stay in a hotel in the city. Fly out again. Job done.... I think.
 
I think that a visit to St Petersburg might have to wait for another occasion. It was only ever going to be a case of stop over for a day or so to decide whether or not to fly in for a longer holiday at some point in the future so it's no big deal really. Quite often we'll take a detour to somewhere when we're away and have a quick look around to decide if it's worth an extended visit. We did the same on our way to Horice a few years ago when we stopped off for a couple of hours in Dresden then returned for a longer break over the following New Year break.

I've been to St Petersburg before but Mrs B has never been and me saying I really enjoyed it there could mean anything because I was single at the time :D
 
Went up that way this summer on the bike, I would imagine it's easy enough to find somewhere for the camper for the night, there's miles and miles of feck all.
Along the coast north of Riga there looked to be plenty of places to spend a night near the sea for wild camping.
Nice castle at Trakai near Vilnius.
Hill of crosses near Siauliai in Lithuania, which is worth a look if you're passing, drive past the official carpark and pull up on the side of the road instead.
We had a ride round an abandoned soviet nuclear missile base near Keila-joa in Estonia, not much there but I enjoyed it(wife wasn't impressed). There a few of them about if you spend a bit of time on google, one of them even has a guided tour.
Other than that we just did the capital cities pretty much straight from one to the next.
Didn't bother with kaliningrad or Russia because couldn't be arsed with visas.
 
I've just had a reply from RealRussia and they've confirmed that we'd need business visas and the cheapest way to get those still costs £385 so I think we'll remove one of the entries by going to Finland via Russia and come home via Tallinn and take our time coming back staying closer to the coast and have a stop over in Riga.

It's all very much at the outline stage so the more posts along the lines of the one from Justin making suggestions regarding places to visit the better.
 
Memories of Jarno Saarinen!
In 2007 I toured Northern Scandinavia (including Nordkapp) and popped into a Harley dealer (I was on mine) somewhere in Northern Finland and they had a huge poster of him still on the wall - impressive!
 


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