Finland to Sankt-Petersburg

[tmt]

Hello to everybody!

Can somone tell me what problems can apear in my way from Finland to Sankt-Petersburg and then Estonia?
Problems like: russian border crossing,estonian border crossing, security on the road in Russia, wat's to see in Sankt Petersburg...enything.

Many thanks,

Chris

[baswacky]

Chris,

I did that route this summer and to be honest there aren't that many problems. Except for dreadful roads, Russian drivers and police check points. Russian border crossing tend to be a little slow, but just be patient. I only got stopped twice by the police. The first time was a routine paperwork check, the second one was when I got nailed for overtaking on a solid white line outside another checkpoint. Doh!

Russian drivers work on the theory that if there is only a motorbike coming the other way there must be room to overtake. Which isn't too bad except for the fact that the verges tend to be soft earth/sand (even on the main roads). So ride defensively. At one point on my trip a traffic jam on the other side of the road ended up driving down our side of the white line and also down our verge towards us. Crazy.

Road surfaces are rough with many bits of other vehicles littering the road. I had one puncture myself.

In St Petersburg check out the Hermitage Art Museum. So good I went twice. So large I still didn't see all the things I wanted to. If you are riding a BMW I can recommend the local BMW garage. 10 euros for a new battery and fitting. But I don't recommend bump-starting a fully loaded dakar up the Nevsky Prospekt during the morning rush hour.

Estonia is fabulous.

Have a good trip.

[Jake]

I(my wife and I travelled there earlier this year) likewise had no problems I dressed my bright orange KTM 950 down with a bit of black netting and a lot of road dirt. I was very polite and learnt basic russian phrases and wrote down in russian a few bit and pieces to help with the paperwork. (There is some info somewhere on this site for crossing both the borders you talk about and what to expect) might help - but make sure you get a migration card at the first box in the border post.(no one offers one or tells you about it - and you get arrested for not having it once into russia, if stopped) On the road I kept my speed down and passed loads of police( there are loads of them everywhere) and army checkpoints without any problem. the roads can be terrible in places so be very cautious of getting caught out or punctured. Beware also of missing man hole covers in vyborg I noticed two totally missing and just huge holes!where they had been. I travelled south from st Petersburg so did not exit into estonia in the north but did into the south of estonia and had no problems at all on exit. I can reccommend accommodation by alexy who has some info on his site www.spbapt.ru
Most of all have a great time the russians seem to love bikes and the people we encountered throughout our trip were really friendly and helpful. we have got to go back cos we fell in love with the country.

[marekxxx]

I was there this summer, from estonia to russia through crossing ivangorod to peterburg/road E20/

you must pay on border insurance 20E for 14days

from peterburg to finland crossing Nuijama

in peterburg I slept in hotel/gostinica/ Marskaja, very good hotel, safe parking, we had 3 varaderos and slept there 2 nights,price is 49euro per night per person

attention> normal pennalty-policeman for russion people is 100 rublej=3euro...maximum give them for everything 10euro per bike

I think russia is very interesting

[tmt]

Thank you very much to all for the reply, if one day you'll be travelling to Romania, don't hesitate to contact me. Chris

[This message has been edited by Grant Johnson (edited 14 December 2005).]