Options for a cruise from Helsinki to St Petersburg
As a follow on from the following question: Do I need a visa if I go with a cruise line to St. Petersburg? What are the different options/what is required to organize a cruise from Helsinki to St Petersburg?
It seems that the main operator is St Peter Line and they have quite a lot of info on the visa free rule.
Its not clear whether I can:
Purchase a return trip and organize my own accommodation in St Petersburg. Or would I only be allowed to stay on the Ferry?
Purchase a cruise package and stay presumably stay on the Ferry (would I be able to stay in St Petersburg with this option?)
Purchase one of the few hotel packages which I'm guessing includes the cruise and hotels.
What are the differences between these (in terms of paper work and things I need to organize) if I simply want to visit St Petersburg for 72 hours? Are there any alternatives?
Update 1
I've found another site which has a nice booking section:
This seems to imply you have to book a hotel with the tour company. This company allows you to book a place on the Princess Maria Ferry Boat which is run by St Peter Line anyway.
Update 2
According to the FAQ we need proof of hotel and tour shuttle and officially you are not meant to explore by yourself but stay with the tour bus group
Do I need a Russian Visa? No, a Russian Visa is not required if: – Your stay in St. Petersburg is no longer than 72 hours* – You book a return ferry and a shuttle bus tickets** through Tour de Force – You carry your passport, ferry and shuttle bus tickets at all times while you are in St. Petersburg – You are not traveling with a vehicle.
If we arrive without visa do we sleep on the ship while in St. Petersburg, or do we need to book a hotel? If you stay in St Petersburg overnight you will need to book a hotel as the ship runs between St. Petersburg and Helsinki every day.
Best Answer
My understanding is that St. Peter is the only currently operating scheduled operator, although there are irregular visits by the usual suspects (P&O, Princess etc). Russian immigration rules are notoriously opaque, but my understanding is as follows:
- The 72-hour visa-free entry is only available if booked as part of a package, stays over 24 hours require presenting a hotel voucher. So you need to book via a tour operator. Note that this doesn't necessarily have to be the cruise operator: any licensed tour operator is OK, so it should be possible to find a "tour" with a hotel to your liking.
- Yes, you can stay on board.
- Yes, you can use an approved hotel package.
If you find this restrictive, it's not particularly hard to arrange a Russian visa in Finland, almost any travel agency in Helsinki can sort this out for you (with plenty of advance notice, mind you). With a visa, you can travel by train at your pace, it's only 3.5 hours to St. Peter on the rather pleasant Allegro services.
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How long is the ferry ride from Helsinki to St Petersburg?
The Helsinki St Petersburg ferry route connects Finland with Russia. Currently there is just the 1 ferry company operating this ferry service, St Peter Line. The crossing operates up to 3 times each week with sailing durations from around 14 hours.Can you go from Helsinki to St Petersburg without a visa?
Thanks to the law that allows cruise ship passengers to visit St. Petersburg without visas, it is also possible to take the ferry from Helsinki or Tallinn and stay in St. Petersburg for up to 72 hours without a Russian visa.Can you do a day trip from Helsinki to St Petersburg?
Petersburg from Helsinki. Many tourists traveling to Helsinki (Finland) choose to take a trip for one or several days to visit St. Petersburg. The proximity of the two cities (a distance of about 390 kilometers) makes it ideal to visit St.How do you get from St Petersburg to Finland?
The best way to get from Finland to Saint Petersburg is to train which takes 3h 27m and costs \u20ac35 - \u20ac60. Alternatively, you can bus, which costs \u20ac19 - \u20ac45 and takes 7h 10m.FREE E-VISA TO RUSSIA! And the cheapest way to go travel from Helsinki to St.Petersburg
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Answer 2
I went from Heksinki to St Petersburg with my family and it was amazing - the ship just slid across - I didn't feel a wave - amazing food also - it seemed to take exactly 12 hours from 6 pm to 6am.All the Visa stuff was organised by the shipping company and a small tour bus for only English speakers met us and was driven by Ivan (surprise surprise !!) and the guide was Svetlana (surprise! again).
I fell asleep going past "the bronze-horseman" much to my dismay as I had not long before read the novel by this name. Most of the day was spent in the unbelievable Hermitage Museum. One needs another ten visits before you could see everything. I would also recommend taking the ferry to Tallinn in Estonia from Helsinki - only 3 hours across to see what was my first medieval village -beautiful - embarrassingly cheap lovely food and those in the know from Helsinki took a suitcase which I presume was filled with alcoholic beverages bought at a very low price!
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