1

Hi....

What have you seen already that is complicated, about obtaining a visa and taking a car into Russia?
Just so as people don't post what you already know.
Back to you.

2

In 2003 I crossed from Estonia to Russia going from Tallinn to ST Petersburg. Things might have changed over the past 10 years, but I was pleased to have an experienced person with me who had been over this border before. After passing a payment to the customs officer, who would have otherwise delayed us for as long as he pleased, no more than a couple of kilometres into Russia we had to make another payment to a traffic policeman who told us what traffic offences he would claim we had made requiring a visit to a police station unless we coughed up. I've not been to Russia since. Perhaps someone can say whether we were just unlucky.

3

Travel to Russia by your own car is less of an issue these days as your green card insurance should cover you. Problem is more the visa which must be obtained in advance and is date specific and for some passport holders very costly.

You should be able to avoid Russia and take the ferry from Tallinn to Helsinki.

If you do decide to go through Russia please learn some Cyrillic prior to traveling there. Also we can explain more about the visa.

I would certainly consider a route which takes you through Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. If you are planning to go from Gdansk to Kaliningrad to Lithuania to Latvia to Estonia to St Petersburg to Helsinki you would need a double entry Russian tourist visa.

How much time are you planning for this trip? What's your budget? When are you planning to travel? What are your interests? What is your passport? Answers will make for better recommendations.

Ruth

4

If you plan on entering Russia in Narva and travel in high summer season, be ready for a long queuing time, but formalities are quite straightforward once all paperwork is done. Normally (not knowing your nationality, the car's registration country...)
By the way, Narva and this part of Estonia are an interesting insight on Russia.

5

You may rent a camper at drm.de and make a tour starting from Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Finland. Rental company will not allow you to enter Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland or they may ask higher insurance rates for those countries.
If you sleep at camper, You will have no problem to sleep. There are many parking options on way, free of charge. Some parks even have hot water facility. If you do this plan, dont forget to shop for food/drinks in Germany .