10 weeks in Europe in Winter - Help me decide where to go!

Certainly the Baltics will be a lot cheaper than Scandinavia - especially if you want to add in Iceland which would involve a flight there and back. I've yet to explore Scandinavia so can't really comment on that but the Baltic states are great, especially Tallin and the surreal Siaulai (hill of crosses). You could maybe consider adding St. Petersbourg to your itinerary it's easy enough to get from Tallin to St.Pete and from St. Pete to Helsinki though, of course, there is a visa issue. Otherwise there are boats from Tallin to Helsinki.

Hi ToadofToadHall,

Thank you for your advice. The hill of crosses sounds very interesting, and I would dearly love to visit Tallin, which I would do as a day trip from Helsinki if I went with the Scandinavian route. Considering my limited budget, I am leaning towards the Baltics. I just need to figure out the best order of places to go in, considering Berlin seems a bit of a backtrack from Czech Republic or Poland.

I really like your idea of travelling to St. Petersbourg. Actually, the only reason I decided not to go there (after considering it initially) is because I am under the impression that Russia isn't safe for solo female travellers. I don't know what I have to base this on, I must have read something or other a long time ago and it has just stuck. Can you tell me if St. Pete and/or Moscow would be safe for me? Would train-travel be the most appropriate way of getting there?

Thank you for your help,

Heather.

• St. Petersburg

St. Pete and Moscow are, I would say, on a par with most other large European cities in terms of safety, though there are others who know these places much better than I do (I was there 10 years ago) - as for the order you might be better off visiting Berlin either before or after Vienna, it would be less of a detour and then you can continue from Poland to Vilnius.

As for mode of transport - it depends, train or bus - basically depends on the route.

Another thing to note is that Russia is not cheap.

Okay, the only thing is I will be going to Czech Republic too (Prague and Cesky Krumlov), so perhaps I should go Belgium then Vienna then Czech Republic then Berlin before going back down to Krakow? I suppose there will be backtracking whichever way I do thing unfortunately.

I might need to look into the cost of Russia then, and how much time it would take to visit Moscow and St. Pete. I suppose I could just go from Tallinn to St. Pete though like you said and skip Moscow. Its so hard deciding where to go! But such a wonderful problem to have really.

Ruissia - like Toad has said, can be expensive.
However, I've been there a few times - and with a bit of advance homework, it can also be done very cheaply. You need to get on to a couple of travel forums that deal specifically with visiting Russia on the cheap.
Moscow is painfully expensive if you just turn up and don't know where you're going or what you're plans are. Then again, I've stayed in very cheap hotels and had some great cheap food just a few minutes walk from Red Square and The Kremlin.
A big tip is to follow the locals after they're finished work or shopping etc. and see where they're eating and drinking. There wont be too many of them buying coffee at a fiver a cup - for sure.
Also, ask a taxi driver at a railway station for any cheap digs they know. You may be pleasantly surprised.
Just a coupla thoughts to be going on with.

I'm also one of these people on here that is stalking around looking for info. I'm from New Zealand and will be travelling in Europe from mid October to mid January. I'll be watching this thread to see how you go! Gonna start planning my stuff soon. Good luck!

Hi!

You can travel from Scandinavia (Sweden) to Gdansk (Poland) by ferry. Gdansk is amazing old Hanseatic city. Worth a visit!! From Gdansk you can travel to Berlin or Krakow or by ferry to Denmark.
I recomend to prefer more Polish cities and tourist attractions - they are very interesting and traveling is not so expensive there.

From Helsinki I recomend to do trip to Estonia:
Tallinn - the capital.
and North-East of Estonia (see frozen waterfall in Valaste - it is magic!!!!!!! and cliff. Kuremae nunnery/convent, Narva city with castle and bastions, etc)

You should consider as well that you´re coming to northern Europe in winter. I live in Berlin and I basically hibernate in December. I think some places are going to be so cold that you would feel like staying indoors all the time.