In September, I took a trip that I had long dreamed of. Unlike the average tourist, I was not attracted to beach vacations and warm countries, so I dreamed about the countries of Scandinavia and the Baltic. I wanted to see as much as possible for a short vacation of 14 days and spend, of course, as little as possible. Ideally, go around all the countries around the Baltic Sea.
I had previously taken march-throws in cities and villages, which other friends called crazy. For example, in 2010, in a company of four friends, I drove along the Trans-Siberian Railway to Vladivostok, stopping in the regional centers, and in 2013 – in 13 cities of Central Asia, visiting the Aral Sea.
So the idea to go round the sea in a circle did not seem complicated. For additional excitement, I tried to do it for a rather modest budget, spending on everything no more than the average Russian salary. This amount in July, according to the Federal State Statistics Service, amounted to 46.5 thousand rubles. Looking ahead, I’ll say that I succeeded. Now about how.
How to search for transport
During the trip, he involved three types of transport: aircraft, railways and buses.
When searching for airline tickets, Skyscanner, OneTwoTrip and Aviasales cover most of the needs. I had only one flight, so finding a ticket was not the most difficult task.
Almost everywhere in Scandinavia you can get on the FlixBus buses, in the Baltic states Lux Express helps out a lot. In both cases, it’s enough to install a mobile application: they let you in on a flight by scanning a QR code directly from your phone, sometimes they ask you to show your passport.
I bought a train ticket in the Russian Railways mobile application. The second train ticket that I needed – for the aeroexpress train in Stockholm – I took right on the spot.
Complex routes, consisting of several types of transport, helped to construct “Routes.ru”, as well as the main lifesaver – Omio. However, even the all-seeing eye of Omio is lost in requests for trips to Russia from the EU and vice versa. Therefore, it was especially difficult to lay a route through the Kaliningrad region. A separate resource, such as the site of the Kaliningrad bus station, helped out.
What did you save on
Night moving. The main article of economy. Frankly, not everyone is ready to shake in transport at night instead of sleeping peacefully in a soft bed – this is not quite associated with rest and vacation, but it gives the whole trip a mild aftertaste of extreme sports;
Hostels All the time without stops, however, is impossible – you need to at least sometimes wash, recharge and generally recover. I booked five nights through Booking: in Helsinki, Stockholm, Kaliningrad, Vilnius and St. Petersburg;
Baggage. I took a 10 liter backpack with me. At the start, he weighed 3.8 kilograms. Extremely minimalistic set: linen change, charging, documents, mug. No liquids or knives to go through searches more easily and quickly;
Clothing. Although it was already quite a fall, I limited myself to a hoodie and a Bologna vest. Moved all the time light – no jackets, no hats, no gloves;
Museums and souvenirs. That which can be safely deleted from expenses almost completely. I still visited a couple of museums, but overall this budget item was almost zero;
Food. Nearly the entire route there are Lidl department stores. Not to mention that in supermarkets, in principle, cheaper to buy food than in a cafe. Lidl also attracted with wonderful pastries.
The risks
Here it must immediately be said about the risks that inevitably arise with such a complicated vacation option. They must be foreseen, partially accepted and try to minimize as much as possible.
There was a danger of bad weather, which is not surprising in September in the Baltic. There was a risk of losing communication for unexplained reasons. In addition, I printed out copies of all tickets in case of a sudden failure or breakdown of equipment.
There was a chance of encountering a language barrier – the higher it was, the more countries with different languages to travel.
The risk of force majeure or some kind of criminal situation is always preserved, albeit speculative, in which one can drastically be left without everything. In this case, I asked especially trusted friends to monitor how everything will move forward.
Go!
Train Allegro St. Petersburg – Helsinki: 2097 rubles
Finland
Calling in Finland is most pleasant at Allegro, although you could save an additional 500 rubles more by choosing a bus. The train, however, is also attractive because it runs the procedure of border and customs control right inside it. The staff are as polite and speak Russian.
Friends and long-time intellectual movement comrades met in Helsinki with whom he walked around the city and at the end of the day went to the “What? Where? When? ”To the Finnish club. From what I saw, the city public library immediately struck me. Several times I simply froze on the spot, unable to believe that this happens.