Travel tips: What is the best way to get from Barcelona to St Petersburg?

FROM BARCELONA IN SEPTEMBER WE WANT TO VISIT OSLO, STOCKHOLM, TALLINN, TURKU, SAINT PETERSBURG TO SEE AURORA BOREALIS AND HELSINKI, FROM WHERE WE WILL RETURN HOME. WHAT'S THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAY TO GET FROM BARCELONA TO SAINT PETERSBURG? ALSO THINKING OF FLYING BARCELONA-TALLINN. S. LEVAME, ENMORE

Flying from Barcelona to Tallinn would work better with your itinerary but there are no non-stop flights. In that case my choice would be Barcelona to Oslo, and there are non-stop flights with several airlines. From there take a train to Stockholm, fly to Tallinn which you can do direct with SAS Scandinavian Airlines, take the Go Rail train [gorail.ee] to St Petersburg since there are no non-stop flights and the train, which takes a little over six hours, is a better option than flying. From Saint Petersburg take the train or fly to Helsinki and from there make a side trip to Turku.

While the cities of northern Europe certainly experience the spectacular glow of aurora borealis from time to time during winter the effect is dulled by light pollution coming from these cities. If you want to see the phenomenon in all its glory you need to head to more remote areas, and the city of Rovaniemi, the capital of Finnish Lapland, is ideal since it's easily accessible by air from Helsinki and known for its spectacular aurora borealis displays.

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