Ask Joan: Your travel dilemmas solved

In August we will be in Tallinn, Estonia and we would like to visit St Petersburg if feasible. Are there daily excursions or fast trains and guided tours on arrival? Are visas required for Russia and may they be obtained in Estonia? – MH, Sligo
Tallinn is a nice small city, easy to get around and English is readily spoken. It is a good access point for St Petersburg as there is a direct train each day and an additional service at weekends for about €31 each way. It takes about six-and-a-half hours and there is an hour time difference. Buy your tickets at the train station in advance, gorail.ee. The website is quite good in English.

If you take the train you will need a visa for Russia. It would be better to get it here before you leave as it could take a few days to arrange and eat into your holiday time. The Russian Embassy is at 184-186 Orwell Road, Rathgar, Dublin 14. Tel: 01-492 2048. E-mail: info@russianembassy.ie.

There have been some changes in visa regulations for St Petersburg in recent years. If you go to the city by cruise ship, you do not need a visa and you can visit for up to three days. Other than that the regulations are relaxed, you can tour yourself or take guided tours.

This website is a good place to find tours, accommodation and details of what is on in English: saint-petersburg.com.

St Peter Line, a Finnish maritime company, has a cruise trip on the MV Anastasia from Tallinn to St Petersburg a few times a week during the summer and the modern cruise ferry is a good way to see the Baltic either just for a day or three days. The ship docks in sight of the golden spires of St Petersburg. Return trips are about €140pps or a three-day package with hotel will cost from €380pps.

St Peter Line also arranges tours and accommodation in the city, stpeterline.com.

My husband would like to tour the first World War battlefields taking in Ypres and the Menin Gate towards the latter part of this year. Would you have any recommendations on the best way to do this from Dublin? He will be travelling solo and his budget is about €500-€600.
– SH, Dublin
The best way for your husband to have the full experience and get to see all the major sights of the first World War battlefields is with a guided tour. However the cost is outside your budget.

The best trip from Ireland is run by GTI-Ireland.com, an Irish Times travel partner.

There are two trips later this year, September 21st-24th and from November 1st-4th, they cost €669pps, single supplement is €118. If your husband does not mind sharing, GTI will do its best to accommodate him with another man travelling alone.

This price includes Aer Lingus flights from Dublin, coach touring, three nights in a nice hotel with breakfast and is accompanied by a historian. He will get to see all the major sights and will attend the Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate. There is also a visit to Bruges.

If he were to go it alone, airfares are reasonable to Brussels with both Aer Lingus and Ryanair charging about €100 or less. He would need a car, and it would cost about €25 per day, estimate hotel or guest house from €50-€80 per day. There are some very fine guidebooks for touring the battlefields such as Major and Mrs Holt's guides, which can be ordered by your local bookshop or purchased on Amazon. com.

See also battlefield-tours.com for self-guided tours. Going it alone is not necessarily going to be any more reasonable than taking a tour however.

Send your questions to jscales@irishtimes.com