![Coat of arms of saint petersburg (2003).svg](https://d14tal8bchn59o.cloudfront.net/9gVbxaIoW-Af5FbyLZi8wL496hLRja81GaC0QTTJDa0/w:960/plain/https%3A%2F%2F02f0a56ef46d93f03c90-22ac5f107621879d5667e0d7ed595bdb.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com%2Fsites%2F61902%2Fphotos%2F3916020%2FCoat_of_Arms_of_Saint_Petersburg_%25282003%2529.svg_original.png)
St. Petersburg, Russia
To enter Russia, I needed to get a visa, which included getting an invitation from someone in Russia. The hotel I reserved provided the invitation, and I went through a company to get the visa since there is not a Russian Embassy in Chicago. The process went easily and fairly quickly. I took the train from Helsinki to St. Petersburg. It was a nice ride and customs/border crossing was handled during the trip.