I have a free weekend in Europe October 1-3. I'll have been in Moscow, and while I enjoy Moscow, I'd like to see someplace else on my way to London. My tentative thinking is to visit someplace in this area. Both cities have something which interests me... in part, the decision about which to visit will come from transportation logistics.

To visit Tallinn, I'd be flying Estonian Airlines from Moscow (one flight on Friday 1 October) and then onward to London, or possibly connecting in HEL on AY to London. I'm a little worried about betting on that one flight as my ticket out of Moscow...anyone have any comments about the airline and its reliability (esp. on that route)?

To visit St. Petersburg, I'd be flying Aeroflot or Pulkovo on a TU-154 domestic flight. Kind of a yikes. It looks like the flights are frequently cancelled, but it's a shuttle-like timetable so probably not too big a worry. For onward to London, I'd be betting on one BA flight on the 3rd..less of a risk, I think, but still a bit of one.

Any other factors I should consider?

None of these places are in Scandinavia - I wonder if the Europe Forum, or TravelBuzz, might not be a better place for this thread? (Any moderators about that could move it?)

It used to be "accepted wisdom" that the best way to get from Moscow to St Petersburg is on the overnight train - don't know if that's still true. There is also an overnight sleeper train from Moscow to Tallinn - it takes 15 hours, but if you work on the assumption that you'll spend eight of them asleep and a couple having dinner and breakfast then that's not too bad.

To visit Tallinn, I'd be flying Estonian Airlines from Moscow (one flight on Friday 1 October) and then onward to London, or possibly connecting in HEL on AY to London. I'm a little worried about betting on that one flight as my ticket out of Moscow...anyone have any comments about the airline and its reliability (esp. on that route)?
Estonian is a small but modern airline and I'd imagine that the route to Moscow must be one of their more important routes, so I wouldn't worry too much about this. And I'd suggest a direct flight onward to London, as otherwise it'll take you a good 3-4 hours to get to the ferry terminal, take a fast boat across (1.5hr), then continue to HEL airport -- and in inclement weather (a distinct possibility in October) the fast ferries either don't go or are very uncomfortable if they do... or did you mean flying AY TLL-HEL-LON?

did you mean flying AY TLL-HEL-LON?
Yes, that's what I meant -
but for some reason, my corporate travel agent was unable to price/book that connection.

In the end, I decided to do Saint Petersburg. It looks like my company is going to spend about $300 for a Russian visa -- I know a tourist visa would be cheaper, but it still is a big price tag. As long as I am going to be in the country, I might as well visit as long as I can, and see as much as I can.

Right now, I'm booked on a Pulkovo Airlines flight SVO-LED. Certainly, watching this week's events, I'm a bit concerned about it. I looked at the train routings so I know that I have many affordable alternatives. In the end, I'll probably fly .. even though it is a TU-154M :eek:

And I know that this wasn't the best forum...but there were other postings on both cities. I didn't fail geography class ;)

Yes, that's what I meant -
but for some reason, my corporate travel agent was unable to price/book that connection.
Bizarre, AY offers very competitive rates from Estonia (often cheaper than going straight from HEL, even after throwing in return ferry ticket). I would've suggested that you contact an Estonian agent like Matkapunkt (http://www.matkapunkt.ee/), but...

In the end, I decided to do Saint Petersburg. It looks like my company is going to spend about $300 for a Russian visa -- I know a tourist visa would be cheaper, but it still is a big price tag. As long as I am going to be in the country, I might as well visit as long as I can, and see as much as I can.
...this is also a fine choice.

Right now, I'm booked on a Pulkovo Airlines flight SVO-LED. Certainly, watching this week's events, I'm a bit concerned about it. I looked at the train routings so I know that I have many affordable alternatives. In the end, I'll probably fly .. even though it is a TU-154M :eek:
Tupolevs are perfectly fine planes if serviced decently, and the Tu-154M is the top of the line. It's built for extreme conditions (landing on gravel and such) and has triple redundancy for most components, so you'll be fine as long as nobody plants a bomb on it :p :eek:

I'm jealous! We were in LED in early October last year and loved it, despite rainy weather.

Here's a link to a great site on the Nevsky Prospect (http://www.nevsky-prospekt.com/) that covers the history of nearly every building. Even if all you do is walk up and down the Nevsky you'll have a memorable trip.

I'm looking forward to the trip.