Finlyandsky Vokzal (Finland Train Station), St. Petersburg

Helsinki is one of the major rail gateways to St. Petersburg. If you take a train from Finland's capital to St. Petersburg, you'll arrive at the Finland Train Station (Finlyandsky vokzal) at Ploshchad Lenina (Lenin Square). Trains to other north and western destinations also depart from here. The station is not too big. Walk along the platform to the main building to find a small cafeteria, a bank, a ticket office that serves local trains, a waiting room and a couple of stores in one large hall. Tickets to Helsinki can be bought in the Foreign Ticket Office, located away from the main hall, alongside the platform from where the Helsinki trains arrive and leave. The nearest metro station is called Ploshchad Lenina. Come out from the station's main building and turn right. The entrance to the metro station is in the same building, marked with a large blue "M". If you have time, check out Lenin's statue in the middle of the square in front of the train station. It points to the city centre and the former KGB headquarters building (a massive yellow building on the other side of the Neva River).