Vyborg is a city in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. Located near the Finnish border, it was in fact Finland’s second-largest city until World War II, when it was handed to the Soviets as war reparations.
Access : Coordinates: 60.716667, 28.766667 / Seeing Vyborg is possible as a day trip from St. Petersburg, or as a stopover on the Helsinki-St. Petersburg train line.
By plane : Saint Petersburg has good plane connections. By bus : Bus excursions depart St. Petersburg’s Gostinyy Dvor on weekend mornings and cost about 700 Rubles, returning to St. Petersburg in the evening, a total of about 10–11 hours.
International coach lines connect Vyborg to Helsinki, Turku, Lappeenranta and Jyvaskyla in Finland. More information from Matkahuolto and Savonlinja.
By train : By train from St. Petersburg, express trains and local “elektrichka” trains depart from the Finlandskiy station.
By small cruiseliner : In the summer there are daily cruises from Lappeenranta in Finland down the Saimaa Canal to Vyborg operated by Saimaa Travel . If you are arriving and leaving Russia by ship from the same port and staying less than 72 hours you do not need a visa.
By yacht : You can make the same journey by small craft. As the town lies in the Vyborg Bay of Gulf of Finland, it is easily reachable by small craft also from the sea. With small craft you need visa and certain documents check requirements in advance and follow procedures strictly.
By car : Vyborg is situated on the highway between St. Petersburg and the Finnish border and you can visit the city if you are driving by.
Attractions : A walking tour of the major sights of the city can be done in about three to four hours, with Vyborg Castle being the highlight of the tour.
From the train station, walk down Leningradskiy Prospekt and turn right along the embankment of the Salakka-Lakhti Inlet. See the Market Square on the left at the end of the quay, where one can see the Market Hall or “Rynok” and the 16th-century Round Tower. Walk past the Round Tower to the Lutheran Peter and Paul Cathedral in the park. Cross the street to see the blue-painted Transfiguration Cathedral, then walk up Vyborgskaya Ulitsa past the Council House Tower along the remnants of the old city wall, then head up the street (this is the least picturesque part of the walk through the Stone City) to see the Clock Tower tucked in among the apartment buildings. Before the Castle Bridge, see the Statue of Torgils Knutsson, the Swedish knight who founded the city in the 13th Century. Look across the gulf to the Statue of Peter the Great in the park opposite.
Vyborg skyline
Cross the bridge to Vyborg Castle which was originally built in 1293 by Swedes, captured by Peter the Great in the 18th Century, served as a Finnish prison in the 19th Century, and passed between the hands of the Soviets and Finns multiple times during World War II. The castle has several different exhibits, each with its own entry fee, and one can climb to the top of the tower for a nice view of the city. (Tickets for the tower cost 80 Rubles from the museum cashier.)
Cross back over the bridge and walk up Krepostnaya Ulitsa through the town, turn left on Suvorovskiy Prospekt, see the Alvar Aalto Library and the Statue of a Moose in the park, then proceed to Red Square and the Statue of Lenin before heading up Vokzalnaya Ulitsa back to the train station
Go next : Lappeenranta in Finland /
