As traffic between Finland and Russia is growing day by day and the number of travellers increases rapidly, there is a certain need of finding the right transportation. There are so many alternatives for people travelling between Helsinki and Saint Petersburg, as here I would like to focus on these two cities, i.e. the capital of Finland and the northern (second) capital of Russia. You can choose between Allegro trains, St. Peter Line ferries, shuttle buses, minibuses, airplanes or by private cars. As there is a certain need in quite affordable travel between these cities, more alternatives appear, and more competition takes place on the market. In this inspection I would like to concentrate on shuttle buses Lux Express. It is a Baltic company, which operates now in Latvia, Estonia, Russia (so far only in St. Petersburg and Moscow), and in Finland.

It is worth mentioning that all the inspections are fair and objective with no advertisement; the major purpose is to review all the pros and cons and provide the readers with the full overview of the inspection.

First of all, all the buses are new and comfortable. There is enough space between chairs; you can always pull it to the side into the aisle if you need more space. All the chairs are equipped with the touch-screens. Though, the touch-screens often do not work properly, besides when you watch a movie, it just stops and the screen turns to the menu. You are also given a single-use set of earphones, though upon my experience I had two sets in a row with only one earphone working (in each). On my way back the set was fine.

Secondly, all buses provide a bottle of mineral water per person free of charge as well as unlimited tea or coffee from the coffee machine. But keep in mind that the machine does not work when the engine is turned off and sometimes the drivers forget to turn it on. Despite that, there is a good choice of coffee, hot chocolate, and tea. By the way, there are always two drivers on the bus.

Thirdly, there is a toilet inside of the bus, because it is a long-distance bus, so it must be equipped with one. The bus itself has good air-conditioning so it is not hot inside when it is hot outside.

What comes to the schedule, it is a tricky thing. According to my (and my friends’) experience, the Lux Express buses are often either 30 minutes ahead of time or 30 minutes late. It is not good because if somebody is waiting for you, the person(s) will have to wait for long. The buses go 3 times per day both ways. The Lux Express shuttle buses arrive to Obvodniy Kanal bus station and Baltiyskiy Vokzal railroad and subway (metro) station in St. Petersburg, Russia, and to Kamppi bus and subway (metro) station in Helsinki, Finland.

As for your baggage, the drivers put stickers on them and another part of them right onto your paper tickets. It is done on purpose so that no one else could take your bags. I believe it is very safe and reasonable.

All in all, Lux Express shuttle buses are very nice and very convenient and relatively cheap. Moreover, if you use a promo code (it changes from time to time), for example, “Helsinki”, it can give you a good discount of 30, 40, 50 or sometimes 60%. It seems to be quite a good deal.

Besides, Lux Express shuttle buses operate on a daily basis 3 times per day, which is truly great. Of course, you have alternatives, for instance, Allegro trains, which depart approximately 3 times per day both ways as buses, but buses are definitely cheaper. People already know the way Allegro trains operate and how good, rapid, comfortable they are and that the customs control takes place right on the train (unlike buses). Thus, in my opinion, it was very interesting to make an inspection of a new alternative, which is a shuttle bus Lux Express. To sum up, it is a very good and worthy alternative. Therefore, try to enjoy your way between these two cities!

Transport Company Contact Information: Lux Express website.