"Sönke Tesch" wrote in message
...

: ?Can we get a rental car or must we take the train?

Under absolutely no circumstances use a car. Some parts of Russia
are not the safest areas for tourists and a stolen rental car might
be you smallest problem.

Agree. Even the Baltic countries are problematic in this respect. If you
drove your own vehicle and it was stolen, the excess fee of the insurance
can go as high as 1/4 of the vehicle's value. Typically several thousand
euros anyway.