Second visit to St Petersburg??

A few years ago we overnighted in St Petersburg on Cunards Queen Victoria . We did a 2 day small group tour with TJ Travel - which was a real ,highlight of our cruising career. It was quite hectic ( but not too much so) - and we basically saw everything famous that needed to be seen. It was memorable.

BUT - we will be going there again next year and having a quick look at TJ Travels website gave me a sense of "deja vu" - and am now wondering what else we could do apart from go see all those famous Palaces/churches again?? :) I suspect (but haven't checked) that other travel agencies will also do the "usual" as after all this is what most istors want to see in St Petersburg. Unfortunately it is not the sort of place that one can just walk off the ship and have a look around , like one can do in say European ports.

So - who has had multiple trips to St Petersburg - what did you do???

A few years ago we overnighted in St Petersburg on Cunards Queen Victoria . We did a 2 day small group tour with TJ Travel... look at TJ Travels website gave me a sense of "deja vu" - and am now wondering what else we could do apart from go see all those famous Palaces/churches again?? ...So - who has had multiple trips to St Petersburg - what did you do???

Ideas:

o "The rest" of the Hermitage. Most of us see only a small fraction of the total collection any time we visit. Explore some collections you missed the first time around or focus on the temporary exhibits that will be up during your visit. (Nine special exhibits now on display. All will be swapped out at by the end of March.)

o Cottage Palace. This is just one of the smaller places on the grounds of the Peterhof park. There are several more.

o Museums of History and Politics. Here's a link to the many places in this category:

http://www.saint-petersburg.com/museums/museums-of-history-and-politics/

o Mariinsky -- behind the scenes. You can take a fascinating behind the scenes tour of the historic Mariinksy Theater. You tour company will have to arrange for a specially licensed guide for this tour, but if you like ballet this tour will be a memorable experience.

Assume you'll have to use the services of a private guide if you don't want a largely duplicate experience. You may be able to cut the costs somewhat by posting your customized itinerary on your roll call.

Petit Nit Noy,

I tried to PM you on trip advisor to thank you for your detailed advice and recommendations. I have contacted White Night Travel for our trip to St. Petersburg along with several other companies. I am really impressed with the professionalism and the response of Irina. What a gem she is. We will be using them for our trip in 2018 so please do not think that no one is listening as you posted somewhere on the forum.

To the OP, we have found several smaller companies including White Night Travel and Best Guides who will develop an individual itinerary for you. The best web sites that I found to describe the various options were the Best Guides site - see Off the Beaten Back as well as some of the tour descriptions from Julia at Dancing Bears. Lots of options out there.

I tried to PM you on trip advisor to thank you for your detailed advice and recommendations. I have contacted White Night Travel for our trip to St. Petersburg along with several other companies. I am really impressed with the professionalism and the response of Irina. What a gem she is. We will be using them for our trip in 2018 so please do not think that no one is listening as you posted somewhere on the forum.

Thanks for your kind words.

To the OP, we have found several smaller companies including White Night Travel and Best Guides who will develop an individual itinerary for you. The best web sites that I found to describe the various options were the Best Guides site - see Off the Beaten Back as well as some of the tour descriptions from Julia at Dancing Bears. Lots of options out there.

Good advice. Investigate several tour companies' offerings to learn about appealing second-time destinations, but don't feel bound to choose that company if the other details don't feel right to you. How a particular tour company responds to your questions, the size of its groups, or its lunch arrangements, or the absence/presence of shopping stops, or the ability to keep children engaged, or the ability to accommodate someone with limited mobility/energy is every bit as important as the destinations on their web site. A good smaller tour company will be able to create a personalized itinerary that will have you looking forward to a repeat visit to St. Petersburg.

I'm fairly certain you have already considered this (and possibly ruled it out due to the heavy travel) but I'd probably go to Moscow if I ever take another Baltic cruise.

There's a walking tour that includes the railway tunnel system. Not to be missed. And definitely more time at the Hermitage.

We've stayed onboard everytime... the ship is our destination.

We've stayed onboard everytime... the ship is our destination.

I suspect that since you're a resident of Denmark, you're able to visit the ports on a Baltic itinerary with ease and frequency. Your personal decision seems less appealing to travelers who have traveled thousands of miles to take this particular cruise.

I suspect that since you're a resident of Denmark, you're able to visit the ports on a Baltic itinerary with ease and frequency. Your personal decision seems less appealing to travelers who have traveled thousands of miles to take this particular cruise.

When we want to really see/experience a place, then we book a land-based holiday. For us, cruising isn't the best way to do that. When we want to get away and relax, we book a cruise.

When we want to really see/experience a place, then we book a land-based holiday. For us, cruising isn't the best way to do that. When we want to get away and relax, we book a cruise.

You're right that cruising isn't the best way to see a place, but it's a reasonable way to get a brief taste of many destinations. With cruise lines offering multi-day port calls at some of the most appealing destinations, itineraries are doing a little bit to overcome that cruising drawback.

In effect, when you book a Baltic cruise, you're doing the equivalent of east coast residents who choose Caribbean itineraries or East Coast and Canadian itineraries. My earlier post was a reaction Post #8 which, as written, seems like an odd contribution to a board dedicated to maximizing a successful Northern Europe & Baltic sea cruise.

My earlier post was a reaction Post #8 which, as written, seems like an odd contribution to a board dedicated to maximizing a successful Northern Europe & Baltic sea cruise.

The OP asked, "So - who has had multiple trips to St Petersburg - what did you do???"

And I answered.

The scenery in port in St. Petersburg was like something out of Blade Runner and last summer on one of the days we stayed onboard, we saw a double rainbow over the landscape, which was stunning and more memorable to us than being herded along on a group tour.

So while that might not be an experience that you value, it's one that we value and sometimes, if you've been to a place multiple times, the best way to experience it is by taking a time out.

On our first visit to St. Petersburg we also booked TJ travel and had a great even if exhausting time but for this year's cruise we tried to modify our experiences a bit, especially because on our first visit I found that at the end of the second day I only saw golden spires in front of my eyes.

This time we chose BestGuides "Best of the Best" because it seemed a bit of a more leisurely experience with a walk, a subway ride, two boat rides etc. plus of course the "highlights" like Peterhof fountain park or the Hermitage museum which we'll love to visit again. We would have liked a customized tour but it simply was too expensive for just the two of us. We thought it was a compromise.

We are also planning our second cruise to the Baltics this summer. The last time we had a wonderful experience with the childen tour of the Best Guides and it was awesome. However we have already seen most of the musts in StP and this time want to create a personalized itinerary with probably some unusual places included. I'll be very thankfull for all your recommendations!

Jane

Since you had a good experience with Best Guides, why don't you let them solve your problem? If you go to their web site, there's a link to a page titled "Off the Beaten Track." If nothing on that page appeals, I would hope that Best Guides would rise to the challenge for a repeat customer.

Since you had a good experience with Best Guides, why don't you let them solve your problem? If you go to their web site, there's a link to a page titled "Off the Beaten Track." If nothing on that page appeals, I would hope that Best Guides would rise to the challenge for a repeat customer.

I'm sure they will. I think it will depend a bit on how much you are willing to pay for that second experience. I checked but for just one couple the cost of a two-day private tour was simply too expensive for our budget. So we decided to take another mini-group tour which is a bit different in some aspects to the first tour we had done.

We are also planning our second cruise to the Baltics this summer. The last time we had a wonderful experience with the childen tour of the Best Guides and it was awesome. However we have already seen most of the musts in StP and this time want to create a personalized itinerary with probably some unusual places included. I'll be very thankfull for all your recommendations!

Jane

Do you have any particular interests? Things that you might want to see/do? Music? Art? History? Military?