St Petersburg tour advice

I need some help with Tours of St Petersburg. I will be visiting on Oriana at the end of th Month.

I would like a 3-4 hour tour on both days or perhaps full days. plus a visit to the opera. My problem is that the tours I've seen are very very expensive. It seems a waist to visit such a place and stay on board ship but looking at the cost, I think I will have little choice. I normaly do my own thing choosing where an when to visit the places I prefer.

I understand this is not possible in St Petersburg But £300 plus for tours per person seems a little on the expensive side to say the least.

thanks for any advice:)

I'm assuming you are getting these prices from your ship tours?

Try spb.tours in St Petersburg or Alla tours.

Both are reputable companies that do full day tours in St Petersburg.

$250 for 2 days per person. Or $400 for 3 days. Includes lunch and all entrances.

Totally agree. Go with a private company. If you find the roll call for your cruise on the 'roll call' pages, you will probably find several people organising tour groups. I think when we went on our Baltic cruise, we ended up with 8 different tour groups using different operators. They are all very professional. Some pros and cons with each company, but all better than the ships tours. Get over to your roll call!

Simon

Thanks Sayaguru and Sddsddean.

I have looked at all tours incl P&O which I very rarely do. I've been advised as you say to look into SPB and Alla but for a 2 day tour with visits rather than drive buys and a visit to the Opera, hoping that it will be half decent as the to big boys are out of town at the time of my visit. These Tours still amount to $425 each including the Opera way way out of my price range.

So I guess I will just have to make do with a walking tour of the town for half a day with a posible vist to the opera on night one.

I have emailed SPB and asked if they do a smaller 3-5 hour tour on each day with a visit to the Opera with a figure of $500 in mind (you dont get if you dont ask)and I'm waiting for a reply.

After all we dont have to see everything on our first visit which seems to be what they try to do

Thanks Again

When you say a walking tour, do you mean 'on your own'? If so, you will need to get your own visa which costs about £300. A tour company includes the visitor visa in their package. I still think it would be a good idea to look at your roll call.

Simon

We did the 2 day tour with Alla. I initially thought it expensive too, but when you think what was included it isn't too bad. Also, there were only 2 other people from our cruise booked on it, so it was just like having a private tour.

If it was my first visit to SPB I would do one of the day tours and skip an evening tour as it is tiring doing the full day. I think you will be disappointed if you don't do a 'proper' tour. I wouldn't have missed it for the world. I'd love to go back and do it all again.

You can go to good opera in London, Milan or Vienna, but you won't see the splendour of SPB anywhere else.

No sorry i dont mean on my own. there are quite a few out there with the Local tour guides and P&O do one thats 7 hrs and its only £42.

Idealy what would be perfect is a 4 hour tour on both days taking in

Peterhof Fountain Park and Gardens, Catherine Palace at Pushkin, a visit to the church of spilled blood and Lunch at the summer palace :) We would also like to have a ride on the hydrofoil and metro. I think this could be done for around $250 a head

Finaly an evening visit to the Ballet

not Opera as I've said earlier.

Far less tiring. Its not that i'm not fit but 8-10 hours a day taking in over 20 different places is just to much. "Slooooow down guys and then we will have to come back again".

Thanks again Simon

Ive tried the roll Call but theres not a lot going on, I'm waiting for a reply off one person who seems to want to get a group together, but it was posted a while ago.

Sean

There are a number of very good private operators (you can check this site or Trip Advisor). Most of them are about half the price of the ship's tours. We used TJ for a two day package and they were excellent, but there are a number of others that also get very good reviews and have good web sites. All will meet you right outside of the immigration area.

My main recommendation would be to go with a local operator rather than a ship tour. The main sites (e.g. Hermitage, etc.) can get very crowded, and having a smaller group (our was 8 people in a comfortable mini-bus) has many advantages in terms of being able to steer around the crowds and not having to wait for thirty folks trying to take rest room breaks in small rest rooms. Also, get a tour that uses the hydrofoil one way to Peterhof. St. Petersburg traffic can be bad and that'll save you some time and aggravation.

TJ, by the way was very responsive in replying to e-mails and sending us all the needed documentation. They also accepted credit card payment at the end of the tour which was a convenience.

I just came back from St Petersburg and took a deluxe 2 day tour with SPB.

They were fabulous. We saw all the top sights, had early admittance to the Hermitage and even got to see the Synagogue as we requested .

I need some help with Tours of St Petersburg. I will be visiting on Oriana at the end of th Month.

I would like a 3-4 hour tour on both days or perhaps full days. plus a visit to the opera. My problem is that the tours I've seen are very very expensive. It seems a waist to visit such a place and stay on board ship but looking at the cost, I think I will have little choice. I normaly do my own thing choosing where an when to visit the places I prefer.

I understand this is not possible in St Petersburg But £300 plus for tours per person seems a little on the expensive side to say the least.

 

thanks for any advice:)

You have already gotten some excellent advice. We also used SPB tours and they were fabulous. Do NOT even consider a ship's tour.

From your post, I would assume you plan on returning to St Petersburg?. You say you don't have to see everything this time. Most people view visiting St Petersburg as a once in a lifetime event and want to see it all in this time frame. If myself or anyone else here goes back, it will be 'gravy' if you know what I mean.

As for the ballet (or Opera), they are only done at night and are an additional cost. I know from our group, several people did the folk lore show and loved it. It will make for a very long day, and night, but if you are only interested in a one day tour, it would be cheaper and allow you to see whatever you can in that one day and night.

Cheers

Len

We did the ship's two day small group tours whilst on Oriana and these were £190 per person for the two days and we felt it was very good value for eveything we did.

We were in a Minibus like the Alla Tours ones and packed in so much over the two days. It was really excellent and we had an excellent driver and guide. We were a group of 14. We did all the things that the Alla Tours were doing - we know this as we kept seeing them.

We heard good feedback about Alla and know that the private tours are cheaper, but we always prefer taking the ship's excursions. But am I just querying that price of £300 per person? Ours was certainly a lot cheaper than that.

There are a number of very good private operators (you can check this site or Trip Advisor). Most of them are about half the price of the ship's tours. We used TJ for a two day package and they were excellent, but there are a number of others that also get very good reviews and have good web sites. All will meet you right outside of the immigration area.

 

My main recommendation would be to go with a local operator rather than a ship tour. The main sites (e.g. Hermitage, etc.) can get very crowded, and having a smaller group (our was 8 people in a comfortable mini-bus) has many advantages in terms of being able to steer around the crowds and not having to wait for thirty folks trying to take rest room breaks in small rest rooms. Also, get a tour that uses the hydrofoil one way to Peterhof. St. Petersburg traffic can be bad and that'll save you some time and aggravation.

 

TJ, by the way was very responsive in replying to e-mails and sending us all the needed documentation. They also accepted credit card payment at the end of the tour which was a convenience.

I just want to also recommend you email TJ Travel...you might be very surprised at what they have to offer...We used them for our amazing private tour.

We were in St Petersburg last week and can highly recommend TJ Tours

We did the ship's two day small group tours whilst on Oriana and these were £190 per person for the two days and we felt it was very good value for eveything we did.

 

We were in a Minibus like the Alla Tours ones and packed in so much over the two days. It was really excellent and we had an excellent driver and guide. We were a group of 14. We did all the things that the Alla Tours were doing - we know this as we kept seeing them.

 

We heard good feedback about Alla and know that the private tours are cheaper, but we always prefer taking the ship's excursions. But am I just querying that price of £300 per person? Ours was certainly a lot cheaper than that.

I think most of the prices quoted are in US Dollars and not Euro or Pounds.

cheers

Len

We were in St Petersburg last week and can highly recommend TJ Tours

We were in St Petersburg on 8/22, 8/23. We used TJ Tours for their two day best of SB and we had a fabulous experience. Our tour guide, Nina was the best!!! I can truly rate them as a 10+.

When you say a walking tour, do you mean 'on your own'? If so, you will need to get your own visa which costs about £300. A tour company includes the visitor visa in their package. I still think it would be a good idea to look at your roll call.

 

Simon

A private visa is not anywhere near £300. If you want to get off and wander around on your own a tourist visa is a good option and well under £100.

Hi! We’ve been to St. Petersburg a year ago and we booked with the Best Guides. Initially I planned to join one of their mini group tours. There were two possibilities: Best of the Best (300 $ pp for a two day itinerary) and All St. Petersburg- 265 $ pp. I think it’s a good price taking in consideration that groups are small, not more than 12 people. I actually hate to be in a big group, but 12 people are not too bad even for me. The given price is for two full days. Meals are included. We traveled with our daughter and she was only 3 at that time so we chose a private tour (kind of a children friendly tour) and were more than happy with it. Our guide was Svetlana. Can’t say enough good words about her:):):)

Jess :)

We did a 3 day private tour with TJ this Summer. I put the group together on cruise critic and it worked out beautifully. By doing a private tour we were able to add a few features to the regular 3 day tour. Nina was our tour guide and she was terrific. Her English is clear and she ensured that we got to see everything in spite of the traffic issues that put us behind schedule. I had looked at all 3 of the big tour companies, Alla, TJ and SPB and selected TJ based on reviews and flexibility. All of the prices are similar. With TJ we added the Grand Choral Synagogue, including a private talk with the cantor (who sang for us in the wedding chapel, amazing) and the Faberge museum (we seemed to be the only ones on our ship that went there, it's a must see). Our schedule was very busy, but Nina kept us moving and the group had a wonderful time. Thanks to Nina and Tatyana!

BTW, the cruise ships try to scare you into taking their tours. The tour companies in Russia arrange the group visas which are the same whether you book directly or through the cruise line. Save your money and get a smaller, more personal tour independently.

I need some help with Tours of St Petersburg. I will be visiting on Oriana at the end of th Month.

I would like a 3-4 hour tour on both days or perhaps full days. plus a visit to the opera. My problem is that the tours I've seen are very very expensive. It seems a waist to visit such a place and stay on board ship but looking at the cost, I think I will have little choice. I normaly do my own thing choosing where an when to visit the places I prefer.

I understand this is not possible in St Petersburg But £300 plus for tours per person seems a little on the expensive side to say the least.

 

thanks for any advice:)

We went last year on Solstice. We did the SPB Tour and they were excellent. They are full day tours, if you book with them you do not need a Visa, but must stay with them. They do night tours to ballet, and maybe also opera. Just go to their site, with everything they do and where you go it is a real deal. They pay for all entry fees and were very efficient with our time and we saw everything we had planned on seeing.

All good advice on this thread.

But if I'm reading the OP right, they went at the end of August.

JB :)