Best St. Petersburg Tour companies?

What are the best St. Petersburg tour companies for a private or Group tour? Is Red October still popular? Any others better?

Just read down the board. There are MANY MANY threads about the various tour companies.

If you check the threads on this board you'll find that virtually everyone sings the praises of the operator they used.

Few of us have used more than one tour operator, so we can't even say which is better out of two, let alone the whole raft of them.

So it's difficult to say which is best.

Easier to say which is worst.

None of them :)

JB :)

On our first Baltic cruise in 2005 - the major players were Red October and DenRus. (We went with DenRus.) Now you rarely hear about either - especially Red October. The ones you read about the most are Alla Tours, SPb Tours, TJ Travel, and a few others.

If you check the threads on this board you'll find that virtually everyone sings the praises of the operator they used.

Few of us have used more than one tour operator, so we can't even say which is better out of two, let alone the whole raft of them.

 

So it's difficult to say which is best.

Easier to say which is worst.

None of them :)

 

JB :)

Quite. They are providing administration, a driver and a guide, and they all seem very good at it.

On our cruise there were folks booked with Alla, SPB, TJ Travel, and Red October. (We booked the Comfort Tour with Alla.) Everyone seemed very happy with their tours - we were certainly happy with our tour. To me, what's important is the smaller groups; on our cruise, some of the folks booked on the cruise line tour couldn't visit Church of the Spilled Blood because the full-size bus couldn't park to let them out. We had 15 people in our group and had no problem visiting any of the sites.

What are the best St. Petersburg tour companies for a private or Group tour? Is Red October still popular? Any others better?

Just read down the page, St. Petersburg-Private tour companies.

That is just one of countless threads on this subject.

Cheers

Len

My suggestion is to e-mail all the major companies and then based on their replys go with your instinct....That's exactly what I did and we had an amazing trip of a lifetime on our private (just DH, myself, guide & driver) 2 day tour with TJ Travel.

I just came back and did a 1 day tour with TJ Travel. I did a private tour with just my husband and I and we had a really good time. I don't think I'd see St. Petersburg any other way. We zipped around the city with our guide (Julia) and our driver in a brand new Mercedes. It was nice being a party of two because we could get through the crowds quick and spend as much or as little time as we wanted at each place.

Most of the tour offer an optional evening Folklore show. Wondering has anyone gone to it and is it worth the $70 cost? Also, we are sailing on the Celebrity Constellation next May. Does the ship bring in local talent for the on board show the night we are in port?

Most of the tour offer an optional evening Folklore show. Wondering has anyone gone to it and is it worth the $70 cost? Also, we are sailing on the Celebrity Constellation next May. Does the ship bring in local talent for the on board show the night we are in port?

We enjoyed the folklore show very much. We were on the NCL Star, and we toured with SPB - - although I imagine most of the St Petersburg operators use the same venue for the show. It was quite a grand place, with a massive central stairway.

I was apprehensive about the quality of the performance, but was pleasantly surprised. It was very professional, and there was a full orchestra with musicians playing local instruments. No recorded music. There were 2 different sets of dance troupes.

A few suggestions. Seating is open, and the seats in the theater are not terraced like in a regular theater. Ask your guide to drop you off a little early so you can be among the first in line. When they allow you to enter the theater, there will be complimentary glasses of wine and champagne. If you want one, down it fast :D and go immediately into the theater to get your seat.

At the intermission, you have a chance for more wine, champagne and non-alcoholic drinks, along with trays of finger food. Be warned: you'll need more than this for dinner, so you'll probably want to snack on the ship either before or after the performance, depending on your individual schedule.

I thought it was a great show. Very lively. Hope you enjoy.

We enjoyed the folklore show very much. We were on the NCL Star, and we toured with SPB - - although I imagine most of the St Petersburg operators use the same venue for the show. It was quite a grand place, with a massive central stairway.

 

I was apprehensive about the quality of the performance, but was pleasantly surprised. It was very professional, and there was a full orchestra with musicians playing local instruments. No recorded music. There were 2 different sets of dance troupes.

 

A few suggestions. Seating is open, and the seats in the theater are not terraced like in a regular theater. Ask your guide to drop you off a little early so you can be among the first in line. When they allow you to enter the theater, there will be complimentary glasses of wine and champagne. If you want one, down it fast :D and go immediately into the theater to get your seat.

 

At the intermission, you have a chance for more wine, champagne and non-alcoholic drinks, along with trays of finger food. Be warned: you'll need more than this for dinner, so you'll probably want to snack on the ship either before or after the performance, depending on your individual schedule.

 

I thought it was a great show. Very lively. Hope you enjoy.

Thanks for the response. The tours we are considering don't go back to the ship, they go straight to the show. That's a concern for us. Same clothes as on the tour and really no food for several hours.

We enjoyed the folklore show very much. We were on the NCL Star, and we toured with SPB - - although I imagine most of the St Petersburg operators use the same venue for the show. It was quite a grand place, with a massive central stairway.

 

I was apprehensive about the quality of the performance, but was pleasantly surprised. It was very professional, and there was a full orchestra with musicians playing local instruments. No recorded music. There were 2 different sets of dance troupes.

 

A few suggestions. Seating is open, and the seats in the theater are not terraced like in a regular theater. Ask your guide to drop you off a little early so you can be among the first in line. When they allow you to enter the theater, there will be complimentary glasses of wine and champagne. If you want one, down it fast :D and go immediately into the theater to get your seat.

 

At the intermission, you have a chance for more wine, champagne and non-alcoholic drinks, along with trays of finger food. Be warned: you'll need more than this for dinner, so you'll probably want to snack on the ship either before or after the performance, depending on your individual schedule.

 

I thought it was a great show. Very lively. Hope you enjoy.

We did this self-same show through Alla a couple of years back, cost about $50 including car. Though I think you have to also book a day tour with Alla if you want to book an evening show. And I'm guessing the other operators work the same way.

Have seen complaints on this board from folk who arrived later & had poor seats, so I'll concur with RJ's advice to get there early.

Yes, we were there for doors opening & chose seats 2nd row centre. Not front row? We'd kinda guessed they might drag folk onto the stage, & sure enough they did a couple of times ;)

Surroundings were "decayed decadence" & seats are dining chairs. We wondered whether we'd made a mistake in booking the show.

But the show was excellent, very varied, good standard of singing, band & dancing, and plenty of subtle humour.

Intermission drinks & tidbits were a bun-fight & a waste of time, so grab a bite before you go.

Unashamedly for tourists, but we enjoyed it immensely:)

JB :)

Thanks for the response. The tours we are considering don't go back to the ship, they go straight to the show. That's a concern for us. Same clothes as on the tour and really no food for several hours.

Yes, we also went straight to the show after a full day of touring. Don't worry, it's a casual affair. Many will be in the same situation.

Agree with John Bull's assessment of the rush at the intermission. But don't worry, you'll likely get enough of the little bit-size nibbles to tide you over until you return to the ship. ;) Another thought... take an energy bar with you as a fallback.

Thanks for the response. The tours we are considering don't go back to the ship, they go straight to the show. That's a concern for us. Same clothes as on the tour and really no food for several hours.

Same routine for us.

Clothing no worries, as RJ's post it's casual. It's not like the ballet.

We were the only ones in our van to go to the folk show, we were dropped at a café-bar round the corner from the theatre before the van headed back to the ship, & were collected from there about an hour later & taken to the theatre. Once in, we were left on our own. After the show, Alla's van was waiting to take us back to the ship.

We had roubles with us, but bought only beers in the cafe-bar cos we weren't hungry (had a decent lunch). But like most little bars & cafes only roubles are accepted, no foreign or cards.

Handy tip:

In the main, you'll get by without roubles, but we always like to have some local shrapnel in our pockets.

Since Alla's guide's tip can be in any currency we bought Roubles to cover the tip & have some jingle in our pockets.

At lunch on both days, although lunch & table water is provided, we wanted to wash down our lunch with a beer. Only Roubles accepted at both restaurants, so we broke into that tip money for the beers.

Did the same pre-theatre.

And made up the tip shortfall with Euros.

So we had spending money without the risk of left-over Roubles. Everyone happy :)

JB :)

Most of the tour offer an optional evening Folklore show. Wondering has anyone gone to it and is it worth the $70 cost? Also, we are sailing on the Celebrity Constellation next May. Does the ship bring in local talent for the on board show the night we are in port?

If Celebrity does what Royal did (I am assuming they would since they are owned by the same company) there will be a Folkloric show on the boat. It was nice to watch it at the end of the day on the boat but honestly my husband was worn out and fell asleep a few times during it. I don't think I'd pay $70 to see the show.

If Celebrity does what Royal did (I am assuming they would since they are owned by the same company) there will be a Folkloric show on the boat. It was nice to watch it at the end of the day on the boat but honestly my husband was worn out and fell asleep a few times during it. I don't think I'd pay $70 to see the show.

After touring all day, I would prefer to go back to the ship and see the show IF it's a local folklore show. People who have gone on the tour sponsored shows really liked them and say it's worth the $70.. Trying to get an answer from Celebrity, but they don't seem to know. Hoping someone who has sailed on Celebrity would respond.

After touring all day, I would prefer to go back to the ship and see the show IF it's a local folklore show. People who have gone on the tour sponsored shows really liked them and say it's worth the $70.. Trying to get an answer from Celebrity, but they don't seem to know. Hoping someone who has sailed on Celebrity would respond.

They had a folklore show on the ship I was on (NCL Star). I didn't attend, because I was at the show onshore as I mentioned. However, I did watch a re-run of the ship's show on our stateroom TV. It was definitely locals. There is a lot of uniqueness to the Russian folklore show. I can't imagine it being performed by a ship's onboard dance troupe.

Having said that, I would still go to the show onshore.

We booked through SPB tours. Great communication and follow through with them via emails. Much better having smaller groups (15 in our group) and very nice vans for transportation. Provided fresh water bottles each day for our 2 day visit. Dosha (our tour guide) was amazing-so personable, extremely knowledgeable and added much added interesting information about the Russian people and lifestyle, etc. She was incredible at moving our group expeditiously through crowds. Evening folklore program was really fun with wonderful entertainment and champagne and hor 'duerves. We were there at same time as the G20 Conference was being held which caused some delays and problems for some of the other tour groups that we heard about-not with SPB. They had carefully planned for logistical issues and we covered everything (plus some) that was scheduled. I would highly recommend them. Also, do not worry about the ship's encouragement to do their tours because you will never miss the ship. SPB works very carefully to assure timeliness and certainly is a much less expensive option then the ship's excursions.

What are the best St. Petersburg tour companies for a private or Group tour? Is Red October still popular? Any others better?

We took a Baltic cruise in July August 2013. I spent a lot of time researching tour companies in St. Petersburg (Russia) because I didn’t want to book a more expensive ship shore excursion . We were going to be there for 2 days (August 2/3). My choice was Best Guides. Right from the start they were excellent in the preliminary emails back and forth (Kira and Natalia). No delays in responses and very friendly yet professional.

Our choice - “Best of the Best Tour” with the addition of the Russian Folk Music and Dance evening on the first night of our stop. The company included a free 2 hour “White Nights” tour following the evening program. The price was much better than anything available from the ship and well worth the time and effort to find and book it.

Maria was our guide and Sergei the driver in a very comfortable van which the 3 of us shared with a family of 4 (2 older teen children). Except for an early glitch when the family had extra paper work to do to get off the ship the first day, everything else about the 2 days was absolutely terrific – friendly; on time; as advertised; extensive and interesting historical descriptions of sights and events.

I can’t say enough about Maria, our guide. Her knowledge was encyclopedic but provided in a way that kept our attention and looking for more. But beware! She gives a test on the second day! I asked for multiple choice/true or false.

If you want the best possible experience in St. Petersburg then Best Guides has to be your choice.

:)

After touring all day, I would prefer to go back to the ship and see the show IF it's a local folklore show. People who have gone on the tour sponsored shows really liked them and say it's worth the $70.. Trying to get an answer from Celebrity, but they don't seem to know. Hoping someone who has sailed on Celebrity would respond.

It was a local group that came on board.

What are the best St. Petersburg tour companies for a private or Group tour? Is Red October still popular? Any others better?

Steve:

When is your sailing?? We did a tour together a few years ago.... Halifax w/ Jonathon. Great day! We are sailing HAL Eurodam on 5/23/14. :)

There are really tonnes of information on this forum about tour operators in SPb:)I've been lost in them.The problem is that if they all are so good as people write, it's very difficult to choose;)

I had the same problem a year ago. I was really very confused. After all I did a very simple thing – I sent the same request to several of them –Spb tours, Alla, TJ, Best Guides and so on. I have to say that all the answers I got were very proper and informative. After all we stayed with Best Guides. There were a few reasons for it. Their answer came first and Natalia ( a manager who answered us) was so helpful and so quick to respond. I just like her personally. Moreover they work with children and we were travelling with a 3 year old baby. The result was more than just good - we enjoyed the tours immensely!

Do the same. Send the same message to several companies and find your favorite. Good luck!:)

Jess. :)

I had the same problem a year ago. I was really very confused. After all I did a very simple thing – I sent the same request to several of them –Spb tours, Alla, TJ, Best Guides and so on. I have to say that all the answers I got were very proper and informative. After all we stayed with Best Guides. There were a few reasons for it. Their answer came first and Natalia ( a manager who answered us) was so helpful and so quick to respond. I just like her personally. Moreover they work with children and we were travelling with a 3 year old baby. The result was more than just good - we enjoyed the tours immensely!

Do the same. Send the same message to several companies and find your favorite. Good luck!:)

Jess. :)

Good advice. Seldom do you read many negative comments about the major St Petersburg tour operators. We went with SPB and were happy, but it seems all the operators offer similar options.

There are also comments you can read over on TripAdvisor's St Petersburg Activities forum:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g298507-Activities-c25-St_Petersburg_Northwestern_District.html