Wheelchair Accessible Excursions in St. Petersburg

Does anyone have a suggestion for a tour of St. Petersburg? I am in a wheelchair and can not walk or stand but can transfer into a car and am using a foldable wheelchair that can be placed in the trunk of a car. Also, does anyone know if the hydrofoils to take you to Peterhof are wheelchair accessible?

I ws in St. Petersburg in May of this year. I can stand and walk a little but am quite unsteady. St. Petersburg is difficult as there are steps into most venues such as the Hermitage and Catherine's Palace. There are elevators after you make it into the building. I think the best thing to do is to contact one of the independent tour operators (we went with SPB) and describe your needs to them. They will then give you a very accurate description of what they can provide. I was very pleased with our tours as I had always wanted to see the Amber Room at Catherine's Palace. The hydrofoil has about 5 very steep steps down to the seating area after you manage a fairly steep ramp. We took a van to Peterhof and then the hydrofoil back to the city. You could of course drive back.

I would also recommend contacting Victoria at SPB tours, we had a wonderful 2 days private tour. My husband has walking difficulties but is not a wheelchair user, our guide arranged a wheelchair for the Hermitage where there are also lifts. There are wheelchairs available at Peterhof, the gardens have slopes also. I am not sure if there are lifts inside the palace though.

A company that specialises in disable tourists visiting ST Petersurg is Liberty, I believe they have transport suitable for wheelchairs. E-mail info@libertytour.ru, check out their website.

There is a lift once you get into the Hermitage but there is a curb that is about 8 inches high must get over before you get into the building.If your in a manual w/c and can walk then it's not a problem. If you can't walk at all and your in a 200+lb w/c that's a different story. My wife found two 5 ft long 2x6 planks and made a make shift ramp and I got in. Once inside the art work was remarkable. It was extremely crowded but still worth it. We had 3 power chairs in our group and we had an accessible van and an english speaking tour guide. I have been on 45+ cruises and Scandanavia-Russia has been the best so far.