St Petersburg tour company recommendations

I think I contacted all of the St. Petersburg companies frequently mentioned on cruisecritic. So far the prices are the main difference. For a three day tour with three adults the price has been from $490pp to $780pp.

Other things that vary among tour companies:

o size of the group

o whether or not you have to put together a group or whether the company will offer help to achieve the best price

o type of lunch stop

o whether or not there's any free time included

Other things that vary among tour companies:

 

o size of the group

 

o whether or not you have to put together a group or whether the company will offer help to achieve the best price

 

o type of lunch stop

 

o whether or not there's any free time included

Thanks. I am organizing a private tour so those things don’t apply. I didn’t mean to confuse anyone. I just wanted to show there are big price differences if you are going on a private tour.

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Thanks. I am organizing a private tour so those things don’t apply. I didn’t mean to confuse anyone. I just wanted to show there are big price differences if you are going on a private tour.

 

 

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The major independent operators will usually price match for identical itineraries. I know that Alla Tours does and I'm pretty sure that the same is true of SPB and TJ.

I thought they would too. Alla has the lowest price so far.

I thought they would too. Alla has the lowest price so far.

Alla's tours are outstanding. I have toured with her several times on multiple trips to Russia.

I was considering booking a tour with Alla for our 1 day in St Petersburg. The tour is showing that it is 12 hours long and we are in port for 12 hours. It seems like a tour built for cruisers. I am a worrier so I worry about missing the ship's departure. Has anyone had issues with not making it back in time when using a non ship tour while in this port?

I was considering booking a tour with Alla for our 1 day in St Petersburg. The tour is showing that it is 12 hours long and we are in port for 12 hours. It seems like a tour built for cruisers. I am a worrier so I worry about missing the ship's departure. Has anyone had issues with not making it back in time when using a non ship tour while in this port?

You need not worry - Alla has been in business for many years and, as I was told, has never missed getting back to the ship in time for departure. All of the major independent operators in St. Petersburg get you back in time for sailaway - their reputations would be destroyed if they missed just once!

Your itinerary will be adjusted to coordinate with your ship's arrival and departure time - the samples on the website are just that ... samples. Read her guarantee - FAQ on her website.

The cruise ships want you to believe that by booking with them the ship will wait if you are delayed - I know of an instance wherein the ship did NOT wait for a ship sponsored shore excursion.

We booked the 2 day Comfort Tour with Alla and expected to be on a 16 seater mini bus with other passengers.

When we met our tour guide there was only one other couple booked on the tour.

So, it ended up being more like a private tour and the guide managed to rearrange a couple of things to accommodate traffic etc

We thoroughly enjoyed it and would have no hesitation in booking again with Alla.

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I was considering booking a tour with Alla for our 1 day in St Petersburg. The tour is showing that it is 12 hours long and we are in port for 12 hours. It seems like a tour built for cruisers. I am a worrier so I worry about missing the ship's departure. Has anyone had issues with not making it back in time when using a non ship tour while in this port?

I was in St Petersburg for a two day tour. If a group were to miss a tour you would have heard about it. I doubt if any tour has ever missed the ship, here. Alla Tours guarantees that they will get you to the next cruise port, if they miss the ship, at their expense! We got back on time and so did all the other tours.

All the tour companies are almost identical and are all reliable. Each company has a slight difference and it's up to you to decide on a company. I chose Alla because they feed you a packed lunch, during the long drive to Peterhoff Gardens. This gave us more time to see the sights. The kids weren't crazy about the packed lunch, however they loved the Peterhoff Gardens! Eating in a restaurant, eats into your limited time.

I checked online and some companies do have small groups of max 8-10. We are thinking of Guide-Guru or Dancing Bear. Alla is also a great choice but they seem to have only 16 passenger groups. The more popular the tour group is, the more people it will draw. We will keep studying the reviews.

I checked online and some companies do have small groups of max 8-10. We are thinking of Guide-Guru or Dancing Bear. Alla is also a great choice but they seem to have only 16 passenger groups. The more popular the tour group is, the more people it will draw. We will keep studying the reviews.

The advice I tend to give posters is that any company in the top ten (or eleven) that meets your needs is very likely going to offer a great experience. I can't say I recall someone posting on this site with a review of Guide-Guru or Dancing Bear specifically, but that's probably more a function of my memory than of the real situation.

Going to Trip Advisor just now, I found that the site has needlessly complicated the search for good information about tours of St Petersburg. On the TA web site now, there are too many categories that overlap.The broadest category is "St Petersburg Tours" and that's the one that includes the #10 rank for Guide Guru and #11 for Dancing Bear. Then, the information gets less and less useful.

There's a category titled "Private Tours", a category that describes the kind of visit that many posters take. Looking at that list of names, there's not a single tour company whose name I recognize and with good reason. There's not a single company in the list with 20 reviews and most companies have fewer than 10. Those companies certainly wouldn't have a high ranking in the broad "St Petersburg Tours" category.

The "Ports of Call" category is organized by the type of tour and the tour provider is almost an afterthought. That said, the tour providers tend to be a mixture of the top names in the broad category (TJ Travel) and total unknowns (Maria Rose Travel). Since the "Ports of Call" category exists, why would Trip Advisor also include a "Shore Excursion" category? The two categories are totally overlapping.

I've gone into this level of detail to back up the advice with which I began my post. I suspect these small and duplicative categories were promoted by the less popular tour companies as a way of getting their names higher up in a category -- any category. If you're drawn to a company with 300+ positive reviews from the broad "St Petersburg Tours" category, you'll be fine.

Going to Trip Advisor just now, I found that the site has needlessly complicated the search for good information about tours of St Petersburg. On the TA web site now, there are too many categories that overlap.The broadest category is "St Petersburg Tours" and that's the one that includes the #10 rank for Guide Guru and #11 for Dancing Bear. Then, the information gets less and less useful.

I've never given this much thought but I see that you have a point - almost too much information. I always have used the broad categories - in this instance it would be "St. Petersburg Tours".

The "Ports of Call" category is organized by the type of tour and the tour provider is almost an afterthought.

Yes, and it appears that all tours in this category are tours sold by Viator wherein the actual tour provider is a local operator. A money maker for TripAdvisor/Viator, to be sure. I always book directly with the actual vendor, never with a middle man like Viator. I have also noted that SPB tours offers their tours on Viator for a higher price than the same tour offered by booking through their website (there are probably more vendors wherein the same applies but this is the one that I immediately noticed). Why would one book through Viator and pay more for exactly the same tour that one could book through the vendor's website for less?

I checked online and some companies do have small groups of max 8-10. We are thinking of Guide-Guru or Dancing Bear. Alla is also a great choice but they seem to have only 16 passenger groups. The more popular the tour group is, the more people it will draw. We will keep studying the reviews.

Alla Tours is NOT only for groups of 16. Our family of 12 had a private tour and it was very reasonable. I did have to put a deposit down because if we didn't show up, they would have a problem.

We had a perfect tour a couple of years ago with Anastasia Travel. At the time, they had a 50% off promo for bookings made in the off season (just had to make the booking then, the tour itself could take place whenever) so we had a completely private 2-day tour with guide and driver in a new Mercedes car for the same price everyone else was asking for a 16-seater. Our guide Anna added several stops on that she knew we would be interested in after spending a little time with us and getting to know our interests. We made a short stop each day for lunch, and loved it for the experience (and great local food!) which we would not have gotten with a box lunch.

I don't know if Anastasia still offers the half off promo, but I would book with them again either way. When I look for an excursion, I actually try to avoid the "top rated" companies and look a little farther down the list to find someone who has great reviews but fewer of them. I know the top big guys provide a terrific service, but the little guys are can be a little more personalized because they don't have as many bookings.

Alla Tours has a Holiday sale going on right now! Not sure about the other tour companies.

I used SPB for the 2 day St Petersburg deluxetour in July - they were amazing. When other groups missed venues due to amarathon taking place, our guide Tatiana shuffled the itinerary so that westill got to see everything. There were 16 on our tour - perhaps it was these people who made it such a great experience as we met for drinks a few times during the cruise and swapped emails and pictures since. I thought the website made my paymentoptions quite clear, and researching forums suggested pre-payment was the betteroption. I also used SPB for Estonia, Helsinki and Rostock and very happy withthe discounted price and the calibre of the guides. I would use them again in a heartbeat.

We were in SPB for one day only. When we all boarded & were off to start the tour, we were told we would be skipping some of the items on our agenda due to a festival taking place in town.

We were never informed beforehand of the change & had to vehemently argue in favor of visiting the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, the main reason we booked our tour.

The guide had to call the main office & were able to arrange a tour of the church as our second stop in order to accomodate. Why did we have to argue for this? Why wasn't it arranged this way from the get go?

Additionally, at our first stop she kept rushing us stating "If you want to see the church, you must hurry" We were not a big group & her demeanor wasn't very pleasant.

 

Also, our only stop for shopping was a very crowded shop that is used by all tour companies. During this stop, we paid for our tour & due to some technical difficulties on their end, ate up most of our shopping time. I had no idea we could pay ahead of time, I would have gladly done so.

 

Those are some of the main issues .... I would book through another company if I were to return.

Thank you for all of the info!! I have another question. I saw a company has private tours for a reasonable price. We have never done a private tour with only people in our party. There are only 2 of us. Is it a safe choice to do a tour with only 2 people?

Thank you for all of the info!! I have another question. I saw a company has private tours for a reasonable price. We have never done a private tour with only people in our party. There are only 2 of us. Is it a safe choice to do a tour with only 2 people?

My husband and I have traveled all over the world, booking private tours for two in each destination and not once have we had an experience that has made us feel unsafe or made us skittish about continuing to tour as a couple. Are you worried about your physical safety or about the quality of the product you'll receive?

Without knowing the name of the company/companies you're considering, there's little any of us can say beyond the following two general strategies: do your research and get to know your guide before you book their services.

Upthread, you've mentioned that you are considering hiring Alla. Is that really the company causing you to worry about your safety? The number #1 rated company on Trip Advisor? The company that earns praise from cruiser after cruiser on this site? To get the most out of your upcoming cruise, you'll want to put in a lot of time doing research about what you want to see and do, but wasting time worrying about your safety with Alla is not one of them.

I don't understand the safety issue? What's not going to be safe? Are you worried you're going to be kidnapped, robbed, terrorist attack?

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I don't understand the safety issue? What's not going to be safe? Are you worried you're going to be kidnapped, robbed, terrorist attack?

 

 

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We are 2 coupled traveling and have booked a 2 day tour with Alla tours in May in St. Petersburg as well as a tour in Stockholm and probably Warnemunde as well! We’re excited and feel perfectly safe!!

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I was a woman travelling alone and never at any time felt unsafe. It was my first time travelling as a widow and I wasn't confident at all - I was very much out of my comfort zone so far from home and family. Tatiana, the guide from SPB, was brilliant at making me feel not alone but in a very discreet way. She also got me to drink vodka :-)

You’re very brave to travel alone and my heart goes out to you, for having lost your husband! And I’m so glad you had such a wonderful Russian experience! Keep on traveling ands thanks for responding!!

Thank you for your input. I have friends that were robbed on a tour elsewhere in the world, not Russia, so I appreciate the info. I've never been to this area so I figured this board would be able to provide feedback. We will probably be proceeding with just the two of us.

Are there any tour companies that provide World Cup tickets?

FYI.....we just booked with Alla tours....2 Days...very similar itinerary for May 5th. We paid $285/person! Comparisons sometimes help!