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Viking Homeland, St. Petersburg


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Hi - I have seen a few references regarding private tours in St. Petersburg other than taking the Viking Sky excursions, but thought I had read that you need to have a visa if going off on your own? And can anyone comment on the St. Petersburg excursions from Viking Sky? Thanks

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There is often confusion about visas in St. Petersburg. If you book a tour with a local company they will arrange your visas. You do nothing. If you want to explore on your own, which, personally, I wouldn’t recommend, then you will need to arrange your own visas. We used TJ Travel a couple of years ago who were wonderful. We were there for three days and used TJ every day. No payment in advance. We actually paid at the end of the three days. I hope this helps and that you enjoy this most amazing of cities.

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We will be in St. Petersburg for three days next spring on the Russia and the Baltic Sea cruise with Viking. Usually we use Viking tours, knowing we may be paying more for the convenience, but this time we are using Alla tours. Obviously, we haven't yet taken this tour, but they are very well regarded both here on Cuise Critic and also on Tripadvisor. They have been very easy to work with, and we are really excited about touring St. Petersburg with them.

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The Russian Visa myth, that only the cruise lines can provide tours without a Visa, is promoted in some fashion by most, if not all Lines.

 

Provided the tour company is approved (we used Alla) your tour ticket for that day is your Visa, which is handed to Immigration with your passport. The other requirement is that you must return to the ship at night.

 

If you want to go ashore on your own, or stay ashore overnight, you will require a Visa.

 

In our experience, the biggest benefit of the private tours was the group size. Last year we had about 20 pax from our ship sign up with Alla. We could easily all have fitted in the mini bus, but they split us into 2 separate groups.

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Wow...thanks so much for all of the feedback! Through Roll Call, I have now connected with others on our ship, now as well, and will be looking at the Alla Tours for St. Petersburg with a smaller group from our ship.

I am so excited to be connected with Cruise Critic, and am very grateful for all of your responses - SO helpful!

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Just off the Sky on June 9. While in St. Petersburg we used TJ Travel who were great. There were 12 of us from the ship. Our day was action packed, and our guide Sophie was super knowledgeable and delightful to be with. We were the only ones who purchased the ballet for the evening. We were met in the City Center by a TJ rep when the first day touring was over at 5:30. The rep and a personal driver took us to a local sandwich shop, the rep coming in with us. Afterwards we were driven to the theater and again the rep came in with us till we were seated in our box. He then left, and when the ballet was over, the driver was outside waiting to take us back to the ship. What incredible service. And the ballet was awesome.

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  • 2 weeks later...

My wife and I did a private two-day St. Petersburg tour with Dancing Bear Tours. These folks were outstanding and took care of everything. They do an exceptional job of pre-planing with you so you get just what you want. Yes, no visa required. The tour company will take care of that too. As there were only two of us it was not inexpensive, but with a driver and a very knowledgeable and fun guide, worth every cent! Amazingly, no payment of any kind until end of 2nd day. Go for it.

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We did a private 2 day tour in May with TJ. Arrangements were easy and they take care of the visas. Both driver and guide spoke excellent English. No worries & a great tour. Also, no problem customizing the two days so I could revisit a few sights from my university "exchange" tour in the late 70s. What a wonderful city to visit. I would never tour it on my own but a private or small group tour is perfect. At the time we booked, there was no deposit for private tours but that has changed for several of the Russian tour groups. I believe Alla and TJ now require a 20% deposit a month before departure for private but not group tours.

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We also did a private 2-day tour with TJ Travel in May. It was great--again, was able to pick a few things that weren't on any of the excursions, like the Political History Museum and the Geological Research Institute to see the "Precious Map of the Soviet Union" totally inlaid with precious gems. Fantastic. We actually just added the Geological Institute a couple of days before our tour, and no problem with the revision. Having only two of us was great. Driver and guide both spoke excellent English.

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We just returned from the Viking Sun, and used Alla in St. Petersburg for the two day tour. Easy to book, easy to find after you pass through immigration, and the guide was excellent. Group size was just 10 people. The group size for the various Viking excursions was 20-30 people. Alla arranged for Visas...just have to provide them with names and passport information in advance.

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