Alla Tours from St Petersburg

We are new to cruising and taking our 2 boys on Tui Discovery in August. We hadn’t realised the requirement for visas in St Petersburg and are now thinking about a tour. My husband has found a 2 day package with Alla Tours which looks fantastic but we were just looking for some feedback from someone who has done it and suitability for 2 very active boys (5&7). Thanks:p

We are new to cruising and taking our 2 boys on Tui Discovery in August. We hadn’t realised the requirement for visas in St Petersburg and are now thinking about a tour. My husband has found a 2 day package with Alla Tours which looks fantastic but we were just looking for some feedback from someone who has done it and suitability for 2 very active boys (5&7). Thanks:p

We went with Alla Tours when we last went to SPB. We are returning this year and have booked again with them.

If you scroll down or do a search there are hundreds of reviews here and on Tripadvisor.

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We are new to cruising and taking our 2 boys on Tui Discovery in August. We hadn’t realised the requirement for visas in St Petersburg and are now thinking about a tour. My husband has found a 2 day package with Alla Tours which looks fantastic but we were just looking for some feedback from someone who has done it and suitability for 2 very active boys (5&7). Thanks:p

Alla is one of many private tour companies recommended on here along with SPB TJ Best Guides etc

they all get glowing reviews and go with the one that seems to suit your needs

some with put together an itinerary for just your family which will of course be more expensive

or you can join a group tour either put together on your roll call or company may put you together with others which will work out considerably cheaper than ships tours

don't wait much longer though as the companies need a few weeks notice to process info-you need to send passport numbers for the visa waiver to get you through immigration

Hi, and welcome to Cruise Critic,

Yes, we used Alla & recommend them. But then all the accredited tour operators in St Pete's come highly recommended, including SPB Tours, TJ Travel, Best Guides, DenRus, Red Oktober, Anastasia and half-a-dozen others. Itineraries and prices are all much the same, and they all use 16-seat minibuses.

Best Guides are frequently recommended on Cruise Critic for folk with kids, they seem to specialise.

No personal experience, but I suggest you include them in your search. https://www.bestguides-spb.com/children-page.html

As fabn40's post, you do need to pre-book, because the tour tickets e-mailed to you to print-off get you through immigration without a visa. Yes, they'll require your passport details, but most don't ask for front-money or even your credit card number, they trust you. Most ask you to pay on the second day of your tour.

JB :)

I have also used Alla Tours on several occasions and give her tours my highest recommendations.

As JB posted - Best Guides specializes in tours geared toward children - I would check them out as well.

Alla offers a couple two-day tours - a "Grand" tour and a "Comfort" tour. The latter is an easier pace and I would recommend it with kids in tow. We didn't visit St. Isaac's Cathedral or Yusupov's Palace, but our sons (teenagers when we went) were more than happy to miss one church and one museum. They absolutely loved the canal tour and Peterhof, which we visited via a hydrofoil boat.

We are new to cruising and taking our 2 boys on Tui Discovery in August. We hadn’t realised the requirement for visas in St Petersburg and are now thinking about a tour. My husband has found a 2 day package with Alla Tours which looks fantastic but we were just looking for some feedback from someone who has done it and suitability for 2 very active boys (5&7). Thanks:p

ALLA Tours has an excellent reputation on this board and on probably all travel sights. As has been said, there are about 5 well respected tour companies in St Petersburg that most of us have used. Along with ALLA, there is SPB Tours, TJ Tours, Best Guides, etc. All the tour companies offer basically the same thing for about the same prices, but they all have their little differences also. You shouldn't just take one person's recommendation for a tour company without feeling it out for yourself. I have said for years, you should contact a few of the main companies and see which one may suit your family better and see which one YOU feel most comfortable with.

There are NO bad choices as long as you stay with the main group. Many of us have decided on a particular company because they made us feel so at ease about touring with them and they offer exactly what you are looking for.

Cheers

Len

ALLA Tours has an excellent reputation on this board and on probably all travel sights. As has been said, there are about 5 well respected tour companies in St Petersburg that most of us have used. Along with ALLA, there is SPB Tours, TJ Tours, Best Guides, etc. All the tour companies offer basically the same thing for about the same prices, but they all have their little differences also. You shouldn't just take one person's recommendation for a tour company without feeling it out for yourself. I have said for years, you should contact a few of the main companies and see which one may suit your family better and see which one YOU feel most comfortable with.

 

There are NO bad choices as long as you stay with the main group. Many of us have decided on a particular company because they made us feel so at ease about touring with them and they offer exactly what you are looking for.

 

 

 

 

Cheers

 

Len

 

I agree you need to choose what your gut feeling is. I need to take a manual wheelchair and Alla were more than willing to accommodate. They sent me very precise details of the visits like how far away the bus would park, the number of steps etc.

We have booked with them again for this year.

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