Recommended tour companies in St. Petersburg

[mickeysgal]

We just left St Pete yesterday after doing the two day deluxe tour with SPB with 12 other people from our ship. Our guide, our driver, and our lunches were ALL excellent! They knew all the ins and outs so that we were able to make excellent use of our two days there.

You can't see everything in two days but I really felt like we hit the highlights...money well spent,

 

Good to hear this.

 

Question...are the guides difficult to understand? Is the accent heavy? My husband has issues hearing in general and heavy accents makes it a bit worse for him. Do they speak loud enough for all to hear?

[Bollinge]

Well, it depends on your guide.......

 

Our guide, Tatania, from Arctur, who provide the big tours for all the cruise lines as far as I know, was completely fluent in English. Ironically, she lectures in Spanish at the University in the off-season!

 

We had public address on our minibus, and her answer to my question "What is the origin of the Cyrillic alphabet?", had my pals weary of the comprehensive answer she gave after the first ten minutes of her reply.......

 

Contact a guide directly, and speak to them or their boss and establish an email rapport with them and maybe have a Skype conversation or two to discuss your tour requirements in advance.

 

Of course, you will only be able to do so if you sign up for a small-scale private tour, not with a group of 50 others, having paid much more for the privilege.

Edited July 23, 2015 by Bollinge

[Giantfan13]

Good to hear this.

 

Question...are the guides difficult to understand? Is the accent heavy? My husband has issues hearing in general and heavy accents makes it a bit worse for him. Do they speak loud enough for all to hear?

I would venture to say all the guides will have some sort of accent, but, for the most part, they make sure all the guides speak fluent English and are very easy to understand and communicate with. It sure wouldn't be good for a company to hire guides who people had a hard time understanding?

 

If you are on a group tour with other couples, most tours use headphones and earpieces so they can be heard over the crowds, like in the Hermitage.

 

Cheers

 

Len

[teezly]

I would like some recommendations about which tour company to

book for my 2 day stay in St. Petersburg.

Thanks

In the same vein, we are also looking for a 2 day tour of St. Petersburg and have run across Lentina Travel. Has anyone booked with them? There are many excellent reviews on Cruise Critic but nobody here has mentioned them. Their itinerary seems quite busy (which doesn't worry us) and they only have up to 6 people in a group (which is EXCELLENT). Any comments?

[heidikay]

In the same vein, we are also looking for a 2 day tour of St. Petersburg and have run across Lentina Travel. Has anyone booked with them? There are many excellent reviews on Cruise Critic but nobody here has mentioned them. Their itinerary seems quite busy (which doesn't worry us) and they only have up to 6 people in a group (which is EXCELLENT). Any comments?

 

I looked at their prices (I think they are high) and you could find a tour recommended by folks here for a better price. I would check with a couple more places before you make a final decision. I'm not paying much more for a three day private tour with 5. Check around.

[Pet Nit Noy]

In the same vein, we are also looking for a 2 day tour of St. Petersburg and have run across Lentina Travel. Has anyone booked with them? There are many excellent reviews on Cruise Critic but nobody here has mentioned them. Their itinerary seems quite busy (which doesn't worry us) and they only have up to 6 people in a group (which is EXCELLENT). Any comments?

 

I'm confused by your use of the word "here" in your post. You are on Cruise Critic when you're on the Northern European Port of Call Board.

 

Trip Advisor shows 83 reviews of Lentina Travel and all of those reviews are reassuring -- at least "very good" with the vast majority rated as "excellent." It is rated in 23rd position on Trip Advisor because, despite its high regard, only numbers 83 recommendations. That is significantly lower than the top fifteen tour companies; those companies have a minimum of 230 reviews and the top companies have double that number.

 

So what should you do? Only you can answer that question. Is there something about Lentina that speaks to you over SPB or Alla, or TJ or White Nights, or Best Guides all of which are in TA's top ten? And what board are you looking at that is enthusiastic about Lentina when we all agree this Port board has nothing on them?

[teezly]

I'm confused by your use of the word "here" in your post. You are on Cruise Critic when you're on the Northern European Port of Call Board.

 

Trip Advisor shows 83 reviews of Lentina Travel and all of those reviews are reassuring -- at least "very good" with the vast majority rated as "excellent." It is rated in 23rd position on Trip Advisor because, despite its high regard, only numbers 83 recommendations. That is significantly lower than the top fifteen tour companies; those companies have a minimum of 230 reviews and the top companies have double that number.

 

So what should you do? Only you can answer that question. Is there something about Lentina that speaks to you over SPB or Alla, or TJ or White Nights, or Best Guides all of which are in TA's top ten? And what board are you looking at that is enthusiastic about Lentina when we all agree this Port board has nothing on them?

Sorry for the confusion. The term 'here' means this board and the 'enthusiastic reviews of Lentina' referred to Trip Advisor , not Cruise Critic. Your reference to the 83 reviews is what I was referring to as well.

[Pet Nit Noy]

Sorry for the confusion. The term 'here' means this board and the 'enthusiastic reviews of Lentina' referred to Trip Advisor , not Cruise Critic. Your reference to the 83 reviews is what I was referring to as well.

 

On the plus side for hiring Lentina...

 

I was the first person on this board to hire White Nights -- number #6 on Trip Advisor -- but I did so after SPB recommended I contact White Nights for a fully custom itinerary. I was thrilled with White Nights and agree that it wholly deserves its sixth place ranking.

 

If there is some unique reason why you want to hire Lentina, those excellent reviews ought to be reassuring.

 

On the negative side...

 

If there is no unique reason why only Lentina meets your needs, why not take one of the higher rated -- and better known to CC posters -- tour companies?

[JAF1]

Good to hear this.

 

Question...are the guides difficult to understand? Is the accent heavy? My husband has issues hearing in general and heavy accents makes it a bit worse for him. Do they speak loud enough for all to hear?

 

We used SPB for our tours a couple of years ago and my husband was able to hear perfectly. They issue everyone with their own receiver and ear piece so no shouting to a crowd and it is a great system when you are in the museums if you cannot see your guide as they can get very busy. Our guide spoke very good English and although she had an accent my husband was able to follow her without any problems.

[CrazyJess]

Hi MaleoMD

Exactly! You should be brave and make your own choice. Do your homework - mail to several companies, compare the replies and chose the company which matches your particular wishers better than others.

It looks like all the companies mentions on this forum are just excellent and all do their best to provide excellent tours. At the same time all the companies are different and each has its own strong side. We been to St. Peter twice and both time we booked with Best Guides. Both times we were more than happy. It looks like this company really have the best guidesJ Another strong side of the company is special children friendly tours intended for families with kids.

For me Best Guides was an excellent choice but YOUR CHOICE could be different. If you think one or another company matches all your ideas and wishers just book with them.

Good luck! Jess:)

Edited April 8, 2016 by CrazyJess

[Giantfan13]

My advice would be Be brave. If you like Lentina’s tour program, if you think their mails create a good impression and inspire confidence, book with them.

Five years ago we toured St.Petersburg with Best Guides, who were a startup business, had hardly any reviews and few references. Our two-day private tour with Best Guides was a fantastic adventure, a highlight of our Baltic cruise. I was very pleased to see that they are now ranked 10th out of 130 tour operators on TA.

Enjoy your tour.

 

Sorry but if you want to be brave, why go that route. You mentioned Best Guides when you used them. That did work out for you but there have also been many companies that started up and never made it passed the first year or so. Is that what one might want for a trip of a lifetime?

 

Sometimes, TA needs to be taken with a huge grain of salt. All the tour companies offer basically the same deals with slight differences. If this one particular tour company (which, to be honest, I have never heard even mentioned here) offers something that all the others do not, then go for it. Be brave, as you say.

But for my hard earned money, I want to be sure I am getting as much bang for my buck as I can get, and I would rather go with what I know will give me an excellent time in St Petersburg, then with a company that has minimal reviews.

 

Cheers

 

Len

[CrazyJess]

All the tour companies offer basically the same deals with slight differences.

 

Hi Len!

Hi Len!

From the first glance you are right – all the companies offer basically the same deals, but when you correspond with them you start to feel the difference. We traveled with the Best Guides so I know more about them than about any other companies. They DO offer something other companies don’t. First of all they provide children friendly tours and these tours are great. You can easily find descriptions on their web. For us it was the main reason to choose them. Secondly when they provide group tours their groups are almost two times smaller. Yes, roughly speaking group itineraries are the same or more or less the same as other companies have. The cost is also more or less the same but the size of the groups is much smaller. And last but not least – they offer several museums other companies don’t offer. For example my DH is crazy about history and political history. BG offers museum of Russian Political history as well as some other political museums. You can find all these museums on the “Red Russia” page. To tell the truth we haven’t visited any of them we were really short of time but at least I can plan it for the next trip.

I’m sure other companies also have their strong sides - special meals or vodka tours….

Jess

Edited April 11, 2016 by CrazyJess

[Talent312]

in may we took a northern europe-baltic cruise.for st petersberg we joined a 2 day tour with TJ TRAVEL.the first day we had a comprehensive tour with an expert guide.when the minibus dropped us off at the port we discovered our passports were missing...

 

Lucky that your stop was for 2 days... Our boat would've sailed.

But I'm wondering why your passports were not on your person?

.

[pampitamarbella]

I agree too, tours with the ship company are very expensive and you can have the same or sometimes even better tours and much much cheaper.

 

My experience was great, 2 days tour and and extra night out on the drawbridges and SP illuminated. We visite al the important places, have lunch in a local restaurant and back on time to the cruise.

Very friendly guides. Was a really nice tour. Have a look at shoreexcursionsforcruisers.com or the spanish version excursionesparacruceros.com, long experience and highlly recommend them:D

[JHLH821]

There are 4 of us and we decided on a Private Tour with the company: Insider Tour. We opted for the tour "Roll Like a Russian", which is very comprehensive but allows for some breathing room.

 

The pricing is very reasonable for a private tour- $259pp. We decided to extend the day with dinner in St. Petersburg and are in the process of selecting a restaurant.

 

http://www.insider-tour.com/index.html

 

All of our questions were answered promptly and completely.

 

Leta

[pteecruiser]

Though a bit late for a reply to the post of 2015, I might highly recommend a small tour company which provided us (2 couples) a very impressive and comprehensive 2 days tour in May 2016.

The owner, Nina- a charming young lady from "tzarinatours" was very flexible to match her tour schedule with our personal preferences and proved to be a profoundly knowledgable guide and did everything possible to show us arround in her fabulous hometown in both a private and professional manner.

Comming back sometimes, we sure shall use her service again

[phillygirl63]

We used SPB-Tours for our 3 days in St. Petersburg and "a night on the town tour," which provided my DH and I with a driver for 3 hours in the evening so that we could have dinner at L'Europe to celebrate our anniversary. It just didn't make sense for us to stay on the ship every evening, since we didn't have our own visas. This provided us with a chance to enjoy some nightlife in St. Petersburg too. We had them for several of the other ports too. They were great!

[monstercat]

We used TJ Travel in St Petersburg. Our guide was Elena and she did a great job. She gave us lots of history and helped us unravel all the czars' names.

[cruisingfordollars]

I took a 2-day excursion in St.Petersburg with TJ Travel June 2nd. I was completely satisfied from time of booking to end of tour. Price was very reasonable. Tour guide was professional, friendly and knowledgeable. Everything went seamlessly.

[travel monster]

We just did a 2day tour with Anastasia Tours on June 9th and 10th. Our guide, Anna, was very nice and had a wealth of knowledge about St Petersburg. We never waited in line at any of the locations that we visited which was great since that meant that we could see more of the city. We would highly recommend this tour.

[ALW2]

Do any of these tours start out a bit later in the morning. I know an 8:00am start will be hard for my family! Looking for something that starts around 10 am. Also, has anyone used any of these tour companies for private family tours (just 4 people) and what was the cost? Thank you!

Edited June 18, 2016 by ALW2

[Hlitner]

Do any of these tours start out a bit later in the morning. I know an 8:00am start will be hard for my family! Looking for something that starts around 10 am. Also, has anyone used any of these tour companies for private family tours (just 4 people) and what was the cost? Thank you!

 

Lets put all this in proper perspective. If you book a group tour (even with a private company) they are going to normally operate the tour from the earliest possible time until late in the day...because that is what most folks want on a port day. If you prefer to customize a tour, start late...maybe end early..etc. you can certainly arrange to hire a private tour company for just your group of 4. And if you want to post on the CC Roll Call (for your specific cruise) and try to recruit others...perhaps you can get a few others who have similar ideas to yourself. You also can probably book some half/day tours done by your cruise line....and just go off in the afternoon. But in St Petersburg, the long-time cruise tradition is for full day tours!

 

Hank

[Putterdude]

We are just back from a Baltics cruise and used TJ Tours in St. Petersburg, Helsinki, Oslo, Copenhagen and Stockholm. To say we were pleased with them would be an understatement. It was apparent that they make a real effort to seek out the best guides they can, all were excellent. However, our guide in St. Petersburg was likely the best we have had anywhere, her name was Elizabeth who is also a lecturer at the university.

[teach2525]

We just returned from double overnight in SPB on celebrity, and joined a group using TJ Tours for second day trip to Moscow on Sapsan bullet train. (Visited SPB three years ago and used SPB Tours). TJ Tours disorganization when being picked up nearly caused our group of 8 to miss the train - raced through SPB train station and boarded with only moments to spare! Had a good day there, very glad we went. Guide in Moscow very informative but less sensitive to some guests' mobility issues. I would choose SPB Tours if visiting in the future.

[Holly2]

Can't imagine a better iorganized tour. A pleasure to plan and tour with!