Catherine's Palace Question

[tclowe]

Does anyone remember how long was the car or bus ride from St. Petersburg to Catherine's Palace? Wondering if I should ask Denrus to include a side trip to Catherine's Palace, rather than a visit to a Russian Folk Village. We are not visiting the Hermitage (have two kids going with us), but those beautiful pictures that CC board members have posted here of Catherine's Palace has me longing to visit and take a few photos!

 

Thanks.

Cynthia

[mike35]

A lot depends on the traffic and where, in St. Petersburg, you're starting from. Our independent guide picked us up at the dock and drove us directly to Catherine's Palace. It took around 45 minutes to get there, plus another 10 or 15 minute walk to the entrance. It was one of the main highlights of our 3 days in St. Petersburg, and I would think your kids would find it quite fascinating and beautiful. On the other hand, the Hermitage, to us at least, was at the very height of our visit. Where else can one see such incredible art, sculpture, etc?? The Hermitage is truly one of the great museums of the world, and a visit to it would certainly enrich any child's appreciation for some of the most famous art pieces in the world.

 

Mike

[cdfev]

Catherine's Palace and Peterhof each took 45 minutes to get to from the dock in Saint Petersburg.

 

The Hermitage is a "don't miss" visit in Saint Petersburg...my children were both interested in the art work and the building itself....However, we only spent about 3 hours there.

 

Frankly, the kids enjoyed the grounds at Peterhof more than anywhere that we visited...we also did a little cruise on the Neva that they enjoyed

[cruisemom42]

I don't know if you are planning to do Peterhof, but if you are, I'm not sure your kids will appreciate Catherine's palace too, as (from a kid's point of view) they are much the same. I'd vote for Peterhof, because I agree with the previous poster that my son loved the fountain gardens.

 

I was able to leave my son aboard the ship and do an evening tour of Catherine's (Imperial Evening) without him, which you might want to consider if you really want to see it.

 

I seem to remember your kids are younger, but there are still some interesting things to see at Hermitage if you limit your time there. (State carriages -- one with a built-in potty chair, HUGE vases of malachite, etc.) I wouldn't give it a pass just because you think they wouldn't enjoy it.

[elin]

To get to Catherine's Palace took less then 1 hour (we were docked at the English Embankment) as did Peterhof. Both were incredible and I would say must see.

The Hermitage is overwhelming, it is so large and so opulent...oh yes and they have art on the walls! :) We also loved the Gold Room as it was a little smaller and the pieces were really special.

Yusopov's Palace, started off (in my mind) as a sort of cheesy wax museum re-enactment of Rasputin's death (at which point I thought, "why are we here") but turned out to be a great Palace, and the most personal feeling out of all of them.

St. Petersburg was incredible. Whatever you do you will probably enjoy it. We toured with DenRus. Nadya was our guide and she was amazing. We can't say enough great things about her.

Enjoy! I wish I could go back!

Elin

[tclowe]

Thank you everyone for weighing in with your opinions. I was reluctant to visit the Hermitage because my husband and I are not extremely interested in wall paintings. We like to view more vast pieces of art like furniture, structures, mosaic decorations or sculptures.

 

Second, I still think with horror about our Paris trip two years ago to the Louvre with our then 4 year old son. There were 3 ft. deep of people standing in front of the small Mona Lisa painting. My son was in his stroller (we forgot to strap him back in). When he saw all the adults standing blocking his view, he jumped up and dove into the crowds and pushed his way to the front of the groups. He stood just behind the security rope in front of all the adults and started jumping up and down and chanting "Lady! Lady!" We were pretty embarassed but I guess the other art visitors thought it was cute and there were plenty of laughter.

 

He really enjoyed Versailles? and slept through D'Orsay Museum.

 

I think I will e-mail our Denrus Rep. and ask her about the Hermitage. We are definitely going to the Church of Spilled Blood, Peterhof, and St. Peter & Paul Fortress. It would be a big negative to drive one hour to Catherine's Palace and one more hour back.

 

Thanks again.

Cynthia

[dileep]

I think I will e-mail our Denrus Rep. and ask her about the Hermitage. We are definitely going to the Church of Spilled Blood, Peterhof, and St. Peter & Paul Fortress. It would be a big negative to drive one hour to Catherine's Palace and one more hour back.

 

Thanks again.

Cynthia

 

If you go there the first thing in the morning the hour ride will be at atime when everything is closed. The return is shorter by 20-30 minutes because you will return to the city and not the ship's pier. We used the return ride to eat the sandwiches we had brought on board so as not to waste time eating lunch at a restaurant.

[spearmint]

We used the return ride to eat the sandwiches we had brought on board so as not to waste time eating lunch at a restaurant.

 

I have read with great interest some of your and other's posts on St.Petersburg; will be there on Aug.26/06 on Constellation.

My questions to you or anyone now are:

 

(1) How did you arrange the sandwiches on board? I would just as soon eat on board (I'm fussy.), but from my readings on these boards it seems that tours are not divided up into a.m. and p.m., but are all day long with no return to the ship, so sandwiches seems the next best thing to me as I can control what I am having.

 

(2) From opinions expressed on these boards we are now considering DenRus over Celebrity for tours (although starprincess was very pleased with her Princess Cruise's tour); what kinds of costs are involved with these tours (will not deter us, just want to have an idea)?

 

(3) Does DenRus offer a variety of tours, that will ensure that one visits the places one wants? I have read of members having tours that seemed to be personalized; am I correct? How does all of this work? On other cruises (Caribbean), we have only used Celebrity for shore excursions.

 

Thanks in advance for any help that you can give us.

[AndrewM]

We are not visiting the Hermitage (have two kids going with us), but those beautiful pictures that CC board members have posted here of Catherine's Palace has me longing to visit and take a few photos!

 

You know I found the Hermitage/Winter Palace more interesting for the old lady security, wandering cats and the general atmosphere than I did the great works of art. I also wouldn't want to miss the photo op in Palace Square in front of the Palace and I would have brought my children here. For me, you can't visit St. Petersburg without at least a stop outside here.

 

If you are bringing children and have a choice between Peterhof and Catherine's Palace, I would choose Peterhof solely for it's fountains and gardens...I saw a lot of children having a good time running through the timed sprinklers...I have more details here on my 2 days in St. Petersburg if anyone is interested:

 

http://www.hwired.com/baltic/stpetersburg1.html

http://www.hwired.com/baltic/stpetersburg2.html

[Boo's Mom]

We have the "Russian Village" on our itinerary....because we are traveling with two children.

Children are ages 10 and 13.

 

The Village trip is 1/2 of our day.

 

I really need to know if this is worth it.

 

The Hermitage is NOT on our itinerary.

 

Would love to hear your advice.

 

Thanks.

[drzx2]

You asked about cost and type of tours with Denrus. Last September, we were on the Star Princess. Four of us hired Denrus---We had a minivan, (my husband is handicapped and we took a small wheelchair)--a driver, tour-guide, and the four of us. We told them ahead of time where we wanted to go and pretty much---planned our own trip. We had been there before, and knew that we wanted about 2 hrs at the Hermitage---and wanted to start our St.Pete visit with a tour of Catherine's Palace. We also planned to meet a friend at a hotel for lunch---etc--etc. NOw----Denrus was completely agreeable---to whatever we wanted---and our 2 days---while not cheap, were less than what a 2 day tour with Princess would have cost. And it was OUR trip with just four of us.... I did not save the many e-mails that I had from Denrus with details---They now have a US phone number---I would definitely go with them again-----And this was our fourth trip to St. Pete.....

 

OH-----we also shopped a bit----and yes, i bought a beautiful tea set.--If you have not been there before---they will give you a "quick" tour on the way to Catherine's Palace--or to Peterhof. we did not go to Peterhof on this trip. It, too, is beautiful---Our decision was to NOT do everything....

 

If you go to Peterhof---use the boat one way. Lovely way to approach that palace. Peterhof is not close to Catherine's palace...---

 

At Denrus, we dealt with Ilya and Olga--and our guide was outstanding--as was the driver.....enjoy---don't try to do toooo much.

[dileep]

We have the "Russian Village" on our itinerary....because we are traveling with two children.

Children are ages 10 and 13.

 

Would love to hear your advice.

 

Thanks.

 

You mean other than "leave the kids at home" :D !

[dileep]

I have read with great interest some of your and other's posts on St.Petersburg; will be there on Aug.26/06 on Constellation.

My questions to you or anyone now are:

 

(1) How did you arrange the sandwiches on board? I would just as soon eat on board (I'm fussy.), but from my readings on these boards it seems that tours are not divided up into a.m. and p.m., but are all day long with no return to the ship, so sandwiches seems the next best thing to me as I can control what I am having.

 

We got room service ham and chesse sandwiches the night before and refrigerated ten. On Day 2, we just took rolls, fruit, and chesse from the breakfast buffet.

 

(2) From opinions expressed on these boards we are now considering DenRus over Celebrity for tours (although starprincess was very pleased with her Princess Cruise's tour); what kinds of costs are involved with these tours (will not deter us, just want to have an idea)?

We used Red October and it cost $125 per person per day for a group of 12. Denrus should be similar.

 

(3) Does DenRus offer a variety of tours, that will ensure that one visits the places one wants? I have read of members having tours that seemed to be personalized; am I correct? How does all of this work? On other cruises (Caribbean), we have only used Celebrity for shore excursions.

 

Thanks in advance for any help that you can give us.

 

WE customized what we wanted to see with RO.