Help please on deciding on St.Petersberg tour

[qm2lover]

Hi

 

I guess much of this has been covered before, but I wondered if there was anyone who could give advice on booking a private tour in St. Petersberg for one or two days.

 

Any perferrence between Red October, Alla, or Denrus? Better tour? Better guide? Ease of payment? Reliability? Costs? Cost cutting tips? Any other comments or comparisons? Best and easiest means of contacting them? There are only three of us. Would be have time to arrange this for August this year?

 

Please reassure me, as I am very nervous of a private tour in Russia, but the tours offered by the cruise line do not appeal at all and are expensive for what they are.

 

What are the most see places? We are interested in Palaces as we have already spent one day in St. Petersberg briefly seeing the main sites and the Hermitage.

 

Thank you in advance.

 

Heather

[ollienbertsmum]

You will get lots of information if you do a search of the site for the companies you named. People may come forward with new information, but I found lots of past reports by doing a search. I have not yet found anything actually off putting.

[Peregrina651]

Hi[snip]

 

Any perferrence between Red October, Alla, or Denrus? Better tour? Better guide? Ease of payment? Reliability? Costs? Cost cutting tips? Any other comments or comparisons? Best and easiest means of contacting them? There are only three of us. Would be have time to arrange this for August this year?

 

Please reassure me, as I am very nervous of a private tour in Russia, but the tours offered by the cruise line do not appeal at all and are expensive for what they are.

 

What are the most see places? We are interested in Palaces as we have already spent one day in St. Petersberg briefly seeing the main sites and the Hermitage.

 

Heather

 

Hi, Heather --

 

First, yes, you still have time to book a tour for August. And you have nothing to worry about. There is so much information here on CC about doing private tours that you should have no trouble in booking one of your own.

 

Second, if $$$ is an issue, consider sharing a tour. Requests for sharing a tour are only permitted on the CC roll calls so head over there to see if anything is being offered on your cruise. Also, the tour operators can help you find a group that is looking to share a tour. I know that Alla Tours has a message board on the website for that purpose; I do not know how the other companies handle it. Also, look into the Denrus value tour.

 

Most of the people who have posted here have used one of the three companies that you have named. These companies provide the needed Russian visa. There are also other companies that have been named here but I do not know if they take care of the visa. These companies include Anastasia, Optima, Travel in Russia and Intourist (yes, more research to do!). These are not recommendations just names of companies that have appeared on CC; checking them out is up to you.

 

As for preferences, each one of us staunchly defends the company we used or will used. Choosing the company to go with is almost a 'go with you gut' kind of thing (I used a crystal ball). When you have read enough reviews and when you have contacted the companies, visited their websites and read their responses, you will know which company is right for you. (Well, at least that is how it worked for me).

 

As for what to see, you can check out sample itineraries on the websites of the three companies you mentioned. From there you can choose the places that you want to see. Also, a number of itineraries have been posted here CC both in this forum and in the roll calls.

 

I hope this helps get you started.

[Set2travel]

Hi Heather! I just booked the Baltic cruise yesterday for May 19, 2007. I researched this site and contacted a couple of the before mentioned tour companies in St Petersburg. I have booked Red October. Mike Finn is very very helpful. I just hope the tour lives up to all of the wonderful postings! :)

[jjtsfca]

Heather - you definitely want to search on this subsite and overall, research as much as you need to get comfortable. Red October, DenRus and Alla Tours are all excellent companies in my estimation. I just finalized my July tour in Peter with Alla today - so I'm definitely in her camp. She is exceptionally customer focused, flexible, and creative. I'm paying $400 for my solo custom designed tour day with a guide and driver (12 hour day.) I think that is an exceptional value (just over $30 an hour) for a once in a lifetime cultural and touring experience. Remember, you will very likely get what you pay for, whatever you go with.

[Sea Day Cruiser]

I was on the Star Princess last summer (2006). A group of us from our Roll Call got together and booked a two-day tour with DenRus. There were 7 of us and we were in a van. One of the other members of the group made all the arrangements. We were all very happy with the tour. Through emails we agreed on what we wanted to see and sent the list to DenRus. They organized the tour for us. I think it was pretty much the same as their other tours. We paid something like $330.00 apiece plus camera and video fees.

 

We started off early the first morning - about 7 AM I think. Before the traffic got to bad they took us to several sites for outdoor pictures so we could get them before the traffic got bad. Then we went to the Catherine Palace. The next morning we went to Peterhof. Getting there was fine, but there was a lot of traffic coming back. We skipped lunch both days so we could get in more touring.

 

Besides those palaces we saw the Hermitage, Peter and Paul Fortress, Church of the Savior on the Spilled Blood, St. Isaac's Cathedral. Those are places we were taken inside and spent quite of bit of time in each. There were other places we drove by such as the statue of Peter the Great and the ship where the first shots of the revolution were fired. I can't think of the name of it right now. We also had a couple of brief opportunites to shop and could have had more, but none of us wanted to spend the time on shopping.

 

I've read nothing but good things about DenRus, Red October, and Alla so I think no matter which you choose you will be fine.

[Steamboatin]

We would recommend Red October. We had a group of about 40 split into 2 mini buses of 20 each. Here is part of my notes from our Baltic cruise. We used Red October's visa so we did not need to obtain one. The total tour cost was a little over $200 apiece for both days, the gold room and the boat dinner ride.

 

St. Petersburg, Russia

Friday, May 26 and Saturday May 27, 2006 and started at 7:30 a.m. first day, 7:00 p.m. boat tour, and 8:00 a.m. second day.

Shore Excursion Name: Complete Tour of St. Petersburg, Russia, Country Palaces and Boat Tour on local rivers with dinner and Russian folk life entertainment.

Russian Independent Tour Company: Red October

www.redoctober.spb.ru or email: rols@redoctober.spb.ru

Approximate Duration: 16 Hours first day and 8 hours second day.

 

Tours for two days were taken with a Russian private tour group known as Red October. The first day in St. Petersburg we toured various historic sites by van. On the evening of the first day we enjoyed a canal boat ride through the Moika River and canal system of St. Petersburg while enjoying a special dinner aboard the canal boat and listening to special entertainment. The second day was another day of historic touring with Red October prior to joining our cruise ship for a late afternoon sail a way from the city.

On the first day the tour started at 7:30 a.m. at the pier. The group of 38 passengers boarded two minivans owned by the Red October tours of St. Petersburg, Russia. We than drove through the City of St. Petersburg and drove by St. Nicholas’s Church, Theatre Square with Marinsky Theatre, St. Isaac’s Square, majestic St. Isaac Cathedral, the bridge of the ‘Bronze Horseman’ which is the most famous monument to Peter the Great, Shmidt Bridge, Vasilievsky Island with Arts Academy, Menshikov Palace, Kunstkamera, ‘Streka’ with Stock Exchange and Rostral Columns and with the most beautiful view of Neva Embankments Winter Palace and other buildings of the Hermitage Museum, Twelve Colleges, Palace Bridge, Palace Square with Winter Palace and Alexander Column, Admiralty, Nevsky Avenue which is the central street of the city, Smolny Cathedral and Smolny Institute. “Field of Mars”, we drove by the Savior on the Spilled Blood Cathedral, Trotsky Bridge, Peter’s the Great Cabin and the Cruiser “Aurora”.

We than made an inside visit of Peter and Paul Fortress which is where the city was founded in May of 1703. Inside of the Fortress we visited the Peter and Paul Cathedral which was built during the period of 1712 and 1733. It is the burial place of the Romanov family.

This was followed by a stop at the Red October’s Shop where we paid for our tours and did some souvenir shopping.

From there we drove to the Yusupovs’ Palace on the Moika River embankment. The Palace is one of four the Yusupovs’ had in St. Petersburg. The Yusupovs’ family was one of the richest families in Russia in the XIX Century. The Yusupovs’ were related by marriage to the Romanov's. The last owner of the palace Felix Yusupov was married to Irina, niece of Nicholas II. Yusupovs were famous Maecenas and their theater was the most popular of the private theaters in St. Petersburg.

Inside the Yusupovs’ Palace we saw very unique musical instruments in the gala rooms and the living rooms of the Palace. The Palace had its own Golden Theater which was a copy of the Bolshoi of Moscow. The most famous actors, dancers and singers considered it an honor to perform on this stage. Performers such as bass Fiodor Shaliapin and world famous Anna Pavlova among others performed here. We than visited the cellar where in December 1916 Felix Yusupov, Grand Duke Dmitry and other monarchists and conspirators murdered Grigory Rasputin the morose and mysterious figure in Russian history.

Following the tour of the Palace we boarded the minivan and ate a box lunch while we drove the 30 km or 19 miles west of St. Petersburg to Peterhof. There we visited the ‘Russian Versailles’ the official Summer Residence of the Russian Tsars. We had a leisure stroll through the ‘Lower Park’ with its 150 fountains, cascades and various pavilions and palaces. The facility was adorned with gold leaf on many of the garden items. Within the Summer Residence we toured the Monplaisir Palace which is built on the very coast of the Baltic Sea. The Monplaisir Palace was the favorite of Peter I and the Palace is preserved in the memory of the greatest of the Russian Tsars and illustrating his private life style. Following the tour we than drove back to the pier where we once again went through Russian Customs prior to boarding the Constellation for a rest break.

 

Later that evening we once again went through Russian Customs and boarded a Red October minivan for a White Nights folklore ride and dinner on a river tour boat on the Moika River and Neva River of St. Petersburg. We toured the waterways of St. Petersburg for approximately two and a half hours while enjoying Russian entertainers performing, singing and dancing to Russian folk music while dressed in Russian style folk dress. The Russian dinner consisted of an appetizer, Salmon fish baked in foil with cooked vegetables, a vegetable salad, white wine and a shot of vodka. We arrived back at the Constellation after 11:00 p.m. after once again clearing Russian Customs. It was still twilight upon our return to the ship at that late hour of night.

 

On the second day of our visit to St. Petersburg the city was celebrating its 303 birthday with a massive parade. In the parade there were numerous military marching units, military bands, citizen based bands, marching groups and decorated truck floats. Overhead to blimps flew with each carrying a huge flag below them. One blimp carried in display the Russian flag and the other the flag of St. Petersburg.

 

On the second day we departed the Constellation and Russian Customs at approximately 8:00 a.m. and proceeded to once again tour parts of St. Petersburg. We departed the harbor area and headed to Tsarskoye Selo. We rode for 25 km or 15 mile drive south of St. Petersburg. Tsarskoye Selo was the official residence of the Russian Tsars. Upon arrival we visited the Catherine Palace. It was built by Peter I for his wife Catherine I and later re-built and enlarged for their daughter Empress Elizabeth by Italian architect F. B. Rastrelli. The striking luxury of the interior decoration of the palace was created and crafted by the best artists of XVIII and XIX centuries. We toured the interior of the palace with the highlight being the Amber Room with its walls paneled with amber. During WWII it was completely destroyed and lost. It has since been restored to its original beauty and opulence. Following the tour of the palace we toured the beautiful Catherine Park with its many gardens, pavilions, marble statures, statues, ponds, canals and smaller palaces along with its unique outer wall of living quarters and workshops which make up the outer wall. We enjoyed a box lunch on the drive back to St. Petersburg.

Once back in St. Petersburg we visited the inside of the Savior on the Spilled Blood Cathedral that was built in 1907 as memorial church to honor Russian Emperor Alexander II who was murdered on the spot by a bomb blast from the terrorists. The Cathedral is a sample of the ‘Russian Style’ architecture and decorative art of the edge of the XIX-XX centuries. The exterior and interior of the cathedral has over 7,000 square meters of beautiful mosaic attire that was created by the most famous Russian artists of the epoch. At the Cathedral we purchased a book that details the Cathedral beauty in detail. We later purchased a beautiful photograph of the Cathedral.

From the Cathedral we drove to the massive Hermitage Arts Museum were we toured for approximately three hours. The museum was contained within the gala halls and rooms of the former Winter Palace. The highlight of the museum visit was the Gold Room which housed hundreds of solid gold objects with many covered in beautiful gems. Some gold items had several hundred beautiful gems set into the golden object. We than saw halls lined with statures of the Roman and of the Russian era. There was room after room of fine world class art collections by west European Masters’ such as Rembrandt, Rubens, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, El Greco, Murillo, Van Dyck, Monet and other famous French impressionists and art of the XX century. Following this tour of the museum we walked over a mile to our minivan tour vehicle because of the massive crowd of people who had attended and participated in the St. Petersburg 303 birthday parade which ended near the museum. After a hectic drive back to the harbor we barely made it back to Russian Customs on the pier and barely boarded the Constellation minutes before it sailed from the port.

[MacThespian]

Any perferrence between Red October, Alla, or Denrus? Better tour? Better guide? Ease of payment? Reliability? Costs? Cost cutting tips? Any other comments or comparisons? Best and easiest means of contacting them? There are only three of us. Would be have time to arrange this for August this year?

 

Please reassure me, as I am very nervous of a private tour in Russia, but the tours offered by the cruise line do not appeal at all and are expensive for what they are.

 

As has been stated several times, all three of the companies have gotten excellent reviews here. I contacted all three, and got quick responses from each of them. We ended up going with Denrus. We'll be there in August also, so I can't give you any information after our trip as to how well the actual experience compared to what we anticipated, but right now we've been very happy with the responsiveness of Denrus. Best bet is to look over the three web sites to get an idea of what you want, then to contact each. Are you willing to join with others? That could lower the price.

[dbh62ark]

In reading the boards, you’ll find that very few board members have toured with more than one tour operator to be in a position to compare their services, so while I understand that you would want that information, most board members want to help but just don’t have that information for you. I have toured as well as planned with two of the tour operators that you referenced. I toured with Red October and Denrus (different years on different cruises) and highly recommend Denrus.

 

But as noted by others, you really need to read the boards and do your research to make the most of your trip and the time you have alloted in this port and will receive much more information from searching and reading the threads than you will in messages posted to a single thread.

 

If it's affordable, I would recommend in your situation that you hire a guide just for your group. If you combine with others to save costs, they will surely want to go to the Hermitage, a must-see in my opinion, and you will feel like your time could be better spent elsewhere. I think you might be able to use a car instead of a van for three passengers, so that should help with the cost of the tour.

 

Regarding your concern about booking a private tour, if you do some reading on these Baltics threads, you will see hundreds of reports from passengers who have taken private tours, and after you review the itineraries from the private tour operators, you will find that you can see so much more on the private tours in St. Petersburg than you can through the ship’s tours. If you have a specific concern such as being left behind in port while on a private tour, you can e-mail your tour operator to ask about contingency plans in the event that a van breaks down, etc.

 

Since you are interested in the palaces, you are probably aware that the ones most frequently visited are Peterhof and Catherine’s Palace, and for good reason. Some of the standard itineraries visit the outside but not the inside of those palaces, and I recommend that you visit both. Catherine’s Palace is just awesome due to scale and the Amber Rooms. The fountain park at Peterhof is spectacular: http://www.ticketsofrussia.com/peterhof/gallery/ind5.html. I don’t know how much you know about Russian history—two books that I read and enjoyed very much are “Catherine the Great” by Henri Troyat and “Nicholas and Alexandra” by Robert Massie—but Rasputin was killed at Yusupov’s Palace, so that’s a popular addition to an itinerary. Pavlosk and Oranieumbaum are located outside of St. Petersburg but are options for your tour.

 

Do you have the web sites for the three tour operators you referenced? I advise that you check out their sites and then use the contact information on the site to send an e-mail to begin your communications: http://www.denrus.ru/, http://www.redoctober.spb.ru/ (I’ve worked with U.S. and Russia offices of Red October and found the Russia office to be MUCH more knowledgeable), and http://www.alla-tour.com/

 

Have a great trip,

Donna

[gommax]

I would reccomend Nevsky Grand Hotel, a nice and clean hotel located not far from Nevsky Prospekt and just 10 minutes on foot from the Hermitage Museum. I've been here las moth with my girlfrien and I'm completely satisfy of my stay. I also suggest to check their offer on their website: www.nevskygrandhotel.com

[dennbr9]

We are going with DenRus in Mid July, have a group of eleven from our Roll Call. Would suggest the Hydorfoil back from Peterhof, there the van meets you again. Saves you a lot of time in traffic that day.

 

All the reviews I read said to use DenRus or Red October, someone from our Roll Call did the ground work for our group. Julia at DenRus was very helpful also.

[amanda blake]

I received information from RO that says soon small operators like Alla will be out of business as the government is imposing huge taxes and trying to limit the number of operators that are doing these tours...but of course that is RO's slant on things...

[eldercruser]

Yes, Alla has proven to be a challenge to Red October and Denrus. She has taken a lot of their business. Alla has addressed the licensing/tax issue before to her clients. Her competitors would like to see her out of business, but I get the feeling she plans to stick around.

[amanda blake]

well here is to capitalism...the ruskies are really catching on....

[qm2lover]

Thank you all so much for this information.

 

Still undecided, but I am now in a much better position to make a decision!!!

 

Thank you again

 

Heather

[hotmike98]

As db says, its hard to compare the companies when I have only used one. Here's why we used Alla, and loved every minute of it: We were two couples traveling together. We got out own guide, Julia, and driver, Valery. His Mercedes van would have accommodated one other couple, and they will put you with others into a small group if you agree to it; we preferred not. Anyway, traffic in St. Petersburg is horrendous, and the van was much more maneuverable than a huge tourist bus. Also, with our small group, the guide was able to slip us in before some of the huge tour groups when entering several of the venues. Of course with the small group, we could ask as many questions as we wanted, rather than having to compete for the guide's time. Lastly, we were able to change the intinerary en route, and could spend as much or as little time at each place as we desired. To us, those factors made Alla a far superior choice.