Denrus - Complete St Petersburg Value Tour

[Guernseycruiser]

Has anyone been on this specific tour. Did you find that you had sufficient time at the places you visited? Was it a large tour bus, and the queues were long? Good points and bad points? We are going to St Peterburg next month, and have checked out the Northern Europe boards, however someonelse was asking this question and there were very few responses.

 

If you have not done this tour, have you used Denrus? We are just one couple, so do not have a private group organised, and from the roll-call for our cruise, it looks like everyonelse is organised for Russia.

[BurBunny]

Have you considered asking if you could join in with another group already organized from your roll call?

 

Also, try doing a search on the Northern Europe Ports of Call Board for "Value Tour" - you'll probably see a lot more than just what's been recently posted.

[Gitte]

We booked Denrus last year and got a great time. We saw A LOT.:D

We enjoyed the Baltic cruise very much (Century 2006). 2 days in st. Petersburg was not enough for us, that's why we booked a Baltic cruise again. ;)

Gitte

 

gitte107@hotmail.com

[spearmint]

Has anyone been on this specific tour. We took this tour last September.

Did you find that you had sufficient time at the places you visited? Yes we did. It was excellent.

Was it a large tour bus, and the queues were long?The "bus" was a van, and we were a couple on our own, who were part of only a group of 10, which was absolutely wonderful. I believe that about 25 is the maximum. There were never any queues for us; our guide, Ljudmilla, took us in to all venues without line-ups. Also, in the Hermitage, for example, if there were too many tours/people in one spot, she would take us to another area and then return later to the original room after the other tours moved on.

Good points and bad points? All parts of the tour were good. The only "bad" point was that we could not see places like the Catherine Palace; there simply was not enough time. We would have needed three days, not two.

We are going to St Peterburg next month, and have checked out the Northern Europe boards, however someonelse was asking this question and there were very few responses.When we went, the title of the threads was "Baltic Ports" and it contained great information. How you get to those threads now, I do not know. But I am sure that someone will come to this thread and give that information.

 

If you have not done this tour, have you used Denrus? We are just one couple, so do not have a private group organised, and from the roll-call for our cruise, it looks like everyonelse is organised for Russia.As stated, we were just one couple, but we were lucky to be part of a small group. We got to know each other enough that we were pleased to greet each other on the second day. After that, any time we met on the ship, we were very friendly. It was great. I hope that you enjoy your trip as much as we did! :)

[lionheart]

The following I did last June. Group of 9 in a van. Good tour but two days is not enough time. However, I felt the private tour allowed you to maximize your time compared to a ship tour plus alloed flexibility to what you wanted to see/do.

 

 

 

Day One

 

As soon as the ship is cleared - The city orientation drive (city highlights) starts

0900-1000 drive 30 km south of St Petersburg to the imperial summer residence – the Catherine Palace at Pushkin

1000-1050 a guided tour of the Palace

1100-1130 walk through a marvelous park near the Palace.

11.30-12.45 drive to the city,

12.45-13.30 lightlunch in one of the cafes of St.Petersburg.

13.45-14.10 visit to the Food Market

14.15-14.40 short metro ride to see the most beautiful stations

14.50-15.25 visit to Peter-and-Paul Fortress

15.35-16.10 walk along the Nevsky prospect

16.20-16.50 visit to St Isaac’s Cathedral

17.30 – back to ship

Day Two

 

0900 drive South-West of St Petersburg to visit one of summer residences of Russian Tsars in Peterhof – the Russian Versailles.

1000-1050 a guided tour round the Grand Palace of Peterhof (early opening – special arrangement to avoid crowds)

1100-1140 walk round the world famous fountain park to hear interesting stories of the fountains and enjoy them playing

1145-1215 Lunch at a café in the Gardens of Peterhof.

1215-1315 return drive to the city

1320-1520 inside visit to the Hermitage (a guided tour of the best collections)

1530-1610 inside visit to the Spilled Blood Cathedral. Shopping at the Flea Market.

Abt. 17.00 back to the ship

1) Any ‘visit’ in the program should be read as inside. So, you will tour the St. Isaac’s Cathedral inside.

2) The Hermitage Museums is housed in 5 attached buildings stretched along the Neva river, they are – the Winter Palace, the Small Hermitage, the Large Hermitage, the New hermitage and the Theatre. Also, there are two separate buildings where the collection is stored and exposed. You enter the Hermitage museum through the main entrance of the Winter palace and start the excursion from the Winter palace halls.

3) You are completely right about the shopping.

4) Normal 2 – 3 hours City Tour is not included in the program, in order to save time for insides visits, because the city is overloaded with attractions worthy to see. (There are only 500 palaces). And the route is planed so that while driving from one venue to another you can see the main landmarks. To have photostops, you just ask the guide to stop at the places of your interests, that is all. Our guides are very flexible, you just should not be out of the program timing. Alexander Column id located on the Winter Palace square and you will be definitely passing by when going to the Hermitage entrance. Bronze Horseman takes its place in between the Hermitage and the St. Isaac’s cathedral. Cruiser Aurora – 5 minutes driving from the Peter and Paul Fortress.

[jaxon41]

Did not do this tour, but did a private tour with 8 and a small van through Denrus. Well pleased with the company -- don't think you can go wrong.

[PalosPalos]

We will be on the June 30th sailing of the Constellation and are still looking for a private group tour. We are 2 ladies in their 60's. If we don't hook up with a private tour, we will join the Value Tour.

 

PalosPalos

[canlobef]

We've booked our value tour through denrus for our june scandinavian cruise, 265 dollars for 2 days, you can't beat that, versus 400 to 700 dollars for ship sponsored excursion. We're really excited. Angel

[Compass Rose Monica]

I used Denrus for my 2-day tour with friends back in May 2005. They are a very good company and Ludmilla was our tour guide. I see that they have added our food market tour to their package. Fabulous market. Don't miss the bins of caviar! Going with a private company is much better than the ship's tour. We were a group of 11 or 12 and it was perfect for us. My web site link (below) has my journal from that trip - you can scroll down to the St. Petersburg portion and read what we saw and where we ate.

 

Monica