St. Petersburg Markets - Souvenirs

[travelbugbit]

Can anyone help me out by comparing the market near the Church of Our Saviour on the Spilled Blood church and the open-air market near Catherine's Palace, please? I've read a good review on the one by the church on CC, but not seen anything about the other one. Do they have about the same stock, quality, and prices? If you were going to St. Peterburg again, where would you shop for nesting dolls, lacquer boxes, wooden crafts, and Christmas ornaments?

 

We only have a few minutes for souvenir shopping on our itinerary, so we need to make the most of this short stop. All help greatly appreciated!

[TLCOhio]

Can anyone help me out by comparing the market near the Church of Our Saviour on the Spilled Blood church and the open-air market near Catherine's Palace, please? I've read a good review on the one by the church on CC, but not seen anything about the other one. Do they have about the same stock, quality, and prices? If you were going to St. Peterburg again, where would you shop for nesting dolls, lacquer boxes, wooden crafts, and Christmas ornaments? We only have a few minutes for souvenir shopping on our itinerary, so we need to make the most of this short stop. All help greatly appreciated!

 

From our shopping experiences in St. Petersburg last summer, the correct answer is . . . IT REALLY DEPENDS!

 

All nesting dolls, wooden crafts, etc. are not made the same with equal materials. There are a great many variations in the types and styles for these items. You can quickly see the quality differences! BUT, what can you afford and do you want to pay? You should consider the quality/pricing levels you seek and discuss your specific needs with your private guide company in advance. They know about the various types of shops. One member of our group wanted to see some Russian military hats. They had to think a little more, but came up with a good place to visit as we traveled between locations. Not all shops specialize in the same items, nor have the range for certain types of items. Even within some shops, there can be two levels to their store. One is for the basic, cheaper, tourist-type items that are only fair to OK in quality. Upstairs are the better stuff. You can see and feel the differences. In depends on whether you want one better-quality item as the special memory from your trip or are you seeking eight or nine cheaper hand-outs for those that might not need anything that is too great? Some items have lots of hand-work. Others are more mass-produced, silk-screened items. The gift shop at the Hermitage has a nice mix of items. You can check their website prior to your visit to sample their offerings.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

[justfoxie]

If my memory serves, the kinds of items and quality is about the same in both places. I bought a few things at the one near Saviour on the Blood, but that was mostly because it was the one I was near more often (Catherine's Palace is outside St. Petersburg).

 

The key to getting good prices is to barter; use the sticker price as a starting point and expect to end up around 25-30% less.

[travelbugbit]

Thank you for the replies. Can anyone compare/contrast these two markets? Thanks for the help!

 

Nancy

[kruzseeka]

Well, I'll do my best but I'm working here on general impressions as although I looked round both, I wasn't into serious buying mode therefore wasn't seriously trying to compare quality. But they were different.

 

The one outside the Church of the Spilled Blood was the usual range of Russian souvenirs: lots of stalls with nesting dolls (as has been said before, these could be of any quality/price), painted boxes (I did buy a small one which was not too expensive but did look beautifully painted), wraps, Russian hats, guide books/DVDs, wooden items - very much the same sort of things available in the tourist souvenir shops which the guides take you to. (These 'official' tourist shops do have a very extensive range of souvenirs including vodkas/alcohol and some fine porcelain - decorated cups and saucers which are very pretty - but these stores also seem to be very 'samey' too and with similar pricings (?) - an impression only.)

 

The market at Catherine's Palace, although having many nesting dolls/painted boxes etc., had more of a local market feel too. If my memory is serving me correctly, there were some cups/saucers available here too and perhaps even a second-hand stall or two. There were one or two ladies hanging around trying to sell crochet work - but whilst I felt for them (they looked a bit down at heel) their wares weren't very appealing. It all looked less pristine than the market stalls/souvenir shops in St P - but whether you'd find anything really special/interesting/better value here, I'm not sure - or confident! It's certainly interesting but if you are looking for serious bargains at a local market - I think you could be disappointed. They are very geared to tourists so finding a 'treasure' (in terms of a souvenir - not literally!) is unlikely.

 

I thought prices in the Hermitage rather expensive. If you want a really special guide book as a souvenir, there were some lovely ones here - but we bought a beautifully illustrated, colourful and glossy (soft backed) guide book for £5 which we thought excellent value from one of the traders who wander around inside and outside the main attractions. (This was bought from a trader inside the Hermitage and it was almost identical to a much more expensive version in the shop inside the Museum.)

 

The best bargain we got was from a bookstore on Nevsky Prospekt where we bought a beautifully filmed DVD of St Petersburg and Environs. It runs for 3 hours, very artistically filmed, lovely music from the great Russian composers - but with a rather heavy accented commentary! (Adds to the enjoyment as it makes us smile!) This cost less then £4 - but as we only ever carry Euros for currency in the Baltics, we did have to pay by CC here - but at the normal exchange rate - no rip off!

 

I'm not sure this will have been of any help to you - I hadn't replied before because of that - they are only fairly vague impressions, but happy shopping, whatever! (I'll look at my DH's photos later and if they add anything to the debate, I'll get back to you.)

 

Enjoy your trip :)