Recommended tour companies in St. Petersburg

Super excited and relieved to advise i have managed to book a group tour with TJ Travel!

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Does anyone here have experience with SPB flat rate tours? I am not getting anyone on my roll call for my cruise and thought that the flat rate may be the way to go. Somehow you register your ship and they handle it from there. The price is really, really good that way.

Last year, we booked online with SPB for its 2-day Deluxe tour. No deposit required and full payment is during the actual tour. Passport information is required on online booking for Russian immigration purpose and the tour voucher will serve as the visa. You may send them an email for any added inquiry you have.

Super excited and relieved to advise i have managed to book a group tour with TJ Travel!

Great news! Thanks for reporting back on your accomplishment. You're booked with a good company. Now all that's left to do is to enjoy an amazing visit to St Petersburg.

Last year, we booked online with SPB for its 2-day Deluxe tour. No deposit required and full payment is during the actual tour. Passport information is required on online booking for Russian immigration purpose and the tour voucher will serve as the visa. You may send them an email for any added inquiry you have.

So I'm guessing the flat rate worked out good for you then. Fantastic. Thanks

So I'm guessing the flat rate worked out good for you then. Fantastic. Thanks

Indeed!. And we got a pretty good discount having booked for 6.

Wanted to put in some good words for TJ Travel in St. Petersburg. We spent three days and an evening with the TJ folks, thoroughly enjoying the company of Dena and Elena, seeing so many places and learning more than we could have imagined about Russia and its people.

The TJ folks are amazingly knowledgeable in so many aspects of Russian, history, geography, society, politics, economics and other issues. We were also fortunate enough to experience TJ tours in Helsinki and Berlin, with some "value added" experiences in both cities. Boris from Berlin is just great!!

In planning which company to book for shore excursions, we were so impressed with the quick responses we got to inquiries, getting answers in less than 24 hours and on weekends. They were kind enough to include quick stops for photo ops in St Petersburg and Berlin that were not included in the published itinerary.

We will take any chance we can get to work with the TJ folks again, and highly recommend them to anyone interested in a first class touring experience.

Cheryl and Mike

We used TJ last summer and they were very good about amending our one day tour to fit our multigenerational family, including a stop at someplace we read about on TripAdvisor where they'd never been before. I'd definitely use them again.

We have also used Alla Tours on several trips to the Baltics! On separate visits, we have taken both their group and private tours. They are simply amazing! :)

hi we are thinking of using ALLA tours for 3 days in saint petersburg !! do you think 3 day tour is too much as they are 8.30am to 5 pm each day ??

hi we are thinking of using ALLA tours for 3 days in saint petersburg !! do you think 3 day tour is too much as they are 8.30am to 5 pm each day ??

You are fortunate to have 3 days in St. Petersburg - there is so very much to see and do. Too much? No. A 3 day tour is perfect - it has a more relaxed pace than the one or two day tours.

hi we are thinking of using ALLA tours for 3 days in saint petersburg !! do you think 3 day tour is too much as they are 8.30am to 5 pm each day ??

There is so much to see in St. Petersburg. A 3 day tour is not too much.

We used SPB Tours. Ask for Olga. She is awesome.

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When did you pay her? Thanks

We also used SPB Tours for a 2 day deluxe St. Petersburg tour. We gave our full payment (no deposit required) on the 2nd day in cash. If by credit card, the credit card info is needed on the 1st day of the tour.

I booked my tour through Viator when they were running a 10% off promotion. It was the Small-Group 2-Day Visa-Free St Petersburg Highlights Tour reference 14818P3. This turned out to be the SPB 2 day highlights tour.

We thought it was very good and covered everything we wanted to see. We were traveling with our 3 year old daughter so we chose this tour which was advertised as a good tour for families and those who want a leisurely pace. We still found it to be quite intense though, luckily my daughter was well behaved and coped really well with it. My favourite place was the Peterhof fountain park, it was beautiful.

I am surprised to note that no one seems to have used DenRus and Red October although they were mentioned in one post. (We used DenRus 10 years ago and they were terrific.) Perhaps these companies are no longer in business.... the comments on TJ tours recall comments re: DenRus way back then.

The reason I ask, is that friends are going on the Regal in June and have heard us comment on DenRus for years. I would like to give them information on the best ones to be had today.... so... TJ...SPB.. Will encourage them to go to the websites.

We used ship's tours for all other cities but having read replies here, I think that using TJ Tours, for example, in other places might have been the way to go price-wise.

I would appreciate any comments as I would never have heard of DenRus, Red October or Alla had it not been for the great folks on CruiseCritic, and I want to give my friends the best information that I can find.

Bill

I am surprised to note that no one seems to have used DenRus and Red October although they were mentioned in one post. (We used DenRus 10 years ago and they were terrific.) Perhaps these companies are no longer in business.... the comments on TJ tours recall comments re: DenRus way back then.

 

The reason I ask, is that friends are going on the Regal in June and have heard us comment on DenRus for years. I would like to give them information on the best ones to be had today.... so... TJ...SPB.. Will encourage them to go to the websites.

 

We used ship's tours for all other cities but having read replies here, I think that using TJ Tours, for example, in other places might have been the way to go price-wise.

 

I would appreciate any comments as I would never have heard of DenRus, Red October or Alla had it not been for the great folks on CruiseCritic, and I want to give my friends the best information that I can find.

 

Bill

I have heard of both DenRus and Red October but I have no experience with either company. The vast majority of us have experience with only one company and, therefore, do not have the requisite knowledge needed to compare the tours from among the many offered by the local operators in St. Petersburg. I have used Alla Tours for our tours of St. Petersburg and our other Baltic ports of call (wonderful tours, great customer service and good prices) but I believe you can't go wrong with any of the companies frequently mentioned on this forum. I would recommend that your friends contact several companies to see which is the best fit for them.

DenRus and Red October are still in business but are no longer frequently mentioned on these boards - I don't know why (my guess would be that years ago, DenRus & Red October were, pretty much, the only companies offering tours in Russia but in the last 10 - 11 years, more and more tour companies have popped up). Some companies, like Alla Tours, have been in business for at least 11 years, some are relatively new to the scene. But almost all companies frequently mentioned on these forums receive rave reviews from cruisers that have booked their tours.

On our last cruise to St. Petersburg, there was a couple that did book with DenRus but I have no information regarding whether or not they were satisfied.

Red October: http://www.redoctober.ru/our-programs4.html

DenRus: https://www.denrus.ru/

Nina was our tourist guide in Saint Petersburg. She is personable, well educated and knowledgeable in Russia history, with a good sense of humor. We really enjoyed our time there with Nina. In addition to the popular tourist spots, Nina took us to local markets, subway and local eateries which we enjoyed and had a glimpse of locals' daily living in Russia.

I have recommended Nina with Tzarina Tours to my friends who will be taking a Baltic cruise this coming May. My friends want a tailor made itienerary and I know Tzarina Tours is flexible, customer-friendly, and can accommodate their preferences. If I go to St. Petersburg again or go to Moscow, I will definitely have Nina as my guide.

Hello. A number of years ago I visited St. Petersburg and used SPB. They were fabulous. I did not opt for the large ship tour.

Viking Ocean offers included tours. Except for the size of the group, why not go with Viking and not book more private tours.

Thank you for any input.

Carolyn

I went on the Viking ocean website to check out the tours.... will be looking further for st. petersburg

We used Denrus a few years ago, and were very glad we did.

I went on the Viking ocean website to check out the tours.... will be looking further for st. petersburg

Hey, I wrote a post recently about Tzarina Tours in St Petersburg. I've put it below as they were fantastic. Nina used to work for one of the bigger tour companies but decided to start out on her own and is able to be more personable and can accommodate pretty much anything from a group of 1!

My review from the other post and Trip Advisor is below:

Tzarina Tours was amazing, I put a review on trip advisor in May 2016 and it's about a 2 day tour. The girl who owns it is Nina and is so lovely and accommodating. She recently started her own company and is already #26. Her prices are pretty competitive and if there is something you aren't sure about she can adapt it for you.

We ended up in a tour of 4 but could have been up to 12 although I think it can be any size you want. Any questions just ask and I can send you her personal email as I have ended up remaining friends with her after the 2 days!!

We used TJ Travel for St. Petersburg and also took advantage of the tours of most of the other cities (Berlin, Estonia, Helsinki, and Stockholm) on our Princess cruise of the Baltic countries. At each stop except Oslo someone met us at the dock, gave us a great tour, and got us back to the ship in plenty of time. The group was always about 14 people and one guide and one van driver. Very knowledgeable people. I would highly recommend TJTravel.

We used TJ Travel last spring, and were very satisfied. We customized our time to see exactly what we wanted. Our guide, Alexander, was delightful, and very knowledgeable. Our driver was always just a few seconds away, and the car was new and spotless. I highly recommend them.:)

I used TJ Travel and they were very professional and a lot less expensive that the shore excursions offered by Princess Cruises. I highly recommend them

info@st-petersburg-tours.ru

TJ Travel - St Petersburg tours and excursions

https://st-petersburg-tours.ru/[/url]

Dear TJ Travel guests! My name is Irina Seits. I am a fully licensed tour guide of the company, and I am happy to make your stay in St. Petersburg the most ...‎Shore Excursions · ‎

We used TJ Travel last May while on a Celebrity Eclipse Cruise. They organised tours for us in Tallin and St Petersburg. We had a fabulous time especially with Irina who gave myself and my husband a personalised tour of St Petersburg. Irina and her driver (sorry I can't remember his Name) were thoughtful and so helpful and knowledgeable about St Petersburg that it really made the trip. We were only sorry we did not have enough time to see everything but we hope to return soon.

You wont go wrong if you choose TJ Travel