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Is the grand palace of Peterhof a "MUST SEE"?


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The most obvious omission of the "best" of the private tour companies compared to our ship's "best" tour of St. Petersburg is a tour of the Peterhof Grand Palace. Many companies tour the Peterhof park and grounds, but not the palace itself which the ship's tour describes as Russia's Versailles, exploring the throne room, portrait room, and white dining room. The private tours are considerably less expensive, but after spending so much to get there, I don't want to miss anything really worth seeing. Opinions?

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My understanding is that the inside of Peterhof was practically gutted during WW2 and that only a few rooms have been refurbished. I don't know how true that is. It does seem like a waste to go all that way and look at the outside only, but it is a really long day if you're only in port for 1 day as it is. If you have 2 or more days it might be worth the extra time?

 

The Hermitage is pretty spectacular. That's my kids' yardstick for opulence. Regarding an aging, baroque style theater in Fort Worth "yeah, it's nice, but it's not the Hermitage."

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Have not been inside the palace at Peterhof but it is said that it pales in comparison to Catherine's Palace, which I have seen. The grounds at Peterhof are spectacular and "not to be missed". If the private tour you are thinking of includes Catherine's Palace (most do) then you will see the best preserved of the bunch. If you watched "War and Peace" on TV last year the ball where Natalia dances Andre was filmed in the Grand Ballroom at Catherine's Palace.

 

<<<Karen>>>

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we recently ( June). toured all of the Catherine Palace , Peterhof Palace and grounds and parts of the Hermitage in 2 days. Honestly, it was too much and unnecessary. The inside of the 2 Palaces all run together and its hard to remember which was which.

Either of the 2 palaces is more than enough. I would skip the inside of the Peterhof. DO take the hydrofoil out or back.

BTW, neither are preserved. They were both behind Gernan lines during the 1000 day siege of Leningrad and were almost completely destroyed. Both have been beautifully and completely restored. ( as has the rest of the city). It is remarkable.

Edited by Earl Rosebery
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I agree with Earl. While there may be some distinct differences, to an untrained eye, especially after you get home, they will all look the same. The main attraction of Peterhoff are the grounds and the fountains. THAT is what most people want to see and what you WILL remember. Yes, all the palaces have their differences, but overall, see what you can and don't have to fret it if you can't see everything. Catherine's Palace is on just about everyone's list and that is awe inspiring, see that and the fountains and all will be great.

Cheers

Len

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The most obvious omission of the "best" of the private tour companies compared to our ship's "best" tour of St. Petersburg is a tour of the Peterhof Grand Palace. Many companies tour the Peterhof park and grounds, but not the palace itself which the ship's tour describes as Russia's Versailles, exploring the throne room, portrait room, and white dining room. The private tours are considerably less expensive, but after spending so much to get there, I don't want to miss anything really worth seeing. Opinions?

The Grand Palace has been completely restored and is definitely worth a visit ONLY IF you have 3 days in port. I have visited and it was wonderful but I was spending over 3 weeks in the city. The Catherine Palace is even more grand than the Peterhof Grand Palace - both of these palaces were designed by the same architect & in the same style (Russian Baroque). If you have less than 3 days in the city, I would opt for the Catherine Palace. If you try to fit in too much, you will simply rush through the sights. There is so much to see in this beautiful imperial city that after a full day or two of touring, the venues seem to run together in one's mind.

So, if you have only 1 or 2 days in St. Petersburg, there is really not enough time to visit the Grand Palace at Peterhof - you would need need to delete some other must see sight(s) from your bucket list. If you have 3 days, a visit to the palace is doable and is offered by some of the independent tour operators (Alla Tours 3 day Grand Tour offers a visit).

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We did the two day Comfort Tour with Alla which visited the gardens of the Peterhof and the inside of the Catherine Palace.

 

I think that makes the most of seeing them. They are similiar to the interior of Versailles , but slightly less opulent, if you have seen that.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

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Have not been inside the palace at Peterhof but it is said that it pales in comparison to Catherine's Palace, which I have seen. The grounds at Peterhof are spectacular and "not to be missed". If the private tour you are thinking of includes Catherine's Palace (most do) then you will see the best preserved of the bunch. If you watched "War and Peace" on TV last year the ball where Natalia dances Andre was filmed in the Grand Ballroom at Catherine's Palace.

 

<<<Karen>>>

 

Yes, restored would have been a better word. I guess I need more coffee before I try to post something in the morning ;).

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we recently ( June). toured all of the Catherine Palace , Peterhof Palace and grounds and parts of the Hermitage in 2 days. Honestly, it was too much and unnecessary. The inside of the 2 Palaces all run together and its hard to remember which was which.

Either of the 2 palaces is more than enough. I would skip the inside of the Peterhof. DO take the hydrofoil out or back.

BTW, neither are preserved. They were both behind Gernan lines during the 1000 day siege of Leningrad and were almost completely destroyed. Both have been beautifully and completely restored. ( as has the rest of the city). It is remarkable.

 

I'd agree with this. We had a 3 day tour last August and it was fast, frenzied and fantastic! But I too can't remember which palace was which, they're very very similar. If I had my time again I'd just do one palace (St Catherine's) and the fountains of Peterhof walking down to the hydrofoil for the trip back to St Petersburg.

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I'd agree with this. We had a 3 day tour last August and it was fast, frenzied and fantastic! But I too can't remember which palace was which, they're very very similar. If I had my time again I'd just do one palace (St Catherine's) and the fountains of Peterhof walking down to the hydrofoil for the trip back to St Petersburg.

If you really want the hydrofoil you need to check with the company. We did SPB's deluxe tour in late August and our guide said they aren't doing it anymore because it added time to an already packed 2 days, in addition to making a longer walk for the tourists from the hydrofoil. So our group didn't do it.

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I'm not sure what the appeal of the hydrofoil is, actually. Is it because it is a hydrofoil, or perhaps docking and walking into Peterhof from the water front? It did make a nice nap stop during the trip. The drive back, in our van, was more interesting, as there were neighborhoods, etc, to look at.

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I'm not sure what the appeal of the hydrofoil is, actually. Is it because it is a hydrofoil, or perhaps docking and walking into Peterhof from the water front? It did make a nice nap stop during the trip. The drive back, in our van, was more interesting, as there were neighborhoods, etc, to look at.
We toured through Alla and took the hydrofoil to Peterhof. Our guide explained that at the hour we were traveling, the van would have spent too much time in traffic and we would have lost time from our tour. (Mind you, the lunch at Peterhof could have been shorter - but I've learned that you can't rush lunches in many European cities.:)) Our van traveled to Peterhof while we were on the hydrofoil and touring the palace grounds, and was waiting for us after lunch to take us to Catherine's Palace.
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I'm not sure what the appeal of the hydrofoil is, actually. Is it because it is a hydrofoil, or perhaps docking and walking into Peterhof from the water front? It did make a nice nap stop during the trip. The drive back, in our van, was more interesting, as there were neighborhoods, etc, to look at.

2 advantages (from Peterhof). A 45 minute rest and it takes you directly to the Hermitage

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I'll be the odd one out and write that the inside of Peterhof is not only a must see, but that I also preferred it over Catherine's Palace.

 

The grounds are beautiful, as others wrote. However, what I liked about Peterhof's interiors more so than Catherine's was that each room seemed to have its own character. There was a lot more variety to be seen, whereas Catherine's Palace has a lot of gold and pastel. Of course there was some variety beyond that, but I found that the sheer amount of gold in the ballrooms overpowered everything else I saw later.

 

I would go back to Peterhof in a heartbeat. I would love to see the interiors again, plus spend more time on the grounds.

 

I suggest taking the tour that includes the Peterhof interiors. If you find, as others have, that the palaces all bleed into each other after while, so be it. However, at least you'll have seen and known as opposed to wondering "what if".

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Thanks, everyone for your comment and opinions. The majority opinion is to skip it, but Ellie has a good point as well. I have seen Versailles and other palaces, and I enjoyed and remember most of them. I guess my sister and I will have to talk it over with our husbands and just weigh all your comments to make our decision.

Thanks too to JudiJmn for the heads up about the hydrofoil.

Linda

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