St Petersburg with a 2yr Old

We're traveling to SPB this May with our little one who'll be 2.5yrs old. Can anyone recommend things to do or avoid with a little one?

We were not planning on getting Visas for the trip; just sticking with the tours.

We're there for 2 days.

Many thanks

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We're traveling to SPB this May with our little one who'll be 2.5yrs old. Can anyone recommend things to do or avoid with a little one?

We were not planning on getting Visas for the trip; just sticking with the tours.

We're there for 2 days.

Many thanks

 

 

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We cruised there with our 2.75 yr old last year. We booked a private tour with SPB and had a great time - they provided a car seat (initially the wrong one, but they bought the correct one so we were a little slow getting out of the terminal).

The highlight of the two days for our toddler was a visit to the Varschavsky Railway museum - it is outdoors and it has dozens of antique and newer soviet rail cars, including a missile launcher and military train cars. Our boy liked trains (what boy doesn't) so he had a fantastic time there.

Apart from that we did all the standard tour stops inlcuding the Hermitage, Catherine's Palace, Peterhof. (He loved Peterhof).

The one problem we had were naps. It seemed like whenever there was a stop, he had just fallen asleep in the van as we arrived. Once I stayed back in the van with him, the other times I just picked him up and carried him the whole time. That was annoying. The stroller would not have worked at most venues unfortunately.

Of course during all of this he was toilet training as well - but that wasn't a problem, the facilities were modern and we had no problems finding places for him to use.

Thanks, do you remember the cost as it sounds a good plan.

I assume you didn't require visas

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We cruised there with our 2.75 yr old last year. We booked a private tour with SPB and had a great time - they provided a car seat (initially the wrong one, but they bought the correct one so we were a little slow getting out of the terminal).

 

The highlight of the two days for our toddler was a visit to the Varschavsky Railway museum - it is outdoors and it has dozens of antique and newer soviet rail cars, including a missile launcher and military train cars. Our boy liked trains (what boy doesn't) so he had a fantastic time there.

 

Apart from that we did all the standard tour stops inlcuding the Hermitage, Catherine's Palace, Peterhof. (He loved Peterhof).

 

The one problem we had were naps. It seemed like whenever there was a stop, he had just fallen asleep in the van as we arrived. Once I stayed back in the van with him, the other times I just picked him up and carried him the whole time. That was annoying. The stroller would not have worked at most venues unfortunately.

 

Of course during all of this he was toilet training as well - but that wasn't a problem, the facilities were modern and we had no problems finding places for him to use.

Thanks I am gathering information for my daughter who will be taking her 17 month old daughter and 7 year old son on a Baltic cruise next May. Thankfully the baby seems to be very easy-going so hoping for the best -- Mom was going to Denmark to give a speech and it seems perfect to take the whole family. A cruise at 6 months worked really well. What are the rules for the car seats? Do babies on busses need car seats? Yes they are going to fly the baby as a lap baby and they are not bringing a stroller or car seat for the little girl but maybe a backpack seat carried by Dad. Any advice there?

We took our 3.5 year old son on a Baltic cruise, and my signature line has a review with a lot of information about the cities and toddlers.

The most important recommendation is that if it is at all financially feasible to please consider booking a private tour for just your family. There were times when my son absolutely needed a break, and we needed to stop and feed him immediately and then he was fine continuing with the tour. We also skipped some of the less interesting rooms at places like Catherine's Palace (the first few rooms and then the amber room are the highlights, and with a toddler you don't want to waste time on any lesser sights). A private tour for just our family really gave us a much higher level of control over the tour, and for a once in a lifetime destination like St. Petersburg it is really something to consider if you can afford it. With the breaks, our son was able to see all of the major highlights of St. Petersburg. We were able to easily DIY all of the other ports, even with a toddler in tow. We don't have any personal experience with this company, but other cruisers on this forum recommend them for families: http://www.bestguides-spb.com/children-page.html

Other posters have had less positive experiences with strollers, but we found it very useful. Our son has normally outgrown a stroller, but in large venues with lots of walking like the Hermitage or the fountains at Peterhof, the stroller was really useful. Others have reported the Hermitage being too crowded to use strollers. We had early admission and it was empty, but other reviewers have noted the Hermitage can be busy even during early admission.

We took car seats on the plane and used them with he private transportation in St. Petersburg, but in the other cities we used mostly public transportation which did not require car seats.

If you book a tour directly with one of the major St. Petersburg tour companies, they will obtain a visa waiver for you. They will email you paperwork which you need to check carefully to ensure it has all of your passport information listed correctly, plus the correct dates and times for your visit. You will need to print this out and present it, along with your passport, to the Russian custom agents.

Please also note if you are traveling with a toddler that the custom lines can be long early on the first day. One travel company suggested starting at 10 am on day one to avoid all lines, and then starting earlier on day 2 since the lines are much calmer then. If you can get priority disembarkation, that would be a substantial advantage here.

The only place we used a car seat was in St. Petersburg. I guess I'd seen too many Russian driving videos on youtube. We did have a private tour - and yes I would second the recommendation for that. We could take our time, stay extra time at places that interested us, etc. Just common sense really. I can't remember exactly how much we paid but it was the same rate that was on their website. It was a mini coach that seats probably 10; we did the private tour with friends so there were 5 of us plus the guide and driver.

At the other ports we did use a stroller, though Estonia was particularly difficult in the old town. In Germany we did not go to Berlin (too long a day) but instead rode the Molli steam train, which was good fun. We did a ship's tour for that and rode in a coach, no car seat required.

Copenhagen was great, on that trip we visited the city for 4 days before the cruise started. Lots and lots for a toddler to do, from the science museum to Tivoli, the Roundtower, the aquarium (the architecture was impressive but I wasn't overly impressed by the actual aquarium). - and it is so easy to get around there. The Copenhagen card is well worth the money.

In four weeks we are flying south and doing a two week BA - Santiago cruise around the horn. Our son is now 4.25 and is very keen to meet penguins.

Thanks Oz

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Thank, very useful

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The only place we used a car seat was in St. Petersburg. I guess I'd seen too many Russian driving videos on youtube. We did have a private tour - and yes I would second the recommendation for that. We could take our time, stay extra time at places that interested us, etc. Just common sense really. I can't remember exactly how much we paid but it was the same rate that was on their website. It was a mini coach that seats probably 10; we did the private tour with friends so there were 5 of us plus the guide and driver.

 

At the other ports we did use a stroller, though Estonia was particularly difficult in the old town. In Germany we did not go to Berlin (too long a day) but instead rode the Molli steam train, which was good fun. We did a ship's tour for that and rode in a coach, no car seat required.

 

Copenhagen was great, on that trip we visited the city for 4 days before the cruise started. Lots and lots for a toddler to do, from the science museum to Tivoli, the Roundtower, the aquarium (the architecture was impressive but I wasn't overly impressed by the actual aquarium). - and it is so easy to get around there. The Copenhagen card is well worth the money.

 

In four weeks we are flying south and doing a two week BA - Santiago cruise around the horn. Our son is now 4.25 and is very keen to meet penguins.

Hi there, I just viewed your world map! I thought I had been to alot of countries but not even close!

I am about to do Princess' Baltic cruise and I hadnt thought about a car seat for any of our tours. Is this ok? We're looking at using SPB, Alla, and Princess tours. Do I need to be bringing a seat? My son will just be 2 when we go in May. Thanks for the help!

Hi there, I just viewed your world map! I thought I had been to alot of countries but not even close!

 

I am about to do Princess' Baltic cruise and I hadnt thought about a car seat for any of our tours. Is this ok? We're looking at using SPB, Alla, and Princess tours. Do I need to be bringing a seat? My son will just be 2 when we go in May. Thanks for the help!

So many more countries to go... we just got back from our South America cruise and now my son has been to 28 countries .. but he will probably never remember it.

As I said way above - the only place we even considered the car seat was in St. Petersburg. Crazy drivers. SPB and others will provide one free of charge for you and I wouldn't tour Russia any other way.

We've done quite a bit of research, plus watched the BBC documentary on the Tzars and have decided to book a private 1 day tour. That way we can see the bits that we want as a family. Be sure of the flexibility should the little one find it all too much, and have a car seat for him. We're foregoing the Hermitage as it'll be too crowded with he little one in tow but will do the fountains in Peterhoff.

Thanks to everyone for the advice. If you think there is something we must not miss let me know as the itinerary isn't set in stone.

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We've done quite a bit of research, plus watched the BBC documentary on the Tzars and have decided to book a private 1 day tour. That way we can see the bits that we want as a family. Be sure of the flexibility should the little one find it all too much, and have a car seat for him. We're foregoing the Hermitage as it'll be too crowded with he little one in tow but will do the fountains in Peterhoff.

Thanks to everyone for the advice. If you think there is something we must not miss let me know as the itinerary isn't set in stone.

 

 

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Like I said above - if he is into trains, then check out the Varshavsky Railway station/museum. It is just a bunch of trains, outside - but it was really, cool. You can spend 10 minutes or 2 hours there. And - it is more or less right on the way to Peterhof so really isn't out of your way.

5 years ago we cruised the Baltic with our entire family....children and grandchildren . 2 1/2 yr old twins included. Their parents brought car seats....used them on the plane . They also brought 2 "umbrella-type" strollers.. We used the strollers a lot. The hardest part was meal time on the ship. By night time they were tired and cranky. Waiting for food to be served, unfamiliar surroundings. Maybe just one child that age would be much easier . And yes, we did a private tour in St. Petersburg.

We're traveling to SPB this May with our little one who'll be 2.5yrs old. Can anyone recommend things to do or avoid with a little one?

We were not planning on getting Visas for the trip; just sticking with the tours.

We're there for 2 days.

Many thanks

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

We cruised the Baltic last year with extended family and three children. We used Alla Tours (we had 9 people). One highlight of our trip for the kids was the Grand Maket Museum. It is off the beaten path, but was a FANTASTIC stop for the kids. It is a giant working model of Russia with trains, cars, mining equipment, etc. We thought that this would be a welcome change from museums and palaces for the kids and we were right. It was a nice children's complement to everything else we did.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g298507-d3396387-Reviews-Grand_Maket_Russia_Interactive_Museum-St_Petersburg_Northwestern_District.html

Good luck.