St. Petersburg walk about

We have booked a tour on both days in St. Petersburg. It sounds as though you cannot just walk about in SPB unless you have a tour booked because of the Visa issue. Can we go and visit shops and restaurants after our tours or is this not allowed. We love trying out the local bars for cuisine and local beer.

We have booked a tour on both days in St. Petersburg. It sounds as though you cannot just walk about in SPB unless you have a tour booked because of the Visa issue. Can we go and visit shops and restaurants after our tours or is this not allowed. We love trying out the local bars for cuisine and local beer.

Once your tour is over . You''l be required to go back to the ship. If you want a walk about you'll have to get your own visa in advance. They don't sell visa's at the pier.

We have booked a tour on both days in St. Petersburg. It sounds as though you cannot just walk about in SPB unless you have a tour booked because of the Visa issue. Can we go and visit shops and restaurants after our tours or is this not allowed. We love trying out the local bars for cuisine and local beer.

You must return to the ship at the end of your day tour unless you have a Russian visa. I would recommend that you contact the tour company with whom you have booked your day tours. Most of the independent tour companies in St. Petersburg offer the option of hiring just a driver and escort if you want to explore "on your own" in the evening. This option seems like the perfect solution for you - you would have the freedom to do whatever you wish. Your tour company would supply you with the visa waiver and you would be perfectly "legal".

You can't do it without an escort tagging along with a "waived visa" the tour companies need to arrange. Not sure that's what you want. But it is possible as mentioned...for a fee.

As other replies, your tour operator has to take you back to the port at the end of the tour.

But there's a degree of flexibility about letting you off the leash for a while during your tour - different tour operators interpret the rules less rigidly than others so you may get conflicting replies. For instance I know folk have organised dinner in town, tour operator's driver has taken them to the restaurant, settled them in, then returned for them at a pre-arranged time.

Best is to have an idea of what you want to do & e-mail a few of them.

JB :)

Thank you all so much. It seems a shame that we can't take in as much as we'd like without a tag along.

Thank you all so much. It seems a shame that we can't take in as much as we'd like without a tag along.

No tag along needed to do whatever you want, whenever you want - you just need to get a Russian visa. :) Otherwise, you are bound by the restrictions of the visa free program for cruise ship passengers.

Some tour operators offer "pub crawl" tours!

Last time we got visas and went independently, this time they want us to visit the Russian Embassy in London to have fingerprints taken to obtain a visa!

The hassle and cost of the visa is not worth it now, and we have booked a two day private tour plus evening at the ballet for about the same price as visas would cost us.

Check with these people:

http://ludmila-tours.com/

 

Last time we got visas and went independently, this time they want us to visit the Russian Embassy in London to have fingerprints taken to obtain a visa!

 

The hassle and cost of the visa is not worth it now, and we have booked a two day private tour plus evening at the ballet for about the same price as visas would cost us.

 

Right - biometric data is now required for British nationals. It is not required for US or Canadian nationals - at least not yet. :)

I agree that the cost of a two day tour is roughly equivalent to the cost of a visa. The benefit of the visa is that you can do whatever you want on your own timetable and it is good for 3 years. So, if you plan on visiting Russia again within the next 3 years, the visa might actually be an economical option.

Our friends visited twice. The first with a cruise ship two day excursion. The next time , while on another cruise, they didn't want to do an excursion again.

So they went the visa route. It turned out to be a real expensive venture and took a long time to accomplish. They wouldn't recommend it unless you were familiar with Russia and doing a whole lot of stuff on your own. They were traveling with someone who had visited often and knew the area.

Our friends visited twice. The first with a cruise ship two day excursion. The next time , while on another cruise, they didn't want to do an excursion again.

So they went the visa route. It turned out to be a real expensive venture and took a long time to accomplish. They wouldn't recommend it unless you were familiar with Russia and doing a whole lot of stuff on your own. They were traveling with someone who had visited often and knew the area.

I totally agree with you. The visa process is quite expensive (for me, it was about $320 per person because we do not live near a Russian consulate and had to use the mail service) and the application is quite onerous.

For those visiting St. Petersburg via cruise ship, booking "visa free" through one of the established independent St. Petersburg companies is the most cost effective, hassle free method.

But for those people, like myself, who prefer to DIY, a visa is the way to go. Since I now have a 3 year Russian visa, my next 2 trips to Russia will be no hassle whatsoever and I am free to do as I please. On my first visit this year, I will be arriving via cruise ship and on my second, I will arrive by air for an extended stay.

BTW - I have no problems finding my way around the city armed with a good map and a metro map. Most museums offer audio guides in English and quite a few Russians speak English. Furthermore, one can purchase the St. Petersburg City Card which provides free entry to most major museums and includes transportation. http://petersburgcard.com/eng/

I totally agree with Cansas Piligram

Visa is too expensive and a driver will be a good compromise. No doubts all local companies will provide this service. We’ve been in St. Petersburg with the Best Guides. They could provide not only just a driver to accompany you or just a guide for a walking tour; they even have babysitters for the Hermitage. We didn’t use a babysitter but we were very much impressed by the possibility.

Jess:)