Yusupov's Palace

We are trying to finalize our schedule for our independent tour and can't decide if Yusupov's Palace is worth it or not.

Also how much time did people feel they needed for Catherine's Palace, the Peterhof and the Hermitage. Right now we have 3 hours for each of the palaces and 4 for the Hermitage.

We are trying to finalize our schedule for our independent tour and can't decide if Yusupov's Palace is worth it or not. Also how much time did people feel they needed for Catherine's Palace, the Peterhof and the Hermitage. Right now we have 3 hours for each of the palaces and 4 for the Hermitage.

In August 2008, we did Yusupov's Palace and found it to be very interesting and different than our other stops in St. Petersburg and Moscow. Enjoyed it much!!!

BUT, tell me more on your plans for an "independent tour". Are you doing your own driving around the area? Are you having your own visa and not being with a local guide? If you have the "right help", you don't need to spend three hours each at the palaces and four hours at the Hermitage. There's lots to see at all of these, but the bigger question is on your logistics and who gives you the background/understanding for all that you are going to be seeing. Tell us more!

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Yusupov's Palace is definately worth it. It is so interesting and different to the other palaces, it was one of our highlights.

Sorry I should have clarified - we are using the Anastasia tour service.

However, we are the types of people that like to spend a lot of time in places. For example in Paris we spent 4-5 hours in the Louvre, and an entire day (7 hours) in the Versailles and the Vatican in Rome.

I just don't want to feel rushed anywhere by trying to fit everything into 2 days.

3 hrs at Peterhof and 4 at the Hermitage sound about right, though you could probably spend a whole day at the Hermitage and not even cover most of it. 3 hrs may be a little long at Catherine's Palace as your guide will get you past the lines.

Yusupov Palace is definitely worth a visit as it is totally different than the others. For one thing, it is right in the city (the others are more country retreats). It has an interesting Rasputin display which my son enjoyed and a very elegant theater. But you will probably only need an hour there.

Sorry I should have clarified - we are using the Anastasia tour service. However, we are the types of people that like to spend a lot of time in places. For example in Paris we spent 4-5 hours in the Louvre, and an entire day (7 hours) in the Versailles and the Vatican in Rome. I just don't want to feel rushed anywhere by trying to fit everything into 2 days.

THANKS for the added clarification! Anastasia will do a great job for you and they can easily adjust to your needed pace as you do each of the days. Since Catherine's Palace is focused on the overall "look" outside and then mostly on the inside, my feeling is that two hours there will work well. It is not as big of a palace as at Versailles. And there, you do not have huge gardens that can take so much time. The Peterhof is focused outside and is super wonderful. Even as big as the Hermitage is, you will be surprised and very pleased as to how much you can see and enjoy in just about two and half hours there. We didn't feel rushed in that time period, but we saw ALL of the prime rooms and items at a very nice pace, plenty of time for lots of pictures and questions, etc. The two key churches in main St. Petersburg are really super, super great and must-sees. The artistic detail and craftsmanship are beyond words. Don't miss those two or assume they are just a couple more churches. Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Thanks everyone for the responses. I just talked with Anastasia again and re-arranged for what I hope is the final time, to give us an hour and half a visit to Yusupov's. We definitely have a very full schedule now, but I think it will be amazing.

The Yusopov Palace is a beautiful place. Many in our group prefered it to the larger, more overwhelming ones. It is more in the style of a large English manor house. Of course, to me the connection to Rasputin was the big interest and the dank cellar where he was poisoned was the highlight! Yusopov is more in the center of St. Petersburg and can be booked conveniently before or after your lunch stop.

St. Petersburg has so many attractions. You simply have to decide if you want to cram as many attractions as possible, or relish a few at leisure. We designed our tour ourselves and were happy with the decisions we made. We had about 3 hours each at Catherine's and the Hermitage and only scratched the surface of the things we could have seen. Catherine's is pretty much a set tour and you just follow the crowd. The Hermitage is amazingly large and convoluted and you definitely need to follow your guide!

Check out our review and pics at http://www.elite.net/~thehalls/baltic.html

Have a GREAT cruise!

Thanks everyone for the responses. I just talked with Anastasia again and re-arranged for what I hope is the final time, to give us an hour and half a visit to Yusupov's. We definitely have a very full schedule now, but I think it will be amazing.

Glad things are coming together well and with Anastasia. Below are some pictures from our Aug. 2008 visit to Yusupov's Palace. As you see, it was not at all crowded when we were there. It was just the four of us and our wonderful private guide, Jane. It is a very large, historic and charming palace!!! It is, however, not as massive as some other places in St. Petersburg. Iit was nice have more of a "human scale" for being in such a large palace.

If you want to post your overall schedule outline, we'd be happy to offer any reactions or suggestions. The nice thing with Anastasia is that you can do fine-tuning of the plan even a couple weeks out as you read, research and learn more.

Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Sure, this is our general schedule outline at this point. Any thoughts/input anything missing, please let me know.

Day 1:

6:30 - 8 am City tour

9 am - noon Catherine's palace (early entry for 9 am)

1-4 pm Peterhof

hydrofoil back to St Petersburg

4:30 to close Visit Yusupov's palace (we are unclear if they will kick us out at that 6 pm close or not.)

Day 2:

7:00 - 9:00 metro trip and remainder of city tour

9 am -1 pm: Hermitage

1 -2 pm: Peter and Paul Fortress

2-4:30 pm: St Issacs and Spilled Blood

You'll notice there are no lunch breaks, this is done due to severe food allergies of a member of our group, that is having all meal specially prepared by the ship.

Sure, this is our general schedule outline at this point. Any thoughts/input anything missing, please let me know.

Day 1:

6:30 - 8 am City tour

9 am - noon Catherine's palace (early entry for 9 am)

1-4 pm Peterhof

hydrofoil back to St Petersburg

4:30 to close Visit Yusupov's palace (we are unclear if they will kick us out at that 6 pm close or not.)

Day 2:

7:00 - 9:00 metro trip and remainder of city tour

9 am -1 pm: Hermitage

1 -2 pm: Peter and Paul Fortress

2-4:30 pm: St Issacs and Spilled Blood

You'll notice there are no lunch breaks, this is done due to severe food allergies of a member of our group, that is having all meal specially prepared by the ship.

THANKS! Your schedule, so far, is shaping up very well and looking good. Just a few thoughts and ideas to consider.

1. You're starting very, very early each morning. That's a little early for me personally, but you know what you are doing and choosing. Sunrise is early and sunset is late.

2. Three hours each at Catherine's Palace and Peterhof is lots. This plan will allow you plenty of time at both places. You could do each very, very well in only two hours. Both are super impressive and large, but not that massive to require three hours each. Having a good private guide really saves lots of time not having to stand in line or by wasting around not know the insider paths to move, getting the right background info, etc. That extra time does allow some added flexibility to grab something to eat if needed on the locations there. Or, you could take a box lunch from the ship to eat as you move in your vehicle from Catherine's to the Peterhof.

3. Since Yusupov's Palace is usually not as mobbed, especially later in the day, an hour or so there should work very well.

4. Peter and Paul Fortress might be the one point in that second day where you could consider your options. After lots of intense walking and standing through out the massive and great five buildings of the Hermitage, it might be nice to have a canal boat trip as a "change of pace" and resting point in that day. That could also allow a "box lunch" point to fresh in that way, too. The P&P Fortress is nice as a large church and burial place for dead Czar family members.

5. St Issacs and Spilled Blood are both super great buildings and churches. Loved them!!! Having "three in a row" of that type of building/place, however, might be too much in a row if you do P&P Fortress, too.

6. St Issacs and Spilled Blood are open later in the afternoon into early in the evening. You could do these two late on day one and adjust Yusupov's Palace into your second day.

Overall, you're doing well! But these are some options to consider based on what we arranged/learned working with Anastasia and how we experienced that flow for us during our actual 2008 trip. Getting a good "flow" and mix of sitting/riding followed by walking/standing before more sitting/riding and then walking/standing, etc., really worked well for us in our experience. We weren't tired or worn out.

Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Thanks. The problem with the schedule is we are there on a Wednesday and Thursday. And on Wednesday - St Issac's, Spilled Blood and Peter and Paul are closed.

However we have considered a canal trip. Not sure about that yet.

Hi, we are also there on a Wednesday and Thursday. Maybe we are on the same ship? I am hoping to do a one day that included the two churches and Yusopov Palace and Canal and subway rides. How do I get a hold of Anastasia, I have seen a lot of very positive comments.

I appreciated your comments re the Peter and Paul Fortress. this is our second time in St. Petersburg but our last ship's tour didn't allow us to go into the churches so I really wanted to see inside the Church of the spilled Blood and St. Isaacs as well as the outside at least of St. Nicholas Cathedral as we missed it last time.

I also would like to see the Gold room at the Hermitage.

Any other suggestions for a second time would be appreciated.

I replied to your post on the other thread. Her website is:

http://www.anastasiaworld.com/

We are on the first Princess cruise of the season so in town on May 20 and 21. She has some good suggestions for second time visitors and will tell you what is open or closed each day.

I hope that helps.

Many thanks, I had been looking for it for awhile, Hope your tour goes well. :)

Our friends were touring with Alla summer 2008 and they visited Yusupov palace. It's amazing place! We definitely are going to see it as a part of our tour. We were advised that it has Rasputin exibition in the cellars. Alla has included this tour into the tour around the palace interiors. Be sure Anastasia booked cellars for your tour.

Hi, Well I am sure I want to see that Palace.

Terry would you suggest to skip Peter and Paul Fortress in exchange for seeing the inside of St.Isaacs and the Church of the Spilled Blood?

Also wondering about the Gold room Is it worth seeing in the Hermitage?

finally wondering if the canal tour is nice? It sounds good to me.

Any experience on the subway and farmers market ?

Thanks, b

Terry would you suggest to skip Peter and Paul Fortress in exchange for seeing the inside of St.Isaacs and the Church of the Spilled Blood? Also wondering about the Gold room Is it worth seeing in the Hermitage? Finally wondering if the canal tour is nice? It sounds good to me. Any experience on the subway and farmers market ? Thanks, b

Hi, bennybear! We skipped P&P Fortress as we have seen Royal burial places in Spain and Vienna. Nice, but not as high of a priority for us. From the pictures, it seems as a nice church there at P&P Fortress, but our feeling was other options would be better. The two Cathedrals (St. Isaacs and Spilted Blood are super great and awesome. Their details and scale are really spectacular. I rate both of them as "can't miss"!!! After you see them, you will agree that you would not have wanted to miss these two architectural jewels!

Gold Room at the Hermitage? We did a day in Moscow and saw the jewels and eggs there inside of the Kremlin. Therefore, we didn't feel as much need to do the Gold Room at the Hermitage. Same on the subway. Did that highlight in Moscow and enjoy it very much. Didn't do the farmers market in St. Petersburg. Have done them in other cities and they are always of some interest, assuming you have the time.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio