Advice on St Petersburg excursions

[sho]

I am so excited to find so many excursions for my 3 days' stay in St Petersburg on Silversea Whisper. Most are half-day excursions though.

Is it possible to book one morning excursion, followed by one afternoon excursion?

For example on Day 1, I would like to go on the 4.5 hours excursion to Peterhof Palace in the morning, then 3.5 hours Splendid St Petersburg excursion in the afternoon. Will there be enough time between these two excursions?

Also all the excursions say that there will be 20-30 minute drive from the pier to the city centre. I had the impression that Silversea Whisper would be docked in the city centre. Any advice appreciated.

[Mr Luxury]

I am so excited to find so many excursions for my 3 days' stay in St Petersburg on Silversea Whisper. Most are half-day excursions though.

Is it possible to book one morning excursion, followed by one afternoon excursion?

For example on Day 1, I would like to go on the 4.5 hours excursion to Peterhof Palace in the morning, then 3.5 hours Splendid St Petersburg excursion in the afternoon. Will there be enough time between these two excursions?

Also all the excursions say that there will be 20-30 minute drive from the pier to the city centre. I had the impression that Silversea Whisper would be docked in the city centre. Any advice appreciated.

 

The best way by far to see St Petersburg is to hire a private guide to take you around and show you the sights.

They get you around the lines and will ask you what you really want to see and not what the cruise line has planned for everyone on the ships tour.

[wripro]

I completely second Mr Luxury's advice. A private guide will not only be more convenient, more thorough and more flexible but in the end will cost less than if you book different excursions each day through the ship. Plus you won't have to be in a bus with thirty other people, you won't have to return to the ship after every excursion to get the next one and you can set your own agenda.

[rosepark]

You will waste a lot of time by going back and forth to and from the ship if you take SS morning and afternoon tours, even it if is possible to combine them. Traffic in SPB can be heavy and you may well loose a couple of hours a day travelling, time which could be better spent out and about .

There are many tour companies which will organise itineraries, and visas, for you. We got our own visas and had an independent guide and this menat we were then also able to go off the ship by ourselves and walk round the city. It was delightful and perfectly safe and something which I would heartily recommend

[Herman The Cat]

Silversea is typically docked at the English Embankment, which is as close to the city center as you can get. If it's still the same set up as 1 1/2 years ago, there will only be two small ships docked there. The immigration hall is a trailer that you queue up to and go through, and you walk 20 steps to a waiting car, bus etc.

 

We actually booked an independent tour operator for the first two days, and then did a ship excursion the last day. I think the company doing the excursion was Baltic Tours. They did do a great job. We thought the Pavlosk and Palaces excursion we were on was terrific.

 

However, I do agree that it is not worth booking two excursions and traveling back to the ship during the day etc. If you did, they would have to make sense geographically, plus traffic can be unpredictable. You can book with an independent operator and book a private custom tour if you like. Check out the ports of call section on cruise critic and you will find lots of ideas.

 

The other thing I will add about Peterhof is it is about an hour from SPB. Remember, Peterhof is on the Gulf of Finland. We didn't hit any traffic on the way down--it was a Saturday--and were supposed to take the hydrofoil on the way back. However, due to the rough seas the hydrofoil wasn't running which from what I understand is relatively common. We got stuck in really bad traffic on the way back to SPB and it took almost 2 hours to get back. The next stop on our excursion was the Hermitage. We had time, but we ended up doing a whirlwind tour. We had to get back to the ship to get ready for an evening at the ballet.

 

Anyway, if you want to book ship morning and afternoon ship excursions it's probably best to do two within the city...i.e., not Peterhof or the Summer Palace. Russia is a big place, so things can be quite a distance away and the traffic can be horrible.

 

In regard to visas, search the ports of call/Baltics board as well for info. The tour operators issue blanket visas and you will have to send them information and they will email you forms to print out and show immigration. The blanket visa requires that you be accompanied. That is, you can't just step off the ship and wander around town unless you get a visa on your own...the blanket visa doesn't cover that.

[wripro]

I would suggest checking out the websites for companies like Denrus, Alla and Red October. All of them are excellent and can give you an idea of what they offer and the cost.

[duct tape]

Also consider Exeter, they did a wonderful job for us which was 3 days toMoscow!

[MHF]

If you wish to book morning and afternoon it is do-able but could be tight. We did it last year, thanks to a ton of OBCs. On the first morning docked, everyone was late leaving the ship and getting to the bus, I think due to Russian Immigration. I asked the tour guide if we would be back to catch the afternoon tour. She said yes, because the morning tour guides also do the afternoon tours. We walked off one bus and onto another. Our butler packed us a few munchies at our request, and he loaned us a lunch bag for them. On the second day, there was enough time to run back into the ship for a bite. I recommend you take extra bottled water, just leave it on the bus. Dress in layers, leaving the extra one on your bus seat.

 

We did Peterhof, then Peter's city with river boat the first day. Second day was Hermitage then Cathedrals. We did not do evening events, preferring to dine leisurely and rest up for the next day.

 

Have a marvelous time! I would go back in a second!

 

Melissa

[Bolshoi]

Private tour is a great way to go - you get max flexibility and there are several good groups to use. We went with SPB Tours in '10 and would use them again.

[Seafairer]

I'm not an expert on this, so perhaps someone can chime in. I thought that only the smaller Wind and Cloud could dock at the English Embankment, and that the larger ships had to berth in a more commercial area half an hour away. Correct? Not?

[seabreezer]

Spb Tours did a great job with our group of 4 last Sept. and we received a discount on our private Berlin tour with them as well. Everything was completely customized and the guides were top-notch. We were on the Whisper but we were docked pretty far from the central area described above so best not to count on any particular dock.

[bogey]

I'm not an expert on this, so perhaps someone can chime in. I thought that only the smaller Wind and Cloud could dock at the English Embankment, and that the larger ships had to berth in a more commercial area half an hour away. Correct? Not?

 

Not. We were there last summer on the Cloud and the Whisper was right across the channel from us. You will definitely maximize your time (and finances) with a private tour. We used Alla and were very pleased.

[danlchilton]

Which cruise are you on? My wife and I are on the Silver Whisper leaving from Copenhagen on 07/04/2014 and are looking forward to St. Petersburg. We might be able to share a private tour if it was a good fit.

[Maria Paz]

I am looking to do a two day private tour in St. Petersburg. I was considering TJ Tours as they have the highest ranking with Tripadvisor. Any feedback on this tour company?

[Herman The Cat]

I am looking to do a two day private tour in St. Petersburg. I was considering TJ Tours as they have the highest ranking with Tripadvisor. Any feedback on this tour company?

 

We used them in SPB in 2012 for a custom one day tour for the two of us. They were terrific. Very easy to deal with, very responsive; they were waiting for us right outside the immigration area. They were very knowledgeable and adaptable. I would highly recommend them! And if we go back to SPB, we would use them again. Hope that helps. Happy to answer any other questions.

[Maria Paz]

I will be cruising on the Silver Whisper leaving August 28.

Has anybody taken TJ Tours for St. Petersburg private touring....they seem to have the highest rating on Trip Advisor but I noticed that most of the previous cruisers had excellent marks for SPB Tours.

I will be disembarking in Southampton and need transport from the port to my hotel in Kensington. Any suggestions on how to get a transfer?

[Herman The Cat]

I will be cruising on the Silver Whisper leaving August 28.

Has anybody taken TJ Tours for St. Petersburg private touring....they seem to have the highest rating on Trip Advisor but I noticed that most of the previous cruisers had excellent marks for SPB Tours.

I will be disembarking in Southampton and need transport from the port to my hotel in Kensington. Any suggestions on how to get a transfer?

 

See my post above on TJ Travel. We used them for a custom tour and they were great.

 

There is a company we used for our transfer from Southampton to Heathrow. We had about 6 hours before we needed to be at the airport, so they took us on a tour of the countryside before dropping us off at Heathrow. The company that will do the tour and transportation is called "Discover the South" and the transportation service only is called "West Quay Cars." Same company, they just have two different departments. Check out their website for ideas on prices etc. I found them on the ports of call board on CC. They were highly recommended, and I can highly recommend them as well. FYI, they cars are simple, clean and comfortable...this is not a limousine service.

Edited April 23, 2014 by Herman The Cat