St Petersburg port on Zuiderdam

[Jane1614]

We will be on the Zuiderdam Baltic cruise this summer, stopping in St Petersburg. Can anyone that has been there recommend a reputable good tour company, not a HAL tour, that would be easy, less walking and still see all the highlights. I have a problem walking, but of course want to see all.

[Essiesmom]

Check on the Ports of Call boards and on your roll call to see what others are planning. EM

[0bnxshs]

We will be on the Zuiderdam Baltic cruise this summer, stopping in St Petersburg. Can anyone that has been there recommend a reputable good tour company, not a HAL tour, that would be easy, less walking and still see all the highlights. I have a problem walking, but of course want to see all.

 

In June 2013, we used SPB Tours and had a fun, safe and educational 2 day guided tour. However, St Petersburg itself is not terribly friendly to those who have trouble walking but it can still be done. SPB Tours can accommodate those with walking issues so I would contact them and ask about their options.

 

Hope you have a great cruise! :)

[JPH814]

We will be on the Zuiderdam Baltic cruise this summer, stopping in St Petersburg. Can anyone that has been there recommend a reputable good tour company, not a HAL tour, that would be easy, less walking and still see all the highlights. I have a problem walking, but of course want to see all.

 

We did a Seaborne Cruise two years ago and spent three days I St Petersburg. We used a private guide and driver for all three days. She was excellent - very knowledgeable about the history, art and architecture of the city. Let me know if you are interested and I will give you her name and email.

[SaguaroGal]

We were there in August 2015 and I pre-hired Insider Tours for our two days. The manager, Alexandra, responded promptly and was very responsive to our wishes in planning the day. We were toured in a minivan (Hyundai) by an excellent, calm driver and our guide Natalya was very pleasant and knowledgeable.and had very good English. Going private for just the two of us allowed us to set our own pace and our driver was almost magical about bringing his vehicle as close to our pick-up places as possible.

However you decide to tour, be sure to pre-book. This is not a port where you can join a tour on the spur of the moment.

BTW the tour company you contract with will arrange your visa for you. No worries.

[Sherry H]

I would suggest you go to your Roll Call. There is conversation there re: tours

 

Some folks on your cruise have already signed up with TJ Tours. I used them 2 years ago and was very satisfied!

[jtl513]

DenRus and Red October are frequently recommended.

[Cruising-along]

I can highly recommend SPB Tours. We used them there and in Berlin.

[colbe]

We used Red October and can highly recommend them. Just ask them to tailor a tour especially suitable for you.

[Quinte Girl]

Hello. We used Alla Tours for our 3 day stop in St. Petersburg. They were outstanding. There were 6 of us and we put in 3 full days and saw everything...and then some. They came highly recommended to us and we were not disappointed.

[PatsyAnne]

I have heard good reviews about all these tour groups, and we used SPB. As an earlier poster mentioned, they arrange for your visa, but this is not the same as an individual visa. You are covered while you are with the tour guide, but not on your own. This is special for some tour groups serving cruise ships. They send you necessary paperwork, which you use to get through security. Be sure to print and take it with you and to follow the instructions you are given.

 

In the past, some of the information from HAL has been confusing. They might imply that if you don't take the ship's excursion, you will need to get your own personal visa. The ship's excursions provide the same service as the independent tours do -- arrange for a group visa.

[kazu]

Any of the top companies provide good service from what I have seen and read.

 

We used Alla tours and were very happy with the services.

 

special arrangement are made with those that have mobility issues but be sure to let them know.

 

But do remember, the sights do not have many adaptations for those with challenges so you will have to take that into account.

 

the good companies will go over things with you so you know what you are in for.

[rajkr74]

We had 2 days in St. Petersburg on our 2013 cruise. We used Alla Tours and were very happy with them. We had 14 person vans that were very easy to enter and exit. We had the audio ear buds that allowed us to hear the tour guide even when we were 20" away from her. Alla took us to more sites than any HAL excursions could provide. Alla took care of all the needed visa's. We also used them and got a discounted tour to Berlin in a later port. Again that tour was excellent and worth the money and time on a bus to Berlin.

 

Prior to booking with them we had a number of questions that we submitted via e-mail. Every question was answered promptly with answers that satisfied us.

Here is a link to their website:

 

http://www.alla-tour.com/

 

[HELENPSL]

We did the Baltics in May of 2015. Although there were recommendations for TJ and Alla we chose to use SPB Tours. They offered a package where we used them not only for St. Petersburg but in Tallinn, Helsinki, Stockholm and Berlin. We felt it was a very good price for the 5 cities. I was the one on our roll call that put this together for St. Petersburg and the response from the company was amazing. As someone else stated, St. Petersburg is not very friendly for someone with mobility issues. We did have one person who needed assistance on our tour. If the distance was too far for her to walk she would just ride with the driver to the next location while we all walked. They were very considerate.

 

Hope this info helps.

 

Helen

[scluvsrain]

I used Red October and they were great. A long time ago, so it's nice to see they are still actively recommended.

 

St. Petersburg is not to be missed - the palaces and churches alone are amazing and beautiful. We were there 2 full days and we saw a whole lot more than the HAL excursions did, plus, our guide/company had placeholders standing at the front of all lines at the places we visited, so we just walked right in everywhere. Saved lots of time!

[donaldsc]

We used Alla tours in several ports. They were very good.

 

DON