St. Petersburg 28-29June - customizing a group tour

[clarinetlady]

Will be in St. Petersburg 28-29 June, 2016. We like just about all the 2 day group tour itineraries that we see online, but are also interested in additional sites classical music lovers would be interested in - a tour of the Marinskiiy Theatre, Alexander Nevsky Monastery (composers' gravesites)and potentially the Rimsky Korsakov Conservatory.

 

We think we would have more fun in a small group rather than a private tour. Anyone know of a reputable tour operator that has a day tour with these sites? I have looked, but no luck so far.

Anyone interested in a group tour like this?

Thanks for your information!

[lcumpire]

You should go to your roll call where you would meet others on the same cruise - you can find the roll call links in the main directory

 

 

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[John Bull]

I fear you're not going to find a ready-made tour that you can join which includes those places - they're a little too niche to be sufficiently popular.

 

I have no doubt that any of the local accredited tour operators would be happy to tailor-make a tour for you, though other sights would have to be curtailed or deleted in order to fit them in.

 

As well as being more fun in a group, if you can get together a group of at least 8 to 10 I think it could be done at about the same cost as their regular advertised tours - but I see you've found your RollCall and it's a particularly quiet one so the prospects of finding sharers for a niche itinerary aren't great.

 

I suggest you post your thoughts on your RollCall, but also e-mail all the major operators - they get plenty of enquiries direct from cruisers who've never even heard of Cruise Critic, and - who knows - mebbe one or two will have had enquiries similar to your own. All the local operators have excellent reputations, so it makes little difference whichever of them can add you to a group with similar wishes.

Prospects are slim via both routes, but you can only try. ;)

 

JB :)

[KeithJenner]

We had some specific requirements for St Petersburg. The one day tours offered as standard by the private operators don't include everything we wanted to see, but we didn't particularly want to commit to two full days (as we have a child with us so two days would be hard work). The two day tours also include a few things that we aren't fussed about (such as the Hermitage) and still missed one of the things we wanted.

 

We contacted TJ tours with a list of what we wanted and they put together an excellent one day tour covering our must sees.

 

The tour is unlikely to be as appealing to others, so it will be just the three of us. Of course it is more expensive (our one day your costs nearly as much as the standard two day tour), but we get a guide to ourselves, do exactly what we want and won't be wasting time on things what we aren't as bothered about. We will also be more flexible if things need changing on the day as there won't be anyone else to think about.

 

I think that, if you have specific requirements, then a private tour just for your group is worth considering. The extra cost could be well worth it if it means you get what you want.

Edited March 6, 2016 by KeithJenner

[KirkNC]

There are several reputable tour companies you can use, we used SPB.

[Pet Nit Noy]

Will be in St. Petersburg 28-29 June, 2016. We like just about all the 2 day group tour itineraries that we see online, but are also interested in additional sites classical music lovers would be interested in - a tour of the Marinskiiy Theatre, Alexander Nevsky Monastery (composers' gravesites)and potentially the Rimsky Korsakov Conservatory.

 

We think we would have more fun in a small group rather than a private tour. Anyone know of a reputable tour operator that has a day tour with these sites? I have looked, but no luck so far. Anyone interested in a group tour like this?

Thanks for your information!

 

These are definitely not part of the standard tours shown in the web sites for all the top tier St Petersburg companies.

 

My husband and I added one of these destinations to our private tour. We asked our tour provider, White Nights, to include a behind the scenes of the Historic Mariinsky Theater. Our licensed guide had umpty-ump licenses, but not the specialized one to visit the theater, including going behind the scenes. White Nights made arrangements for a guide with Mariinsky access to meet up with us. We were thrilled by this experience.

 

Perhaps others have a different memory, but I believe you are the first poster to ask about a visit to the Monastery and the Conservatory. That may indicate how likely you will be in getting others to form a small group tour that includes those stops that are so meaningful for you. That may also suggest how likely you will be to get a guide who already has a license to those sites. (When we refer to licensed tour guides, we're actually being too general. Each guide must qualify for a license for each tourist site in St. Petersburg. A guide with lots of experience will have many, many licenses. Some specific sites won't even issue licenses; the site's employees do all the guiding.)

 

If your tour provider has to hire a second guide to meet you at one or more rare destinations, don't be surprised if your quoted costs will be higher than the numbers that are tossed around on roll calls and on this web site.

 

Have you thought about what sites you may be prepared to give up to fit in visits to these three sites in a two-day port call?

Edited March 7, 2016 by Pet Nit Noy