St. Petersburg Tour Help

[jinteso]

Let me start by saying that I am NOT looking for tour operator recommendations. I have contacted what I see as the big 4 tour operators and have received various levels of quotes from all of them.

 

None of the tour operators can accommodate everything that we am looking to see. I am looking to book a 4 person or 6 person private excursion.

 

If I have to cut something out, what should it be? We would really like to go to the Faberge museum, the Gold room in the Hermitage and see a ballet at night. We would also like to see most of the standard sites on the Deluxe tours (i.e. Hydrofoil ride, Peterhof, Catherine's Palace, St. Isaac's, Yusupov, subway station etc.). I am looking for recommendations as to what to cut out so that I can maximize what we really want to see.

 

I am looking for any recommendations as to which sites to cut out and why.

 

Thanks in advance for any input.

[ColeThornton]

You should check out the N. Europe and Baltics forum for this type of information. It probably would be more appropriate than the NCL ship forum. I looked up the link for you:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=192

[JohnIreland]

How many hour are you planning ?

[jinteso]

A full two day tour with the "optional" night time excursion.

[JohnIreland]

You should have plenty of time with a 2 day tour.

 

If I had drop anything it would be the Hydrofoil.

[Huntingdon1701]

By the time we got to the Church of the Spilled Blood we all felt that we'd seen enough of the inside of churches. Since the outside of the Spilled Blood is spectacular, I'd maybe skip St Isaacs so you aren't similarly jaded.

 

The only other site where I heard people comment less favourably (although it wasn't unfavourable) was the inside of Peterhof - again, not that dissimilar from other palaces with more unique features. It's worth seeing Peterhof gardens/fountains, but perhaps don't spend the time inside.

 

Faberge museum and the ballet were excellent, so don't skip those! Similarly, the Amber room in Catherine's Palace is also worth seeing.

[ollienbertsmum]

You should have plenty of time with a 2 day tour.

 

If I had drop anything it would be the Hydrofoil.

 

We used the hydrofoil to get back to the ship - it was a time-saver and gave us more time at Peterhof

[Travel R]

Let me start by saying that I am NOT looking for tour operator recommendations. I have contacted what I see as the big 4 tour operators and have received various levels of quotes from all of them.

 

None of the tour operators can accommodate everything that we am looking to see. I am looking to book a 4 person or 6 person private excursion.

 

If I have to cut something out, what should it be? We would really like to go to the Faberge museum, the Gold room in the Hermitage and see a ballet at night. We would also like to see most of the standard sites on the Deluxe tours (i.e. Hydrofoil ride, Peterhof, Catherine's Palace, St. Isaac's, Yusupov, subway station etc.). I am looking for recommendations as to what to cut out so that I can maximize what we really want to see.

 

I am looking for any recommendations as to which sites to cut out and why.

 

Thanks in advance for any input.

 

I would have cut out the Hydrofoil

 

If you are going to Catherine's Palace, you can cut out the inside of Peterhoff

 

Someone recently asked me if I would go to St. Isaac's vs. Peter & Paul Fortress -- I would choose St. Isaac's, UNLESS you were really a student of Russian history.

 

I do not feel we missed out by not going to Yusupov - but there is also some cool history there.

 

I thought the Hermitage/Gold Room was a must see.

 

My DW and DDs would say that the Faberge museum was a must-see.

 

The metro stop is very quick, unless they take you on a ride from one station to another - so no reason to drop that.

 

In hindsight, we did not go to the ballet, but would probably have scheduled it if I were to do it again (the show on the ship was horrible, IMHO) -- but note that it is a long, port-intensive cruise, so you may be tired.

[CHEVSTRISS]

I have nothing constructive to add to the thread except that I am hella jealous. where's the jealous emoji? Have a phenomenal time and report back to us!

[ppcox]

We did 2 full days with an evening trip to the Faberge Collection . We didn’t do the ballet everywhere we went we enjoyed the hydrofoil cut traveling time to the Summer Palace at Peteroff. We had skip the lines at pushkin to get into Catherine’s Palace and see the Amber Room. Tough choices but whatever you choose it will an amazing port.

[trivia addict]

I would NOT cut out either St Issacs or The Church of The Spilled Blood. The interiors of both are spectacular.

We found the Church of St Peter and Paul and The Citedel that it was a part of, to be rather boring.

The subway was very interesting. Have your guide take you on a short ride from one station to the next. It is clean, safe and quiet.

If you are spending time at Peterhof you might need to take the Hydrofoil to save time. I agree that you can skip the inside of Peterhof.

The Gardens here are worth a visit.

We also enjoyed Catherine’s Palace.

Did not do either the Ballet of Fabrege Museum.

In the evening we took a private vodka and caviar boat ride. That was fun. We also sat at an outside cafe for drinks on the main Boulevard. Most Russians speak English and we felt very comfortable.

You are going to have a great time!