St Petersburg - help needed on tours

[ghstudio]

My DW and I will be in St Petersburg for two days (Celebrity Eclipse in August) and we prefer private tours. While there are many highly rated companies offering these visa free tours, they all seem to do essentially the same tour. Obviously, there are just some things one has to see and we want to see those. We are, however, trying to avoid long drives...the "see the city" portion of the tours, especially first thing in the morning....but not sure if's that's maybe a must since the tour starts at 8:30/9 and sites may not open until later. Some tours do boat trips around the city, some do both boat trips and drive around tours of the city which seems redundant??.....is the boat trip really a must do highlight? Some tours use the hydrofoil to Peterhof but then all seem to drive back...maybe we do the hydrofoil both ways to save driving time???

 

Clearly, I'm confused and could use some guidance/help. Alternatively, I can just throw myself at the mercy of one of the guides and do their standard tour (which is probably excellent and maybe I'm just overthinking this).

 

Any input much appreciated.

[LHT28]

contact the tour guides & ask about custom tours

You can then choose the sights you want to see

They can advise you about opening times etc

SPB-Tours was very good about arranging a custom tour but unfortunately we had to cancel the cruise

 

they get good reviews for their tours

[zigdilcru]

Also try Best Guides they customized our one day tour (RCI cruise this May). We asked for things not on the usual tours and they did a great job getting us almost all we wanted. Price was very good for the six people (family) in our group. Linda

[caripoo]

If you use a travel agent, I would have them set up a private tour. This is what we do, we have private tours in every port....They will also help with visas, since you are not using ship tours.

[kitkat343]

We greatly enjoyed our private tour. The company was quite flexible about changes ahead of time, and I'm sure you will be able to easily make whatever changes you'd like. I'd email a few of the major companies to explain your parameters in terms of wanting to minimize time in the car (ALLA, SPB, Best Guides, TJ tour) and see who seems the most responsive and whose modifications you like the best.

 

I think the hydrofoil might cost a little extra, so that's why its usually only done once. You're already paying for the car and driver for the day so more time in the car doesn't cost anything. As long as you're willing to pay the hydrofoil fee again, they might be willing to let you ride in that twice and meet up with you later. It might take the car a little longer to catch up with you on the other end, so a company would be able to advise if that would be logistically possible.

 

 

The city drive at the beginning was nice, but not necessary. The tour companies might be willing to letting you start your tour later and end later (which would have the added advantage of hopefully not needing to spend quite as much time in line at Russian customs). This was suggested to me by one company, since we were arranging a private tour with a 3 year old and I was worried he wouldn't be able to stand on line for an hour in customs and that tour the city all day. It also might be possible to visit the Hermitage during early admission time on your first day instead of your second. Also, please note that the Russian port has changed its regulations and starting this season will allow passengers on ship tours to depart earlier than passengers on private tours. So you might not necessarily leave as early as had been scheduled in previous years, and that might help with your timing.

 

Are you worried mostly about actual time in the car or time spent in traffic? I obviously can't make any promises but we were never in traffic during our tour. I think (but am not certain) that the smaller private tours use gps and arrange timing your visits to different attractions in a way that tries to minimize your time spent in traffic. In reading these forums, so far I've only read about larger cruise ship buses stuck in traffic for long periods of time since I think they have less flexibility with their schedule than the smaller tours. Most of the time in the car are the visits to Catherine's Palace/Peterhof since they are further away. The hydrofoil might solve your problems with Peterhof both ways (though again I'm not certain about the logistics of that; you'd need to discuss it with the tour guides). If you really hate being in the car, you might consider skipping Catherine's Palace. Catherine's Palace is a highlight so I wouldn't necessarily recommend that but its up to you.

 

The canal tour was a nice, relaxing way to end our day, and it was quite pretty but also not necessarily something I'd have been devastated to skip . We were told to try to book one that doesn't just go through the Neva River, but is a smaller boat that goes to the charming side canals. We weren't able to do that on our tour, since we were told the water level wasn't right, but if you try to arrange that ahead of time you might have more luck. Have you been on canal tours in other cities? We basically enjoyed the canal tour in St. Petersburg as much as the one in Copenhagen and the ones in other cities so that might give you a sense of whether or not that's something to skip or keep.

 

Honestly, no matter what you choose I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time since St. Petersburg is gorgeous.

Edited April 24, 2018 by kitkat343

[fabnfortysomething]

If you use a travel agent, I would have them set up a private tour. This is what we do, we have private tours in every port....They will also help with visas, since you are not using ship tours.

 

you wont need a personal visa with a private tour as the many well recommended tour companies in St Petersburg have the same visa free status as ship tours-your tour tickets act as your pass through immigration and from then o you are escorted by your tour guide

 

if you use a travel agent they will probably tell you you need a full visa at additional cost as they have been told that misleading info by the ships who want to sell their own tours in big busses

they haven't used cruisecritic forum to get the truth

 

our second Baltic cruise is coming up in July

we used a private tour first time and will do so again

 

for a second visit we emailed several companies and asked for advice on alternative itinerary and TJ tours was best fit

[Huntingdon1701]

I don't know how comparable they are across companies, but when I toured with Alla there weren't any long drives. We did move around, but they were always interspersed with stops to see something new. The boat trip gave a very different perspective, and given how linked St Petersburg is to the rivers and canals, I would recommend it.

[WhiteRocker]

Hi ghstudio - my DH and I are traveling on Celebrity Eclipse Aug 18 sailing. Am currently looking at Alla Tours Grand Tour, with 16 person maximum. All positive indicators for this company from Trip Advisor & Rick Steves sit. Let me know if you’d like to consider joining up for smaller group. Whiterocker (PS - Really enjoyed your March 2018 “reporting” from Infinity.)

[GradUT]

Yes, I believe you are “overthinking” it. Our standard 2-day tour with Alla was excellent. (I agree with Post #7). And I imagine the standard 2-day tours with companies like TJ Travel and SPB are equally good.

 

I see no reason to pay extra for a private tour.

[pukekolive]

My DW and I will be in St Petersburg for two days (Celebrity Eclipse in August) and we prefer private tours. While there are many highly rated companies offering these visa free tours, they all seem to do essentially the same tour. Obviously, there are just some things one has to see and we want to see those. We are, however, trying to avoid long drives...the "see the city" portion of the tours, especially first thing in the morning....but not sure if's that's maybe a must since the tour starts at 8:30/9 and sites may not open until later. Some tours do boat trips around the city, some do both boat trips and drive around tours of the city which seems redundant??.....is the boat trip really a must do highlight? Some tours use the hydrofoil to Peterhof but then all seem to drive back...maybe we do the hydrofoil both ways to save driving time???

 

Clearly, I'm confused and could use some guidance/help. Alternatively, I can just throw myself at the mercy of one of the guides and do their standard tour (which is probably excellent and maybe I'm just overthinking this).

 

Any input much appreciated.

We will be with Alla in late August for a 1 day tour and they seem quite flexible in changing the itinerary to suit even with their intro to St P tour. We are there from 7am so they are trying to pick us up before 8am. They organise the blanket visa for the bus and email us a copy for immigration getting off the ship.

 

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[ghstudio]

Yes, I believe you are “overthinking” it. Our standard 2-day tour with Alla was excellent. (I agree with Post #7). And I imagine the standard 2-day tours with companies like TJ Travel and SPB are equally good.

 

I see no reason to pay extra for a private tour.

 

That's our fallback, a smaller tour of 8-16, but we've done private tours (or with one other couple) in many cities and ports, and always found them far more interesting/informative and flexible than larger groups. Yes, in most cases (surprisingly, not all), the cost is higher, but we think it's a much better way to see a city/port. Obviously, it's a personal decision....we don't covet a suite (although we have cruised in suites)...we're happy in a good balcony cabin....and we're comfortable spending our $'s on a better port experience.

[Ashland]

We opted to do a private 2 day tour with TJ Travels...just the two of us with a guide and driver. We saw all the highlights (we chose to hydrofoil leaving Peterhof) and was still able to add somethings even on the spur of the moment we wanted to see. What an amazing VIP tour they gave us...just amazing...and really only a few $$'s more than a group tour...well worth it to us for this trip of a lifetime.

 

Enjoy this trip...and go with a really private tour ... are you going to be in St Petersburg ever again...make it worth while !!

[soundcruiser]

We organized a private tour with Tzar-Travel (highly recommended by Rick Steves) for 6 of us using our Roll Call. I researched attractions to visit and sent a list to 10 different agencies asking them to created an itinerary. Tzar Travel were the only ones to provide a very full itinerary for us, and even added a visit to the Faberge Museum when we had extra time one evening. We rode in a mini-van that was so comfortable, and our driver slipped through traffic like a hot knife through butter! Our guide, Maria, has an exceptional knowledge of practically everything!

[CrazyJess]

Check Best Guides website. It is very informative. As far as I understand Best Guides are especially good in developing tailor made itineraries.

 

Jess