St. Petersburg to Moscow

[Buckland]

We did it! We are booked for Sept 3, 2008 St. Petersburg to Moscow on the Tolstoy. Now that we know where we are going, and when, we can start reading up on what we can expect to see. Do any of you out there have anything specific you would consider a "do not miss"?

 

Thanks,

 

Buck

[Benita]

You are in for a treat - we took this cruise on the Tolstoy last September - I posted a review at the time. The first thing to do is go to the web site http://www.russiabyriver.com and order their guidebook. If you are going from St Petersburg to Moscow, you will be in the opposite direction from the book, but it is still very east to follow and adds a great deal to the enjoyment of the cruise.

[Coral]

I have a review that is half written. I hope to finish it this weekend (finally a 3 day weekend) I also have my pictures mostly done. I will hopefully post both on this website this weekend.

 

Most everything is done as a group - so it is difficult to miss anything. We had very few options as far as optional excursions (despite what was listed on the website).

 

I actually did not find the Russia By River book helpful. I tried to give it to others to use on the ship and others didn't want it either.

[sieburgp]

I have to agree with Coral - you will do almost everything as a group. Not a lot of free time. But one of the things I wished I would have done is to spend the final day in St Petersburg doing something - unfortunately on the last day there, my dad was sick and I did not want to stray too far from the boat. Several people did take a cab into St Petersburg and did a little shopping. I understand the metro is not difficult to take.

 

I did do two optionals there - the canal ride and Catherine's Palace. I would recommend both. I would also highly recommend attending the lectures onboard - I learned so much.

 

I did not have the book you mentioned but did take along several books from library, Fodors and Frommers I think. They did help fill in the blanks for me.

 

It is a very educational trip and one I am glad I took

 

Pam

[rogerdawhip]

I've done this cruise twice...first in 1999 and again last year.

 

The do not misses in St Petersburg are the Hermitage, Peterhof, Catherines Palace and a ballet performance

 

The do not misses in Moscow are the Armory, the Circus, and of course Red Square.

 

My favorite stops on the river we Kizhi and Uglich.

[Buckland]

Thanks so much for the tips. We'll be sure to take them all in. I'm a bit of a shutter-bug so I hope there will be lots of opportunity to take photos. On our Rhine cruise I took almost 7000 pictures.

 

Buck

[Benita]

My husband posted the best of his photos from the cruise on his web site http://www.pbase.com/michaelblum/galleries Click on where it says recent.

[Coral]

My husband posted the best of his photos from the cruise on his web site http://www.pbase.com/michaelblum/galleries Click on where it says recent.

 

Your pics are fabulous! Your night shots turned out way better than mine.

[Benita]

Theresa - It helps to have a tripod and SLR camera-cumbesome to carry, but takes great photos. My husband is a real camera buff - I wimp out and carry a point and shoot.

[Buckland]

I couldn't agree more! Those are great photos. I'll be brining my tri-pod to. I just got it but I haven't had much chance to play with it as I have been renovating our new house. But soon I'll be able to become familiar with it and will be eager to try some of the more difficult shots.

 

Thanks again for the wonderful photos.

 

Buck

[seapine]

Buck,

You will definitely have a wonderful trip. One thing I would do differently should I go again, concerns the Peterhof trip. We arrived there at 10:30, walked with guide on outer part of grounds (fountains don't go on until 11:00). Entered Grand Palace at 11:15 and when we came out of the Palace, we had 10 min. to look around the grandstaircase area and take photos. If I had known this (we were told we would have time to take photos after the Palace tour), I would have skipped the Palace tour and spent all my time in the gardens looking at and taking photos of the beautiful fountains. In my eval. I wrote that 10 min. was insufficient.

If you are adament about doing something on your own, they should suggest when and where to meet the tour group again. There were fountains that we never got to see, and I felt rushed with only 10 min.

Evie

[seapine]

Buck,

You will definitely have a wonderful trip. One thing I would do differently should I go again, concerns the Peterhof trip. We arrived there at 10:30, walked with guide on outer part of grounds (fountains don't go on until 11:00). Entered Grand Palace at 11:15 and when we came out of the Palace, we had 10 min. to look around the grandstaircase area and take photos. If I had known this (we were told we would have time to take photos after the Palace tour), I would have skipped the Palace tour and spent all my time in the gardens looking at and taking photos of the beautiful fountains. In my eval. I wrote that 10 min. was insufficient.

If you are adament about doing something on your own, they should suggest when and where to meet the tour group again. There were fountains that we never got to see, and I felt rushed with only 10 min.

Evie