St. Petersburg on our own

[cadreamer]

Stan and others - Just to clarify - we have been in St. Petersburg on three occasions in the past and have used ship's tours(the worst), Red October and Denrus (both very good) on those visits to see the major sights. This time, since we are fortunate enough to have more days in the city, we are getting visas to allow for more time on our own and more choices in general. This time too we will have a guide part of the time and we are going to Moscow on the train with the help of a guide meeting us in Moscow. We hope to have the best of all worlds during these visits. We are fairly experienced travelers and look forward to exploring. Stan you have been so helpful to us. Your enthusiasm has rubbed off on us and we so appreciate all your effort. Thanks too for the info on Valaam. It sounds like that is one place we will not be able to see. Your wardrobe discussion was very interesting and informative and gets us on the right path. Anticipating and preparing for our visit is a lot of fun for me. Carole

[shoshona2]

Hi SaylorGirl,

 

I really didn't think you wanted to do the St. Petersburg port on your own to "save money". I understand doing it yourself is so much fun and rewarding. We did all the Scandanavian ports with Rick Steves' Scandandavian book as our guide in 2003. I just thought that since you only had two days in St. Petersburg that a tour would be easier to do since they knew where to go and had the vehicle to whip you around to all the sites. Please except my apologies!

 

Have a great trip and make sure you report back here so we hear about your adventures.

 

Sheila

[SaylorGirl]

Sheila - absolutely no need to apologize. I was just trying to clarify why we were choosing to go on our own. I am sure we would learn alot more if we went on a tour but then we would miss out on our own adventures. I will post when I get back a long 7 months from now.

[westcoaster]

I agree with SaylorGirl. We were in St. Petersburg 2 years ago on the Regal Princess and we toured on our own. We did take a 3-4 hour orientation tour, but spent the rest of the 2 days on our own. The best part was just being able to wander around and explore such a beautiful city. As mentioned, you can book tickets for the Hermitage on-line that allow you to bypass the line-up. Our ship was docked quite far out of the center of town, but we had no problem getting taxis back and forth.

[M&T]

I understand that it is a long way to the gate where taxis can be hired. Please tell me about this process and where the taxis were. I had heard that it is not easy to get a taxi close to the ship. I will be on Princess this summer.

 

Thanks, Marlyne

[Nisa]

Earlier in this thread there was a question about where the closest metro station was to the ship's dock, and Stan replied that the ship will probably dock on the Neva within walking distance of the city center. This conflicts with other information I have read, and was hoping Stan or someone else could clarify. :confused: I was told the ship would be docking in a commercial port about 3 miles from the city center, and that taxi's could be very hard to come by from there. Any comments?

[Nisa]

Hey Westcoaster,

 

My hubby and I are off to St. Petersburg in May and have decided to go our own way. We've already gotten our visas, and tickets to the Hermitage online. Do you have any advise based on your experience?

[stanj]

Hello Nisa

 

Earlier in this thread there was a question about where the closest metro station was to the ship's dock, and Stan replied that the ship will probably dock on the Neva within walking distance of the city center. This conflicts with other information I have read, and was hoping Stan or someone else could clarify. :confused: I was told the ship would be docking in a commercial port about 3 miles from the city center, and that taxi's could be very hard to come by from there. Any comments?

 

There are 3 docks for passenger liners, one is within easy walking distance from the Palace Embankment but apparently you will be disembarking at the passenger terminal near LenExpo at the western end of Vasilevskiy Island. It is a heavy industrial area not known for services. There is a hotel out there near the terminal, the Morskaya so taxis ought be be available. There are two metros on the island, neither close to where you are landing. If you want to start exploring on the island, there is an interesting exhibit right at the terminal where the Naval Museum has an annex. It is the D-2 Narodovolets submarine from WWII and before. At the other end of the island, the eastern side, there are a great many museums and some of the best restaurants in SPb. From there, a short walk across the Dvortsoviy Most (Palace Bridge) places in standing in front of the Winter Palace and the Palace Embankment. The island is quite nice in some neighborhoods but the sea port certainly is not one of them. It is one of the bleaker areas of the city and most industral ports are.

 

You mentioned you already have you visa? The consulate say they do not want to process visa more than 45 days in advance of travel. Did they question your early applications?

[DON M.]

Stan, I was getting worried that you would not be back. Good to hear from you.

[Nisa]

You mentioned you already have you visa? The consulate say they do not want to process visa more than 45 days in advance of travel. Did they question your early applications?

 

I followed the instructions on the "Consulate General of the Russian Federation in New York" webpage, and nothing there said anything about timing issues. Since I mailed my passports to New York, I wanted to have a good cushion of time in case either the passports got lost, or the visas were denied. I received the visas back no problem in less than two weeks, with no comments regarding how far ahead of schedule I am. There of course is a disclaimer on the application that says visa requirements could change between the application date and the entry date, and entry could be denied, with no refund of the visa fees.

 

So, I'm ready to hit the streets! Oh my, that didn't come out quite right.

 

:eek:

 

Looking forward to seeing your city.

Nisa

[soraya]

Hi, I would have loved to do St P on our own, but I think for us, two days isn't enough for us to manage it given the language differences too. We've organised a tour with DenRus for just the two of us and it works out to about the same as the ship tours. Also, my DH is a photographer and often wants to stop at odd places which is not possible with other people.

 

Now if only the Kirov are not touring and we can get to the Marinsky, all will be well.

 

Soraya

[SaylorGirl]

Nisa - It's good to hear from another independent. Since you will be traveling first I will be anxious to hear your comments. We haven't sent for our Visa's yet but I have the applications filled out and waiting.

[Nisa]

Send me an email to denise_rocus@yahoo.com after May 26 so I remember to update you!

[Nisa]

Hi All. We are just back from St. Petersburg, and DID IT OURSELVES!!!

 

First off, NO WORRIES! Everything was sooo easy. I was a little nervous as I had heard so much negative about doing St. Pete on your own, but it was great! I would not hesitate to do it again, and me and my hubby are thinking about trying Moscow next.

 

The process: We got our Visas ($100 each) by overnighting our passports to the Russian Consulate in New York City. It took about two weeks. Just go to the website, print out the applications, follow everything to a T, and you'll have your Visa and be ready to go. You will need a voucher from a Russian company; we got ours from Arctur Travel. (Let me know if you need the website addresses.)

 

On Celebrity, we had to let Guest Relations know we wanted off the ship early, or they would have made us wait until after all the excursions left. We got off the boat around 9:00 AM, and had no problems going through the passport checkpoint. Just beyond that, off to one side was about 5 taxis waiting.

 

Look for Alexander in a green minivan; he was great and spoke English. You'll pay between $20-30 each way for transport, and you'll set a time for him to pick you up and return to the ship. Do this. Only certain taxis are allowed through the port gate and it would be very, very difficult to find one in town. Do not even think about walking to the port gate, or attempting public transportation. Just pop for the taxi. It's about a 20 minute ride into the town center.

 

Day 1: We did the Hermitage first thing. Get there early. It opens at 10:30, and the line starts to form around 10:00. We had purchased our tickets online for $16 each. If you purchase your tickets there, you will need roubles. If you want to see the Gold Room (Treasure Gallery), that is a separate ticket and will cost about $12 more. We spent about 3 hours there, looking more at the building itself than the actual collection. Just too much to take in, in a limited time period.

 

From there we walked across the square to Nevsky. The first corner on the right hand side of the street is a currency exchange. These were not plentiful and not well marked, so you might want to make use of this one. Just up Nevsky a little on the left is a souvenir shop that sells tickets to the Folk Dance Show held at Nikolaevsky Palace, for $27 each, or $35 including champange and cavier. When we were there the show started at 7:00 and lasts 2 hours. So if you want to go, be sure to make the arrangements with the taxi driver to pick you up at the Palace. We did not think of doing the show ahead of time and had not made proper arrangements with the taxi, so were unable to go. I hear it's one of the two best folk shows in the city, and was sorry to have missed it.

 

We continued up Nevsky, poking around in the stores, passing Kazan Cathedral, and walked all the way to Gostiny Dvor. Didn't see much there. Just beyond Gostiny Dvor is a pedestrian only side street on the north side, Malaya Sadovaya. On the left side is a restaurant with a name something like "Naphec" in Russian characters. It's actually called "Parna" in English. Anyway, it was fantastic. It's a little bit high end, spent about $75 for two, for appetizers, entre, side dish ("garnishes") and drinks, but was the best meal we had on the entire trip, including the food on the ship.

 

After lunch, we continued heading up Mal. Sadovaya and back west down the back streets toward the Church of Spilled Blood. One of the ship's recommended souvenir shops is there and worth a visit. The market beyond Church of Spilled Blood by far had the best prices of any of the shops. But if you are looking at the high end stuff, I would buy from one of the recommended stores. One great thing about the ship's stores, the prices are marked in euros, but they took the same price in US$ (giving us about a 30% discount). Note: around the Church there are children begging for money. DO NOT pull money out unless you plan to give them the whole wad. It will be gone before you can blink.

 

Depending on what time you finish up at the Church, at this point, I would taxi over to Nikolaevsky for the show. If it's too early, taxi over to St. Isaac's and walk from there.

 

St. Isaac's is worth a visit. Note: you must have roubles to pay for the tickets. There are two different tickets: Museum (200 r) and Colonade (120 r). If you want to go inside the Church, buy the Museum ticket. If you want to climb the stairs for the view, buy the Colonade ticket. If you want to do both, you have to buy both. If you want to take pictures inside the Church, that's another ticket at 100 roubles. We climbed the stairs and it was definitely worth it.

 

Day 2: We had the taxi driver drop us off at St. Isaac's and did the Church, then walked across Decembrist Square and along the waterfront for views of the Rostral Columns and then of the Fortress. We did not have time to cross over the Neva for closer inspection of either of those sights. We hopped the hydrofoil from the dock directly in front of the Hermitage for our trip to Peterhof. Note: you will need at least $100 worth of roubles for the hydrofoil and park entrances. No credit cards or US$, and no currency exchanges to be found. The hydrofoil ride was pleasant and took about 30 minutes.

 

Peterhof - Upon arrival, you must purchase a ticket for entrance to the park. When we were there it was 45 degrees and raining, and everything was still magnificient. To see the Palace, you will go inside and buy another ticket for the inside (plus another fee to take pictures). At both the Hermitage and Peterhof, we had people come up to us and offer English speaking tours. They were not pushy, just offering their services.

 

We spent most of the day at Peterhof, and headed back to meet the taxi just in time to return to the ship.

 

Conclusion: If you want to see all the sights, including both Peterhof and Catherines, take a tour. If you want to leisurely stroll the streets, poke around in the shops and souvenir stores, and check out anything that catches your fancy, have no fear of doing St. Peterburg on your own. We never at any time felt threatened or harassed. Everyone was very pleasant and we had no trouble finding people who spoke English.

 

One more note: If you buy one of the Russian Navy hats (those fur things) and wear it while walking around town, you will get many nasty looks and some very strange interactions. My hubby wore one and all the older men we passed would start talking to him in Russian and slapping him on the back, while all the younger people would stare and give nasty looks! :eek:

 

Please feel free to ask any questions. There are about 6 stores on the ship's recommended list and we visited them all, plus several others we found on our own. Let me know if you want addresses so you can map it all out.

 

We had a really great time and hope you do too!

[Princess Di]

Thank you, so much, for your very comprehensive SPb review. I see in your previous posts that you were hoping for a Ballet Performance at the Mariinsky.

Did you at least get to see the Mariinsky Theatre? My Prima Ballerina (Grandaughter) would be disappointed if I did not see the Theatre. I know that tickets must be purchased about a month in advance and that the bill is not published much before then.

Thanks for all the good information.

Please e-mail me with the List of Shops from the Ship.

So glad you had a wonderful cruise.

[SaylorGirl]

Nisa - What a great report!! It sounds like you had a wonderful time and you did it all by yourselves. What a great trip you must have had. It sounds exactly like what we plan on doing including the advance tickets to the Hermitage and the hydro-foil to Peterof. I'm so glad everything worked out so well for you. I will look for Alexander when we get off the ship. I think we will go to Peterof the first day and go to the Hermitage the second and after that we will just walk, walk, walk. I will try and talk my DH into the Folk Show I think that would be great.

[Nisa]

Hi SaylorGirl - We waited on Peterhof only because it rained most of the first day, and we held out hope that the second day would be clearer, which it was, though not by much. We heard horror stories from people who had gone on the Celebrity tour to Peterhof that they had to wait standing in the rain for 1 1/2 hours before they were allowed into Peterhof. Many asked to wait on the bus, but they were refused. :eek: And, the ship had forecasted a clear day, so no one had unbrellas with.

[SaylorGirl]

Nisa that would make for a cold and yuckky day standing out in the rain! Did you pay your taxi driver in Rubles or US? When you got to the Hermitage did you have to wait in line or were you able to just pick up your tickets and go in? Did you try and take the subway? Sorry for so many questions I'm sure I will have more!

[Nisa]

We paid our taxi driver in US$. However, him and the souvenir shops/stands were the only places to accept US$. You will definitely need some roubles. There weren't alot of currency exchanges, and they weren't well marked. So make sure you get plenty when you get the chance. You will need at least $100 worth for the trip to Peterhof, for 2 people (including entrances).

 

We arrived at the Hermitage way early. I thought it opened at 10:00, so arrived about 9:45. We walked around the square and down Millionaire Street while we waited. A crowd started to gather and we inched our way to the front, so that when they opened the gates, we were toward the front. You walk through the gates, then across another square before you actually get to the door. This door was still locked, so everybody kind of lined up. We went inside to the ticket counter, handed over the paper I had printed out, she went in the back somewhere, then came back and handed us the tickets. We were walking around in the Hermitage by 5 after.

 

We didn't try to take the subway. We spoke with the Shopping Guy on the cruise, and he said he didn't recommend it. It's a maze down there, and nothing's in English. Everybody we spoke to spoke English. Except all the women who sit in the Museum's watching you. Not a single one of those speak English! However, all those we spoke to were in the tourism business (taxi driver, waiter, ticket taker, etc.) I don't know how many of the general population speak English, so it could get hairy trying to find your way around the subway.

[Vera]

Thanks for your great review! One more question - if you didn't have your preordered tickets, would you need to stay in line? You said that you proceed to tickets counter - is it the same line for everybody or only for those with preordered tickets?

THANKS!

[Nisa]

Everyone went to the same line. There are 4 ticket people who process both purchases in roubles and pre-ordered tickets. I can't say for sure if they take credit cards, as I wasn't really looking for that. I would say: get there early, get to the front of the waiting crowd, sprint for the door, and have your roubles and/or voucher out and ready.

 

There were English speaking guides there leading prearranged groups who offered to let us join in. We tagged along with one for about 20 minutes, when we diecided at this rate, her tour would last about 3 years. After that we just wandered around. I had a guide book with pictures of various rooms, and you get a (small, uninformative) map when you go in. So I would stop at the (non-English speaking) women sitting in each room and point to the picture of the room I wished to find, then to the map, and she would point out that room on the map. Worked pretty good for us. We got to see all of the rooms we had planned on. Don't forget, if you want to see the Gold Room or "Treasure Gallery" as they call it, you have to purchase a special ticket for that.

[Princess Di]

 

This is the Official Hermitage Website. Click on 'Floor Plans'. I will print these to take with me, considering the "small, uninformative maps" available (and probably in Russian-Cyrilic). :eek:

You can study the information on this website and decide what you would like to see before leaving home (if you are on a Private Tour that you can customize or FIT). :D

[SaylorGirl]

Did you feel the gold room or the "treasure room" was worth the extra ticket? When you pre-purchase your tickets I thought I read that it included the camera fee, is that correct?

[Nisa]

I didn't purchase the ticket for the Treasure Gallery, so can't say if it's worth it. When you purchase the ticket online, it does include the camera fee.

 

 

I did check out the "Virtual Tour" on the website before I left, but didn't actually plan out a route. It would probably be helpful, but the place is a maze.

[bams1954]

we're on the Regatta - arrive 05July (originally was the English Embankment) now we're docked at the Main Passenger Terminal / how far from "town center" sights?

we have our own Russian visas for independent travel - the English Embankment is very convenient..

help!