Atlantica to St. Petersburg Advice

[scooter1122]

We are going on a 7 day cruise May 31 to June 7, leaving Copenhagen and heading to several ports.....in St. Petersburg we could use some help with a shore excursion. We only have the one day. I was wondering if anyone has taken an excursion from a company other than the ones offered on the ship.And what are Must-sees?

[sea-explorer]

I'm not sure of your exact ports, but we have sailed a similar itinerary, starting in Copenhagen with one day in St Petersburg.

 

We are at the stage unfortunately where the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak but nevertheless, apart from St Petersburg, we were able to explore all the other ports independently, without the need for ship's tours, very easily. We did though use the ship's shuttle to take us to the centre in a couple of the ports.

 

St Petersburg though is different as you need a visa for independent travel. here you have 3 options.

1. A visa beforehand to explore on your own

2. Ship's excursion

3. A private tour company.

 

I wouldn't of course recommend the first option for many reasons, the expense of the visa, negotiating the industrial port, you only have one day, the language, getting from site to site etc. We opted for the private tour. We used Red October and they were excellent. We were off the ship & on our way whilst the rest of the passengers were gathering in the lounges.

 

As for the must sees, I can't really say as it depends on your interests. Take a look at the ship's shore excursions for ideas. For us, we started with a city tour, stopping off at several sights, St Nicholas, church of spilled blood, St. Isaacs etc, the Aurora. We then went onto St Peter & Pauls' fortress. This was followed by a tour of the Hermitage before lunch. After lunch we took the hydrofoil to Peterhof for the afternoon before returning to the ship.

 

Hope this helps a little. There are other companies out there that do this too. Take a look at the Northern Europe board for recommendations etc. Good luck.

 

Oh, & my only regret of the whole trip is that we didn't really have enough time to see much of Copenhagen. With hindsight I would have booked a pre-cruise or post cruise stay here. We flew in & out on the days of embarkation/disembarkation. Then again, it was our first cruise so what did I know?:)

[scooter1122]

Thanks , that helps.

We are getting into Copenhagen on the 28th so we have a few days to check it out before the cruise on the 31st. I am a bit nervous because we have a noon flight out on the following sunday, when we return. Hopefully we will get off the ship in time.

Unfortunately our ship is in St. Petersburg on a Wednesday when several places are closed. I have contacted several private tour companies but they seem really expensive for one day.

[sea-explorer]

The airport is only about 20-30 minutes from the port but it may be worth your while pre-booking a taxi to avoid waiting in a taxi queue. Also, have you checked with Costa? They usually have airport transfers which you can book.

 

As for the private tour, yes it was expensive for us too. You may be able to find some other companies to contact or find some-one to share with on the tripadvisor forums. Try looking through the posts here.

 

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowForum-g298507-i707-St_Petersburg_North_West_Russia.html

 

Not sure what is open/closed on Wednesdays, sorry.

[Wizard5]

I checked with Costa and they only have ONE transfer per day, al 11:30 am.

I guess I will have to check other options.