St. P canal ride

[M&T]

Is there a canal ride that goes under the bridge by the Spilled Blood church. Is there a way to ride in the canal boat and then do a little shopping in a department store? Would like to do it without getting a visa. This is our third time in St. P, so we are not interested in some of the main usual tours. We are on Celebrity and I don't see one like this. They have canal and Peter & Paul or canal and Yussupov. Thanks. M

[dbh62ark]

Oh, the title of this thread caught my eye because we loved the canal cruise in St. Petersburg. Have you considered trying to form a private tour group on your roll call sailing? I've been to St. Petersburg twice and can guarantee that you will see more in a private tour group than you can in any combination of ship's excursions (too much time is wasted loading large groups on and off buses, and private groups go to the front of the line at the museums and palaces due to timed reservations). The canal boat tour is wonderful, but you do have to have a visa to go off on your own in St. Petes. Private tour operators such as Denrus (our favorite, and we have been on Red October too), Red October, and others provide group visas.

 

Have a great trip,

Donna

[M&T]

I am OK with a private tour, but I have not found one that truly wants to customize the tour. The private tour groups have, basically, the same tour as the ship, but it is less expensive with six or eight and more efficient than a big bus. I truly would like a custom tour, but it is just for my husband and I, so it will be too expensive. We want the canal tour, St. Isaacs's and Spilled Blood church and shopping in a department store. Several years ago we purchased a teapot, cups and creamer. We would like to find the sugar. We would love to go to a local market. Anyway, thanks for any help. M

[dbh62ark]

Yes, I see what you're saying. I haven't checked this year but know that Denrus had a fairly affordable tour for two if you go in a car with no air (not sure what month you will be traveling). We had this same dillema on our return trip to St. Petersburg but decided that although we are very independent travelers, we did not want to go out on our own in Russia. I knew that I had to go back to Peterhof and was OK with revisiting other sites as long as we got to add some things like the canal cruise and the metro stations that we had missed on our first visit with Red October. We found others on our roll call thread who wanted to do an active itinerary, and we just made it work.

 

There's a market by the Church on the Spilled Blood that may meet your needs if you do decide to join a private tour group. And I found Denrus to be very accomodating, so I think that if you sent them a photo of the china you're looking for, they would try to help you out.

 

Whatever you decide, I hope you have a great trip.

 

Donna

[M&T]

I remember your posting when I was planning my last Baltic cruise. Thanks for your ideas this time too. Marlyne

[sbhdmh]

We have been in touch with a private guide, Masha, who is quoting roughly $40/hour for guide with car and driver, visa free. You can arrange any combination of sites or activities you want. We are including things like a stop at a supermarket or farmer's market along with stops at Peterhof, the Hermitage, etc. Maybe this could work for you.

[NVCLVR]

My DD & I arranged for a pvt tour with Denrus. We had been to St.Petersburg previously and knew exactly what we wanted to see & do. I e-mailed them and asked about going to Peter &Paul fortress, the Gold/treasure room at the Hermitage and then shopping (furs, jewelry & porcelin) & lunch in a nice Russian restaurant w/out the tourist crowds. They were very accomodating. There wasn't that much difference in price for airconditioning. We had a Mercedes w/air, a guide and driver. It was so nice and leisurely...no waiting in lines. If we had wanted to go on a canal boat tour, they would have arranged it for us. We really enjoyed ourselves. Again, you should e-mail Denrus and let them know exactly what you want to do & they'll come up w/a quote. Red October wouldn't let us customize to our satisfaction and I don't remember why I wasn't impressed w/Alla's response. We are planning a 3rd visit next summer and plan to do the same thing...just a private booking w/Denrus.

[GuideDiva]

It appears that the newer small tour companies are created a few fixed itinerary programs and calling that a custom tour. From my thinking any tour company ought to be able to create any itinerary YOU want. Why call it Custom at all when the choices are being one or another already created itineraries?

 

Canal boats do travel the canal near Church on Spilled Blood. If it is truly a private tour there is no reason you can't just stop the boat anywhere there is a landing and get off and walk around to shop or take photos and continue the cruise. You can't do that with the larger boats but the small private boats are set up for that sort of flexibility. I celebrated a birthday on one, my friends and I cruised all over, stopping in pubs for "refills" and buying snacks as we went, brought our own music and had a ball.

For first time visitors it is probably best to see the "must-sees" or at least see an overview but on later trips get off the beaten crowded path between must sees and enjoy the city the way us locals do. It is more fun and exciting a city for residents than even tourists. It is a very rare city in that regard. The deeper you explore the more amazed you will be, or just relax and enjoy the aura. Cruisers see pretty much the same thing because that is what people before them recommended. There are many complaints about the Hermitage being crowded for example. That is understandable since almost everyone in on the same tour itinerary and seeing the same must-see rooms, leaving 1,000 other fascinating rooms almost empty. Like art? Why not visit the Russian Museum, almost no cruisers go there and the few that do are always amazed how wonderful the art is and easier to view than the most popular rooms in the Hermitage. The Hermitage IS probably the best museum in the world but little of it is seen by cruisers who all crowd into the French Impressionist rooms and the Dutch Masters section.

Military buff? The two largest museums of their type in the world, the Naval Museum and the Artillery Museum are great yet cruisers do not go to them.

To get the real flavor of the city and its culture, current and past, you need to get out on foot and explore. Any good guide would love to show you the "secret" St Petersburg if you were interested. Secret only in the fact that as destinations cruisers generally ignore them and follow the same paths, and same crowds.

A good tour company will be happy to open that view to you with a highly individualized itinerary.

[dance4fun]

I am OK with a private tour, but I have not found one that truly wants to customize the tour. The private tour groups have, basically, the same tour as the ship, but it is less expensive with six or eight and more efficient than a big bus. I truly would like a custom tour, but it is just for my husband and I, so it will be too expensive. We want the canal tour, St. Isaacs's and Spilled Blood church and shopping in a department store. Several years ago we purchased a teapot, cups and creamer. We would like to find the sugar. We would love to go to a local market. Anyway, thanks for any help. M

 

We will be sailing in a few days. In prep for our trip, I put together a very detailed list of what we wanted to see by three priority rankings, and what we did not want to spend time on that are on the typical tour. I did not hear back from some of the standard tour companies, but DenRus did reply. They have worked with us, provided feedback / adjustments to our guesses about how long at each site, told us what we could reasonably do, told us what they could not answer, etc. Totally customized. You just need to be willing to pay for their services; if you are the only couple in the car, you will need to pay for the driver and guide. We have paid more than the standard tour, but we have asked for some very specific things in terms of transport, sites, and have an extended day (returning at 7 pm on the first night).

 

I suggest you do what we did; put together your list of wants and send it to several companies to see what response you get. With email, it does not even cost you a stamp to test the waters.

[M&T]

When I contacted Denrus, they asked that I ask again after this season is over as they are too busy and will need to look at rates for next year. I will get back with them and others that have been mentioned. Marlyne

[LHT28]

Anastasia & SPB tours (Viktoria) will do custom tours from 2-8 people.

we had been to SPB before & just wanted to see the things we missed they both gave us an itinerary based on our wishes.

 

However due to illness I never got to go.:(

[tally10]

It appears that the newer small tour companies are created a few fixed itinerary programs and calling that a custom tour. From my thinking any tour company ought to be able to create any itinerary YOU want. Why call it Custom at all when the choices are being one or another already created itineraries?

 

Canal boats do travel the canal near Church on Spilled Blood. If it is truly a private tour there is no reason you can't just stop the boat anywhere there is a landing and get off and walk around to shop or take photos and continue the cruise. You can't do that with the larger boats but the small private boats are set up for that sort of flexibility. I celebrated a birthday on one, my friends and I cruised all over, stopping in pubs for "refills" and buying snacks as we went, brought our own music and had a ball.

For first time visitors it is probably best to see the "must-sees" or at least see an overview but on later trips get off the beaten crowded path between must sees and enjoy the city the way us locals do. It is more fun and exciting a city for residents than even tourists. It is a very rare city in that regard. The deeper you explore the more amazed you will be, or just relax and enjoy the aura. Cruisers see pretty much the same thing because that is what people before them recommended. There are many complaints about the Hermitage being crowded for example. That is understandable since almost everyone in on the same tour itinerary and seeing the same must-see rooms, leaving 1,000 other fascinating rooms almost empty. Like art? Why not visit the Russian Museum, almost no cruisers go there and the few that do are always amazed how wonderful the art is and easier to view than the most popular rooms in the Hermitage. The Hermitage IS probably the best museum in the world but little of it is seen by cruisers who all crowd into the French Impressionist rooms and the Dutch Masters section.

Military buff? The two largest museums of their type in the world, the Naval Museum and the Artillery Museum are great yet cruisers do not go to them.

To get the real flavor of the city and its culture, current and past, you need to get out on foot and explore. Any good guide would love to show you the "secret" St Petersburg if you were interested. Secret only in the fact that as destinations cruisers generally ignore them and follow the same paths, and same crowds.

A good tour company will be happy to open that view to you with a highly individualized itinerary.

 

GuideDiva,

We would like your recommendations of some of the not so seen secret places in St. Petersburg that you have mentioned. We have been there twice before on cruise ships and we will be there again in May of 2010. We would like to see something different than the norm, but we also have to go to some of the traditional places as some members of our group have NEVER been there before. We have been to the Artillery Museum which was very interesting. I would like to see the Metro and the Yusupov Palace along with the must see places but I am open to suggestions. We are booked with Anastasia Tours. Your recommendations would be appreciated. Thanks.

[CB Group]

Consider a private tour company outside of the ship's tours. We used Denrus, and were very pleased. No where near what the cost of the ship's tours are. We did go on the canal ride, but our tour person on the boat, (Not from Denrus) did not speak English. That was my only complaint about Denrus. Otherwise, excellent.

[CB Group]

Possibly on cruise critic you can find two, even three other couples that are interested in doing the same as you mention. Then it is considered a private tour and you can arrange your day as you wish. Even private tour companies will not do customized with their larger groups.

[Skallywag]

Thank you for the beautiful pictures of Peterhof. We are sailing on the Sun in June and this is a place I want to see. Believe you can do a trip on the hydiofoil and wonder if anyone has any information on this please and if it is possible to do on your own.

[sbhdmh]

Thank you for the beautiful pictures of Peterhof. We are sailing on the Sun in June and this is a place I want to see. Believe you can do a trip on the hydiofoil and wonder if anyone has any information on this please and if it is possible to do on your own.

 

The hydrofoil is a great time saver for getting to or from Peterhof. It leaves from right in front of the Hermitage. We worked with a private guide, as most cc'ers do, and she made the arrangements. If I recall correctly it costs about 20 euro pp. Peterhof leads the list of must-sees in St Petersburg so any tour you put together is likely to include a visit here. It seems that most people use the hydrofoil in one direction or the other.

[Giantfan13]

Terry is correct in that the canaq boat ride does offer you gret views from a different perspective, and also the chance to just sit dowen, relax and enjoy 'the show'

 

A few more pix of our canal boat ride

 

The fortress of Peter and Paul from our canal boat

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/baltics/europemaster760.jpg

 

Some of the many bridges the canal boats go under

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/baltics/europemaster783.jpg

 

The canals are filled with these boats, but that doesn't stop you from having a grand time

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/baltics/europemaster772.jpg

 

The hydrofoil ride is great and again, another break from the touring

A short video of the hydrofoil

http://s834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/baltics/?action=view&current=europemaster843.flv

 

 

 

Cheers

 

Len