The best deal tour in St. Petersburg

We are going to the Baltic cruise this summer and cause we are on a budget we would like to find the best prices for two-day tour in St. Petersburg. Of course we are not interested in ship-provided excursions as well as in getting visa. All advices and recommendations are welcome:)

Possibly DenRus, who have 30-seater coaches as well as the 16-seater vans as used by all the others. But of course as an experience that's part-way to the big buses used by the cruise lines.

The other operators all offer much the same as each-other and at broadly the same prices, including DenRus' 16-seater options. They all have extremely good reputations, and all their tours are visa-free. Google Alla Tours, SPB Tours, TJ Travel, Best Guides, Anastasia Tours. Apols to any I've inadvertently missed out.

Some offer a choice of "Grand" or "Comfort" or similarly-named tours. The Comfort tours miss a couple or three of the lesser sights - those tours are a little cheaper but I'd suggest you decide according to how intensive a tour you want rather that the marginally lower prices.

Unless you want to visit Berlin from Warnemunde, or your Stockholm port is actually Nynashamn which is actually an hour from the city, all other Baltic ports are cheap & easy to DIY. So plan to spend the bulk of your budget in St Pete's.

JB :)

Alla Tours is quoting between $265 and $300 pp for two-day tours of St. Petersburg, plus tips (10% for the guide, 5% for the driver). Group visa is included.

We used Alla tours for a 2 day St. Petersburg and a one day in Stockholm. Excellent tours. Check out her website. I recruited a lot of cruisers for our tour and the prices dropped.

When we toured the Baltics, we also were on a tight budget, but for St Petersburg, a ONCE in a lifetime event, you just cannot try and be so frugal. You want to save some money, book an inside cabin, instead of an ocean view, or a balcony. That saving alone will pay for your tours in St Petersburg. In all the other ports, you can, and should, do on your own. There are expenses involved, such as admissions, transportation etc. but compared to tours, you are saving bundles.

As has been said, the majority of tour operators in St Petersburg will charge you about the same amount for their tours. Each has it's own agenda and you need to contact several of them to see which one you feel most comfortable with. We happen to use SPB Tours as we felt they gave us the most for our money, as they included several 'extras', but mostly we felt completely at ease with Victoria, the owner.

To save more money you need to have a group to tour. A private tour will cost you more than even a small group. If you don't have enough in your party, go to your roll call and see if you can either join a group or form your own. If all that fails, contact the tour company and see if they can get you on another group.

Sorry, St Petersburg isn't cheap, but in the long run, $300PP for 2 days of a small group tour, including transportation, sometimes lunch and admissions to all the venues comes our very reasonable.

Cheers

Len

I checked out all the companies and settled on SPB tours - I think they are the most professional - the guides carry Orange SPB tours - it would be hard to get lost - ALLa tours had a paper sign in a presentation folder - I highly recommend SPB - and yes you can do the HO-HO - but we ended up with rain in Helsinki - I was sorry we did not spend the $$$ to go with SPB - if at all handicapped - it can be hard to find the next HO-HO stop

Have a great cruise

Another vote for SPB tours we used them when we were in St Petersburg last June. They use small mini buses which are very comfortable and use individual headsets to hear the guide. The tour was excellent and our guide was extremely knowledgeable. In the evening we went to the folk show which had a buffet included and had a wonderful evening.

In the evening we went to the folk show which had a buffet included and had a wonderful evening.

Ahhh, so it was you who snaffled all the canapés ;).

But yes, a great evening - varied, well-performed, plenty of humour, some audience participation.

Ballet's not our scene, but the folk show certainly was. :cool:

JB :)

We used Palladium Travel and paid $300 pp for a two-day tour - there were just the three of us. The tours were visa-free, of course.

Another vote for SPB tours we used them when we were in St Petersburg last June. They use small mini buses which are very comfortable and use individual headsets to hear the guide. The tour was excellent and our guide was extremely knowledgeable. In the evening we went to the folk show which had a buffet included and had a wonderful evening.

We'll be using SPB hav eput together a group from our RC. Any particular guide you suggest for St Petersburg, I was told Heather was excellent for Berlin. Thanks:)

SPB Tours was our choice also. We enjoyed every minute of our 2 day tour.

We used SPB in 2013, and can recommend them. We found another couple on the Cruise Critic roll call for our ship, and we split the cost of a private trip between us. Well worth the money.

I have used TJ Travel on two separate visits (by cruiseship) to St. Peterburg. AWESOME tours at an affordable price. The first time we had a custom , and very full, one day, 12 hour, tour to all the major sites, plus a canal boat ride and a ride down and up the esclator in the mile deep subway but no true lunch stop. just a grab and go as we had s much to see!. No time to actually go into any churches, just outside views. Only shop we got to go to was the one TJ Travels runs - again -no time. This was a FULL 12 hour tour day!!!

The second visit was a two day affair and we got much more in-depth, plus two wonderful included lunches at authentic Russian restaurants with wonderful atmosphere and reat food. Wonderful visits at manychurches plus all the usual stes, and a actual ride on theSt. Peterburg subway. Lots of shoping opportuity too for thos who cared. HIGHLY recommend TJ Travel!

Another vote for Best Guides :) We used them a year ago and it was excellent. We are returning back to Baltic this summer and we’ve already booked 3 days in St. Petersburg and 1 day in Berlin with the Best Guides. They gave us 10 % early bird discount for St. Petersburg. If you look for the best deal check their All St. Petersburg which is now 238 $. It’s two full days with included lunches.

Jess :)

Big thanks to everyone in this thread! For me it's a difficult decision to make and all your advices are very helpful.

Jo

Big thanks to everyone in this thread! For me it's a difficult decision to make and all your advices are very helpful.

Jo

Jo

To be honest, YOU have to make that final decision. You simply cannot go by what the posters here, or anywhere, have to say. Unless there is a swarm of bad reviews against any tour company, for the most part they all do an outstanding job, and are all about the same price.

YOU have to contact some of them and see which one you feel the most comfortable with. Each one has it's own little formula and each owner will do what they can to make you feel comfortable with them. This is the single most common reason why anyone choices a certain tour company.

Ourselves, we chose SPB Tours mainly because of Victoria, the owner. She made us feel so secure and made us feel so comfortable with them, that we didn't even consider anyone else.

You simply cannot rely on a past cruiser to make your decision. There are NO wrong choices, but it's your choice.

Cheers

Len

Jo

Ourselves, we chose SPB Tours mainly because of Victoria, the owner. She made us feel so secure and made us feel so comfortable with them, that we didn't even consider anyone else.

 

You simply cannot rely on a past cruiser to make your decision. There are NO wrong choices, but it's your choice.

 

Cheers

 

Len

I agree with Len 100%. I also contacted several operators and narrowed them down to two, SPB and Alla. Their prices and tours were the same but the way Viktoria took time to answer very question I threw at her made SPB the natural choice. From these boards you'll find that all the top companies all get consistently good reviews, so its for you to decide which one you want.

BTW, we are paying $285pp for SPB's 2 day deluxe tour, their most intensive tour. Enjoy your time in St Petersburg, this is the highlight of the Baltic cruise, the big one we're looking forward to...:)

Jo

 

YOU have to contact some of them and see which one you feel the most comfortable with. Each one has it's own little formula and each owner will do what they can to make you feel comfortable with them.

There are NO wrong choices, but it's your choice.

I’m also 100% agree with Len. 2 years ago Len helped me to make the right choice. Thank you, Len! I contacted about 5 or 6 operators and first of all narrowed them down to two: SPB tours and Best Guides. I felt very comfortable and confident with both of them. I have to say that all the replies from all the operators were very prompt and informative. After all I stopped with the Best Guides and we were more than happy with them.

You just have to make the final decision yourself. I guess if you are choosing among main companies with good reputation any decision will be good. There are no wrong choices:) GOOD LUCK!

Jess:)

We used Alla tours for a 2 day St. Petersburg and a one day in Stockholm. Excellent tours. Check out her website. I recruited a lot of cruisers for our tour and the prices dropped.

Please advise how you recruited people as I am having no luck for our June 15 tour. We are 4 and I want get up to 10 total

Thanks

Ad2uk

What date in June 2015 is your trip? We are going out on 23rd and there are 6 of us looking for a St Petersburg trip over the 2 days. If you let us know costs and itinerary and it suits we might be interested in joining you. 6 adults .

Please advise how you recruited people as I am having no luck for our June 15 tour. We are 4 and I want get up to 10 total

Thanks

Ad2uk

Post tour details on your Roll Call and you'll have a whole lot of people signing up. Apart from St Petes which is the regular SPB tour I have two private tours, one to Berlin with a museum visit and another in Copenhagen and Northern Zealand. Not only will you find others to share your tour but you'll also get loads of ideas and suggestions from your fellow cruisers, enjoy:)

Please advise how you recruited people as I am having no luck for our June 15 tour. We are 4 and I want get up to 10 total

Thanks

Ad2uk

Exactly as Prish has said, you need to go to your roll call, see who has signed on and sort of ask if anyone has plans in St Petersburg to do private tours. If plans have been made, ask if you could join a group. If not ask others if anyone would like to join you on a tour. Post the details if you have made them, or suggest which tour you are interested in. Anyone who is looking for a private tour company would be interested in joining a group as it will be cheaper for them.

If no one responds to your suggestions, when you book a tour company ask them if they can get you on a tour that is already formed, even if it is from another ship. They are quite good at this and very helpful with it also.

Cheers

Len

Hi we have arranged a 2 day tour with TJ Tours and have found them to be very responsive to our requirements, only take a day to get back and so have decided to go with them on our St Petersburg Trip on July 29th leaving from Copenhagen. The also give discount for mentioning their name on Cruise Critic. The tour we chose was the All St Petersburg highlights which gave us what Princess were offering at half the price. We are also going on a walking tour in one of the districts of St Petersburg which was another $45 US bringing the total to $345US without our 5% discount.

I think we will have a fantastic time with them.

Solu ...

Hi we have arranged a 2 day tour with TJ Tours and have found them to be very responsive to our requirements, only take a day to get back and so have decided to go with them on our St Petersburg Trip on July 29th leaving from Copenhagen. The also give discount for mentioning their name on Cruise Critic. The tour we chose was the All St Petersburg highlights which gave us what Princess were offering at half the price. We are also going on a walking tour in one of the districts of St Petersburg which was another $45 US bringing the total to $345US without our 5% discount.

 

I think we will have a fantastic time with them.

 

Solu ...

Solu

I'm sure they will give you a discount for mentioning their name, because it is basically against the rules of the forum for them to solicit here. We all tell others which tour companies we have used and why, but you are not allowed to basically solicit for them on this site. It is against the rules.

Cheers

Len

We chose Alla as SPB failed to inform us the Kremlin was not open on day 2 of our 3 day stop in St. Petersburg. Ended up taking the cruises' trip to Moscow on day 1 in St. Petersburg and than the 2 day All a tour after that. If we'd stuck with SPB tours we'd have gone to Moscow on day two and had no Kremlin visit.