Tour in St Petersburg with a wheelchair and a toddler

I have booked a private tour with Maxi Balt Tours for two of the three days we are in St P. The proposed itinerary is as follows and I would appreciate any comments.

I have booked a private tour with Maxi Balt Tours for two of the three days we are in St P. The proposed itinerary is as follows and I would appreciate any comments.

 

July-28 Saturday

9am meet at the port

general city tour

Peter and Paul Fortress + Cathedral tour

Spilled blood Cathedral tourtime for lunch

Hermitage museum tour

5pm back to ship

 

July-29 Sunday

9am meet at the port

Faberge museum tour

canal/river boat tour

time for lunch

St Isaak's Cathedral tour

5pm back to ship

 

 

 

 

 

I note that you are not visiting Peterhof or the Catherine Palace - have you visited before? If you are looking for a more relaxing experience (toddler, wheelchair), I would skip P&P Fortress & St. Isaac's Cathedral and add either Peterhof (the fountain park is gorgeous) or Catherine Palace (both are wheelchair accessible). JMO

We are staying on board looking after the toddler while her parents do their own thing :)

Thank's for your comment about Peterhoff; I have been researching and I did wonder. Might it be weather dependent though?

are you taking own wheelchair?

only concern is canal boat ride

getting to boat is via stone steps with no hand rail

Yes, it's a powered chair as DW hates being pushed. She can manage short distances and if she can't cope with the steps she will stay in the van.

Last year we went to the Norwegian fiords and borrowed a chair from the ship (Britannia) so that we could go on the Flaam railway - that was okay but even the short push from ship to train was hard work.

Our granddaughter will probably be in a backpack with her father.

Yes, it's a powered chair as DW hates being pushed. She can manage short distances and if she can't cope with the steps she will stay in the van.

 

Last year we went to the Norwegian fiords and borrowed a chair from the ship (Britannia) so that we could go on the Flaam railway - that was okay but even the short push from ship to train was hard work.

 

Our granddaughter will probably be in a backpack with her father.

my husband negotiated steps down to canal boat with aid of walking stick for stability

presume the tour company have already confirmed they can accommodate the power chair in the van

they will know the wheelchair access points and where lifts/elevators are in Hermitage

Peterhof gardens are gravel paths but would recommend driving in van to get there-would be difficult to get power chair onto hydrofoil safely

The plan is for the chair to stay in the van. Yes, it has a ramp for the chair and a baby seat for the baby :)

I took a manual wheelchair to SPB and did the two day Comfort Tour with Alla Tours. The guide was very helpful at taking me into places via accessible entrances and avoiding long queues.

I managed to walk down the Canal steps too, but they did look slippery. The only part of the excursion I couldn't do was the subway ride.

The tour companies are dealing with these kind of challenges every day, so I'm sure all will go smoothly.

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My 3 year old loved Peterhof, so if that is accessible I'd consider it. He also loved the subway, but the above poster seems to indicate that won't be possible. You might want to read the review of the baltic trip in my signature line, since there's a lot in there about traveling with a 3 year old. He really loved the trip, and I hope all goes well!

Thanks, Kitkat - I already read your review and it is very helpful. Our particular toddler is only 18 months and at the moment, ducks seem to be the most amazing thing in her life..:)

LondonTowner, we really want to do the canal trip and all being well I think that, with a couple of strong men there, DW will manage the steps.

My thoughts were that St Isaac’s cathedral doesn’t really take up an entire afternoon. Particularly with a bored toddler around! Couldn’t they fit something else in as well?

Our operator has come up with an alternative:

July-28 Saturday

9am meet at the port

Peterhoff parks with gardens and fountains

time for lunch

Catherine's Palace + Amber room

6pm back to ship

July-29 Sunday

9am meet at the port

general city tour

Spilled blood Cathedral tour

Faberge museum tour

time for lunch

Hermitage museum tour

5pm back to ship

That looks better to me - any thoughts?

Our operator has come up with an alternative:

 

July-28 Saturday

9am meet at the port

Peterhoff parks with gardens and fountains

time for lunch

Catherine's Palace + Amber room

6pm back to ship

 

July-29 Sunday

9am meet at the port

general city tour

Spilled blood Cathedral tour

Faberge museum tour

time for lunch

Hermitage museum tour

5pm back to ship

 

 

 

That looks better to me - any thoughts?

yes I agree looks better

The second itinerary looks better to me - I think certainly your child will love Peterhof, and my son oddly liked the big rooms in Catherine's palace. I would say you might want to add a canal tour somewhere depending on the weather - we did Peterhof, Catherine's Palace, a basic city tour including the exterior of the Church of the Spilled blood and a canal tour on day one. Day 2 was the Hermitage (early admission when there were no crowds, but others have reported crowds even during early admission plus all the exhibits don't open at once), the exterior of St. Isaacs, Peter and Paul fortress (this was nice but I'd skip it in favor of the other things) and the interior of the Church of the spilled blood. If this is a private tour for just your family you'll have some flexibility to see how things go and can tell them you'd like to add a canal tour if everyone feels up to it.

I forgot to mention there were a few other things for kids I didn't discover before my Baltic cruise that others have recommended for families. Best Guides has a family tour of St. Petersburg: https://www.bestguides-spb.com/children-page.html and you might want to at least talk to them to get some ideas or see if they run private tours for your family. I didn't use them but they have very good reviews from other families on this forum.

The other thing I didn't discover was the Reindeer park outside of Helsinki. We had lots of extra time in Helsinki (we enjoyed the rock church, the ferris wheel, ate lunch at the open air stalls in the Market Square and visited suomenlinna) If I could do it over again, I'd take a tour similar to this one and add the ferris wheel (which is right next to Market Square where the tour goes so you probably can easily add it. This tour takes you to visit Reindeer, which I think your grandchild would love: I obviously cannot vouch for this particular company or even the Reindeer experience but its something I'd try if I were in Helsinki again.

http://estonianexperience.com/tour/helsinki-highlights-tour-reindeer-park-visit/ Although I'm not sure how accessible the park is for wheelchairs - you'd need to contact them to ask.

Have a great trip!

Thank's again Kitkat, good advice again, but we don't go to Helsinki this trip. It looks like a toss-up as to whether we get a canal trip or not.

Yes, this alternate itinerary looks like it would be much more enjoyable for your family.

I think that the child friendly tours offered by Best Guides would not benefit a toddler - I would stick with the new agenda.