"visa free" tours in St Petersburg

[nonamect]

I am trying to arrange for a 2 day "visa free" tour in St Petersburg and have seen references to Alla tours, SPB-Tours, and bestguides-spb. Does anybody know the specifics with respect to requirements for the tour company to provide "visa free" tours of St. Petersburg? Do they have to be registered number individually with the Ministry of Tourism? Must they be insured? How do I make sure that they are legally allowed to provide "visa free" tour services? Do any of these three qualify as legitimate "visa free" tour service providers? Thanks.

[Giantfan13]

When we toured St Petersburg, last year, we used SPB tours. I had several in depth email exchanges with Viktoria, who is in charge of SPB tours and she assured me and all the others that her company is registered with whomever they needed to be registered with in Russia, and all the tees were crossed and all the i's dotted. She did warn me of several smaller operations where the companies or the people involved were not registered and such had no insurance for anyone who might get hurt. I will not mention names because this was last year and things might be different now.

I would almost guarantee that all of ther major independent groups in St Petersburg as registered, licensed and insured. People like Masha are more independent and it might be wise to check with Russian tourism, or whomever you need to, to be sure.

 

When you sign up with one of the independent tour companies, they will ask for you passport number via email. With that, they register you with a sort of blanket visa for those days you are there, and they are responsible for you, should you get hurt, wander off on your own, or for any unforeseeable thing. You never see the visa, it is a sort of temporary thing. You do ahve to show your passport when going thru immigration and they also require a copy of your passport, which the ship usually supplies (even for their tours).

 

If you want to be sure of all the things being correct, stay with one of the major independent tour operators, like SPB tours, Alla, Denrus etc.

 

Cheers

 

Len

[zzandyy]

We just returned from the Baltic Capitals Cruise. It was wonderful. Everything Len said is accurate. We used SPB tours and it was first class. We also used them in Berlin. You do not have to worry about the Visa, it is a blanket coverage for you and thoes in your group. My only suggestion is keep all your correspondence from whatever company as we had some confusion about cost. We were quoted in USD and charged in Euros when we went to pay. We had our paper work with us. These things happen. Best wishes on your visit and I am sure you will be amazed as we were! Sandy

[fabnfortysomething]

have just returned from Baltics cruise

In St Petersburg we used Anastasia other friends used Alla and SPB-all of us were very happy with their services

 

the requirement for a photocopy of your passport seems to have been replaced by the landing cards handed out by the ship a couple of days prior

 

NCL did not actively obstruct private groups but the wording on their info was very misleading "if you go on an NCL excursion we will arrange a visa on your behalf if you go ashore independently you will need a Russian visa"

 

we talked to several people on the ship who were suckered into expensive ships tours this way-thanks be for cruise critic!

[EOS-User]

We used Alla Tours on our Baltic trip last month; and it was seemless... Highly recommended.

 

All of the 'major' independant tour operators are now fully geared up to providing 'visa free' tours. They operate on exactly the same basis as the ship's tours. You register in advance, provide your passport details and then the tour company takes care of obtaining a 'group visa' for immigration; although you won't see any evidence of that...

 

The tour company will e-mail you a 'tour ticket' in some form which, together with an immigration form you'll get on-board, is all you need to get through immigration.

 

As for 'insurance' - buy your own; it's safer - and you know what you're getting for your money! That said, I doubt that any of the majors would balk at picking up the tab if they were responsible for a major incident. One 'failure to pay' would see the end of their business in what is becomming a very competetive marketplace!

 

Enjoy your trip; it's an absolute delight!

[EOS-User]

NCL did not actively obstruct private groups but the wording on their info was very misleading "if you go on an NCL excursion we will arrange a visa on your behalf if you go ashore independently you will need a Russian visa"

 

Yes; we encountered that on P&O as well...

 

Not dishonest; but certainly quite 'economical with the truth' as far as 'full' information was concerned...

 

I don't expect the cruise lines to actively promote independent's; it's not in their interest to do so; but a 'full disclosure' would have been nicer!

 

Like you; we talked to a number of fellow-cruisers who just didn't believe you could take a non-ship's tour! We were quietly 'smug' after the event :D

[mickfoxland]

We used Denrus and paid dollars on the bus (don't know if they still do this)as we set off, great 2 day budget tour. did the larger tourist sites.

denrus sorted it all for us as said previously just needed passport, e-mail copy of tour arrangment and photocopy of passport,

astonishing city. watch then "Goldeneye", the tank chase is around the canal tour part of the excursion.

some pics, if you want a look, from our cruise on the Jewel, follow the link

 

http://community.webshots.com/user/mcahirst

[ellbon]

I am looking at TJ tours... i like the extras on theor website- been before and want to see more han the normal stuff. heard good thigns about the other companies here.

[maritimers2]

Just returned from a wonderful Baltic Cruise Celebrity Eclipse.We used TJ travel and found them great.They arranged all the required paperwork and were very good to reply right away to our emails for information.The 2 day Standard tour was excellent-we were 10 people-very comfortable new airconditioned bus and a great guide Sofia.Saw more than a lot of other tours and never waited to get into a site.It was well organized and they were very accomodating with any requests we had.Loved being in a small group so we could all ask questions and feel we were getting a better understanding of this wonderful city.Sofia even was able to take us to a better gift shop for faberge eggs (in the style of) and we were all pleased with the quality versus what was available in the touristy shops.Have a great trip!

[Sominex]

I highly recommend Red October: http://www.redoctober.ru/ and/or email Laura, she's very good: mailto:laural@mc-fortuna.ru they provide the visa's.

Som

[bludevil]

I HIGHLY recommend Anastasia (the web site is Anastasiaworld). They were really easy to deal with and accommodated our tastes and changed things up as we went along. Olga was our guide and was GREAT!

[surreyfamily]

Absolutely agree with maritimers2 comments about TJ tours. have just spent 2 fabulous days with them in St P and it was a doddle. They sorted all the paperwork from their end and we were straight through immigration. Way cheaper than the ship tours and much better value for money than other tours we had looked at. Paid in dollars at the end and got 5% discount. 11 of us on a minibus with a wonder fuol guide -Nina. The tour had been customed made to our specifications and was jam packed for 2 days!

[Matymoo]

I HIGHLY recommend Anastasia (the web site is Anastasiaworld). They were really easy to deal with and accommodated our tastes and changed things up as we went along. Olga was our guide and was GREAT!

 

Seconded!

 

Just back last Sunday, Anastasia were brilliant. I emailed several different tour company's and although they all seemed to do similar tours Anastasia were very accommodating with the changes we wanted to make to the basic tour.

 

We also wanted it to be a small group and they came in at less than $300pp for a group of 6. For that we had the exclusive air conditioned vehicle (that could take double our number) with Svetlana driving, Olga for the two days to keep us together and make sure we made the most of our time and all entrance fee's.

 

St Petersburg is the most amazing place I have ever visited!

[getcpava]

I am looking at TJ tours... i like the extras on theor website- been before and want to see more han the normal stuff. heard good thigns about the other companies here.

 

We were in St. Petersburg last month, and we used TJ Travel for a 2 day tour. We did the "Relaxed Tour", but it was still quite comprehensive and enjoyable. They also have other options. Olga was our tour guide, and she was very informative and had a sense of humor besides. I would highly recommend this company. The paperwork was effortless, the cost was reasonable, and they offer a 5% discount for cash.