Visa's for St. Petersburg

[bogofman]

Can someone who been and done it, reccommend or not doing St Petersburg on your own,

 

how easy is it to get your own visa and what does it cost.

 

I read that using the ships organised trips a visa is not required, but its not possible to leave the ship if not on the tour.

[EOS-User]

I read that using the ships organised trips a visa is not required, but its not possible to leave the ship if not on the tour.

 

Yes; that's a huge myth all the cruise companies are still trying to put forward. Don't believe a word of it!!! They are being somewhat 'economical with the truth'!

 

IMO - a DIY tour of St. Petersburg (although do'able) (and without an awful lot of research) would result in you only seeing a small portion of what you can see on a private tour.

 

A quick search here on this forum will reveal a ton of threads about the various independant operators. All will have their own favourites. We for example went with Alla Tours and would have no hesitation in recommending them... The private tour operators organise their own 'group-visas'.

 

Whatever you decide to do, you'll enjoy St. P. - it is decidely the highlight of a Baltic Cruise...

[CASPALL]

I don't normally do ships tours , but the convenience of taking one in St P was well worth it imo.

 

Caryl

[ukgirlie1]

Hi,

 

We too went with Alla Tours last year and had a great time. I put together a group of 10 people and we had our own guide and driver. It was so convenient, no waiting for 30 people to go to the loo(!), dropped off and picked up at the entrances to the sites, early entry to the Hermitage and we were able to adjust the itinerary to add a relaxing boat trip.

 

We all met up for afternoon tea on a sea day before the trip and had a great time together. We even carried on meeting up after the tour for a birthday party and drinks.

 

Sometimes Alla will introduce you to others wanting a tour or you find others yourself. Many other private tour companies operate and it is in their interest to make it enjoyable. They arrange the visas and meet you just on the other side of immigration. Easy! They will also get you back to the ship on time too as they are very used to dealing with the traffic etc.

 

As a previous poster has said, check out the threads and look at the various websites and choose the one that suits you.

 

Enjoy!!

 

Sarah

[marylizcat]

It is apparently extremely expensive and complicated paperwork to get your own visa. Add to this that you dock some distance from the city centre and also that two of the top sights, Catherine's Palace and Peterhof are outside St P. Only a very, very few people seem to have ever gone it alone! We went with SPB Tours www.spb-tours.com and they were brilliant. They will link you with others to make a bigger group and reduce the cost if you wish. The visa is included.

[BrianI]

I have just returned from St Petersburg today on Adonia.

We were there two days and we did a ships tour each day.

The procedure is that you go off the ship through immigration and present your passport, tour ticket and an entry/exit immigration form giving your personal details. They tear off half of the form and put an entry stamp in your passport. On your return from your tour you present your passport and the exit part of the immigation form and put an exit stamp in your passport.

On the second day you present your passport and tour ticket and all they do is look at the stamps in your passport on the way out and back in. There is no other paperwork.

You cannot go out independently at any other time time without a tour ticket.

I believe the same procedure works if you have booked a tour with a local tour company but you have to make sure you have a tour ticket and an entry/exit form, then you should have no problems.

Brian