2 days in SPB vs. 3 days?

[MHF]

Hello all,

 

We are looking at either the 7 day cruise at the end of August 2013, which allows for 3 days in St. Petersburg or the 10 days at the beginning of September which allows for only 2 in SPB but of course is longer with more ports. Both are on Whisper.

 

Any opinions on time of year (end of August vs. early Sept) departure and on the tradeoffs of 2 vs. 3 days in SPB? I don't think we will do the Moscow run this time, perhaps another time, so that is not a consideration.

 

Thanks,

 

Melissa

[threeforthree]

We did 3 days there, and it was barely enough. That, despite our relative lack of interest in the Hermitage, where we did a very quick overview.

 

Do 3 days.

[Sweetpea711423]

We did 3 nights in St. Petersburg, which was so interesting. We arranged a private tour for 3 days with Red October, and so were able to schedule going to just those things in which we were interested. It was truly wonderful. I think 3 days touring St. Petersburg is well worth it. However, our cruise was 10 nights, so the St. Petersburg portion didn't take up as large a part of the cruise as it would with a 7 night cruise. I'm somewhat surprised that the longer cruise has the shorter period of time in St. Petersburg. I think 3 nights in port at one place would give the cruise a very different feel. It's really a personal thing. But if there's a possibility that this might be your only time in St. Petersburg, I think I would opt for the 3 days.

[Neuhoftraveler]

Three days for sure. And if the world's largest art museum (the Hermitage) interests you in the least, even 3 days is far from enough. You could easily spend the entire 3 days there and still barely scratch the surface of what's on exhibit, never mind everything else in the city and its environs.

[RachelG]

I am the odd one here because I think 2 days is enough for one trip. I would much rather spend another day in Stockholm for instance. One issue is that unless you have a Russian visa, you can't go out by yourself.

[oceanbound22]

3 + days !!!

[are wehavingfunyet]

We spent 3 days in St. Petersburg a few years ago as part of a river cruise. If I were to go again, I would plan to have a week there. We toured like mad and there were still so many things we missed in the city and the surrounding area. I, too, would have liked 3 days in the Hermitage alone. And by the way, it is not hard to get a Russian visa, just a little annoying.

[wripro]

As has been said three days is barely enough to scratch the surface in St. Petersburg. What I don't understand is why they scheduled three days on a seven day cruise and only two on a ten day cruise. Seems like it should be the other way around.

[pke-atlanta]

I agree with everyone re: 3 days. We did the Baltic cruise that only stopped for 2 days, and it was not enough. If your dates are flexible and you can do the longer trip, you might look for a longer cruise that has 3 days in St. Pete, so that it doesn't make up 50% of your vacation. But 2 days in St. Pete is not enough if you have any interest in seeing the city's sights.