St Petersburg tour

[mantylaiikka]

Nina was our tour guide in St. Petersburg. She is personable, speaks good English and has excellent knowledge of Russia history, with a good sense of humor too. We really enjoyed the time we spent there with Nina. In addition to the popular tourist destinations, she took us to the local markets, the subway and local fast food eateries which gave us a glimpse of locals' daily life. I have recommended Nina to my friends who will be in SP this coming May. If I go back to St. Petersburg again, I will definitely ask for Nina to be our guide.

 

Hello everyone! Southofnorth, deep purple, we are planning our cruise 5-6-7 July 2017 and we would like to join a small group with Tzarina tours. Can they provide the evening program? Advice, please

[RedVelvetEverytime]

Hello everyone! Southofnorth, deep purple, we are planning our cruise 5-6-7 July 2017 and we would like to join a small group with Tzarina tours. Can they provide the evening program? Advice, please

 

Hi, yes Tzarina Tours can and do provide evening programs. What I would recommend you do is contact her and say what you would like to do and she will organise it to exactly the way you want! Hope you have a great time!!

[spbstan]

A few of these posts sound very suspicious as not coming from visitors, just as some others promoting the same established companies day after day for years not only sound but ARE suspect. It is instructive in web promotion by looking at the posting history of some with thousands of posts, it is curious how 90% of the thousands of posts are hyping a particular company. It does not makes sense when someone has only visited once, and claims dozens of cruises, and 90% of posts are promoting one particular business and defending it when anyone questions the company.

Real visitors write about their experiences of the city and cruise, not some provider they have direct contact with for mere seconds while their credit card is being charged. It makes as much sense for a restaurant review that focused entirely on the cashier being so nice, a great value and was responsible for the wonderful meal. If they mention the owner more than their experience it is surely a fake review.

[Lanzy]

Hello, we are planning a customized 2 day tour. We will not do the Catherine Palace. We would like to see both the Winter Palace and the building with the Impressionist paintings. Does it make sense to do this in 2 different days so as to reduce museum time on 1 day? I know the early ticket does not include entry to the Impressionist section. Thanks for any tips

We are booking through Best Guides. They said they had 3 1/2 hours scheduled for the Hermitage and could easily take us to the Impressionist section which is across the street.

[Host Walt]

COMPOSERS CEMETERY in St. Petersburg

 

While it may seem a bit spooky, if you are into the classical Russian composers, a visit to the Tikhvin cemetary at 179 Nevsky Prospekt (see link http://www.saint-petersburg.com/cemeteries/cemetery-and-tombs-of-the-alexander-nevsky-monastery/) is worthwhile. Borodin, Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky and many others are buried here and the headstones are works of art and the cemetery is very well maintained.

[mtwins]

Our family of 4 toured with Nina for two full days and shewas fabulous! We visited the Hermitage,Peterhof Palace, Catherine’s Palace, Spilt Blood Cathedral, St Peter and Paul’sCathedral, St Isaac’s Cathedral, as well as attending a ballet in theevening! Nina also took us to veryauthentic restaurants to experience delicious Russian cuisine. She was flexible in accommodating ourrequests and specific interests. Nina was extremely knowledgeable about notonly the historic sites but also the current politics and Russian culture ingeneral. She was tireless and so muchfun to be with. She had incredible storiesand insights that made each place we visited come to life. Nina is an outstanding tour guide andsurpassed our greatest expectations. Ionly wish we could have been with her longer than the 2 days we were in StPetersburg. Do not hesitate – book withher right away. Nina is GREAT!!

[jacksonsmom]

We used Tzarina tours with Nina Kazarina and we were very happy.  We were three generations of women (75, 55, and 21) and Nina kept everything fun and interesting for all of us.  Thank you, Nina!

[Marselpo90]

On 5/26/2019 at 5:19 PM, jacksonsmom said:

We used Tzarina tours with Nina Kazarina and we were very happy.  We were three generations of women (75, 55, and 21) and Nina kept everything fun and interesting for all of us.  Thank you, Nina! 

 

I was glad we chose this tour for our 2 day cruise excursion in St Petergsburg with "BienvenidoSPB Tours". It saved us the trouble of getting a visa! The tour guide Sophia & driver Igor were exceptional! Sophia was very knowledgable, sweet and caring. My entire family really enjoyed her as our tour guide. We learned so much from her and I appreciated her honesty whenever she told us to be cautious of pickpocketing in certain areas. Ignor our driver was also very nice and sweet. He made sure we were safe and always offered us water and wifi.

We didn't expect much about St. Petersburg, but it exceeded our expectations. The history was so rich, the sites were so beautiful, the food we tried were very delicious.

P.S - We all enjoyed the tour at Avtovo Subway Station (the most beautiful station in St. Petersburg) & the subway ride. That was one of our highlights.

[TravelingAPor]

Yes, a visit to St. Petersburg is fantastic.  Any tour company you use, will save you from getting your own Visa.

[Marselpo90]

as I understand it, the travel company must be registered as a tour operator, otherwise it will not be able to issue visas.

[TravelingAPor]

18 minutes ago, Marselpo90 said:

as I understand it, the travel company must be registered as a tour operator, otherwise it will not be able to issue visas.

All the large, good  & top tour companies are registered.

[dogs4fun]

2 hours ago, Marselpo90 said:

as I understand it, the travel company must be registered as a tour operator, otherwise it will not be able to issue visas.

Correct - they must be registered with the Russian Federation.

2 hours ago, TravelingAPor said:

All the large, good  & top tour companies are registered.

Right 

[Aus Traveller]

On 5/28/2019 at 8:39 PM, Marselpo90 said:

as I understand it, the travel company must be registered as a tour operator, otherwise it will not be able to issue visas.

The tour companies cannot issue visas. 🙂When visitors book through a tour operator they have to supply details. Their booking with the tour company stands in place of a visa.

[dogs4fun]

20 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

The tour companies cannot issue visas. 🙂When visitors book through a tour operator they have to supply details. Their booking with the tour company stands in place of a visa.

Yes, to be precise, the only entity that can issue a Russian Visa is the Russian Consulate (one has to apply to obtain a proper Russian visa). For many, this process is expensive, time consuming and confusing (although completely doable if one desires to DIY in Russia - my Russian visa has a 3 year validity).

The tour ticket supplied by a registered tour company (or cruise ship tour) along with a valid passport entitles one to visa free touring (provided you arrive by cruise ship, your stay does not exceed 72 hours & you are accompanied by the licensed guide).

There is also the ferry option (St. Petersline) wherein one is allowed visa free touring.

After your booking is complete (one must provide their passport data), all you need to clear immigration at the port is your valid passport and your tour ticket. Most of the independent companies & cruise tours refer to these tour tickets as "blanket visas" or a visa waivers" (although there are, in actuality, no such animals).

So, to be clear ... if one books with a licensed tour operator, one does NOT need to obtain a Russian visa.

Edited May 29, 2019 by dogs4fun

[MerylDavid]

We have booked Alla Tours 2 day St Petersburg excellent customer services and recommended to us by friends.

[RubyP1981]

We also used Alla Tours in St. Petersburg and Yulia, our guide, was outstanding

 

[snowgreg]

On 12/19/2016 at 4:37 PM, ICEmeister said:

Has anyone used Tzarina Tours for St. Petersburg?

We recently visited St. Petersburg with another couple and booked private tours through Tzarina tours (w/ Nina).  We did 2 days with her and her husband Valentine.  A comfortable van was provided with a great driver (Sergei) who was very professional and made us feel safe to just watch the sights and not worry about traffic, cars, etc.  Valentine took over 500 photos and videos of us enjoying all the sights and shared them with us via WhatsApp.  Nina was a wonderful guide, spoke very good English and was extremely knowledgable.  We customize the tour and she brought us to every place that we requested with her in advance.

 

Very soon into the first day, it felt more like we were hanging out with our Russian friends than a private tour / excursion.

 

Her tour was less money than the ship's tours and I'm guessing our experience was way better seeing as how we got a tour with just our group instead of being lumped with many other groups.  The advantage of the small group was obvious the first day at the Hermitage when we were able to scoot in front of a larger tour group at the group entrance because they were still assembling and preparing to enter.

 

I wouldn't hesitate to book another tour with Tzarina Tours on any future visits to St. Petersburg.

[Kate P.C]

We used Anastasia Travel and had an amazing  time. A customized tour, 8 of us, super organized and very knowledgeable guide.

[JoshGL]

I'll keep this short and sweet.  Nina and Valentin with Tzarina Tours were beyond compare!  They personalized the touring to what we wanted to see and were beyond a pleasure to travel with.  They took tons of amazing photos of our group and sent them all to us.  It was worth every single penny.  Professional, prompt, and extremely accommodating.  They met us at our cruise terminal as they said and kept in communication with us until we met and throughout.  An amazing tour of St. Petersburg and surrounding areas. 

[catz0026]

really liked all the great information for the SPB tours.  Its difficult for us first timers to make a good decision and all of your reviews really helped!

[trosebery]

I just noticed that this old thread got bumped, so I'll add a link to this fairly current thread started at the end of last season (now stickied to the top of this forum):

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2696545-master-thread-of-st-petersburg-advice-and-recommendations-from-cruisers-whove-been/

 

Especially if you're wanting a private tour, I recommend compiling a list of several companies that appeal to you, from recommendations here and on TripAdvisor, and emailing each of them to see which is the best fit for you. (This is how I wound up touring with Red Sun Tours on our last trip. They happened to be the best fit for us, but your preferences may vary.)

 

Be cautious of selecting a company simply because they offer tours in other ports at a discount. This is how we toured the first time around, partly because I hadn't realized how easy it was to tour on your own in many of the ports, and we felt a little too constrained. The next time around, I planned for each port independently (public transit is with Google Maps is easy!).

 

But it's difficult to make a bad choice in St. Petersburg. I haven't met anyone personally who didn't enjoy their visit!