Viking tours in St. Petersburg vs hiring private tour guide

[Lkclark]

we will be in St Petersburg for four nights as part of a Viking Rivers of the Tsars riverboat tour. Has anyone skipped use of the Viking tours and used private tour companies instead? Friends of ours on a Princess cruise recently did this in St. Pete and felt they got to see much more than the cruise line tours. If you did skip the Viking tours and used a private company are there any details we should be aware of? Name of company? We will be getting visas for Russia already.

[wheezedr]

Since you will already have Russian visas you have flexibility. I would Suggest you visit the scandinavia and Russia board under the Europe ports of calls as lots of different tour operators are mentioned there.

[SuiteTraveler]

Here's the link for the Russia board:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=192

[philw1776]

We used TJ Tours when in St Pete recently (June) on Viking Ocean. They were fantastic. Good communicators via email pre trip. You pay AFTER tour is complete preferably with your no bank fee credit card. Checked my charges and they were accurate to the penny. They prefer you tip your driver and guide in new US dollar bills. Could not be easier and the tour was fantastic. Much less expensive than thru the ship, plus no way could you see as much. Early access to the Hermitage, etc. Wife did evening Swan Lake ballet via TJ.