St Petersburg totally independent,self guided?

[Pet Nit Noy]

We booked private tours....WAY less than the ships tours, and we could design them how WE wanted....yes we had to send our passports to San Francisco for visas, but that was easy and quick...either way you are paying for a visa...privately or in the ships expensive tour....We spent 3 days with the same tour guide and driver and it was fabulous!!

 

Based on what is posted and what I know about visiting St. Petersburg, it appears that the guide Caripoo hired was not able to provide the government issued No Visa (AKA Tour Ticket -- AKA Visa Free) access. The major tour providers (Alla, TJ, Best Guides, SPB, White Night Travel, etc) all can provide No Visa entry to St Petersburg as long as we visitors are willing to stick with our guides.

 

Some free lance guides are licensed to get visitors into the buildings/museums, but cannot obtain the Visa Free entry. Such free lance guides may have private arrangements with the major tour providers so the major gets the entry tour ticket, but the free lancer accompanies the cruisers.

 

I hope Caripoo will clarify his/her situation because he/she could have wandered alone and at will as the holder of a full up visa. Did Caripoo's tour guide require/suggest a full up visa? What is contained in post #54 needs clarification.

[DipBrat]

We booked private tours....WAY less than the ships tours, and we could design them how WE wanted....yes we had to send our passports to San Francisco for visas, but that was easy and quick...either way you are paying for a visa...privately or in the ships expensive tour....We spent 3 days with the same tour guide and driver and it was fabulous!!

 

You can do a private tour without a visa. They need to have a specific your operator license but there isn't a visa fee. In your case if you had a visa you didn't need a tour at all. That said if your company wasn't able to provide this visa free access I am sure they charged way less. The current rates are outrageous considering how far the rouble has fallen and tour prices have stayed the same.

[TravelingAPor]

Does anyone know how it works if you book a half day tour in the morning, for example, and then want to explore on your own in the second half of the day? Is the visa that the tour company gets for you only good for the duration of the tour? Does the tour company escort you back to the ship and ensure you board or are you free to explore?

The tour company escorts you back to the ship. They don't leave you near the places of interest. I guess you can roam around the souvenir shops and the dock.