"off the beaten path" tours in St. Petersburg

[cricket200]

Hi,

We will be in port in July and as neither my husband or I are big palace people I have been looking at the "Off the beaten path tours"  I would be interested in what others thought of these tours? I realize that these will have to be private tours.

[dogs4fun]

42 minutes ago, cricket200 said:

Hi,

We will be in port in July and as neither my husband or I are big palace people I have been looking at the "Off the beaten path tours"  I would be interested in what others thought of these tours? I realize that these will have to be private tours.

Although I have never used this company, I just took a peek at their website. One cautionary note: make certain that these tours provide VISA FREE TOURS. In other words, are they a licensed tour operator in St.P? If not, you would need to obtain your own Russian visa (unless you are a citizen of a country that does not require a visa to visit Russia).

FWIW - I have visited Russia multiple times (a few times via cruise ship). I have a valid Russian visa & usually fly into Pulkovo. I am a big Dostoevsky fan and have availed myself of Dostoevsky walking tours & visited his home/museum. Done many things that most visitors never do simply because my visits last 1 to 2 weeks and I visit yearly (have friends in the city). St. Petersburg is a world class city and, like other such cities, there is an array of things to do & sights to see that will appeal to almost any taste.

[cricket200]

The "off the beaten path" tour I was referring to was with TJ travel and the other one was with Best Guides.

[dogs4fun]

50 minutes ago, cricket200 said:

The "off the beaten path" tour I was referring to was with TJ travel and the other one was with Best Guides.

Ah - that makes sense. Although I have no experience with either, both of of these companies receive excellent reviews and will provide visa free touring. Of the 2 choices, Best Guides seems to have more options for designing a completely unique itinerary. Hopefully, someone with experience booking "off the beaten path" tours with these companies will chime-in with their experiences.

Some thoughts:

Cottage Palace - very unique & not at all what one would expect of a palace or cottage. It is my favorite when visiting Peterhof.

Novgorod - very interesting and old historic city. We spent 2 days here visiting the Kremlin and the Vitoslavlitsy Open Air Museum. Note: we drove (drive time from St. Petersburg was about 3 hours). If you choose this option, it will definitely 'eat' one of your days in port.

The Imperial Porcelain Museum is incredible - I see that Best Guides also offers the option of attending a class in porcelain painting (I have not attended any classes so can't speak to that).

Hermitage Storage Facility - Staraya Derevny -

(greatly enjoyed my private tour here - unique collections rarely seen by the public include royal carriages, antique furniture, etc.)

Lots of opportunities to visit flea markets, farmer's markets, shop where the locals shop, walk in parks,  

Below are some venues that are rarely packed with tourists and, therefore, more likely to fit into your desire for freedom to see what you wish, when you wish. Your tour guide should be able to arrange a visit to any in which you express an interest.

Full disclosure – I am not an “art” person – I am much more of a history buff (particularly ancient Greece and Rome of which Saint Petersburg has none). I love music and literature and Russia is an absolute delight in both of these areas. I am also very interested in the history of Peter the Great (and the Russian Imperialists all the way down through the Russian Revolution & find the history of the siege of Leningrad fascinating. So bear this in mind when I recommend a venue.

Art:

State Russian Museum – the main collection is housed in Mikhailovsky Palace and contains a vast collection of Russian visual art from 10^th century Byzantine icon-painting to avant-garde of the early 20^th century. IMHO, excellent.

Erarta, contemporary art museum – large collection of contemporary art (not my bag –did a quick run-through and will, most likely, never return)

Academy of Fine Arts Museum – personally, I did not find the academy worthwhile – contains mostly works done by students and professors from the Academy (usually there also is a temporary exhibition in the summer for an additional price).

Museum of Modern Art – Russian art from the 50’s onward (again, not my interest, it was not a visit I found particularly enjoyable.

Porcelain Museum - Part of the Imperial Porcelain Factory which can include a tour of the factory workshops. Gorgeous, small collection containing some of their finest creations of the past 250 years – fantastic!

 

Music/Theater:

Museum of Theatrical and Musical Art - former Imperial Theater contains costumes, set designs, playbills and other artifacts connected to some of the greatest names of Russian ballet and drama. Interesting for music/drama fans.

Rimsky-Korsakov Apartment Museum – huge fan of this Russian classical composer & enjoyed my visit. The apartment rooms also contain his grand piano played upon by such notables as Stravinsky, Rachmaninov & Scriabin.

Museum of Music at Sheremetev Palace – the state rooms in this fascinating palace are, alone, worth the visit and the palace has a rich and interesting history. Now contains a vast collection of historical musical instruments. Highly recommend for music lovers.

 

Literature:

Dostoevsky Museum – huge fan of Dostoevsky and enjoyed my visits immensely (have taken friends here as well).  It is a reconstruction of the Dostoevsky apartment (he returned here and lived until his death) including many of his belongings. Also contains items devoted to Dostoevsky's literary life.

Pushkin museum – poet’s apartment.

 

History:

Cabin of Peter the Great – small wooden cabin where Peter lived from 1703-08 while supervising the construction of his Imperial City. It is filled with Peter's original belongings. Very interesting!

Siege of Leningrad Museum – chronicles the 900 day siege.

Dostoevsky Museum – huge fan of Dostoevsky and enjoyed my visits immensely (have taken friends here as well).  It is a reconstruction of the Dostoevsky (he returned here and lived until his death) home  Contains items devoted to Dostoevsky's literary life.

Ivan P. Pavlov Apartment Museum – anyone who had studied general psych knows this name. Interesting for a quick visit.

Other:

Eliseyev Emporium – Beautiful Art Nouveau building on Nevsky containing an elaborate food hall.

Suburban estates: Pavlovsk & Cottage palace in Alexandria are not nearly as crowded as Peterhof Grand/Catherine palaces.

Edited January 13, 2019 by dogs4fun

[cricket200]

Thank you Dogs4fun for taking the time to provide such a detailed answer! The planning for me is such an important part of my vacation and your response is really great. More reading and planning required 🙂

[dogs4fun]

2 minutes ago, cricket200 said:

Thank you Dogs4fun for taking the time to provide such a detailed answer! The planning for me is such an important part of my vacation and your response is really great. More reading and planning required 🙂

Happy to assist. If you are interested in political history, you may enjoy a tour of the Lenin Memorial Museum (Smolny Institute) – you can visit Lenin’s office and living quarters. It was from the main hall that the October Revolution was proclaimed in 1917. There is so much to see in the city and surrounding area that it is mind boggling.

[angie7911922]

I am not familiar with those two companies, as we used Anastasia's Travel. But I can help with this - if you take a private tour, you can usually customize it for yourselves. With a few emails back and forth with the travel company you choose, you should be able to see the things you want to see, whether they are on any of the agenda's or not. 

We visited the Peter and Paul Fortress and the Museum of Tortures in it. It was a bit much if you are squeamish, but it was also really cool. It had so many of the torture devices from middle ages. But there was also the Museum of Cosmonauts and Rocket Technology, and several other museums as well. Time well spent!

 

[cricket200]

2 hours ago, angie7911922 said:

I am not familiar with those two companies, as we used Anastasia's Travel. But I can help with this - if you take a private tour, you can usually customize it for yourselves. With a few emails back and forth with the travel company you choose, you should be able to see the things you want to see, whether they are on any of the agenda's or not. 

We visited the Peter and Paul Fortress and the Museum of Tortures in it. It was a bit much if you are squeamish, but it was also really cool. It had so many of the torture devices from middle ages. But there was also the Museum of Cosmonauts and Rocket Technology, and several other museums as well. Time well spent!

 

 

Thanks - did you do a 2 day private tour with Anastasia's travel? How long did you spend at the Peter and Paul Fortress?

[phxbne]

We did a 3 day private tour with TJ a few years ago and included a couple of 'off the beaten' path/non-museum/palace elements. We picked matroshkya doll painting, a subway ride, canal cruise, walking around Nevsky Prospekt and supermarket visit. I just looked and what we did is pretty much  now '3 day children itinerary' with some add-ons. As someone else said, you should be able to pick and choose across elements if it is private.

Neither my then 10 year old or my parents are much into art galleries, so we spent I think an hour at the Hermitage......it was so crowded we were all happy to leave.

Have a great time - all of us left wanting to go back!

[cricket200]

6 hours ago, phxbne said:

We did a 3 day private tour with TJ a few years ago and included a couple of 'off the beaten' path/non-museum/palace elements. We picked matroshkya doll painting, a subway ride, canal cruise, walking around Nevsky Prospekt and supermarket visit. I just looked and what we did is pretty much  now '3 day children itinerary' with some add-ons. As someone else said, you should be able to pick and choose across elements if it is private.

Neither my then 10 year old or my parents are much into art galleries, so we spent I think an hour at the Hermitage......it was so crowded we were all happy to leave.

Have a great time - all of us left wanting to go back!

Thanks! Looking forward to seeing the sights! I know I can't avoid all the crowds but we can try 🙂

 

[Lagerta]

The tour off the beaten track really depends on your own interests. I believe every independent tour operator can put together a tour that will include the venues you want to see. Just contact some of them and tell them what you prefer, if not palaces. There are lots of great things to visit, such as Kunstkamera (the first ever museum in Russia), Aurora warship (the one which started the Russian revolution) or the Railway museum (with little train models). It is hard to make suggestions without knowing your interests, so the tour companies you contact will do it better. Happy planning!

[Lagerta]

3 hours ago, Sea,Sun&Sail said:

Could you give me more detailed info on the  Railway museum. I got an itinerary from Best Guides, which includes this museum, but they insist it will be real trains, not the models.

 

Check here. Seems like they are models. https://rzd-museum.ru/en

There is also a Metro museum, and it seems like they have real trains. Hoowever, I could not find a website in English.

[dogs4fun]

3 hours ago, Sea,Sun&Sail said:

Could you give me more detailed info on the  Railway museum. I got an itinerary from Best Guides, which includes this museum, but they insist it will be real trains, not the models.

 

The Railway Museum (located next to Baltiyskiy Station) houses a large collection including old steam engines, coaches, uniforms and a host of other train memorabilia that will interest train buffs. There are also HO models. 

So, you can see both real trains and models. Website here: https://rzd-museum.ru/en

and, take a virtual tour here: https://rzd-museum.ru/en/expositions

The Grand Maket (referenced in the post above) in not a rail museum - it is a HO scale model of the Russian Federation - really cool but not really for true railway buffs.

 

 

 

[Lagerta]

1 minute ago, dogs4fun said:

The Grand Maket (referenced in the post above) in not a rail museum - it is a HO scale model of the Russian Federation - really cool but not really for true railway buffs.

 

 

 

For model lovers there is also Petersburg Aquatoria, which is an interactive model of St Petersburg of 18th century. Not about trains at all, but have moving carriages and funny characters http://peteraqua.ru/en/ This is just another "off the beaten track" option.

[Tikki1946]

On 1/13/2019 at 5:01 PM, cricket200 said:

Hi,

We will be in port in July and as neither my husband or I are big palace people I have been looking at the "Off the beaten path tours"  I would be interested in what others thought of these tours? I realize that these will have to be private tours.

Hi. We also wanted to book a tour what includes some places of “off the beaten path”. We finally booked with Red Sun Tours. It was the best offer and they are very helpful.  We included a tour to Kronstadt and Erarta museum of the Contemporary Art. 

[wing]

I think for the first visit you may do sights what are must-do's - the hermitage museum, Peterhof gardens with fountains, the Spilled Blood cathedral. And you may include 1-2  less touristic places. It might be a good combination. 

We did similar thing last year with Red Sun Tours. On the first day we had a city tour, then we visited the hermitage museum, after that we drove to Peterhof gardens. On the second day we had a tour of old beautiful metro stations, then Pushkin apartment museum  about 1 hour, Dostoevsky museum about 45 minutes, farmer's market and Spilled Blood cathedral. At 4.30 we were back at the ship. It was excellent timing; we had a fantastic tour.

Edited February 15, 2019 by wing