St Petersburg metro

[arsenalboy]

We are on Celebrity cruise in May and doing a ships tour that includes a Metro ride. We have read that the metro can be a hotbed for pick pockets and the advice is that people stick together.

That has got me thinking. The tour will probably have circa 40 people on a Saturday afternoon. My experience is that metros around Europe, on a Saturday afternoon, you would be lucky to get on!

What are the logistics with a large number of people on a tour  in St Petersburg?

[dogs4fun]

25 minutes ago, arsenalboy said:

We are on Celebrity cruise in May and doing a ships tour that includes a Metro ride. We have read that the metro can be a hotbed for pick pockets and the advice is that people stick together.

That has got me thinking. The tour will probably have circa 40 people on a Saturday afternoon. My experience is that metros around Europe, on a Saturday afternoon, you would be lucky to get on!

What are the logistics with a large number of people on a tour  in St Petersburg?

Hard to say - 40 is a large group (why so many?). I frequently ride the metro in both St. Petersburg and Moscow - I never carry valuables in outside pockets or purse - they are stashed in a passport wallet worn inside my shirt/sweater. I have never been the victim of a pickpocket anywhere in Russia.

[arsenalboy]

5 minutes ago, dogs4fun said:

Hard to say - 40 is a large group (why so many?). I frequently ride the metro in both St. Petersburg and Moscow - I never carry valuables in outside pockets or purse - they are stashed in a passport wallet worn inside my shirt/sweater. I have never been the victim of a pickpocket anywhere in Russia.

The reason for circa 40 is that it will be a coach full of people if going by Celebrity past experience!

 

Not worried about security of valuables, hopefully wise to that.

 

Just thinking about logistics of large group on metro.

Edited February 17, 2019 by arsenalboy

[dogs4fun]

Just now, arsenalboy said:

The reason for circa 40 is that it will be a coach full of people if going by Celebrity past experience!

 

Not worried about security of valuables, hopefully wise to that.

Will there be more than one guide for a group this large? If so, perhaps the 40 can be accommodated in smaller groups? I am pretty sure that your guide(s) will take you to a subway station that will not be extraordinarily crowded during the planned subway visit (hopefully).

We never take the ship tours & most on these boards book tours through the independent tour operators in St. Petersburg (more comprehensive tours, small groups, more affordably priced) rather than through their cruise ship.

You might ask your question on the Celebrity forum as this is a tour particular to them.

[fabnfortysomething]

we have twice experienced metro ride as part of private tour of 6-7 people

our last experience was amazement that in peak rush hour the crowds were much less than in London tube

we took same precautions against pickpockets in both cities

ie valuables secured away beneath chothes 

[MeHeartCruising]

This is a good question.  I did a tour with a Metro ride when I was in St. Petersburg several years ago.  Our tour had about 30 people on it and I don't recall any issues whatsoever in our group staying together and all getting on the same train car.  I don't recall what time of day it was or what day of the week it was.  But I assume the chosen stations are planned based on them knowing that the group can be managed.  There was not a large number of people like I've experienced in other European or US metro stations and trains.  It certainly was not something that I recall as being challenging for the guide or the tour group in the slightest way.  Enjoy the trip.  

Edited February 18, 2019 by MeHeartCruising

[angie7911922]

We've only done the Metro by private tour. I can't imagine that it would be much fun trying to get 40 people on board. 

[dogs4fun]

During rush hour, some metro stations are crowded and some are not. An experienced guide should know which would be the best metro station to visit during rush hour.

[Lagerta]

I have seen large tour groups in St Petersburg metro. It is hard for me to imagine how their guides are herding them. I did a private tour of the metro as well, and we were 5 people, which was perfect. We enjoyed the experience. I hope you have more than one guide for that. I would probably say that here you will pretty much have to look after yourself: make sure that you are on and off the train together with the group and always keep your guide in sight!

[dogs4fun]

2 hours ago, Lagerta said:

I have seen large tour groups in St Petersburg metro. It is hard for me to imagine how their guides are herding them. I hope you have more than one guide for that. I would probably say that here you will pretty much have to look after yourself: make sure that you are on and off the train together with the group and always keep your guide in sight!

My thoughts also.

[northernrose]

We want to included a metro journey in our private tour.

[Lagerta]

On 2/19/2019 at 12:34 AM, northernrose said:

We want to included a metro journey in our private tour.

If you are just a small group and go on a private tour, that's a cool idea. You will get to see lots of locals, and this is something you never see in museums. The stations are just fantastic, especially some of them. If your guide tell you a few "metro stories", that's great, there are some interesting facts. Enjoy!

[dabear]

We road on the metro as part of our Alla group tour of 16 pax. The stations were not crowded, appeared safe and were quite interesting with art and sculptures. On thing is that the trains stops are relatively quick so you must enter or exit quickly. Also subways much deeper than in London or Chicago.

 

[mskaufman]

Here are some photos from our tour that included a metro ride, although there were closer to 20 of us than 40.  It was mid week and mid morning.

 

 

[northernrose]

Thanks for posting the pictures.

[dogs4fun]

The middle of the above photos is the Admiralteyskaya station (located next the Admiralty) - it is the deepest in the city. If you have a choice of which stations to visit, I recommend the Avtovo station (M1 line) - it is, IMHO, the most beautiful of the metro stations in the city. The ornamental Lomonosov glass columns, marble & beautiful chandeliers remind me of a place - even the ventilation grills are a work of art.

 

 

[lynncarol]

My parents, husband and I did a private tour with Alla many years ago. We really enjoyed the subway stations which were beautiful and we took the longest escalator ever to leave. I was so impressed with how polite the locals were: Several jumped up to offer my elderly mother a seat as soon as she boarded.

A funny story: at that time it was 'forbidden' to take photos of the stations as they apparently also served as bomb shelters.  Our dinner companions used a ship tour which included the subway and apparently one of their group took photos anyway. They were immediately pounced on by station guards who confiscated the camera and subjected the entire group to a prolonged stern lecture.

[dogs4fun]

2 minutes ago, lynncarol said:

A funny story: at that time it was 'forbidden' to take photos of the stations as they apparently also served as bomb shelters.  Our dinner companions used a ship tour which included the subway and apparently one of their group took photos anyway. They were immediately pounced on by station guards who confiscated the camera and subjected the entire group to a prolonged stern lecture.

It is still forbidden (although seldom enforced) to take photos/videos using a flash (without prior authorization).  If you are not using flash, you will be fine. Rules for metro here:

http://www.metro.spb.ru/en/rulez.html

[northernrose]

Did you feel safe in the metro?

[dogs4fun]

25 minutes ago, northernrose said:

Did you feel safe in the metro?

I feel safe using the St. Petersburg metro - certainly as safe as I feel using any of the many metro systems I have used (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Paris, Rome, Budapest, NYC, Sydney, Vienna, Munich, Berlin, Prague, Tokyo, Warsaw, Lisbon, Madrid, Barcelona, London, Istanbul, etc.). Of course, I guard my valuables against pickpockets as this is always an issue when utilizing public transportation in any city.

Is there a reason that you asked this question? Any particular fear(s) that you have?

[napoxoguk]

58 minutes ago, northernrose said:

Did you feel safe in the metro?

In both Moscow and SPB metro I feel much, much safer than during off-peak hours in DC or New York subway. Their system there is a lot more efficient, too. 

Edited February 21, 2019 by napoxoguk