St Petersburg Excursions

[Sumdumgi]

I’ve seen lots of discussion around trips and the merits of Tui and other guides, my question is a little different. I don’t really want to sign up for a 2 day extravaganza, it looks a little too much. Alternatively I don’t want to do one 3 hour trip and spend most of the day on the ship. Is it possible to do two shorter trips in one day ?  Are they timed so this is practical ? It’s mainly the second day that this applies (22/6 sailing). We would like to visit the Church of the Spilled Blood. Only one Tui trip includes this on the second day.

[ormy]

We used Alla Tours, they have various options, if you email them they will be able to sort something out for you. We did the 2 day Grand Tour and managed to see just about everything - its was quite magnificent.  a small group in a lovely minibus and lunch both days.  We are in our 70's, but did not find it too bad, would certainly love to do it all again someday. 

[Essexlass2]

On 4/7/2019 at 7:15 PM, ormy said:

We used Alla Tours, they have various options, if you email them they will be able to sort something out for you. We did the 2 day Grand Tour and managed to see just about everything - its was quite magnificent.  a small group in a lovely minibus and lunch both days.  We are in our 70's, but did not find it too bad, would certainly love to do it all again someday. 

We are also in our 70s and had a wonderful 2 days with Alla Tours, saw everything and loved it all.  We didn't find it too much.  Go for it, you may not be there ever again!  

[ksztanko]

I am wondering the same thing, I am thinking about doing a river cruise and Peterhof on the second day but don't know if you can manage two. It is a shame TUI don't give you information about timings. I've looked at Alla but am reluctant to commit to doing everything with them, possibly including the ballet. Can anyone give us information on timing of excursions and the possibility of combining them with TUI?

 

[ormy]

Just bite the bullet and do the 2 day Grand Tour with Alla. There is so much to see in St Petersburg and I assure you that you will be sorry if you miss it. We heard that the evening ballet/opera was of a poor standard,  just aimed for the tourists.

[brian1]

13 hours ago, ormy said:

Just bite the bullet and do the 2 day Grand Tour with Alla. There is so much to see in St Petersburg and I assure you that you will be sorry if you miss it. We heard that the evening ballet/opera was of a poor standard,  just aimed for the tourists.

I agree,we did the 2 day tour and that was enough.Guys that went out in the evening were absolutely shattered the next day.It was quite hectic apparently,rushing off bus,getting ready and off out again.

[angie7911922]

Contact an independent tour operator. We used Anastasia's Travel, and that worked well for us. If you do a private tour, you will be able to pick where and when you want to go. You can do all day tours, or partial day tours, or mix and match. This is definitely the way to go! We had a great time and would do it again!

[ksztanko]

Ok, have been in touch with Alla Tours and after a lot of indecision have decided to go for the 2 day Must See group Tour as it is a little more relaxed than the Grand Tour. Also decided not to bother with an evening excursion as we don't want to tire ourselves out. Thanks for all your help here.

[Daftiedog]

On 4/23/2019 at 8:25 PM, ksztanko said:

Ok, have been in touch with Alla Tours and after a lot of indecision have decided to go for the 2 day Must See group Tour as it is a little more relaxed than the Grand Tour. Also decided not to bother with an evening excursion as we don't want to tire ourselves out. Thanks for all your help here.

You will love it!!  We did it last year and so pleased we did.  Small mini bus appears from nowhere and it covers so much.  2 lovely meals and saw all must see sights with no queues!!  Fabulous, cannot praise Alla tours enough tbh.  Would do again.

[ollienbertsmum]

On 4/23/2019 at 9:25 PM, ksztanko said:

Ok, have been in touch with Alla Tours and after a lot of indecision have decided to go for the 2 day Must See group Tour as it is a little more relaxed than the Grand Tour. Also decided not to bother with an evening excursion as we don't want to tire ourselves out. Thanks for all your help here.

 

I would agree that Alla Tours are great.  I arranged a private tour for 16 with her.  It worked well.  A couple of us went to the ballet in the evening with them.  We were not particularly tired.  Not the best ballet I have been to.  We got better seats than our companions who, last minute, decided to do the ballet through the ship tour.   We went in our own car.  It was no more tiring than going to a show on the ship to be honest.  It was the first time I have experienced white nights so that was lovely.  

 

One advantage of spending two days with the same guide was that she knew what we had already seen.  We did not get the standard St P story at the start of each excursion.  She also knew what we liked and did not like.  

 

The only criticism my picky family had was of the food on the first day!  I had worked with Alla to have a meal in a typical restaurant.   It was a bit too ‘Russian’ for them.  Now all of the teenagers have grown I think they would appreciate why we did not go to the nearest fast food joint.  I still have good memories of the borscht.  

 

There is so much to see in St Petersburg.  I have fond memories of a beautiful city.  

[4Mast]

We used SPB and did a two day tour. It was very good.  We did not find it tiring at all.