What makes independent tour operator better/worth it in St. Petersburg?

[angie7911922]

Hi, I just saw it! And of course I will add to it. Let me just write it all up and I will post it in the next few days! 

This is such a good idea!! 

[catz0026]

Has anyone taken the Alla Grand tour 2 day in St Petersburg?  If so, would love to hear what you liked/ didn't like with this tour.  And your opinion as to how intensive the walking, stairs were for the day? Any info/tips  would be greatly appreciated.

[dogs4fun]

1 hour ago, catz0026 said:

Has anyone taken the Alla Grand tour 2 day in St Petersburg?  If so, would love to hear what you liked/ didn't like with this tour.  And your opinion as to how intensive the walking, stairs were for the day? Any info/tips  would be greatly appreciated.

I answered this question on your other post but will copy it again here;

Excellent choice - I believe that you will love the Grand Tour. We enjoyed Alla's Grand Tour - it is fantastic and offered a wonderful overview of the major sights in Saint Petersburg (we returned the following year with a visa)! The tour is well balanced in that there are times of rest between sights when traveling from one venue to another (especially the suburban estates at Pushkin & Peterhof). As I recall, the most steps that you would encounter on the Grand Tour are found in the Hermitage - the Grand Staircase (gorgeous). If you currently walk 10-12,000 steps you will have no problem with the Grand Tour. We are booked again for 2021 on the Reflection (going with friends) and have again booked the Grand Tour with Alla. Our friends want to see as much as possible & maximize their time in port, just like we did on our first visit.

Regarding the lunches, the lunch at the Metropole was absolutely fabulous. The boxed lunch consisted of sandwiches, drink, snacks (can't remember everything in the boxed lunch) - it was filling & allowed us more time for sightseeing as we consumed our lunches enroute to the Catherine Palace. We also took some snacks & extra water packed in our daypacks.The packed lunch is certainly not up to the standards of the restaurants that Alla utilizes but we wanted to maximize our time in the city so the boxed lunch was a great option for us. Alla's other options all offer restaurant lunches on all days - just be aware that the restaurant lunches will consume over an hour of your valuable time. 😎

If you email Alla, she will tell you exactly how many steps are covered at each venue on the tour.