child friendly excursions in st.pete

[sharnia]

hi,

can anyone help:confused:

We have been looking at the tours for st.pete and most of them seem quite long.

We have a six year old daughter, who i think will get fed up.

Is there anything that kids would enjoy looking at?

Any advice would be apriciated.

thanks

[Andee]

I would recommend Peterhof--the gardens are beautiful, and have lots of room to run. There are several "magic" fountains, which turn on at unexpected moments. if the weather is warm, bring your daughter's swimsuit (or a change of clothes) and she can play in them.

http://www.peterhof.org

[sharnia]

thanks i'll give it a try

[Boo's Mom]

Sharnia....

Just home from the Baltic cruise on the Constellation.

Two children, ages 10 and 13.

Probably the favorite thing they did was having lunch with the Russian Family, which was an option with Denrus.

 

Your daughter seems a bit young.

Don't forget the option of leaving her with the children's program onboard.

 

We sailed with some folks who did that with their 10 year old...while touring in Berlin. It worked out best for parents & child.

[tclowe]

Maybe shopping at the outdoor stalls near the Church of Spilled Blood. She can pick out a favorite nesting doll and buy a few for her friends. Or those cute lacquer boxes.

 

Or lunch eating Blinis and she can pick her fillings for the Blinis.

 

St. Petersburg is a hard place to find things that your child will enjoy without hogging up time for the adults to visit those wonderful sights to palaces, museums, and etc. The Peterhof fountains and maybe the hydrofoil ride are good options.

 

There are a lot more to do in Stockholm and Copenhagen for younger kids that adults can enjoy and not feel like you are sacrificing sightseeing time for adults.

 

We are going next month on the Star Princess with my 2 year old daughter and 7 year old son.

 

Happy Planning.

[msraye]

Peterhof will take an extrememly dim view of your child swimming in the fountains. Not a good idea. I can't imagine taking a chikd around St Petersburg to sightsee--especially in the heat wave they are experiencing--don't expect AC as we are accustomed to. Better, why not try to take her to an evening ballet? and leave her with the children's program on the ship?

[Andee]

I didn't suggest that the child swim "in" the fountains--the fountain right outside of Mon Plaisir is a large section of flat stones that people walk on, and the fountain goes off at unexpected moments, getting the people wet. (There's someone sitting on a bench nearby working a foot control). The kids seemed to love it, but I wouldn't want the OP's child to have to spend the day in wet clothes--or not be able to join in the fun.

[tclowe]

I would suggest that OP NOT leave her daughter with the ship's kids program. OP's daughter is only 6 years old. You brought her along to experience Northern Europe. She can play at the kids zone on sea days. Besides, you always will worry about any emergency that may come up and you are 1 or 2 hours away from the ship.

 

I think the ideal for St. Petersburg really is a custom tour where you can plan exactly what would interest your daughter and the adults. My 7 year old son is not fond of paintings but enjoy looking at the gorgeous furniture and colors of each room of any palaces that we have took him to (like Versailles in Paris, Imperial Palace in Istanbul, and Emperor's Palace in Kyoto). He loved shopping for interesting toys (our first trip to Russia, he was 3 years old and we bought him a set of nesting dolls and some old Russian Military pins. He played with them for hours during our cruise). At many countries, we also visited the local post office and bought stamps that my son (and my husband) picked out. Sometimes we took ice cream or one piece candy breaks. I think young children are easier to accommodate. The only complaint they give off are - Are we there yet?! Versus older children whine and complain about everything from the food, the venue, and how bored they are.

 

Hope your family have a wonderful trip together. Our 7 year old is very excited.

[cs1]

We have just returned from the Star Princess with our 2 children. In St. Petersberg we did a private tour and we went with the kids to Peterhof, lunch and then 3 churches. They did well and we did have toys etc... at lunch so they had something to do. The following day, we left them on the ship and we did the Hermitage and Pushkin. We found some ports to be better for the kids than others and some days they stayed on the ship.

CS