Accessibility in Russia

[fredmar]

I have a handicapped son and am wondering if the Russian Museum has elevators and is accessible. Thanks.

[fredmar]

We are visiting St. Petersburg when our ship stops for two days in June at the port. I have a son in a wheelchair but is able to climb a few stairs with assistance. I was wondering if the gardens at Peterof would be accessible? I mean the exterior not the palaces. As well, would the boat trip in the canals be accessible? He would be able to climb the steps into the boat with assistance. We plan on doing the Russian Museum and the Church of the Spilled Blood. We are hoping to do it with an outside tour operator. How reliable is Alla Tours? Has anyone used them?

 

Will appreciate a reply. Thanks.

[msraye]

I did Russian River Tours last June and July. I did not find Russia accessible at all. In fact, I was an oddity with my cane. I think they keep disabled people at home hidden away. I saw ONE Russian who was disabled in a month.

I think you would have to work VERY closely with your tour operator. MAYBE you would be allowed to use the freight elevators (if they exist). Everywhere there are masses of steps. into shops, hotels, museums, theatres, subway, you name it. I hope your tour operator is able to work something out for you. I would say go with very low expectations.

[msraye]

Sorry, I did not answer your specific questions. I believe the only way your son could do the canal cruise is if someone was there to almost carry him on. You sit on the open deck in regular kitchen type chairs.

 

Peterhof gardens are also full of levels and steps. I do not recall seeing any ramps at all.

[leoandhugh]

If I am correct that when you refer to the Russian Museum, you mean the Hermitage, these are the facts on accessibility. The entry from the street involves about 15 large steps to get you to the main floor. The exhibits are spread over a large area mainly on two floors. There is one quite small elevator which is not very reliable. Otherwise, movement between floors is by long staircases of at least 30steps each. We spent 2full days in St Petersburg with a wheelchair and found the accessibility very poor by our standards - ramps and cored curbs do not exist. We did manage to find a ramped entry to the Church of the Spilled Blood, but it was not an easy task. If you check some of the earlier threads on this board by Search I believe I saw reference to a private Russian company with accessible experience.:) :)

[kitty9]

Russia, unfortunately, is in the dark ages with regards to accessibility. I've been to St Petersburg twice and it's one of the worst in terms of accessibility. The Hermitage is not at all easy to get around. Far too many steps and the one elevator has not been working whenever I was there, which was four total visits. Peterhof is also not HC friendly. Again, lots of stairs and walking areas that are not wheelchair friendly.

[amstelveenscooter]

We are visiting St. Petersburg when our ship stops for two days in June at the port. I have a son in a wheelchair but is able to climb a few stairs with assistance. I was wondering if the gardens at Peterof would be accessible? I mean the exterior not the palaces. As well, would the boat trip in the canals be accessible? He would be able to climb the steps into the boat with assistance. We plan on doing the Russian Museum and the Church of the Spilled Blood. We are hoping to do it with an outside tour operator. How reliable is Alla Tours? Has anyone used them?

 

Will appreciate a reply. Thanks.

 

We haven't used Alla Tours, but Liberty Tours has a splendid service specifically intended for disabled tourists (lift-equipped vans, portable ramps, etc.) See this post http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=498816 for more information on the Hermitage, the Church of the Spilled Blood, and the Gardens and Summer Palace at Peterhof. Can't say definitely about the canal boat; from what I saw, none of them are wheelchair accessible, but are reachable by only a few steps.

[DEL67]

Fredmar:

 

The primary access to the gardens at Peterhof is down a large staircase; however, you might be able to access the gardens via a roadway which runs from the parking lot to the side of the gardens. The gardens appeared to have paved paths so you might be okay once down there.

 

Note: I can not be sure because we did not go down since we were having issues with my husband's wheelchair.

[JPO]

We are visiting St. Petersburg when our ship stops for two days in June at the port. I have a son in a wheelchair but is able to climb a few stairs with assistance. I was wondering if the gardens at Peterof would be accessible? I mean the exterior not the palaces. As well, would the boat trip in the canals be accessible? He would be able to climb the steps into the boat with assistance. We plan on doing the Russian Museum and the Church of the Spilled Blood. We are hoping to do it with an outside tour operator. How reliable is Alla Tours? Has anyone used them?

 

Will appreciate a reply. Thanks.

 

We arranged a 2 day tour with Alla last year and were very satisfied. We had outlined my wife's limitations to her (can handle only 1-2 steps), uses wheelchair for moderate/long distances). She replied with a customized itinerary with van, guide, driver for the 3 of us. Price was perhaps 35% greater than ships tours would have been but they would not have dealt with our limitations. Catherine's Palace is impossible due to large number of steps. My wife waited with van while we visited. Wife was able to see upper gardens at Perterhof but sat in chair at parapet while granddaughter and I did lower gardens. The long fairly steep ramp would have been hard to go down and very hard to return back up. Church on Spilled Blood was accessible (and was a major high point). Guide very efficiently handled route through Hermitage that used elevator and ramps, and varied route to avoid crowds. The site where many Tsars are buried (forget the name) went OK tho a few steps were involved. The guide took us to small restuarants both days ... 2-3 steps down but possible. We were only non-natives in both cases and had a great time.

[jojo18]

We did the RCL Baltic Cruise in early June. My husband is a paraplegic so he is not able to walk even a few steps. Despite this, with the aid of the wonderful tour company, Liberty Tours (info@libertytours.ru), we were albe to enjoy our two days in St. Petersburg. We had a van with a lift, a driver and a tour guide. Olga, our tour guide, was extremely knowlegeble. We did a brief city tour of St. Petersburg, went into the Peter and Paul Fortress where the Tzars are buried, had lunch at a lovely restaurant where there were no other tourists, and then visited the first floor of the Hermitage. (there is a lift and an elevator). We spent an hour shopping in a few stores that were not filled with tour groups. On the second day, we visited the Church on Spilled Blood (the tour company provided a ramp) which is amazing and the gardens of the Peterhof (totally worthwhile). Olga was more than willing to help push my husband up the ramp. The cost of our two day tour was one half of that of the Cruise Line and the itineraries did not differ greatly from similar excursions which were offered by the Cruise Line. We

were very happy with our decision and strongly recommend Liberty Tours.