St. Petersburg Private Tour Excursion Reviews

This tour company came highly recommended and I would concur. We were able to cover so much ground and accomplish much more than we could have done with a large tour group.

Provider: Independent Operator

Excellent experience with our beautiful guide Nellie....she is so smart....this was the high light, and we were together for 3 days....the very best you can book...very helpful in setting up the itinerary well...answered all my questions promptly....

Provider: Independent Operator

We really looked forward to St. Petersburg, and paid over $600 to do the 2-day deluxe tour with SPB Tours in a group of 16. To be perfectly honest, we were completely and totally underwhelmed by the tour and the guide. After hearing such rave reviews of this company on Trip Advisor, we were very disappointed. Our guide was dry and scripted, and at times, even smug. We were hoping that going with a local guide would give us some insight into modern Russia, but so little time was spent talking about anything current we felt like we were stuck in 1919! Any questions that were asked about modern Russia were answered briefly and without much insight. The palaces were grand and all, but all of them had been destroyed in WWII and rebuilt in the 70s. It felt like all the grandeur was fake and for tourists, as much of it was not even replaced with the real thing -- even some of the Amber Room was actually made of enamel! Our itinerary with SPB was supposed to include a subway ride, which ended up just being a walk into the subway station to hear about its historical significance. And the "local lunch" on the second day was at a tourist restaurant -- there wasn't a "local" to be found. At the end of the trip, instead of giving us a survey to fill out, the guide had one of the ladies in the front read out questions about our satisfaction with the tour and the guide (she was right there!) over the bus microphone and have us yell out our answers! And then, we got a speech about how we should go home and give them good ratings on Trip Advisor! Not so much. The absolute highlight of St. Petersburg was the Church of the Spilled Blood -- I have never seen anything like it and it was truly amazing.

Provider: Independent Operator

We went on the Grand 2 day tour with Alla in August and have no hesitation in recommending them to anyone visiting St Petersburg. The tour was co-ordinated by a friend we met on the cruise's roll call, though we each had to book and communicate our booking directly with Alla so they could arrange a group visa. The cost for the 2 days was $300 (£200), paid direct to Alla at the beginning of day 2, we paid by visa others by cash, clean unused notes only. We were met in the cruise terminal and after a brief discussion to decide who should be in each mini bus we were taken to meet our guide for the 2 days, Svetlana, and driver Uri. We were soon on our way. We were each issued with headphones that were used when we were on the tour to ensure we could hear Svetlana's commentary and bottles of water. This is a very intensive tour, the first day we had a packed lunch that we ate on the hydrofoil, the second day we went to a lovely restaurant for the traditional Russian lunch. We visit everywhere that was covered by the ship's tours including a boat trip, early entry to the Hermitage, St Catherine's Palace, Peter and Paul Palace gardens, Church of the Spilt Blood, Yasalov Palace, a metro station, etc, etc.... Svetlana was amazing, she got us into all the buildings quickly, cleverly bypassing the long queues, we never queued! Her commentary was informative and interesting. We all loved her! We also went to the ballet in the evening once again with Alla, an extra $110 but worth it for the experience. St Petersburg is a beautiful city and not at all what we expected, its vibrant and busy very European.

Provider: Independent Operator

Fantastic 2 day tour worth every penny (lots of pennies!). We saw so much with a superb guide whose English was excellent and her knowledge immense. Booked on friend's recommendation who had used DenRus the previous year. Definitely saw more privately than we would have done using the ship's excursions.

Provider: Independent Operator

All the palaces and historic area visited were very busy with tourists as there were 4 other cruise ships in port with ours. All locations were well presented and anyone with an interest in Russian History and paintings should endeavour to visit all the ones we saw.

Provider: Independent Operator

We took a two-day tour. There were eight of us in a van and with an English-speaking, knowledgeable guide. We saw it all and had lunch at typical Russian restaurants. The food was excellent and not expensive.

Provider: Independent Operator

We booked a 2 day private tour which was a bit alternative as we didn't want to spend our time in queues. We told the operator the sort of things we were interested in and then had the flexibility to tweak the itinerary as we went along. We went on the Metro, visited the main Post office, supermarkets,the Eliseyev Emporium a farmers' market and a street market. We went to the Kazan Cathedral and were fortunate enough to be there whilst there was a service. We also visited the Church of our Saviour on the Spilled Blood, the Yusopov Palace, the Museum of Political History and the Space Museum at Peter and Paul Fortress. We were shown residential areas where there were traces of Soviet influence. We had a private power boat tour but unfortunately it rained so we couldn't see the sights properly. We ate in Russian cafes, including the one at Peter and Paul Fortress which isn't usually frequented by tourists. We learned about Russian and Soviet history and what it was like to grow up in Soviet Russia. This was a brilliant way to see St Petersburg. We took Roubles but most places accepted Euros, Dollars and Credit cards

Provider: Independent Operator

The centerpiece of any Baltic Cruise. The scale of St. Petersburg is dramatic to say the least! We took the Grand Two-Day tour with Alla Tours and loved every minute of it! The palaces and cathedrals were ENORMOUS and decorated to the point of being gaudy ! You can see the Russian people were slaves until the 1860's and much of their effort supported the insane lifestyle of the Czars. Same thing with the cathedrals - they are all gold mosaics and grand/dramatic in scale. Catherine's Palace and the Fountains of Peterhof Palace are in a league of their own - jaw dropping! Bring your passport, your tour ticket (provisional visa), and a LOT of patience with you to get on and off the ship to go through the passport controls.

Provider: Independent Operator

We scheduled a private (just our family), 2 day comfort tour with Alla Tours. We also planned our own evening excursion for Friday night with Alla's driver escorting us. I will first review Alla Tours and then review the port of St. Petersburg.. Alla was very responsive and easy to deal with through her web-site message service. Both mornings and Friday evening we had no trouble disembarking the ship and showing our tour ticket to customs in place of a Visa. Both mornings our guide, Kate was standing just beyond the customs booth waiting for us. Kate was very personable, spoke very good English, and knew a great amount about Russian history and culture. Our driver, Alexander (he went by Sasha), was great! He was a retired military pilot and an excellent driver. I am glad that I used a private company over the ship's tour and had a great two days. I do however have several complaints regarding Alla Tours: The 2nd morning we were taken to Alla's souvenir shop to pay for our tours. Alla was not there when we got there, so us along with many groups had to wait for her arrival to pay for our tours. There was then a very long line to pay when she arrived. We were picked up from our ship at 8:00am and did not leave her shop until 10:30am. So basically we lost 2 1/2 hours of our very short time in St. Petersburg! Our guide did not have our tickets to many of the attractions we toured (the Hermitage, St. Peter and Paul Fortress) and we had to wait for either Alla's husband or another guide to bring us our tickets. We were a a small group and moved very quickly, so I did not appreciate waiting outside an attraction 20 minutes for another guide to bring us our tickets. Our one hour boat tour of the city was terrible! The seats were very uncomfortable and the boat was so loud that we could not hear ANY of the guide's audio. It was very disappointing because in Copenhagen the canal boat tours were so great. I had e-mailed Alla several times about our dinner on Friday night and she assured me that she had made a reservation and that everything was set. However when we arrived at the restaurant, the Maitre 'd did not have our reservation. Luckily, despite the small restaurant being almost full, he quickly added 2 places to a lovely table that was set for 2 and accommodated us. I will never know if the mistake was on All's part or the restaurant. Despite my complaints we had an awesome 2 days and I would use Alla or perhaps another private tour company again.

Provider: Independent Operator

I had seen a program on the travel channel about the Grand Hotel Europe and it's Caviar Bar and L'Europe Restaurant. I was trying to decide if it would be a better experience to dine at this restaurant or attend a Russian Ballet. I then read that the major ballets would be on vacation while we were in St. Petersburg. I then discovered that we were lucky enough to be in St. Petersburg on a Friday night and that every Friday evening L'Europe has "Tchaikovsky Night". This is from the hotel's website: "Paying tribute to the great Russian composer, who spent his honeymoon at the Grand Hotel Europe, this is an unforgettable evening of classical music, ballet and fine dining. Enjoy timeless classics from Swan Lake and other great works performed by local dancers and a 13-piece orchestra while dining at L'Europe." I was not disappointed. We enjoyed the best meal of our lives and thoroughly enjoyed the orchestra, ballet dancers and 2 opera singers!

Provider: Independent Operator

Booked the "Comfort Tour". There were only 6 of us on this tour. Our guide Natalia was a history major, and was excellent. She was passionate about conveying the history of Russia to us. We saw all the main sites of St. Petersburg as was possible is such a short time period. A recommendation would be to research Russian history before arrival as there is too much to learn & remember in such a short time frame. It was easy to book with this company online-they responded quickly to all questions, and dealt with all the paperwork needed to proceed through Russian customs. The cost was very reasonable for such an extensive tour-$270 USD including all admissions and 2 meals.It was suggested another 10% be divided between the guide & driver, and we were happy to pay a little more than that. We would highly recommend dealing with this company.

Provider: Independent Operator

Prior to our cruise, we had made contact through Cruise Critic with two other couples interested in sharing a small group private tour of St Petersburg. We chose SPB based on other reviewers' recommendations and it was a good choice. We made arrangements ahead of time, but did not have to pay anything until the end of the first day of the 2-day tour. If we had wanted to pay cash, we could have waited until the end of the 2nd day, but we elected to use credit cards and SPB needed to make sure the cards processed over night. SPB provided us tour tickets by email and we only needed to present those when we were going through Russian immigration in order to gain permission to the country. We did not purchase visas. On the other side of the Immigration lines, we were met by an SPB representative who directed us to the guide who would be with us for the two days. We ended up with Elena Volkova, who was a very friendly and knowledgeable guide, who spoke excellent English. She directed us outside to our private van with our driver, Alexander, who would be our excellent chauffeur for the two days. During the first day, we visited Smolny Cathedral, Isaac's Square, the Winter Palace and the Hermitage. We stopped for lunch at a local pie place where I had an egg and onion pie, a bowl of cold borscht soup and a cup of tea. Some had a meat pie. We continued with a visit to the Churchof Our Savior on Spilled Blood, the Peter and Paul Fortress and the St. Peter and Paul Cathedral, St Isaac's Cathedral, Yusupov Palace and finally a subway station. We could have ridden the subway, but our group was interested only in seeing one of the stations and we visited one with one of the longest escalators, taking you down 120 meters to go below the Neva River. The second day began with a 40-minute canal boat city tour, followed by about a 1-hour drive to Pushkin to visit the Catharine Palace. Today's lunch was at restaurant in an old mansion and included tea or coffee, hot borscht, beef stroganoff with mashed potatoes and ice cream with a good caramel sauce for dessert. Another hour drive took us to Peterhof Palace and gardens. After walking through the gardens, we took a hover craft back to St Petersburg. Our group had requested time for a short shopping stop to pick up some souvenirs, so our driver took us to a place that had lots from which to choose. We were then returned to the ship after a very busy but interesting two days.

Provider: Independent Operator

Best shore excursion we've ever taken. Our guide, Anna, was friendly, helpful and answered all our questions timely. She took into account our needs and wants and developed a detailed itinerary so that we could see as much of St. Petersburg as we could while we were there in port. She devoted time to asking our kids questions, telling them stories and legends and taking us to landmarks & attractions that she thought the kids would enjoy along with the parents. As a result, our kids stayed engaged the entire day in spite of the fact that the shore excursion was 11 hours long.

Provider: Independent Operator

nconsistant and irritable customs agents not withstanding, St. Petersburg was my favorite port! Our SPb guide, Maria, shared with us 2 days of Russian treasures. We arranged a private 2-day deluxe tour. She brought us around the crowds, to the city's high points, avoided delays, and seemed to know just when and where to be for easiest access. After an exciting, but utterly exhausting, day, she dropped us off at the Marinsky theatre. After helping us pick up our repurchased ballet tickets, she helped us get a table across the street for dinner and left us to dine on our own. SPb then picked us up after the ballet. It was magical, and worth the cost & exhaustion. Next day we started with early entry to the Hermitage & were out the door before the worst of the crowding.

Provider: Independent Operator

Only way to optimize your time is with a private tour. We could add a side trip on the subway, have dinner at an authenic restaurant, plus the guide could get us around large crowds in many places. We used Alla tours and would book them again if going to another city they handle.

Provider: Azamara Club Cruises

Alla Tours with Ellena as guide was incredible! We saw: subways lavishly decorated, a city tour,the Hermitage view from across the river, early morning (less crowded) tour through Hermitage, had a lovely lunch in a restaurant,took a boat ride, saw The Church of the Spilled Blood, Yusupov Palace, and St. Issac Cathedral on 1st day. The 2nd day we saw the St. Peter and Paul fortress and Cathedral there,had a warm sandwich lunch on board the hydrofoil, the Peterhof gardens and fountain park, the amazing Catherine palace with the dazzling Amber (all made of amber!)Room, and the beautiful blue, gold, and white St. Nicholas church. All the while our guide is telling us about the history, the art, the economy of historic times as well as the present - her knowledge and ability to answer any question was superb. She also had a knack for figuring out how to route us around other tour groups for the best views and smooth passage. You do NOT need a visa for this - being on any organized tour (not justs the ship's which is twice as expensive) gives you a blanket visa for all members of the tour. This city was a major highlight of all of our 35+ years of travel experiences. The opulence and beauty of the palaces and churches is a must to experience!

Provider: Independent Operator

St. Petersburg was the highlight of our trip. Against the advice of the cruise line, we did not take the excursions offered by them. Instead, we followed the useful review of the fellow cruisers in this forum and took the private tour. There was NO problem at all to go through the Russian immigration control with the tickets issued by DenRus. Following the instructions of the travel agent, we were among the first to leave the ship. The process was very smooth -- took us less than 10 mins. The ship docked at 6.30a.m. but the gangway was not ready until 7a.m. We were allowed to leave the ship at 7.20a.m. By 7.30a.m., the entire group (15 of us) were ready to go. We were very happy that we could sit in a comfortable and spacious coach (which can actually take 30 people but there were only 15 of us). The 2-day tour went very well as per itinerary. Our travel guide (Ms. Lana) speaks excellent English and has great sense of humour. She is also very experienced and scheduled every activity nicely. We did not spend too much time of waiting, even for the Hermitage. Instead of queuing in the main entrance, our group could enter the Hermitage from other entrance. We noticed in the entrance tickets that our group booked a specific time to enter the museum. This could explain why we did not have to line up with other 'walk-in' visitors. Unlike the cruise line excursions, this private tour included lunch. This saved us the efforts of looking for eating places and the need of exchanging Russian rouble. We dined at decent places on both days. The dining venue on the 2nd day was particularly impressive, as it is designed like a palace near Peterhof. Talking about Peterhof, it was a MUST. The fountain gardens are marvellous. Of course, you cannot miss the Catherine's Palace and the Amber Room. On this, we would like to give credit to Ms. Lana again. When we visited Catherine's Palace, we entered from the main gate. Then, after visiting the Palace, we went to the outdoor garden. Ms. Lana nicely arranged the bus to pick us up from the backdoor of the garden. This saved us the time and efforts to walk back to main gate. I noticed that many other visitors had to walk back. Another highlight of the tour is the Nevsky River cruise, which brought us to Peter and Paul Fortress as well as close-up to the ship Aurora. It was another seamless itinerary planned by the tour. Ms. Lana also bought us to take the Metro, which was a very interesting experience to see the beautiful decorations of the subway station and take the long escalator to 120m below the ground. We also visited the souvenir shops on both mornings. Yet, we were not forced to buy anything but encouraged to use the clean toilet facilities. We are seasoned travellers around the world. We reckon that Ms. Lana is one of the best travel guides we ever had. We are very satisfied with the 2-day tour, though very exhausted. If you visit St. Petersburg, please make sure that you are energized and with good walking shoes.

Provider: Independent Operator

We chose a small group private tour to avoid the large crowds on the cruise line buses. St Petersburg is the highlight of the Baltic cruise.

Provider: Independent Operator

Best tour company we used along the cruise----highly recommend Victoria and her staff of enthusiastic, knowledgeable tour guides and drivers....prompt, courteous, met our every need of small group

Provider: Independent Operator