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St. Petersburg City Tour Excursion Reviews

St. Petersburg City Tour cruise excursion
Overall Rating
A city tour of St. Petersburg covers its main architectural and historical monuments, including Peter and Paul’s fortress and the retreats of the Tsars.
Member Image Dorieo
1 review
Aug 2017
THis tour was amazing! Tatiana, our guide with SPB, was wonderful. She knew everything about the city, was fun and friendly, and even made an unscheduled stop to see the synagogue when I requested it.
Read Dorieo's full Norwegian Getaway cruise review
Provider: SPB
Member Image PaulaJinks
1 review
Aug 2017
An absolutely amazing 2 day whirlwind tour of St Petersburg. The tour company we used specialis in small groups (max of 16) so we had fast track passes for all the attractions and early pass for the Hermitage museum. Outstanding tour
Read PaulaJinks's full Columbus cruise review
Provider: Alla tours
Member Image Wolrab
1 review
Aug 2017
I only gave this 2 stars as our particular guide went so far into detail about each thing we saw we were saturated with facts that we didn't want and didn't enjoy seeing what we could (along with the thousands of other visitors at each venue)! Other groups were lucky to have guides touching on best/worst and leaving the rest to the groups to decide what they wanted to see. After 3 days we really wanted out of this port! A pity since there were so many beautiful places to see. Thankfully photographs don't share the boredom we all experienced and will remind us of the wonders in this city.
Read Wolrab's full Azamara Journey cruise review
Provider: SPB Tours
Member Image beasleybird
8 reviews
Jul 2017
Did the two day Grand package with alla. Very active days! We saw all the high points we wanted to see. So glad our group was only 14 people big! Small group tours are important in St. Petersburg as it's so crowded it's easy to get separated. On our first stop, our guide lost 6 of us! Our guide was very nice and informative however she walked so quickly it was challenging to keep up. I regularly walk a 15 minute mile and struggled with the pace. Alla tour was very nicely package and coach was very comfortable. Just caution you on the pace, it's strenuous.
Read beasleybird's full Celebrity Silhouette cruise review
Provider: Alla tours
Member Image cruisingjack
1 review
Jul 2017
Saw all the primary sites in two days. Guide was excellent, an university professor. Took good care of us. Met and dropped off on time at port. Delivered all that was advertised
Read cruisingjack's full Regal Princess cruise review
Provider: SPB
Member Image oscarx01
2 reviews
Jul 2017
Our guide Tatiana was excellent - took us around main sites in the city. She is very knowledgeable, professional, kind. We would definitely recommend TJ Travel.
Read oscarx01's full Norwegian Getaway cruise review
Provider: TJ Travel
Member Image MarinoDA
1 review
Jul 2017
Of the cities we visited, St. Petersburg wins hands down for grandeur & opulence. Its church spires & alters are encased in gold. Russian architecture of the middle ages is an awesome spectacle to behold. They all bespeak of the obscene riches that the Russian elite enjoyed while her masses toiled. We signed up for 2 shore excursions from the ship for the 2 days the ship was berthed at St. Petersburg. The first covered Sts. Peter & Paul Fortress & Territory, the Church of the Spilled Blood (where the Czar, Alexander II, was killed), the St. Isaacs Cathedral, & a drive along the main shopping street, the Nevsky Prospect (Avenue). The second was an untrammelled stroll along the Nevsky Prospect. If one were to visit Russia on one's own, the visa costs USD 142 pp for Canadians. The ship’s shore excursions skirt that requirement. Our guide for the 2nd excursion, Larissa, was great at her job. Although she let us loose on the Nevsky Prospect, on the drive out & back on the tour coach, she outlined in perfect English with an unmistakably British accent the history of St. Petersburg & Russia. What struck me in her presentation was how dispassionately she described the deprivations that the Russians underwent when the Soviet Union collapsed.
Read MarinoDA's full Vision of the Seas cruise review
Provider: Royal Caribbean International
Member Image live for travel
2 reviews
Jul 2017
Moscow guide was knowledgeable. SPB guide was both knowledgeable and personable. Did a private tour because there were specific things we wanted to see and specific times we wanted to start and end.
Read live for travel's full Vision of the Seas cruise review
Provider: Guide Guru
Member Image marion19431
2 reviews
Jul 2017
ideal for my disabled husband to get a flavour of Russia
Read marion19431's full Celebrity Eclipse cruise review
Provider: Celebrity Cruises
Member Image CruiseLv
1 review
Jul 2017
Our guides, Sasha and Anastasia were excellent. This was an "exclusive" 2-day tour. I believe I can recommend going with the Exclusive-type of tour since we seemed to be able to "jump the line" at a number of very popular sites. I would definitely NOT recommend trying to tour these many sites on your own. The cues, at the various sites (especially the Hermitage) were often inhumanly long! Specific sites: - Catherine Palace. Awesome. Make sure to view the photos of the Palace after the Nazis to get a full appreciation of site, and of the huge level of dedication applied to restore it. Also, tour the grounds. The gardens are beautifully manicured and there are several outbuildings that are notable. - Peterhof Palace—Wow! Chances are, you've never seen anything like it. The dozens of gravity-fed fountains are spectacular—including some whimsical "trick" fountains. Well worth the long stroll through the extensive grounds. - Peter and Paul Fortress and Cathedral—Notable because many royals' tombs are there. Well worth a stop. We didn't really see much related to the fort itself. - Yusupov Palace—another amazing venue! While the obligatory story of Rasputin's murder (at that palace) is fascinating, the rest of the Palace is breathtaking. Most of all, the private theater. While you don't want to miss this site, make sure to get there immediately when it opens because to view the basement locations related to the murder the crush of visitors has to be funneled-down to fit, slowly! through a narrow, serpentine back staircase. We waited a very long time and we were one of the first three tour groups in the place! - Church of the Savior/Spiilled Blood—one of the most vivid of this city's bonanza of spectacular venues. Don't miss it! - The Heritage Museum—you've heard it. It's huge. It's immensely popular. Your approach to your tour/visit should be based on whether you want to view the content of the museum (most of which, like the Egyptian pavilion, you can see in any major city) or to view the endlessly-astonishing rooms and Russian-only artifacts. I recommend the latter. In this, you'll want an expert tour guide who can navigate the seas of other visitors and single-out the most remarkable rooms and artifacts. Don't miss the Pheasant Clock and the explanatory video that plays on the screens next to it. Unbelievable. - Lunches—Our 2-day tour included lunch on both days. On the first day, for Catherine Palace and more, we had a lunch at a nondescript second-floor restaurant for an example of Russian food. Not really a positive experience. The neighborhood was run-down (with examples of the great many deteriorating Soviet-era concrete apartment buildings) and a small, plain military depot next door. The food was not appetizing and it was clear that this was not a choice of our guides—and you could see why. However, on our second day, in the city, we stopped at a well-known restaurant right in the city center, on the river for a wonderful beef stroganoff meal that was a much more welcome example of Russian cooking.
Read CruiseLv's full Celebrity Eclipse cruise review
Provider: Celebrity Cruises
Member Image Cetera
2 reviews
Jul 2017
This was the 2nd leg of our Pushkin plus City Tour excursion. The bes ride around the city included plenty of photo opportunity stops. We got great pictures of St. Isaac's, the Hermitage (from across the river - a better photo than you can get while visiting the Hermitage) and the Church of the Spilled Blood. Only at Peter and Paul did the stop included an inside tour, but it was worth it. The church is the final resting place of the Czars including now Nicholas II. They also included a gift shop stop which was welcomed by most participants and included a free shot of vodka! :) The rating of 5 stars is equally due to the tour and a fantastic guide; I'm not sure what the rating would have been with another guide.
Read Cetera's full Vision of the Seas cruise review
Provider: Royal Caribbean International
Member Image SilverBirches
2 reviews
Jul 2017
We thoroughly enjoyed our two days. Long days and lots of walking (not a good tour for anyone with any problems walking). We weren't thrilled with the Hermitage but loved everything else though we didn't have enough time in each place. Our guides were knowledgeable and fun to be with.
Read SilverBirches's full Vision of the Seas cruise review
Provider: Royal Caribbean International
Member Image katisdale
7 reviews
Jul 2017
The catamaran to Peterhof was interesting.
Read katisdale's full Crown Princess cruise review
Provider: SPB
Member Image Bobbygregg
3 reviews
Jul 2017
We loved the tour and the tour guide. We decided to do our tours with the ship since we would thus not have to worry about visas, and it was definitely worth it because the tour guides were very skilled, knowledgable, and possessed of amazing English. Getting around the city on one's own would be a nightmare.
Read Bobbygregg's full Seabourn Quest cruise review
Provider: Seabourn Cruise Line
Member Image Venture-19
1 review
Jul 2017
We just recently returned from a July Baltic cruise abroad the Regal Princess. It was a great trip. TJ Travel provided us with 3 excellent tours (St. Petersburg, Tallinn, & Helsinki) on our July, 2017 Baltic cruise. They are a Russia company that really know their way around St Petersburg. We were on a 2-day tour of St. Petersburg that were full days and included the sites we wanted to see. Their tours are in smaller groups via a 16-passagener Mercedes Van while I noticed tours sold by the ship used large busses. Small tours resulted in groups that are easier to get through the crowds. When I reviewed the sites visited, TJ Travel provided more places for less cost than those sold by the cruise line. Our St. Petersburg tour was very well managed and often TJ personnel were at front of lines to swap with our group or swap with other TJ tour groups that are held up or diverted. Our flexible guide, Elena, had the patience of Job and was excellent with crowd management and provided great information on her narratives and from questions asked her. Our excellent driver, Alexei, could part busy traffic like Moses at the Red Sea. TJ Travel delivered what they promised, and even the shopping places we visited had prices comparable to those on the dock and were less expensive than on the ship. We didn’t have to convert money into Rubles because the shops took Euros, Dollars, and credit cards with the exchange rates in line with what I saw on my currency converter as I checked the rates charged with current exchange rates. TJ Travel e-mailed documentation to present to Russian Immigration in lieu of a visa, and we did not follow the advice of the ship and muster into groups to exit the ship. We just left the ship early with the TJ documentation and only had 4 people before us in line at immigration and went right through Russian immigration without any problem as directed by TJ Travel. Those that mustered in shipboard locations to leave the ship the 1st day in St. Petersburg had long lines (up to 2 hours) and were angry at that process. The second day the ship did not suggest leaving in groups. Our guides in Tallinn (Linna) & Helsinki (Leea) were from those cities and not only provided good information but also personal experiences. I’ll have to admit, at first, I was a little leery about using TJ Travel because they were not an official ship tour group, but after reading the favorable reviews from a variety of sources, I decided to book three tours with them on our Baltic cruise. We were really glad we did because we couldn’t have had a better tour experience. Oh, and did I mention that the cost was much less that tours offered by our ship?
Read Venture-19's full Regal Princess cruise review
Provider: TJ Travel
Member Image JasonC
1 review
Jul 2017
We booked a private tour through Alla-tours and had simply the most amazing tour guide in Maria Goncharenko. Was a fountain of information and interesting stories from a local, who took us through all the sites in St. Petersburg. I would highly recommend a private tour in the big cities, as we were bypassing lines at all the sites, ahead of all the RCI tours, and that allowed us to see a ton, probably 3x the amount if not more than what a ship tour would provide.
Read JasonC's full Serenade of the Seas cruise review
Provider: Alla-tours
Member Image maddrk
1 review
Jun 2017
If Boris was the best guide in Europe, Elena is a close second. This was a two day tour, which included the Fabrege Museum. Each stop was better than the one before it, which none of us could believe. Two of the most incredible days I've ever had.
Read maddrk's full Norwegian Getaway cruise review
Provider: TJ Travel
Member Image Travel bug 45
1 review
Jun 2017
St Petersburg is a sight to behold, with its many bridges , cathedrals , statuary and colorful buildings. I was glad I wasn't driving though as the locals drive very aggressively.
Read Travel bug 45's full Marina cruise review
Provider: Alla
Member Image bennettgary
1 review
Jun 2017
A private Car & guide allowed us to get daly and private entry to some of the most spectacular places in the very interesting and historic city ... a trip to the Marinsky Ballet , a private lunch at the Four Season with Vodka and Caviar made this a spectacular two day over night trip ... After 63 Countries and 250 Cities this is a must do ... and at one third of the cost of other private city tours the stories about Russia being expensive are untrue .. Even the lunch with Champagne , Caviar , Vodka and Beef Stroganoff was reasonable ...Enjoyed this great destination ..
Read bennettgary's full Silver Wind cruise review
Provider: Silversea Cruises
Member Image kkcruise2
1 review
Jun 2017
2 day tour that covered most of the major highlights. Great tours, guides and driver. Only had 14 people on our tour and was a lot of fun. The operator had all of the tickets before hand and had very little "waiting around" time. Lunch on the first day was at a nice restaurant. Compared our tour with a couple that had taken the excursion off the ship - they didn't do quite as much and complained that they didn't have enough time at the stops. Went to a folk show in the evening - it was great. performers were talented and show was energetic.
Read kkcruise2's full Navigator of the Seas cruise review
Provider: Alla Tours
Member Image Nickadee
1 review
Jun 2017
With Tatianna our tour guide, it was so interesting - she took us on the subway for a short trip - also on a boat ride on the river. Loved St. Petersburg a very beautiful city.
Read Nickadee's full Regal Princess cruise review
Provider: SPB Tours
Member Image DHFM
2 reviews
Jun 2017
This was great, but it rained heavily during parts of the walking tour. Bring rain boots!
Read DHFM's full Viking Ingvar cruise review
Provider: Viking River Cruises
Member Image looe
1 review
Jun 2017
Saw quite a lot, guide difficult to understand his accent. Advertised refreshments not supplied
Read looe's full Arcadia cruise review
Provider: P&O Cruises
Member Image malaprops
1 review
Jun 2017
We booked a two-day tour with TJ Travel and would recommend TJ a million times ue to their great price (much less than the ship excursion) and small group size—ours was only 13 in a nice little van. We visited the Hermitage on a Monday while it was closed to the public and walked through empty rooms; we went in through the back door at Catherine's Palace and waited approximately two minutes for entry instead of three hours out front; and et cetera. The guide was super knowledgeable and literally walked us to the front of everything. By the end of the second day I was tired of hearing about the amount of gold used to decorate the homes of imperial Russians, but that is not the fault of TJ, but rather my own trip planning failings. So, if imperial Russia is not your thing, the "standard" tour of almost all the tour operators will not be your thing. Our evening tour with TJ was meant to be a "Russian experience" and vodka tasting with a small group of six, but it ended up being just us with a guide and a driver and we had a blast on our unexpected private tour. The horseradish vodka is no joke! A last note about St. Petersburg--the ship folks make a big effort to tell you that official RC shore excursions receive priority clearance through customs. I'm not sure if this is to scare people into buying their pricier tours or to just generally be confusing while maintaining some semblance of crowd control (the nice part of me wants to think the latter!), but it's complete bunk. The Russian customs people don't care one bit who you are touring with and we somehow ended up being the first people through customs. That was super! What was not super was that after clearing customs in three minutes, we had to wait on the other side of customs for over an hour while the rest of our group came through.
Read malaprops's full Vision of the Seas cruise review
Provider: TJ Travel
Member Image Bob of Miami
1 review
Jun 2017
Excellent tour with comfortable transportation and highly experienced tour guides. Crowds and big lines avoided and very reasonable pricing
Read Bob of Miami's full Norwegian Getaway cruise review
Provider: TJ Travel

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