St. Petersburg
 

There are several cruises that stop in St. Petersburg. Most cruises only spend two days or one night in St. Petersburg. There are a few cruises that spend three days or two nights. Having viewed all there is to see in St. Petersburg it seems that you would need at least three days to see most of the high points. Is that a good assessment?

My cruise was in St. Petersburg for two days. If you have the opportunity to take a cruise that spends 3 days there, I would definitely choose that option. There is a lot to see - 3 days is still not enough IMO, but you'd be less rushed than with only 2 days.

Having been there, I would choose the three-day stop.

Yes it is. We had two really packed days in SPB but really three days can be packed as well. So much to see.

What cruise ship has 3 days in St. Petersburg? The ones I have looked at only have 2.

I think its Oceania. At least they used to.

Voyagges of Dicsovery and Regents Seven Sea both have three day stops. There is also a Russian tour company that hooks up with MCS cruise lines. The cruise leaves and finishes in St. Petersburg on a MCS boat but you won't see it listed on the MCS website.

We are booked on the Nautica (Oceana Cruise line) for June 19 "Scandinavian Splendors" Stockholm to Dover and we have 3 nights in St. Petersburg!

We did the 3-day stop and that was barely enough time to see the highlights. If you can, go for the longer time in St. Petersburg.

Was just researching this for friends..... Crystal cruises also does 3 days.

boom_boom:

Would you please tell us what you saw during your 3 days in St.Petersburg.

Thank you

HI Percy -

We went on a Viking River Cruise in Russia and had 3 days in St.Petersburg. First 1/2 day was a bus tour of St. Petersburg with Viking.

We went to: The Hermitage (humongous), Catherine's Palace with Viking.

On our own: We walked around the city center on our own for 1/2 a day (including Nevsky Prospekt and Gostiny Dvor - a shopping area, and beyond. Took Metro. Went to The Russian Museum in the Meshnikov Palace (very nice park behind it as well), Museum of Political History (just so so ), and Alexander Nevsky Cemetery where we saw the graves of Tchaikovsky, Dostoyevsky, Glinka, Borodin. Large grounds and monastery plus the cemeteries. Got there by Metro.

Undoubtedly 3 days in St Petersburg is better than two.
Personally I had good experience with Markotour Travel.
1day. We explored the gold-leaf residence of Catherine the Great and enjoyed the Amber Room, which is considered to be the 8th wonder of the world.
Tasted typical Russian cuisine in one of local restaurants.
Than we visited the world-famous gardens of Peterhoff with beautiful fountains and explored the Monplaisir palace of Peter the Great.
Saw magnificent metro stations on the way back.
2 day. We made several stops during the city tour than it became possible to see more and to take more pictures during the boat trip along rivers and canals.
We explored 4 palaces of the Hermitage complex with original interior decorations and magnificent art collections assembled by the Imperial.
One more lunch in an old palace.
We enjoy the unconventional beauty of the Spilled blood church and restrained beauty of Peter and Paul fortress.

kenav

Thanks for posting.

What did you think of the Russian River Cruise?

Did you have adequate time in Moscow.?

Yep nice park beside Menshikov Palace

Percy - I would have liked more time in both Moscow and St. Pete's. I really want to go back, especially to Moscow.

I'm not a cruise person, but we (husband and I) thought Viking did a very good job. They even had surprises for us - like an incredible a cappella group in a church in Uglich. These men ("The Ark") were so wonderful and I've looked don't the web to try to find a CD, but to no avail.

We cruised between the cities of Moscow and St. Pete for 5 days stopping at various towns. I would have liked 3 days instead. My husband was happy to relax, though. One village was really a tourist stop that I could easily have done without.

On our own in Moscow we ran around like crazy people. Went to the All Russia Exhibition Center which is really something to see, especially the Monument to Astronauts (name??), which was spectacular and right near it. Pretty far out on the Metro. Rode on an old Soviet ferris wheel in which I think we took quite a chance (hasn't been safety checked since probably 1974??).

Loved it all.

Hi kenav

That is the trouble with the Russian River Cruise, not enough time in Moscow and St.Petersburg.

Yes, that Exbition Centre is rather out there on the Metro.

The name of the Monument is "Monument to the Conquerors of Space ", it is 328 feet high sand was put up in 1964..

I agree it is pretty impressive.

at the base of this Monument is " Memorial Museum of the Cosmanautics ".

Maybe I will bite the bullet and do that cruise one day ! :)

I called Viking personally and asked them why their tours and time in St. Petersburg and Moscow were so so limited ...
the fellow at Viking tried to explain the reason...but I shot him down in his every explanation :)

He finally gave up trying to explain the reasons to me and

just answered, "Yes your right" when I told him of what the tour should have included.

For example I said to him:

"On one morning you leave for Catherine's Palace at about 9:30Am and then you come back to the river boat for lunch and then leave again at 2:30 PM".

"Why would you come all the way back from Catherine's Palace to St.Petersburg for lunch , when you are only 19 miles away from Peterhof?!"

He did not have a good answer because the Peterhof visit was a Viking River Tour Option !!!

Thanks for answering my questions.

The morning where we did Catherine's Palace tour in the AM and the group was lead back to the boat after that, we stayed in St. Petersburg. We ran around the city the rest of the day on our own. There was a ballet performance at night in the center of the city, so we just spent the day, as I said, running around and then met the Viking group at the theater for the ballet performance in the evening. Some other travelers did that also.
We saw no reason to go back to the boat first.

Also, we went in October and the Peterhof no longer had its fountains flowing and so I didn't think it would be all that important to see as we had seen marvels beyond what we could have imagined in opulence at Catherine's Palace and at the Hermitage.

What I did like with Viking was that so many excursions were included in the price you pay (as in Catherine's Palace, Hermitage, ballet performance, etc.).

In Moscow there was an optional tour of the Tretyikov Museum - a must see in my opinion. But we decided not to use Viking to get there and went on our own. You really can do most things on your own. The advantage with going with Viking to the Hermitage and Catherine's Palace is that they already have the tickets and get you in without waiting on line. (Or, at least, <b>we</b> didn't have to wait in line - perhaps because it wasn't the very busy season? However, it still was pretty damn busy!) And, of course, it was an included tour.

Sounds like you a great time.

Yes,it would have been a shame to be at Peterhof and not see those fountains.

I did a Uniworld Danube River cruise last June from Bucharest Romania to Vienna and then took a train from Vienna to Prague.

As you mentioned with Viking...almost all the tours with Uniworld were also included in the price.

They were a few option tours,but not many ,like an Opera in Budapest,and Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna.

It is nice when the tours are included once you pay for your trip.

Thanks again.

On my sister's recommendation I just downloaded Robert K. Massie's new biography of Catherine the Great. Only problem, I have a basic Kindle so won't see any of the color plates. Will have to sneak a look in a bookstore, where I will also make purchases--leaving for the UK in a few days. For me, a trip to London is not complete without a stop at Daunt Books.