jel1031

We are planning to travel with GCT on the Russia Revealed river cruise in October. ( Traveling from St Petersburg to Moscow) We can save significant dollars by using our frequent flyer miles rather than having GCT book our international air travel. However, we will have to arrange our own transportation from the airport to the ship in St Petersburg and from the ship to the airport in Moscow.

We are looking for suggestions on how to arrange this and how much we should expect to pay. Also is this safe and easy to do? Can we expect reliable service? (really don't want to miss our flight coming home)

We would also love to hear from those who have taken this trip.

We looking forward to any advice we might receive from this forum.

jrretired

We did the same thing with Viking River Cruises a couple or years ago and Viking offered the option of buying transfer to and from with them. You might ask GCT if they have that option. As I recall the cost was about $50 pp, but I thought it was worth it to eliminate the hassle of looking for local taxi or bus. Language is somewhat of a barrier, as you know. It's a great trip. Hope your enjoy it.

tower

We just opted for the transportation with Viking in October...at $50 pp, we, too, found that is was well worth it, especially where we came in to distant Domededovo.

stu t.

jel1031

Unfortunately, it is not an option with GCT to have them arrange airport transport only. If anyone knows of a service that we could use, we would appreciate it. Also is it safe to just get a taxi at the airport? Are the fares standard?

ghbrown

I am also taking the same GCT cruise in August using frequent flier miles.

"Googling St Petersburg Russia Airport Shuttle" gives many options.

From http://www.waytorussia.net/SaintPete...Departure.html

"By Taxi. A taxi from the airport costs about $25-$40 US, depending on the time of the day and your ability to negotiate. You can save money if you take a bus or shuttle #39 to Moskovskaya metro, and then take a taxi to the city from there"

by airport shuttle - http://www.viator.com has online booking - they quote $72 for 2 persons in August.

There are some online services to book taxis - http://www.rus-tours.com/transfers.html -- which quotes $40 for 1-3 passengers

http://www.dailyexpress.ru/taxi-st-p...urg-russia.php -- $35 with English speaking drivers.

I'll probably wait 1 few weeks before departure to reserve.

jel1031

Thank you so much for the resources. I look forward to reading about your trip

Odin

Domodedovo has express train to Paveletsky Station at RUB200 approx USD6.00 one way. Takes about 45 mins. Can take metro or taxi from there.

There are taxi kiosks at DME which are OK to use but the other taxis are not safe to use. Always recommend prebooking if possible.

There was supposed to be a train service from SVO to Savelovskaya station at some point but not sure if it is in operation.

hcoltman

My Dad and I are doing this trip in August and fly into Moscow - andy ideas for taxis there? Thanks,

lanejohann

as long as the train isnt crowded
havent caught an express before so cant say but do check

dont know how youre going to check

we had a bit of squashy trouble when we caught suburban trains to get to leningradsky station to get our train to st petes
and boy oh boy
it is not fun with all the luggage
if you get lost
you can walk and keep walking missing exits lol even when people try to help
and there are stairs too
so double check
mind you
the airport at moscow had stairs not an escalator
so i dont know how people manage

jel1031

I would love to hear from those of you who responded that they are going on this trip. Please let me know about your experience with airport transfers. I would love to hear about those things that should not be missed and those things that we need to watch out for. We are really getting excited about this long awaited trip. How was the weather?

tower

Jel:
We did the Viking trip last October...a few passengers had tried the public tansportation from Sheremetevo and each swore "never again"...besides a driver will take you direct to your ship at the somewhat remote boat terminals. Domedovo Airport is further out (south) than the Sheremetevo airport (north)...but it is a far newer and nicer place....BA flight landed there and we had arranged for transport (as we did from ship to St. Petersburg Airport, when we were headed for Minsk and Kiev).

One very important thng to keep in mind, assuming you use public transportation, from the metro stop (Rechnoy Vokzal) for the boat terminal it is one hefty walk to get to your ship
(close to a mile, shlepping luggage, and steep stairs for the underpass to cross a major highway). If it's evening (and it get's dark early in October) this could be very uncomfortable
walking through the pitch black park where the terminal is located. We learned all of this the easy way...with no luggage and broad daylight...as we went into town twice following this route. I couldn't imagine doing it with luggage, and in the dark.(Never did see a taxi anywhere near the Rechnoy Vokzal).

On the river, temps reached little more than 7-9 C each day.
C-o-l-d! We had very little rain, clear most days....you'll love the trip...We had a most enjoyable journey, my third trip to Russia (twice during the SSR days).

Stu
[email protected]

jel1031

Thanks for the update. We will be taking a taxi as transport. We are not up to negotiating public transportation with luggage.

tower

good decision....by the way, even though you are starting in St. Pete, the same analysis applies...(but no dark park involved)