Choices in St Petersburg
Dec 15th, 2019, 06:16 AM
#1
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Choices in St Petersburg
This spring my husband and I have only two days to see the best of St Petersburg. Rather than choose the excursion off of the ship that includes the most sites, are there some places that are more worthwhile than others, on which we should focus?
Dec 15th, 2019, 08:13 AM
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2 days is really short for St. Petersburg. 2 days is too short to see even only the tops sights. Instead of running around mad chasing the highlights you'd better realise that you can't see it all and you should rather pick some sights(a mix of the most famous and the lesser known) and to take in the atmosphere of Piter in the hope that you'll be able to return in the future for a longer stay.
Any guidebook or online guide can tell you about the top 5, top 10 or whatever sights of Piter.
https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Saint_Petersburg
My opinion is that a traveller should seek the sights he is really interested in. For example few would the rate the excellent Railway Museum as a must see sight, but it would be a must see for me as I'm very interested in railways and you can learn a lot from a country like Russia by seeing how its transport infrastructure shaped the country and I guess there could be only a few more iconic sights of the Cold War than the sight of a ballistic missile launcher train.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Railway_Museum
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RT-23_Molodets
Talking of railways I wouldn't miss a visit to the old Vitebsky Railway Station because I'm not only a fan of railways but also of art nouveau architecture and it all comes together here.
Vitebsky Station | Art Nouveau World
Do you have a special interest in something?
By the way, given your short time I recommend to avoid some top sights beceuse they'll take too much time.
1) Stay in the city. The palaces of the Tsars like Petrodvorets and Tsarskoe Selo are really beautiful and worth to see, but take the best part of a day to get there and back and to see them. Leave them for a next visit.
2) The Ermitage is really one of the best art museums of the world, but it would also take lots of time and while it is stunning(both the palace and the works of art), but it IMO it tells you more about the world than about St. Petersburg or Russia. That's not to say you shouldn't go at all, but perhaps just walk through the stunning building and concentrate on a few select items. The exhibits I can especially recommend are the Scythian artefacts, since this is something you can mostly see only in Russia, Italian Renaissance and Dutch Baroque paintings can be seen all over Europe and even in the USA.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scythian_art
Any guidebook or online guide can tell you about the top 5, top 10 or whatever sights of Piter.
https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Saint_Petersburg
My opinion is that a traveller should seek the sights he is really interested in. For example few would the rate the excellent Railway Museum as a must see sight, but it would be a must see for me as I'm very interested in railways and you can learn a lot from a country like Russia by seeing how its transport infrastructure shaped the country and I guess there could be only a few more iconic sights of the Cold War than the sight of a ballistic missile launcher train.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Railway_Museum
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RT-23_Molodets
Talking of railways I wouldn't miss a visit to the old Vitebsky Railway Station because I'm not only a fan of railways but also of art nouveau architecture and it all comes together here.
Vitebsky Station | Art Nouveau World
Do you have a special interest in something?
By the way, given your short time I recommend to avoid some top sights beceuse they'll take too much time.
1) Stay in the city. The palaces of the Tsars like Petrodvorets and Tsarskoe Selo are really beautiful and worth to see, but take the best part of a day to get there and back and to see them. Leave them for a next visit.
2) The Ermitage is really one of the best art museums of the world, but it would also take lots of time and while it is stunning(both the palace and the works of art), but it IMO it tells you more about the world than about St. Petersburg or Russia. That's not to say you shouldn't go at all, but perhaps just walk through the stunning building and concentrate on a few select items. The exhibits I can especially recommend are the Scythian artefacts, since this is something you can mostly see only in Russia, Italian Renaissance and Dutch Baroque paintings can be seen all over Europe and even in the USA.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scythian_art
Last edited by BDKR; Dec 15th, 2019 at 09:06 AM.
Dec 15th, 2019, 09:25 AM
#3
We spent two days in St. Petersburg last July (on a cruise ship). We hired a private guide/driver, which was not only less expensive than the cruise tour option, it specialized in clients with limited/restricted mobility so we were able to get close to the sights so my husband could minimize walking and maximize time at the actual sights.
Here was our itinerary:
Here was our itinerary:
July 20 (Saturday)
9am - meet your guide at the terminal and drive to Peterhoff
Peterhoff fountains and parks tour (less walking with frequent stops at benches) time for lunch in one of local cafes
Drive to Catherine's Palace + Amber room tour
~ 5pm back to ship
July 21 (Sunday)
9am - meet your guide at the terminal
general city introduction tour with all major photo stops (exterior) - we really enjoyed this part as it was good for my husband's mobility. And we were able to get out and take pics along the way - Igor was a genius at finding a place to stop the car near the site. It probably helped that it was a Sunday.
Spilled blood Cathedral tour (interior)
Faberge museum tour (unguided)time for lunch in one of Russian pie places
Hermitage tour
~ 4:30pm back to ship
Our pace was pretty modestly paced due to my husband's mobility - you could likely add a trip to the Metro station. And you could do an evening ballet performance (although I understand those are hit and miss quality dance-wise) or a canal cruise. That was our preferred itinerary, knowing as the other poster said two days isn't enough but you've got to start somewhere. The Peterhof Gardens were of interest to us as we love gardens, and the 11am fountain extravaganza was a delight (we didn't go inside at Peterhof). We stopped for a delightful lunch at a Russian cafe (not touristy) and then on to Catharine's Palace in the afternoon. Svetlana knew every handicapped shortcut in the building and we were gobsmacked by the opulence. The next day the drive around the main sights was great - I can't list them all but we got a good overview of them and went inside the Spilled Blood Cathedral (with timed tickets) the Hermitage (with timed tickets -- about 3 hours) and Faberge Museum (Svetlana did not join us as outside guides aren't allowed but they waited for us as we took the regular guided tour).
We were knocked out by the value of this private tour - we had a dedicated driver and guide (who were charmingly married and really lovely people). Igor is an electrical engineer by profession and speaks ALOT more English than he lets on (based on his laughing at our bad jokes) and Svetlana is an art historian who works at the Peterhof Museum during this week. From Svetlana we learned a lot of very interesting information and from the two of them we had a lovely introduction to life in St. Petersburg today.
The total cost of our private tour was $500 US per person (for both days including admission charges). The cruise excursion (for mobility challenged passengers) was $750 pp and had 8 passengers.
The Tour company info is
https://www.maxibalttours.com/
The owner is Alexei - he speaks perfect English and is incredibly responsive. They do tours for all abilities - in our case it just added an extra element of enjoyment that they were geared up to meet my husband's challenges. In any event I'd ask for Svetlana and Igor regardless of your mobility issues..
9am - meet your guide at the terminal and drive to Peterhoff
Peterhoff fountains and parks tour (less walking with frequent stops at benches) time for lunch in one of local cafes
Drive to Catherine's Palace + Amber room tour
~ 5pm back to ship
July 21 (Sunday)
9am - meet your guide at the terminal
general city introduction tour with all major photo stops (exterior) - we really enjoyed this part as it was good for my husband's mobility. And we were able to get out and take pics along the way - Igor was a genius at finding a place to stop the car near the site. It probably helped that it was a Sunday.
Spilled blood Cathedral tour (interior)
Faberge museum tour (unguided)time for lunch in one of Russian pie places
Hermitage tour
~ 4:30pm back to ship
Our pace was pretty modestly paced due to my husband's mobility - you could likely add a trip to the Metro station. And you could do an evening ballet performance (although I understand those are hit and miss quality dance-wise) or a canal cruise. That was our preferred itinerary, knowing as the other poster said two days isn't enough but you've got to start somewhere. The Peterhof Gardens were of interest to us as we love gardens, and the 11am fountain extravaganza was a delight (we didn't go inside at Peterhof). We stopped for a delightful lunch at a Russian cafe (not touristy) and then on to Catharine's Palace in the afternoon. Svetlana knew every handicapped shortcut in the building and we were gobsmacked by the opulence. The next day the drive around the main sights was great - I can't list them all but we got a good overview of them and went inside the Spilled Blood Cathedral (with timed tickets) the Hermitage (with timed tickets -- about 3 hours) and Faberge Museum (Svetlana did not join us as outside guides aren't allowed but they waited for us as we took the regular guided tour).
We were knocked out by the value of this private tour - we had a dedicated driver and guide (who were charmingly married and really lovely people). Igor is an electrical engineer by profession and speaks ALOT more English than he lets on (based on his laughing at our bad jokes) and Svetlana is an art historian who works at the Peterhof Museum during this week. From Svetlana we learned a lot of very interesting information and from the two of them we had a lovely introduction to life in St. Petersburg today.
The total cost of our private tour was $500 US per person (for both days including admission charges). The cruise excursion (for mobility challenged passengers) was $750 pp and had 8 passengers.
The Tour company info is
https://www.maxibalttours.com/
The owner is Alexei - he speaks perfect English and is incredibly responsive. They do tours for all abilities - in our case it just added an extra element of enjoyment that they were geared up to meet my husband's challenges. In any event I'd ask for Svetlana and Igor regardless of your mobility issues..
Last edited by Elizabeth_S; Dec 15th, 2019 at 09:28 AM.
Dec 15th, 2019, 09:42 AM
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Ooh, so little time for this magnificent city! I would encourage you to do a lot of research to pick what interests you the most, and then pick the ones that are closest to one another (or more precisely, take least time to get from one to the other) so that you don't spend a lot of unnecessary time traveling from place to place. The good news is that you should be able to see a least a few gems in that time.
Good luck!
Good luck!
Dec 15th, 2019, 11:08 AM
#5
Hate to pile on, but those above who suggest you identify those (few) sights that interest you the most are on spot. I have linked to my Saint Petersburg TR from October 2018 to give you an idea of what the best laid plans for three days resulted in...
Flannel and Fur. Saint Petersburg!
Happy Planning!
Flannel and Fur. Saint Petersburg!
Happy Planning!
Dec 15th, 2019, 04:04 PM
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Oh my, where to start? St Peterburg is wonderful and so many sights to see. It's hard to suggest places you need to see, cause I am not sure where your interest lies. But of course, you have the obvious: Hermitage, St Peterhof, Savior on the Spilled Blood. We are very lucky and were able to make it to St Petersburg twice. Both times we opted to book our 2-day private tour with Anastasia Travel. There was a lot of communication to make the perfect itinerary just for what we like. We choose a private tour, so if there was a place that was interesting we could stay a little longer. Before I forget, they suggested to include the Faberge museum. (I am so glad they did). It all made me feel very special, having our own private car and local guide. She was so knowledgeable and her stories about the city really added to the experience. Wherever you go, you will enjoy and be impressed with all the marvels of the city
Last edited by JessicaBr; Dec 15th, 2019 at 04:08 PM.
Jan 23rd, 2020, 08:20 PM
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I think that for two days in the city you should see the following: Hermitage, Church on the Spilled Blood, St. Isaac's cathedral, Peterhoff Park and Peterhoff palace or Pavlovsk palace. I would not suggest going to Catherine's palace, it is awfully crowded! Ah, almost forgot, the Eliseyef grocery store was amazing. Those cakes, oh my, amazing!
Jan 24th, 2020, 04:34 AM
#9
We will be in St. Petersburg for two days this summer on a cruise.
We have booked a small group tour (they limit groups to 14 people) with TJ Travel. They offer a few options. We chose a slower paced one because we have mobility issues. They even offered to provide wheelchairs and someone to push them at no extra charge. Their prices are great and so is their response to any questions.
All the certified private tour companies will provide you with a "ticket" which serves as your visa. If you go on your own you need to apply for a visa for Russia.
We have booked a small group tour (they limit groups to 14 people) with TJ Travel. They offer a few options. We chose a slower paced one because we have mobility issues. They even offered to provide wheelchairs and someone to push them at no extra charge. Their prices are great and so is their response to any questions.
All the certified private tour companies will provide you with a "ticket" which serves as your visa. If you go on your own you need to apply for a visa for Russia.
