goingtomiami

We will visit Russia later this year. We would like to know if it is advisable to book tours to the Kremlin/Hermitage/Pushkin, etc. before we arrive, or should we wait until we arrive in Russia and make those arrangements at the hotel? Thanks for any help.

Andrea_expat

I would do neither - I recommend you wait until you get there, and then for the Kremlin and Hermitage, there will be guides standing outside the gates. They are licensed guides - just be sure to chat with one for a while before deciding so that you can be sure you will understand their accent - some are thicker than others!

I'm not sure about the Pushkin museum; we didn't use a guide, and I didn't see any there.

If you book from overseas you'll typically pay a REALLY high premium, and you'll also pay much more if you book through hotels.

Have a great trip!

goingtomiami

Thanks for the reply.
I was referring to Catherine's Palace in Pushkin, which is a day trip from St Petersburg.

Gretchen

hile we liked Pushkin we thought the palace at Petrodvorets was much more beautiful. Guides will be available when you get there.

Garfield

I would not bother with booking a guide before you arrive in Russia.

For the Hermitage you can join a tour, which will take you through in about 1.5 hours, however you could loose your group at the end of the tour and stay on longer. Look foe the museum's excursions office. You can also take a self guided tour, which has a hand held sound system. If you plan on visiting the Golden Rooms Special Colection you must also contact the excursions office or travel agent for tickets.

For Petrodvorets or Puskin take one of the tours that leave from Gostiny Dvor, where Nevsky Prospect and Dumskaya ulitsa intersect. For Petrodvorets you can anso take the hydofoil that runs from a jetty in front of the Hermitage. Both Petrodvorets and Puskin can be reached using local transportation.
I would vist Peterhof if I only had time to visit one of the palaces outside of St Petersburg

For the Kremlin you will find freelance guides offering their services near the main ticket office by the Kutafya Tower, prices range from $10 to $20 an hour.

For tours in Moscow check out
Dom Patriarshy Tours at: http://www.expat.ru/patriarshy_dom_tours.php

For information about Hermitage:
http://www.hermitagemuseum.org/html_En/index.html

For information about Pushkin (Tsarskoe Selo): http://www.infoservices.com/stpete/pushkin/index.htm

For information about Petrodvorets (Peterhof) see: http://www.peterhof.org/map.html

http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~powellm/kremlin.html