St. Petersburg, Russia
May 16th, 2012, 08:48 AM
#21
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I just booked our St. Petersburg tour through DenRus. I bought the Complete St. Petersburg tour. I think it even includes lunch. We are only there for one day so my price was $195 per person. Glad to get that done as we depart from Oslo on June 9. Thanks Percy and Dukey1. I never would have done this without your help and recommendations. Thanks again. So looking forward to St. Petersburg. If we like it, we are going to book another cruise next year that allows 2 full day there.
May 28th, 2012, 06:26 PM
#24
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Visiting Russia for the 1st time in July, 2012 with the GCT Russia Revealed, Moscow -SP. Thanks for the tips about booking our own tours outside the cruiseline. I had no clue that was possible. This is our 1st small river cruise as we normally prefer sleeping on land.
How to budget? What do snacks, meals, beverages cost? -in USD.
Visa info changed April 2012. You now MUST have a visa to visit Russia. We're close to DC but were told it is next to impossible to obtain a tourist visa on our own. Cost on own is now $170 but $210 thru visa svc.
Temps? We were told in July - 70 high/55 low. Is this the rainey season?
Gifts - what is fair price for nesting dolls? vodka? What qty. spirits are you allowed to bring home?
Is food on ship Russian fare or american?
Are you required to cover head/shoulders/arms while visiting churches?
What is appropriate tip for the cruiseline? That can take you broke if you have to tip everyone you encounter.
Can you exchange USD for roubles on ship? Where is best exchange rate?
Again, enjoyed reading everyone's comments. We're very psyched.
Mary21074.
PS - We're also doing the post trip to Tallin and Helsinky. Any tips or advice on that leg?
How to budget? What do snacks, meals, beverages cost? -in USD.
Visa info changed April 2012. You now MUST have a visa to visit Russia. We're close to DC but were told it is next to impossible to obtain a tourist visa on our own. Cost on own is now $170 but $210 thru visa svc.
Temps? We were told in July - 70 high/55 low. Is this the rainey season?
Gifts - what is fair price for nesting dolls? vodka? What qty. spirits are you allowed to bring home?
Is food on ship Russian fare or american?
Are you required to cover head/shoulders/arms while visiting churches?
What is appropriate tip for the cruiseline? That can take you broke if you have to tip everyone you encounter.
Can you exchange USD for roubles on ship? Where is best exchange rate?
Again, enjoyed reading everyone's comments. We're very psyched.
Mary21074.
PS - We're also doing the post trip to Tallin and Helsinky. Any tips or advice on that leg?
May 29th, 2012, 06:50 AM
#26
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Mary,
If you are visiting active churches, women are required to cover their heads. Some churches have a few scarves at the entrance, but you can't count on this, so it would be best to have your own (a hat will suffice as well). Men must remove their hats. Inside, don't put your hands in your pockets either.
I always thought the best spot for souvenirs was behind the Church on Spilled Blood. Surprisingly, many can be found cheaply at bookstores along the Nevsky Prospect as well. Make sure to get postcards at Dom Knigi. Huge selection of gorgeous scenes.
Buy vodka at a supermarket or a convenience store, never at a dedicated tourist spot (Gostiny Dvor is guilty of this). A decent bottle shouldn't be more than $10. We students would buy the under $5 stuff (with the government label!) and it was fine. Having lived in St. Petersburg, I always thought soda and snacks were a bit on par cost wise with US prices (just a tad cheaper). A 20oz bottle of Diet Coke can range anywhere from 26R (supermarket off the tourist beat) to 50R (tourist spots). Once you step inside a restaurant, the price can hike over 90R for a soda.
I can't answer your questions about cruise ships and currency, but there are loads of cash machines ("bank-o-mat") in St. Petersburg to get rubles. Don't fret, there will be an English language option on all cash machines.
If you are visiting active churches, women are required to cover their heads. Some churches have a few scarves at the entrance, but you can't count on this, so it would be best to have your own (a hat will suffice as well). Men must remove their hats. Inside, don't put your hands in your pockets either.
I always thought the best spot for souvenirs was behind the Church on Spilled Blood. Surprisingly, many can be found cheaply at bookstores along the Nevsky Prospect as well. Make sure to get postcards at Dom Knigi. Huge selection of gorgeous scenes.
Buy vodka at a supermarket or a convenience store, never at a dedicated tourist spot (Gostiny Dvor is guilty of this). A decent bottle shouldn't be more than $10. We students would buy the under $5 stuff (with the government label!) and it was fine. Having lived in St. Petersburg, I always thought soda and snacks were a bit on par cost wise with US prices (just a tad cheaper). A 20oz bottle of Diet Coke can range anywhere from 26R (supermarket off the tourist beat) to 50R (tourist spots). Once you step inside a restaurant, the price can hike over 90R for a soda.
I can't answer your questions about cruise ships and currency, but there are loads of cash machines ("bank-o-mat") in St. Petersburg to get rubles. Don't fret, there will be an English language option on all cash machines.
May 30th, 2012, 03:28 PM
#27
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Mary I just got back from Russia. The stalls across from the Church of Spilled Blood was a great place to buy things. I bought some nesting dolls, they range in price from the ones I got my Grand Daughter for around $5 to the ones I got for myself that were $150 or so. It depends upon what you want and how much you want to spend. I found that the people in the stalls were very friendly and not pushy at all. I also found that the same thing at one stall would be a completly different price at a stall a few down. So comparison shop.
I always kept a scarf in my bag. In Vladimir you also had to wear a skirt, but they provided wrap around skirts for you. I am not sure about other churches in Russia that you may be going to.
I also liked some of the things in the gift shops in Museums as well.
I always kept a scarf in my bag. In Vladimir you also had to wear a skirt, but they provided wrap around skirts for you. I am not sure about other churches in Russia that you may be going to.
I also liked some of the things in the gift shops in Museums as well.
Jul 25th, 2012, 07:04 AM
#29
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I agree that the Russian Museum is a must- particularly the later rooms. Here are some notes that might help:
http://andrewchum.blogspot.co.uk/
http://andrewchum.blogspot.co.uk/
Aug 1st, 2012, 06:14 PM
#30
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I think there is a mix of obsolete and just plain wrong information in the replies.
Regarding visas: to enter Russia by any means other than an international cruise ship or a ferry-cruise(a ferry cruise is one which you arrive by ferry and depart by ferry in from 1 to 3 days back to your origin port, normally Helsinki), you will need a visa obtained before you leave home from your nearest Russian consulate. You can't get one at the border or another country while traveling unless you have a residency permit for that country. US citizens pay $140 for the consular fee and now, starting May 12th 2012, a visa service company fee of $30. You apply through a designated visa service company who in turn takes your application to the consulate. You can't apply directly to the consulate any more.
One of the required documents in your application is a visa invitation, called Visa Support, which can be obtained from your hotel or authorized tour operator. They email it to you.
For cruise ship passengers, all is much easier, there is no visa required. Some called it a blanket visa and some less than honest tour companies charge for that but there is no visa if you are a cruise ship passenger who arrives and departs within 72 on the same ship. There is one requirement, to have a tour operator as your host or sponsor. Sign up for a tour from an authorized tour operator such as DenRus Ltd (www.denrus.ru ) and show your passport and tour ticket to passport control officers and you are admitted into the country. It is that simple.
Cruise ships always lie about the need for a visa if you do not book with them. That is a ploy adopted by their cruise line marketing department and not based on fact or law at all.
Cruise ships can't sponsor your visa free entry because they are not tour operators so they contract with a tour operator each season to provide tours to their passengers, and sponsor them when off the ship. The cruise line sells the tours as if they were their own but their only connection is as a sales agent who, by the way, retains most of the selling price as their sales commission.
The cruise lines warn about using independent tour operators but in reality those independent tour operators are the only ones who can sponsor you visa free entry into Russia, those ship has to use the same operators in order to be able to provide tours that are visa free.
Ship sold tours are conducted using 50 passenger motor coaches and fill them so it will not be an intimate or personalized tour. The exception to that is private tours or van/car plus driver and guide bookings through the ship. These are very expensive and a much better deal can be found by booking with a tour operator directly.
Several people posted recommendations for souvenir shopping at the Souvenir Fair behind Church on Spilled Blood. I do not recommend it for the simple fact is the risk of pickpocket is higher in that one small plot of land, 100x200 feet than any where else in Russia. Street crime is low generally but there are a couple places pickpockets work, that souvenir area , around the entrance of the Church on Spilled Blood and a 3 block stretch of Nevsky Prospect from Sadova Ul to the Moika Canal. If you are hit by a pickpocket and they get your passport by accident(they normally just throw those away, they are looking for credit cards and cash), you can't leave before it is replaced. Some consulates can replace a passport in a couple hours(USA) but others like the Canadian might take 10 days and only from Moscow. A well connected tour operator can facilitate that greatly and cut the time down to a minimum. According to Russian immigration officials, 4-10 passports are lost or misplaced every day by cruise passengers. Most are recovered in a week since they are either misplaced or stolen and if stolen the thief normally throws it away on the street and it gets turned in to the consulate.
You do need your passport since it is your only valid form of ID when outside of your home country or state. That is true in any international travel, not just Russia. So hide it away from your target items like wallet or purse. It is advised to not carry anything that would be a hassle to replace. Leave all your other ids, membership cards and other things kept in wallets or purses back home, they are useless away from home who why risk their being lost of stolen. If men resist at very useful advice and insist on carrying a bulging wallet, do not carry it in a rear pocket or backpack, the town most sought after targets. Slip it into a front pocket.
Better yet, just take some money and a credit card in a pocket and leave the wallet in your cabin safe. For women, use a purse strap long enough to be placed over your head, do not rely on hanging it over the same side shoulder, you are warned. Same with cameras, over the neck, not over the same shoulder as the side it hangs on. All this might sound like theft is a major risk. It is not, but away from home losing anything has higher levels of consequences than if at home.
As I mentioned, street crime is low and there are few if any "bad" parts of the city to avoid, no place is infested with gangs or having high crime rates. It is considered rather safe even walking around alone at 3 am about anywhere in this city of almost 7,000,000 people. The official population is just under 5,000,000 but that only counts people who registered to live here and not the immigrants, expats, students and vistors
Regarding visas: to enter Russia by any means other than an international cruise ship or a ferry-cruise(a ferry cruise is one which you arrive by ferry and depart by ferry in from 1 to 3 days back to your origin port, normally Helsinki), you will need a visa obtained before you leave home from your nearest Russian consulate. You can't get one at the border or another country while traveling unless you have a residency permit for that country. US citizens pay $140 for the consular fee and now, starting May 12th 2012, a visa service company fee of $30. You apply through a designated visa service company who in turn takes your application to the consulate. You can't apply directly to the consulate any more.
One of the required documents in your application is a visa invitation, called Visa Support, which can be obtained from your hotel or authorized tour operator. They email it to you.
For cruise ship passengers, all is much easier, there is no visa required. Some called it a blanket visa and some less than honest tour companies charge for that but there is no visa if you are a cruise ship passenger who arrives and departs within 72 on the same ship. There is one requirement, to have a tour operator as your host or sponsor. Sign up for a tour from an authorized tour operator such as DenRus Ltd (www.denrus.ru ) and show your passport and tour ticket to passport control officers and you are admitted into the country. It is that simple.
Cruise ships always lie about the need for a visa if you do not book with them. That is a ploy adopted by their cruise line marketing department and not based on fact or law at all.
Cruise ships can't sponsor your visa free entry because they are not tour operators so they contract with a tour operator each season to provide tours to their passengers, and sponsor them when off the ship. The cruise line sells the tours as if they were their own but their only connection is as a sales agent who, by the way, retains most of the selling price as their sales commission.
The cruise lines warn about using independent tour operators but in reality those independent tour operators are the only ones who can sponsor you visa free entry into Russia, those ship has to use the same operators in order to be able to provide tours that are visa free.
Ship sold tours are conducted using 50 passenger motor coaches and fill them so it will not be an intimate or personalized tour. The exception to that is private tours or van/car plus driver and guide bookings through the ship. These are very expensive and a much better deal can be found by booking with a tour operator directly.
Several people posted recommendations for souvenir shopping at the Souvenir Fair behind Church on Spilled Blood. I do not recommend it for the simple fact is the risk of pickpocket is higher in that one small plot of land, 100x200 feet than any where else in Russia. Street crime is low generally but there are a couple places pickpockets work, that souvenir area , around the entrance of the Church on Spilled Blood and a 3 block stretch of Nevsky Prospect from Sadova Ul to the Moika Canal. If you are hit by a pickpocket and they get your passport by accident(they normally just throw those away, they are looking for credit cards and cash), you can't leave before it is replaced. Some consulates can replace a passport in a couple hours(USA) but others like the Canadian might take 10 days and only from Moscow. A well connected tour operator can facilitate that greatly and cut the time down to a minimum. According to Russian immigration officials, 4-10 passports are lost or misplaced every day by cruise passengers. Most are recovered in a week since they are either misplaced or stolen and if stolen the thief normally throws it away on the street and it gets turned in to the consulate.
You do need your passport since it is your only valid form of ID when outside of your home country or state. That is true in any international travel, not just Russia. So hide it away from your target items like wallet or purse. It is advised to not carry anything that would be a hassle to replace. Leave all your other ids, membership cards and other things kept in wallets or purses back home, they are useless away from home who why risk their being lost of stolen. If men resist at very useful advice and insist on carrying a bulging wallet, do not carry it in a rear pocket or backpack, the town most sought after targets. Slip it into a front pocket.
Better yet, just take some money and a credit card in a pocket and leave the wallet in your cabin safe. For women, use a purse strap long enough to be placed over your head, do not rely on hanging it over the same side shoulder, you are warned. Same with cameras, over the neck, not over the same shoulder as the side it hangs on. All this might sound like theft is a major risk. It is not, but away from home losing anything has higher levels of consequences than if at home.
As I mentioned, street crime is low and there are few if any "bad" parts of the city to avoid, no place is infested with gangs or having high crime rates. It is considered rather safe even walking around alone at 3 am about anywhere in this city of almost 7,000,000 people. The official population is just under 5,000,000 but that only counts people who registered to live here and not the immigrants, expats, students and vistors
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