Tour Company recommendations for St. Petersburg
 

We will be taking a Baltic Cruise at the end of August 2018 with a stop in St. Petersburg, would
really love to get your recommendation for tour companies that take smaller size groups and
what did it cost. I have seen recommendations for Red October and Denrus, has anyone used either of
these companies and how was your tour?
We have never been to Russia/St. Petersburg so we have no idea of what to see and where to go
so I could really use your help Fodor Forum helpers.

We did a Baltic cruise last June and used Alla Tours. They were excellent. The two days were packed and yet there was still lots more to see, just not enough time. I'd guestimate that our group was less than 20 people which, I suppose, would vary depending on how many from your ship sign up.

https://alla-tour.com/tours/2

We used DenRus. Our group was 14 people and we had a dedicated guide and a van for movement.

I would very strongly recommend that you pack in as <B>much as possible</B> while you are in that city and that might include something a night as well.

Yes it will be go-go-go but you can sleep at home and you may never go back. Believe me, it will be worth every penny.

DenRus has always been good

http://tickets-and-tours.com is a newer company run by former DenRus staff

Either would be reliable . . .

A good guidebook or two should prove to be an invaluable resource. In comparison to the cost of your trip, the cost will be nominal, and you will end up with a wealth of information at your fingertips, including answers to questions you don't even know to ask.

St. Petersburg is amazing -- enjoy!

Thanks for the information and recommendations. What are the really "must see" things offered on the tour company's itinerary?

What is a "must see" depends on the traveler -- what made you want to see St. Petersburg?

Any decent guidebook will provide information on the most notable and/or frequently visited places, and you can compare that information to tour itineraries.

BTW, you can get a start by clicking on "destinations" above.

We did 3 days with Alla. Two full days in St Petersburg and one day on the high speed train to Moscow. Alla was very good and I would use them again without hesitation. All of the tour operators did a variation of the same list of sights- Hermitage, Catherine Palace, Church of the Spilled Blood, canal tour, Peterhof, Yusopov Palace etc.

We used SPB Tours a couple of years back and were extremely happy with their services and our guide. But IMO most of the top tours companies are all very professional, with very similar itineraries and pricing. We were 15 in a 16 seater minivan with wifi!

Suggest you also try and take in a show at the Marinsky, it's very easy to buy tickets online. 2015 was the 175th anniversary of Tchaikovsky's birth and they had a festival of his works, we saw Sleeping Beauty and this was one of the highlights of our trip. I arranged with SPB and we stopped for a quick dinner and change after the tour on Day 1 before the driver dropped us off at the theater. He waited and picked us up at the end of the ballet to bring us back to the port. It was a long day but well worth every minute!

We used Anastasia Travel. Excellent experience.

We had a fabulous 2 days with Red October. They were very willing to tailor their standard itinerary to our intetests. Our guide was excellent and the driver extremely helpful to my mother, who had some mobility limitations.
We also contacted Denrus, but they were very rigid and unwilling to make any changes to their set itinerary.

thanks everyone for your input, keep suggestions coming.

We used Petersburgtrip tours 2 years ago. We wanted a private tour, and the price was very good for our group of 4.Be prepared that the museums will be very busy, so we were glad that there was just our family and we could maneuver easily among big groups (besides cruise groups, there were lots of huge Chinese groups everywhere, ahhh). The most visited attractions are the Hermitage, Catherine palace, Peterhof, the Savior on the Spilled blood and St Isaac's cathedrals, a boat ride sounds wery pleasant if the weather is fine (we didn't do it). We also went to a local market and saw some metro stations. St Petersburg is very special, you will love it! But beware of pickpockets, we saw a couple of them in the city center.