Tour companys for 2 days in St. Petersburg
 

My husband and I along with 6 other friends will be in St. Petersburg during the summer of 2011. We heard that if we use a tour company we will not have to obtain visa's. Has anyone done this and which tour company's would you recommend?

You can go on tours in St. Petersburg without Russian visas provided you arrive with a cruise ship. You will need visas if you come by train or by plane.
If you are a cruise ship passenger, it certainly makes more sense to use a local tour company in St. Petersburg than go on the ship's tours, because then you can have private tours at the cost of group ones. There are quite a few different local tour operators in St. Petersburg, I can recommend one - Palladium Travel, if I remember correctly their website is palladium.spb.ru

Unless something has changed you will need a visa if you arrive by cruise ship also

We've used both RedOctober and DenRus and had great success with both companies. My advice would be to CRAM In as much as you can in your two days as there is a LOT to see and this is not the time to do the "slowtrav" number, believe me.

Dukey1, I will be in St Petersburg in June arriving by cruise ship and as long as I take either the ship's tour or a private tour recognised by the authorities, I don't need a visa. It is waivered for I think up to a 90 hour visit.

I think it is only for cruise passengers.

Cruise passengers can go without visas for up to 72 hrs. in Russia, provided they are received by an authorised tour company.

How many days will you have in St.Petersburg? As posted above if you are in Russia no more than 72 hours - you dont need a visa.
My friends were on a cruise to Russia last year, and they had 1 day in St.Petersburg, they used this tour company - they operate both in Moscow and SPB - www.newimpressionstravel.com