St. Petersburg, Russia

For a wealth of info visit http://www.myazcomputerguy.com/everbrite/Page2.html Her Biography: A little older lady with three almost grown kids and an indulgent husband. When not traveling, I work mending minds. We visited St. Pete the end of May 2008, it was fabulous. After a few days on our own we joined a river cruise that ended in Moscow. We only had a couple of days in Moscow and I really wish we had more time there. Definitely consider adding time to visit Moscow. I dont think we will return to Russia unless they relax the Visa hassle, worth it for the first trip but a hassle none the less. Also see
http://www.russianembassy.org/Embassy_eng/Consulate/tourist_visa.html

We just did St Petersburg and Moscow in August of this year. Tremendous trip! St Petersburg is beautiful and the palaces are 2nd to none. I've been all over western and central europe - nothing compares to St Petersburg and Moscow. The visa is an absolute headache. We are intelligent and fairly well-traveled people and I thought we would be able to handle obtaining the visa on our own without the help of an agency - wrong. Let an agency do it for you. However, visa rules for visiting St Petersburg have just been relaxed and I think if you arrive via cruise ship you will not need a visa even if you spend your nights on land in St Petersburg. We stayed at the Sky Hotel which is part of the Nevsky Hotel Group - wouldn't really recommend it unless you are just looking for bare bones minimum. Use the hotel website of www.yeego.com Amazing prices. Only used a guide 1 day to travel to Pushkin to see Catherine's Palace. www.toursbylocals.com is how we booked Elena. Great guide. We used CIBT for our VISAs.

St. Petersburg has a short summer. Expect it to be cool outside of the height of summer. This year was unusual and unseasonably warm. We spent two days with a cruise ship and opted for a private guide so we could forego the visa requirement (slept on the ship). You will never encounter a surlier bunch of people than you will in Russian passport control (unless it's the women who work in the museums). Make sure you have done everything correctly - they aren't likely to cut you a break. Try saying "Yellow Blue Bus" (only V at the start of Bus), it means "I love you" and may actually get a smile out of some of the frowny women. I've been assured as long as it's in a respectful tone no offence will be taken.

I used a wonderful tour company upon the high recommendation of my cousin two summers ago. Anna was able to cusomize our itinerary to our specifications. She takes care of getting the tourist visa (this was a two day visit while we were on a cruise). Each day our guide and driver met us as we went through passport control and off we went! The cost was much better than going through the ship excursion. Email me at: [email protected] and I'll give you her website/email.

Hi Debbie,
My husband and I spent seven nights in St Petersburg this past June. We loved it and hope to return. The weather (June 5-12) was unpredictable. Shirt sleeves one day/sweater and coat the next. All evenings were at the least chilly. And DO take an umbrella.As to the visa, an excellent company to use is Travisa. But if possible, do not use them to get the forms from the hotel you choose. They charge quite a bit to take care of that requirement. Most hotel have visa support. You'll understand once you start the process. We stayed at Renaissance St Petersburg Baltic Hotel. They have a website. We had AAA book it for us. The location is right at St Isaacs Cathedral. We used a private guide company which I was extremely pleased with! Tatyana's web site is: www.tour-stpetersburg.com. She will help you plan and will customize your needs for a guide and or a guide/driver. The guide we had absolutely made our trip. If you would like more information, please e-mail me. Ashley

My wife and I visited St. Petersburg in September. We had a local tour company take us on guided tours each day. They were fantastic - very flexible and efficient, they had also provided complimentary visa support for us. Their website is www.stpetersburg-tours.ru
We decided to take this trip in September because June is much more expensive and there seem to be many more visitors in June, too.