Hi all, I'm not sure if my question on St. Petersburg belongs in this "to the North" forum, so please forgive if I've posted in the wrong place. My husband and I will be in Norway for a week or so in late July/early August, 2011. Given St. Petersburg's relatively close proximity by plane to Scandinavia, I thought it would be worth our while to research the possibility of a short side trip (perhaps 3 days) to St. Petersburg, and fly home (Tampa) from there. I am aware of the visa complications, and the overly bureaucratic state, the language barrier, etc. Thus, while we are used to driving around Europe and doing things on our own, I thought a short guided tour of St. Petersburg might be a good idea. Rick's tours of the area include Estonia and Helsinki, are 9 days, and don't occur while we are there. Does anyone have any tips on other operators? A quick internet search yielded little for our time frame, but they must exist. Also, I would welcome your opinions on the plausibility of our plan to detour to St. Petersburg for three days and fly home from there. While it's actually cheaper (as of yesterday) to fly to Tampa from St. Petersburg than it is to fly from Oslo to Tampa, that doesn't necessarily follow that it is a wise destination. Thanks, everyone!
Posted by
New Paltz, NY
9100 posts
I you're only going to be in St Pet. for three days, you can easily do most of the sightseeing on your own. The popular sites like the Hermitage, St. Isaacs Cathedral, Kaza Cathedral, Russia Museum and some others are all located in close proximity. There are tourist signs in western script all along Nevsky Prospekt to point you in the right direction. If you wish to tour the palaces outside the city, a one day bus tour can be useful. You can easily book this via your hotel once you arrive. From what I recall Lufthansa via Frankfurt, and Finair via Helsinki have the most connections into and out of the city.
Posted by
Florida, USA
12172 posts
One option I know will work is to hop on a Baltic cruise. I believe you can pick up something in Oslo (or other Baltic port) that will stop for a couple of days in St. Petersburg. If you plan a tour with a company (we used Alla tours, Red October is another company - I think they merged with yet another) you won't have to worry about Visa requirements. Another option I would consider (but didn't research it fully because we decided not to go that route) is fly into Stockholm, catch a ferry to Helsinki, then take a train based trip to St. Petersburg (with a similar guide to bypass the visa hassle). This trip seems to be used most commonly by Finns and is probably sold mostly by Finnish travel agents. I hope you will also visit Copenhagen while you are there. It has the most sites of the Baltic Capitals. Tallinn is a great day trip to walk the medieval center. Gdansk also has a beautiful old center plus Malbork Castle is under an hour, by train, from downtown.
Posted by
Florida, USA
12172 posts
If a cruise seems like a good option. Check out vacationstogo.com. They are an internet based travel agent. We have purchased a few cruises through them. Their prices seem to be similar to other online TAs and we've never had a problem with our bookings.
Posted by
OP
343 posts
These are great suggestions! Thank you so much! I like all three options presented here: tour on our own with help from hotel, train trip, or short cruise. Lots to think about. :-)
Posted by
Florida, USA
12172 posts
If you're touring on your own, there is a hydrofoil to Peterhof that cuts the travel time from downtown considerably. There are a fleet of them and they run at regular intervals.
Posted by
Ft McMurray, Canada
2 posts
I just checked Vacations to Go website and there are 2 short Baltic cruises from Stockholm to Stockholm. They are on the Royal Caribbean Vision of the Seas. The first is Aug 6-10 (4 days), and is Stockholm to Tallinn to St Petersburg (1 day) day at sea then back to Stockholm.
The second is Aug 10-15 (5 days) and is Stockholm to Helsinki to St Petersburg (2 days) a day at sea then back to Stockholm. This is the one we are doing 2 weeks later. When you are on a cruise ship, and have a tour either with the cruise ship or with a registered and licensed tour operator in Russia, you don't need to get your own visa, it is covered by the tour company's blanket visa. There are quite a few private tour companies that will give you a private tour of the area. Cruise critic is a good place to get information on private tours in St Petersburg. This is what I am working on now. I have been working on this since about September, so if you have more questions I am be able to help you, but I haven't gone yet so it is just what I have found and read.
Posted by
OP
343 posts
Teresa, thanks for your information. The first cruise works better date-wise but with only one day in St. Petersburg I'm wondering if it's worth it to take time away from Scandinavia. I would really prefer to do the second one, but can't due to commitments at home.