Hi, we just returned from a multi-generational family trip to St. Petersburg. The travel tips and forums on this website were very helpful in planning our trip so I wanted to share with others. We were a group of 8, ranging in age from 20 to 90! We found the historic city center of St. Petersburg very easy to navigate by foot with plenty of food choices and sights to interest everyone. We used TJ Travel (www.t-petersburg-tours.ru) for 5 days. They provided a wonderful guide, a driver and large van (and a wheelchair which the oldest member of our group used for the Hermitage and Peterhof Gardens). Our daily itineraries with them included the Grand Choral Synagogue, Hermitage Museum, Church of the Spilled Blood, Yusopov Palace, Tarkoye Selo (Catherine the Great Palace), Peterhof Gardens and Palace, Peter & Paul Fortress, Russian Museum, and the Russian Museum of Ethnography. On our own, we visited the Faberge Museum (bought our tickets on line a few days in advance), the many Gardens in the city, St. Isaac's Cathedral (including climbing the tower steps for a great view of the city), Kazan Cathedral, the Farmer's Market at Kuzcheny, Rubenstein Street (lots of cafes), and the St. Petersburg subway. I highly recommend a tour guide for several of the crowded, must see sights like the Hermitage and the various Palaces. With the guide, we were able to skip the long entrance lines. The guide also showed us the highlights of each museum and provided an interesting and knowledgeable description of the sights and artwork. On the afternoon of our arrival, we took a 90 minute canal boat ride with an English guide. This was a relaxing way to get an overview of the city.
We felt very safe walking around the city, although we were warned to keep an eye out of pickpockets. Hotel staff spoke English, restaurants had English menus.
I highly recommend staying in a hotel near the Moyka Canal and then you will be near many sights and good restaurants. We stayed at Hotel Herzen, a smaller hotel near St. Issac's Cathedral. We enjoyed good meals at Cafe Zoom, La Botanika and Idiot Restaurant. All had good choices for vegetarians.
We managed the visa process on our own, using both the NYC and Washington DC of Invisa Logistics Services. it is a bureaucratic process, but we just followed the instructions on-line and on this travel forum.
We also had a day in Moscow, which was fun, and very different from St. Petersburg. We walked around the Kremlin and Red Square and the GUM Department Store. We took the express train from the Moscow Airport and then the subway to Red Square.
Good luck to everyone planning a trip to Russia.