2-Day St. Petersburg Shore Excursions

If your cruise ship makes port in St. Petersburg, we have a tour you cannot pass up. This tour is specifically designed for cruise ship passengers. Read the tour itinerary for a detailed explanation of this tour.

• Small tour groups
• 2 full days of tour guide service
• 2 full days of car and driver services
• Private, relaxing canal boat tour is included for only your group and is narrated by your guide
• We provide visa free documents which allow you to get off the ship
• If you are not satisfied, we will refund all your money

You will be able to see these places, some of which include inside visits

• Hermitage and Winter Palace
• Yusupov Palace
• Catherine Palace in Pushkin (includes a visit to the "Amber Room")
• Peterhof — Fountains and Gardens Tour
• Church on Spilled Blood
• Vassilievsky Is.
• Rostral columns
• Egyptian Sphinx
• Aurora cruiser
• St. Isaac`s Sq.
• Field of Mars
• Theatre Sq.
• Mariinsky theatre
• Nevsky Pr
• Kazan Cathedral

St.Petersburg Shore Excursion: Day 1

08:00

You will be met at the ship by your personal tour guide and driver.

We begin with a driving "overview" tour of the city. During the city tour, your driver will stop for photos making and to give you the opportunity to take short walks in the most picturesque and famous places of St. Petersburg. During the first hour you will visit the sites you will see from the outside only.

During the driving tour, you will be able to familiarize yourself with beautiful St. Petersburg, the "Venice of the North".

09:30

St. Petersburg tours are very exciting and as the objects of our inside visits begin to open their doors we make our first stop for the day. It is the Yusupov Palace. We visit this grand palace on the bank of the Moika Canal.

The palace is very unimpressive from the outside, but, wait to you see the inside!

It was built in 1770, during the reign of Catherine the Great.

The Yusupov family, although not officially part of the royal family, were among the wealthiest Russians of the time. They desired to have a city palace worthy of their status and fitting for royal visits. This Palace meets and exceeds those requirements. You'll see the beautiful marble staircase, the grand ballroom and the magnificent concert hall.

For many, the most interesting aspect of the Yusupov Palace is that it was the site of Gregori Rasputin's murder.

Rasputin was using his influence over the Empress Alexandra to appoint ministers of the government in return for bribes. Felix Yusupov felt that Rasputin's influence was hastening the fall of his influential friend. Therefore, Felix and others lured Rasputin to the Yusupov Palace where poison, gunshots and beatings combined to kill Rasputin.

For a more interesting discussion on theYusupov Palace follow this link.

St. Petersburg tours accomplished without the opportunity to speak to your guide often miss these interesting little details.

Small group size enables us to have personal interaction with our guests and provide interesting commentary which is impossible on a larger tour.

11:30

Our day continues with a visit to St. Isaac's Cathedral. It sits majestically on the bank of the Neva River. St. Isaac's Cathedral has one of the tallest domes of all catholic cathedrals in the world. It is covered with 220 pounds of pure gold. It was commissioned by Alexander I in 1818 and took 40 years to build.

Lunch- 12:30:

Day 1 has, included in the price, a lunch which has been chosen and prepared especially for our group. Clients are always impressed with the quality and taste of the meals they experience while visiting St. Petersburg

14:00

For some, today's stops are the true reason to visit St. Petersburg. The Hermitage and the Winter Palace are the sites of many infamous moments in Russian history.

The include:

• The precocious behavior of Catherine the Great
• The death of Alexander
• The Sunday Massacre
• The speeches of Lenin to the citizens after the successful Revolution,

All of these events, and more, occrredjust outside, on the balcony, or within the walls of the Winter Palace.

You will have an opportunity to see the

massive art collection

belonging to Catherine the Great which is now housed in the Hermitage.

Just outside the Hermitage, in the middle of the square, you will see the monument to Alexander I honoring his defeat of the mighty Napoleon. (Did you know that following the defeat of Napoleon in Russia, Alexander I led his victorious troops all the way to Paris?)

Next you will visit the signature site on the skyline of St. Petersburg, the Church on the Spilled Blood. It was built as a memorial to Czar Alexander II on the site of his assassination. While the outside of the Church on the Spilled Blood is impressive, wait until you go inside! You will see the preserved sight of the bomb blast that fatally injured the Czar and the efforts of thousands of man hours in artistic restoration of the mural covered walls.

To cap off a wonderful day we include a relaxing Canal Boat Tour exclusively for your group.

Canal Boat Tour of St. Petersburg is a special treat and is conducted, with your guide giving you the narrative as you motor through the city for a St. Petersburg tour perspective like no other.

We know the boat owner personally and he is a gem.

Visitors to St. Petersburg will love this special addendum to this fantastic day. There is no extra charge for this special St. Petersburg canal boat tour.

At the end of the formal St. Petersburg tour today you have the opportunity to choose from several,optional, evening activities.

The prices of evening activites include:

• Event tickets
• Transportation back to the ship after the event

 

 

Optional Evening Events:

As the center of culture in Russia, you should consider attending one of the many evening events.

They include:

 

Russian Ballet

 

 

 

 

Russian Folk Show in the Nickolaevsky Palace.

Enjoy this lively folk show in the beautiful downtown palace.

 

 

 

 

Dinner in a Russian Home — The favorite of our clients.

• Call or Email - Space very limited

 

 

St. Petersburg Shore Excursion: Day 2

Today,we will meet you at the ship at 09:00.

The first hour is devoted to a driving tour of sites for which there is not enough time for "inside" visits.

Our first major visit is to Peterhof.

Peterhof is considered by many to be the "Crown Jewel" of sights in all of Russia.

Built by Peter the I, the palace is magnificent by itself, but combined with the gardens and the fountains, it truly is a wonder.

Today, the Peterhof fountain ensemble consists of over 150 fountains and four cascades. The piping system occupies 54km. Much of the system remains in place as planned by Peter the Great. All of these fountains generate power naturally, from downhill momentum. There are no pumps on any of the fountains.

Each year hundreds of thousands of tourists, from all over the world, visit this "capital of fountains" to enjoy the unforgettable miracle of Peterhof. This park is breathtaking.

The Palace at Versailles was the inspiration for Peterhof and Peter the Great was determined to make this palace even grander. Prepare to be in awe at the comparison!!

Peterhof is the number one priority on any tour to St. Petersburg !

We will do our best, in the time available to enable you to appreciate the genius of it's design and construction.

 

Next on our tour of St. Petersburg is the spectacular Catherine Palace. This palace was built and named for Catherine I, wife of Peter the Great. The Catherine Palace was enhanced by daughter, Elizabeth I. Later the palace was renovated again by Catherine II (the Great).

The Catherine Palace is home of the world famous "Amber Room".(click the link to read our article) The Amber Room has only been available for viewing in the last few years after the government spent many years of painstaking reconstruction of the gift of Frederick the Great. It is assumed that the original version of this amazing room was stolen by the Nazis during World War II.

This palace is located is in the village of Pushkin (named for the famous poet). The area is also called "Tzarskoe Selo" or "Village of the Czars".

We know that many of you will wish your cruise to St. Petersburg included more than 2 days. In a city like St. Petersburg the time flys. Come back to Russia and we will show you the St. Petersburg you missed on this visit and complete your tour with visits to the Golden Ring and a tour of Moscow. Look at our Comprehensive Tour of Russia and we will modify it to include the sites of St. Petersburg you missed this time and avoid duplicaiton. That is the kind of service you can expect when you work with a company that is dedicated to your satisfaction.

RussianTourGuide.Com is pleased to collaborate with numerous travel agents around the world.

If you would like our tour of St. Petersburg but prefer to work with your local agent, ask your local agent to contact us. We will be happy to collaborate with your local agent to make your travel planning "seamless"!

Contingency Planning: Working with an experienced tour company can offer unexpected benefits. Your guide has much experience with almost all situations which arise with tourists and can probably craft a solution for any contingency. Your guide also has phone access to support from our staff in the USA. If needed, she can contact us to assist you. While you travel in Russia we can facilitate services such as:

• Cash advance (for example in the case of a lost or stolen credit card).
• Foreign exchange.
• Provide Russian phones for your use while visiting.
• Medical facilities with English speaking physicians in St. Petersburg.