As a guide and travel agency owner, I often face a bias that private shore excursions in St Petersburg are much more expensive than group tours offered by a cruise company. I don’t really agree with that and to prove my point I decided to use a booklet of Royal Carribean that my tourists brought me in 2014.
The most popular sights cruise tourists visit in St Petersburg are the city tour, Savior on Spilt blood church, St Isaac’s cathedral, the Hermitage, Catherine palace in Tsarskoe Selo or Peterhof fountain park and sometimes Peter and Paul’s fortress.
Let’s say that we have a couple who decided to take a Baltic cruise. They decided to visit several “must see” places without a rush and also take a taste of local life. So, on their wish list we see a city tour with visits to the Savior on Spilt blood church and St Isaac’s cathedral, Hermitage museum, Catherine palace in Tsarskoe Selo, and, to touch local life, a visit to a food market and a metro ride.
The problem with shore excursions offered in St Petersburg by a cruise line is that you’ll need to book many tours in order to fit your interests. St Petersburg is a big city, and the port is not in the very city center, so you’ll also use significant amount of time driving to the city center and back to the ship.
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Group tours offered by Royal Carribean in 2014 |
2 day private tour offered by Petersburgtrip private tours |
| 1. Grand St Petersburg and the Hermitage. The tour also includes a visit to St Issac’s cathedral and a city tour. A tour of the Savior on Spilt blood is not included as far as I see, you’ll only see main city sites from the outside. Tour price is 175$ per adult.
2. Tsarskoe Selo – Pushkin. Tour price is 59$ per person. 3. Local life experience: metro ride, Kuznechny market – 46$ per person So total it’s 280$ per person |
You’ll see the same sites for 300$ per person (if there are just 2 people in a group) and the tour also includes a visit to the Savior on Spilt blood church and the Peter and Paul cathedral. If there are more people in a group, it will be cheaper!
You move around by public transport the first day and by private van on day 2, so it’s meant for more active people. Of course, a car for the first day can be arranged upon agreement. And it’s a private tour. Day 1 08:30 – meeting at the ship Day 2 – private vehicle 08:30 – meeting at the ship. Driving to Tsarskoe Selo. On the way we’ll make a photo stop to take photos of the beautiful Chesma church and monument to the Heroic defenders of Leningrad.
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