Weekend in St Petersburg

[valentina]

I am planning to go to St. Petersburg in the beginning of April. What would you recommend to see only for one weekend? What are they costs and a good place to stay?

[natalia]

Originally Posted by valentina

I am planning to go to St. Petersburg in the beginning of April. What would you recommend to see only for one weekend? What are they costs and a good place to stay?

Valentina, I am glad to for you. You will have awesome time in St Petersburg, which is by the way is my hometown. I would recommend spending at least 3-4 hours in the Hermitage (you will need a good guide to show you the best things inside). Then, I suggest that you spend afternoon wandering around the city center. The following day, you should visit Peter and Paul Fortress and in the afternoon you should go to Peterhof. If you have third day, I would suggest to devote it to Pushkin. You may also be interested in our St Petersburg Express Tour (3 days), which is designed especially for brief visits to the city.

[valentina]

Thank you Natalia. St Pete Express looks like the right tour for me, but i could not find the day by day itinerary. Can you please tell me where to look for it? Thanks again.

[sshirokov]

Originally Posted by valentina

Thank you Natalia. St Pete Express looks like the right tour for me, but i could not find the day by day itinerary. Can you please tell me where to look for it? Thanks again.

Valentina, below you can see a quick synopsis of the tour. Price without hotel is $770 per person (including Russian visa). This is a private tour, meaning that there is no group. You have your own personal guide and a driver.

If you have any questions about it, please go ahead and give us a a call during office hours 9 am to 6 pm Mon-Sat Eastern time.

Day 1,
City tour of St. Petersburg including visit to Peter and Paul Fortress and St. Isaak’s Cathedral.
The Peter and Paul Fortress is the original citadel of St. Petersburg, constructed in 1703. It was built to defend the palace from invasions from the sea and later became a burial place of Russian Emperors. St Isaac's Cathedral is one of the symbols of St Petersburg and Russia. This architectural marvel has dominated the city's skyline for 150 years. With its elaborate decoration and artistic mosaic techniques, many claim it to be one of the most impressive major cathedrals in Russia. Apart from being a church where services are held on significant religious holidays, it is also a museum.

The duration of this tour is 6 hours.

Tour of Hermitage
The Hermitage is the largest collection of Russian art in the world. It started out as a private collection of Empress Catherine the Great. She commanded the Russian ambassadors across the world to purchase the best pieces of art that they could find and gradually grew her collection. Only few selected people were allowed to see her collection. In one of her letters she wrote: "Only the mice and I can admire all this." Today, the Hermitage is one of the world's most important collections of art.

The duration of this tour is 4 hours.

Day 2
Tour of Great Peterhof Palace, Cottage Palace and Lower and Upper Parks with fountains Peterhof ( or Peter's Court in German) is an island covered with palaces and gardens. Peter the Great selected this island as his home because it was located next to the Kronshdadt naval base. Peterhof is one of the most popular tourist sights of St Petersburg. It is a must-see for everyone who visits "the Venice of the North."

The duration of this tour is 6 hours.

Day 3

Catherine's Palace and Park in Pushkin town (or also called Tsarskoe Selo). Catherine Palace is located on the outskirts of St. Petersburg. The Palace was a gift by Peter the Great to his wife Catherine and is known for its legendary Amber Room that was looted during the World War II by Germans and later recovered by the American troops. The Amber Room was reconstructed in 2003.

[natalia]

Originally Posted by sshirokov

Valentina, below you can see a quick synopsis of the tour. Price without hotel is $770 per person (including Russian visa). This is a private tour, meaning that there is no group. You have your own personal guide and a driver.

If you have any questions about it, please go ahead and give us a a call during office hours 9 am to 6 pm Mon-Sat Eastern time.

Day 1,
City tour of St. Petersburg including visit to Peter and Paul Fortress and St. Isaak’s Cathedral.
The Peter and Paul Fortress is the original citadel of St. Petersburg, constructed in 1703. It was built to defend the palace from invasions from the sea and later became a burial place of Russian Emperors. St Isaac's Cathedral is one of the symbols of St Petersburg and Russia. This architectural marvel has dominated the city's skyline for 150 years. With its elaborate decoration and artistic mosaic techniques, many claim it to be one of the most impressive major cathedrals in Russia. Apart from being a church where services are held on significant religious holidays, it is also a museum.

The duration of this tour is 6 hours.

Tour of Hermitage
The Hermitage is the largest collection of Russian art in the world. It started out as a private collection of Empress Catherine the Great. She commanded the Russian ambassadors across the world to purchase the best pieces of art that they could find and gradually grew her collection. Only few selected people were allowed to see her collection. In one of her letters she wrote: "Only the mice and I can admire all this." Today, the Hermitage is one of the world's most important collections of art.

The duration of this tour is 4 hours.

Day 2
Tour of Great Peterhof Palace, Cottage Palace and Lower and Upper Parks with fountains Peterhof ( or Peter's Court in German) is an island covered with palaces and gardens. Peter the Great selected this island as his home because it was located next to the Kronshdadt naval base. Peterhof is one of the most popular tourist sights of St Petersburg. It is a must-see for everyone who visits "the Venice of the North."

The duration of this tour is 6 hours.

Day 3

Catherine's Palace and Park in Pushkin town (or also called Tsarskoe Selo). Catherine Palace is located on the outskirts of St. Petersburg. The Palace was a gift by Peter the Great to his wife Catherine and is known for its legendary Amber Room that was looted during the World War II by Germans and later recovered by the American troops. The Amber Room was reconstructed in 2003.

I think you forgot to mention The Church of Savior on Blood - one of my most favorite places in the city.

[chinalover]

Can you guys please tell me what I can do in the city if I come with a cruise? I will only have two days but would like ot see as much as possible. Thanks in advance for your feedback!

[Sasha]

Originally Posted by chinalover

Can you guys please tell me what I can do in the city if I come with a cruise? I will only have two days but would like ot see as much as possible. Thanks in advance for your feedback!

This would depend when exactly the cruise is arriving and departing, because all museums have one day a week when they are closed. But usually you can go on a city tour, visiting the Peter and Paul Fortress, St, Isaak's Cathedral, Hermitage, Alexander Nevsky Monastery, and at least Catherine's, Paul's or Peter's Palace. If you let me know the details of arrival and departure, I can give you some more detail.

[hobbitofny]

Originally Posted by sshirokov

Valentina, below you can see a quick synopsis of the tour. Price without hotel is $770 per person (including Russian visa). This is a private tour, meaning that there is no group. You have your own personal guide and a driver.

If you have any questions about it, please go ahead and give us a a call during office hours 9 am to 6 pm Mon-Sat Eastern time.

Day 1,
City tour of St. Petersburg including visit to Peter and Paul Fortress and St. Isaak’s Cathedral.
The Peter and Paul Fortress is the original citadel of St. Petersburg, constructed in 1703. It was built to defend the palace from invasions from the sea and later became a burial place of Russian Emperors. St Isaac's Cathedral is one of the symbols of St Petersburg and Russia. This architectural marvel has dominated the city's skyline for 150 years. With its elaborate decoration and artistic mosaic techniques, many claim it to be one of the most impressive major cathedrals in Russia. Apart from being a church where services are held on significant religious holidays, it is also a museum.

The duration of this tour is 6 hours.

Tour of Hermitage
The Hermitage is the largest collection of Russian art in the world. It started out as a private collection of Empress Catherine the Great. She commanded the Russian ambassadors across the world to purchase the best pieces of art that they could find and gradually grew her collection. Only few selected people were allowed to see her collection. In one of her letters she wrote: "Only the mice and I can admire all this." Today, the Hermitage is one of the world's most important collections of art.

The duration of this tour is 4 hours.

Day 2
Tour of Great Peterhof Palace, Cottage Palace and Lower and Upper Parks with fountains Peterhof ( or Peter's Court in German) is an island covered with palaces and gardens. Peter the Great selected this island as his home because it was located next to the Kronshdadt naval base. Peterhof is one of the most popular tourist sights of St Petersburg. It is a must-see for everyone who visits "the Venice of the North."

The duration of this tour is 6 hours.

Day 3

Catherine's Palace and Park in Pushkin town (or also called Tsarskoe Selo). Catherine Palace is located on the outskirts of St. Petersburg. The Palace was a gift by Peter the Great to his wife Catherine and is known for its legendary Amber Room that was looted during the World War II by Germans and later recovered by the American troops. The Amber Room was reconstructed in 2003.

There is a mistake in Day 3. The Amber Room was looted by the Germans. It was never recovered by any of the United Nations Armies. In other words USA troops did not recover it. In 1979, a reconstruction effort was made by Russian craftsman. Using photographs, they created a replica. It was completed 2003. What happened to the original remains a point of much guessing.

Here is a link to a story from 2006. You can get a feel for the guessing. It is still missing. http://www.russiatoday.com/Art_and_F...ost_found.html

[hobbitofny]

By the way, the mistake is a bit insulting to one of the armies fighting the Nazi threat to the world. I know the USA lost about 450,000 and CCCP lost about 27,000,000 people in the war. The USA army did not steal from the people of the CCCP at the end of the war. We may have entered into a cold war not long after the war, but we did not steal a national treasure of CCCP and later the Russian Federation.

[sshirokov]

Originally Posted by hobbitofny

By the way, the mistake is a bit insulting to one of the armies fighting the Nazi threat to the world. I know the USA lost about 450,000 and CCCP lost about 27,000,000 people in the war. The USA army did not steal from the people of the CCCP at the end of the war. We may have entered into a cold war not long after the war, but we did not steal a national treasure of CCCP and later the Russian Federation.

hobbitofny, thank you for pointing this out. I think you are correct that the Amber room was never recovered. By the way, I am also very interested in Russian history. Perhaps we should start a little "did you know..." section where we can share interesting facts about Russian history? What do you say?