You will be met at the port by your uVisitRussia representative who will then escort you to your air conditioned/heated coach.

One of the World's most magnificent Cities, St Petersburg stretches over forty-four islands.  The City was built by Peter the Great in the 18th Century to rival the splendour of Paris and combines a wealth of palaces, churches and museums.

A full day of sightseeing includes a general sightseeing tour of the City along with visits to the Hermitage, the World famous Art Treasury, Peterhof Park and the Church of our Saviour on Spilled Blood, one of the City's landmarks, as well as several photo stops.

WHAT YOU VISIT:

The Hermitage - The Tsar's former Winter Palace and four other buildings that house one of the world's premier art collections. Your 1.5 - 2 hour guided tour visits the display of rooms, which contain over three million art works, including paintings by Da Vinci, Rafael and Rembrandt. Designed by Rastrelli. The Baroque Winter Palace boasts patterned parquet floors, ornate staircases, molded and decorated ceilings.

The Church on Spilled Blood - was built on the spot where the Emperor was mortally wounded.  The interior of the Church is decorated with incredibly detailed mosaics designed and created by the most prominent Russian artists of the day.

Peterhof Park - Travel to another former summer Imperial residence. Set in magnificent gardens, Peterhof is reminiscent of Versailles. It was almost completely destroyed by the Nazis in World War II but has been restored to its full splendor. The gardens are dotted with countless fountains, charming pavilions and summer houses.

The fountains of Peterhof are one of the most famous tourist attractions. The diversity of fountains in the park is surprising. From monumental ensembles like the Samson Cascade to the ever popular Joke Fountains, including one which sprays anyone who steps on a particular paving stone.

During the tour there will be time given to get lunch, your guide will be on hand to assist you with this.

ITINERARY (approximate):

• Meet at St Petersburg Cruise Port
• Drive through St Petersburg City
• Hermitage visit (approximately 2 hours)
• Drive to Church on Spilled Blood
• Visit Church on Spilled Blood (approximately 20 minutes)
• Lunch (not included)
• Drive to Peterhof Park
• Park Exploration (approximately 1.5 hours)
• Drive back to St. Petersburg
• Souvenir shopping
• Drive back to cruise port

INCLUDED

• Driver’s services as per the program (Comfortable car/minivan with A/C)
• Professional English-speaking guide assistance. Other languages upon request (additional charge may apply)
• Entrance fee to the Hermitage
• Entrance fee to the Church on Spilled Blood
• Entrance fee to the Peterhof Park (no Palace)

NOT INCLUDED

• Food / Drinks
• Personal expenses
• Gratuities to guide/driver (optional)

Additional info

PLEASE NOTE THE HERMITAGE IS CLOSED ON A MONDAY, SO THIS TOUR WILL NOT RUN ON MONDAY.  

PLEASE NOTE ON WEDNESDAY THE CHURCH ON SPILLED BLOOD IS CLOSED THIS WILL BE REPLACED BY NIKOLSKY CATHEDRAL.

PLEASE NOTE: This tour is only available on the 1st day porting in St Petersburg (arrival day)

Dress

It is important to wear comfortable footwear, there is a lot of walking involved in this tour and this will not be suitable for those who have walking difficulties or for clients that need to use a wheelchair.

Additional info

Note that all of our tours in St. Petersburg are operated by authorized guides, and you, therefore, do not need to secure an independent visa in order to participate in this tour. However, in order to book this tour, you must provide us with full names, dates of birth, nationality, and passport numbers for each tour participant so that our guides can secure the proper tour visas on your behalf. Note also that, if you wish to explore St. Petersburg on your own while not accompanied by one of our guides, you will need to secure an independent visa.

Please be aware that cruise lines occasionally mislead passengers by telling them that they are not allowed to disembark the ship in St. Petersburg unless they are on an excursion purchased through the cruise line. In addition, the cruise lines also sometimes tell passengers that they cannot disembark the ship until the passengers on the cruise lines' excursions have done so first. This is incorrect, and you are free to exit the ship as soon as passengers start to disembark because Russian law states that a cruise ship cannot hold passengers onboard against their will as long as they have the proper documents. In order to clear immigration, you will need to bring along: 1) Your passport; 2) A photocopy of the picture page of your passport; and3) A copy of your tour tickets. 4) An immigration form passed out to all guests on the ship. We will provide you with your tour tickets as part of the documents we e-mail to you after you make a tour booking.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

You must allow plenty of time to get through the security at St Petersburg Port, sometimes the queues at security can be very long and it can take a long time to get through, please disembark your cruise ship in plenty of time in order to meet your tour.

Please note: Going through security checks on your first day of arrival may take a long time, UVisitRussia do not have any control of this, please be patient and allow plenty of time. If you are touring the 2nd day, generally security is not as bad as the 1st day of arrival.

It is important you travel with your shore excursion vouchers and visas. We will send this information via email approximately 7 working days prior to your travel date (once you have provided your passport information), if you travel without these documents you will not be able to pass through security thus resulting in you not being able to join the tour (in these cases uVisitRussia cannot be held responsible for tours being missed and no refund of this tour will be given).