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, Peter & Paul Fortress, the place where the City started and the Church of our Saviour on Spilled Blood, one of the City's landmarks, as well as several photo stops and shopping.

Itinerary:

09:00 - Port pick up

09:00 - 13:00 - City sightseeing with inside visit to Peter & Paul Fortress and Cathedral and Church of our Saviour on Spilled Blood

13:00 - Lunch (own expense)

14:30 - Hermitage 

17:00 - Back to the port

*The tour time will be set to fit in with ship's arrival/departure time.

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 3 - 3.5 hours guided tour visits the display of rooms, which contain over three million artworks, including paintings by Da Vinci, Rafael and Rembrandt. Designed by Rastrelli. The Baroque Winter Palace boasts patterned parquet floors, ornate staircases, moulded and decorated ceilings.

Peter and Paul Fortress - Originally built to protect the city from Swedish attack, the fortress soon became Russia's Tower of London, a place for political prisoners - including Peter the Great's own son.

The Peter and Paul Cathedral - The city's tallest structure in the days of Peter the Great and even today only the television tower exceeds it in the height. The ornate interior boasts gilded iconostasis, 18th-century paintings and icons - and the tombs of many Tsars and Tsarinas, including Peter the Great and Catherine the Great.

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.

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 museum (* If your tour falls on a Monday you will visit St. Isaacs Cathedral instead of Hermitage. (Included in the tour price)
• Entrance fee to Peter and Paul's Fortress and Cathedral
• Entrance fee to Savior on Blood Church
• Port visas
• All taxes, fees and handling charges

NOT INCLUDED

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

Restrictions:

Guests must be able to walk a total of approximately 2 miles each day. Long flights of stairs are required to reach the public rooms in most palaces and the Hermitage. Due to the quick pace, this tour is not suitable for any mobility restricted traveller including slow walkers, or guests who need to sit and rest periodically. 

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).

Dress:

Comfortable clothing and sensible walking shoes are recommended. Sunglasses and sunscreen are suggested