OK - So it's only been three months since someone answered this - sorry.
AllieMan and I LOVED our tours through St. Petersburg in May 2006. We hooked up with 11 other couple and split into two groups of 12.
DO NOT MISS - Hermitage - And YES the Gold Room is worth the extra money. Absolutely NO cameras are allwoed and security men watch your every move. But just to catch a glmpse of a diamond and saphhire sadlle blanket - just amazing stuff in there.
Catherine's Palace was beautiful - but if forced to choose between it and Peterhof - Peterhof must be seen - if only for the fountains alone!
Church on the Spilled Blood and St. Isaacs are stunning.
If you can catch a tour with someone who will take you on the subway for two or three stops - do it. The underground stations are breathtaking. Crystal pillars and chandeliers over the trains themselves.
Yusupov's Palace was also wonderful - this is where Rasputin was murdered - very fun tour.
For those who have been to St. Petersburg, what would you consider your top 10 in sights to see or things to do while there?
Is the Gold Room worth the additional time and money in the Hermitage? Or is it better to spend my time and money elsewhere?
Wow, difficult question since there is so much to see. Depends on your particular interests because any interest can find two days to completely fill those desires. As a general tourist who wants an overview:
Hermitage and Winter Palace
Suburban palace estates: Peterhof or/and Catherine Place, Pavlovsk
Russian Museum(hosed in 4 palaces in the city center)
St Isaac Cathedral and Square
Canal cruises by foot or canal boat
Church on Spilled Blood
Summer Gardens/urban parks
walking around the city center/Nevsky prospkt
St Nichols Cathedral
Central Naval Museum
oh oh, I hit 10 and have 250 more....
There are 254 museums in the city so depending on your interests as I mentioned.....
Gold Room is a go if you are interested in antiquities, as I am but some people find it over the top after visiting the high baroque excesses of Catherine Palace, the Grand Palace and the Winter Palace and had most visitors weak and exhausted from such detail and beauty. Seeing two palaces in one day can be overwhelming.
Just got back from our Baltic cruise. We had 2 very full days in St Petersburg.
I don't have the tours with me right now but lets see what I can remember.
The first day we started out with the Church on Spilled Blood. It was so beautiful from the outside but we were too early I guess as it was locked and we couldn't get inside. We then went to Peter and Paul Fortress, very interesting. Driving through the city was amazing to see all the sites and all that traffic, made LA look like a cake walk! Our Russian lunch was very good. Our afternoon was spent at the Hermatage, without the gold room. I know nothing about art and found all those paintings rather boring with too much time spent on them for my interests. One of our folks went to the bathroom and got lost from us, joined another tour and ended up on a lower level where they had mummies and other digs, I would have enjoyed that much more. I was so tired of standing and walking I just wanted to be done!
The second day was much better IMO. We drove through the Russian countryside out of the city to some smaller towns or perhaps suburbs. We went to Catherine's Palace first, WOW I loved every minute of it, so beautiful with hardwood floors of different designs in every room, we had to wear booties over out shoes. I expected it to be very gaudy like the catholic church in Einsidelin (sp?) in Switzerland. It wasn't although there was a lot of gold guilding throughout. We then had time for shopping in a tourist market. The Fabrigee egg I bought there I put on a chain and get compliments every time I wear it. Then we had another Russian lunch, very good. We spent the afternoon at Peterhoff, the palace and the grounds and those fountains....all just amazing. I was in awe all afternoon.
I forgot to mention as we were traveling out of the city we were going to be early for the first palace so our guide suggested we stop at a memorial on our way. It was a memorial to all those who died and survived the 3 year seige when the Germans surrounded St Petersburg and wouldn't let anything or anyone in or out, hoping to starve all of them. It didn't work and St Petersburg survived. A very impressive memorial and well worth the stop.
It was a thrill for me to just drive throughout the city and countryside, watching the people, traffic, buildings...just being there.
I found it very interesting to read... and surely many others will, too.
Glad you enjoyed the read. I found myself typing from the visions in my minds eye as I revisited all those wonderful sights. The Baltic was truly a phenomonal cruise!
Day 1 Princess tour, St Petersburg City Highlights and Hermitage. Besides the Hermitage guided tour, we saw Cruiser Aurora on the Neva, ( she fired her guns to signal the beginning of the Bolshevik Revolution), St Isaacs Cathedral, Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood (where Tsar Alexander II was assassinated) we couldn't go inside as it was locked.
We also had a guided tour of Peter and Paul Fortress (originally built to protect the city from Swedish attack), then it became a place for political prisoners, we went inside Peter and Paul Cathedral which has the toumbs of many Tsars including Peter the Great and Catherine the Great.
The tour included a Russian 4 course lunch with Vodka! They served rabbit in a cream sauce which was very good. From our bus ride we saw many parts of the city and my eyes were darting all over! Great sights. The price was $199 and worth it.
The second day was also a Princess tour: The Palaces of Catherine and Peterhof. We drove out in the Russian countryside to Pushkin for Catherine Palace. At the edge of St Petersburg we were able to stop at quite an imposing monument to the people who died and survived the 3 year seige when the Natzis surrounded the city trying to starve them out. Catherine Palace was amazing....what else can I say?
Lunch was rabbit again, equally as good as day before and with Vodka.
Peterhof Palace and the grounds with all the fountains and gardens, amazing also!
I believe these are 2 must sees! Hard to believe all the wealth of those families!!
Price for this day was $189 and also worth it.
On both days we had plenty of time to shop for souvineers and you were encouraged to barter with the vendors, which I enjoy! There were vendors at just about every place we stopped and they weren't pushy like the folks in the Caribbean. I was excited to be able to get some of those matrushka (sp?) stackable dolls to bring home to friends. They can be very expensive but I found some for $5 each. Naturally they weren't the detailed painting and very fine lacquer of the expensive ones, but a good souvineer of Russia for my friends. Also for my co workers I found some magnets made to look like those dolls for $! each!
There is so much to see in St Petersburg, you just can't see it all. I feel we made good choices for the 4 of us and we were all pleased. The bus rides, especially in the country, gave us many sights and ideas of Russian living.
This is so winderful... It has never entered my mind to think I might want to visit St Petersburg, but you are painting such beautiful pictures, that it makes me think again!
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