Highlights

08:00 - Meet our guide at the sea-port terminal with a sign with your name. At the time specified, please get through the customer control.
After you get through the immigration post, you will get to the central hall. Our driver will be at the centre of the terminal.

08-30 - 10-30 - Get your private air-conditioned vehicle and start your excursion around Saint-Petersburg. Admire the golden spire of Peter-and-Paul Fortress, estimate the beauty of  Dvortsovaya Square ensemble, Neva river granite embankments, Nevsky prospect, small rivers and canals, greatness and power of two most outstanding Cathedrals of Saint-Petersburg - Isaakievsky and Kazansky. 

11-00 - 11-45 Make a stop near the Hermitage to get the speed-ship hydrofoil "Meteor" and start your journey to the Peterhof,  named as "Russian Versailles". 45 minutes of beautiful views is for you to make perfect photos!

11-45 - 14-00 Get your personal well-learned guide and start your private excursion around St Petersburg's most famous and spectacular Imperial estate and a UNESCO World Heritage Site - Peterhof. A professional guide has a degree in art history, will tell you what you will never read in the guidebooks, share details with you that you never know during the regular "overview" Peterhof excursion.

14-00 - 14-45 It's time to come back to Saint-Petersburg. Take your speed-ship hydrofoil "Meteor" to get back to the city. 

15-00 - 16-40 - Get your special fast-pass to the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg during a 1h 40 min. private excursion with an art-expert guide. Walk few minutes and now you are here. During the small tour you will see state palace interiors of the Winter Palace, the most glorious tsar residence in Russia, started by Empress Elizabeth I and finished under Catherine the Great's rule. View Renaissance masterpieces by Da Vinci and Michelangelo; wonder at works by Rubens and Goya; and admire paintings by Matisse, Picasso and more as your guide explains their meaning and history.

17-00 - 18-20 - After the excursion along the Hermitage galleries you are enough tired and hungry to have some rest for the meal. Be accompanied by your guide to the nearby restaurant and have a 4-course Traditional Russian Dinner with Vodka there. Say goodbye to your guide here and plunge to the comfortable soft couches and enjoy your meal, feel yourself renewed and ready for the new step of your trip.

18-20 - Driver is waiting for you to get you to one of the best Russian Ballet and Opera theatres. Evening performance starts at 19-00. Best Russian ballet companies of Mariinsky Theatre, Alexandrinsky Theatre, Hermitage Theatre performing Swan Lake, Cinderella, The Nutcracker, The Sleeping Beauty, Romeo and Juliet to the music of Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, Prokofiev and other Russian composers. Estimate brilliant performance of Russian Classical Ballet School and relax listening magic entrancing music.

At about 22-45 - get your driver to come back to the ship.

The cost includes:

• Port pick-up and drop-off
• Professional English-speaking guide assistance. Other languages upon request (additional charge may apply)
• Driver’s services as per the program (Comfortable car/minivan with A/C)
• Fully private tour 
• Entrance fee to The Hermitage Museum
• Entrance fee to Peterhof Park and Fountains Complex (no Palace)
• Roundtrip hydrofoil tickets
• 4-course Traditional Russian Dinner with 1 shot of best Russian Vodka (please advise any specific dietary requirements at the time of booking)
• Ticket to the evening performance to one of the Russian Ballet and Opera Theatres of St.Petersburg (Mariinsky Theatre or Alexandrinsky Theatre or Hermitage Theatre, based on what is available as per their schedule on the tour date) 
• Port visas
• All taxes, fees and handling charges

The cost does not include:

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

Additional information:

• Minimum age is 7 years
• Refunds will not be issued if tour/activity is missed due to late or non-arrival of cruise ship
• A dress code is required to enter theatres - no shirts
• Due to uneven surfaces, this tour is not recommended for those with walking disabilities or using a wheelchair
• The duration of transfers are approximate, the exact duration will depend on the time of day and traffic conditions
• Citizenship, passport name, number and expiration date are required for all participants
• Operates in all weather conditions, please dress appropriately
• The timings in the itinerary are approximate and can be altered based on entrance time available to a particular sight

DEPARTURE/RETURN DETAILS: flexible (adjusted to the arrival/departure time of your ship)

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 we 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.

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).