This full day
St. Petersburg shore trip allows you to see the major sites in St. Petersburg including interior visits to St. Isaacs Cathedral and one of the city's top attractions, the Peter and Paul Fortress.
After passing through customs at the port you meet your private licensed guide and depart for St. Petersburg. Your day begins with a three hour city tour which includes photo stops at major attractions. During the city driving tour you see the Square of Arts, the Russian Museum, the Cathedral of Our Savior on Spilled Blood, Griboedov Canal, Nevsky Prospect, the Palace Square, the Winter Palace, the spit of the Basil Island, the Menshikov Palace, the Senate Square, the Bronze Horseman, the Palace Embankment, the Field of Mars, the Summer Garden and Smolny Cathedral.
Your tour includes a visit to St. Isaac's Cathedral which was originally the city's main church. When the cathedral was built between 1818 and 1858 it was the largest in Russia. At the time it was one of the most impressive landmarks in the Russian Imperial capital. Today the gilded dome of the cathedral still dominates St. Petersburg's skyline. You will be impressed by the massive red granite columns on the facade and the mosaic icons and paintings in the interior. The church was built to hold 14,000 worshipers but today it is a museum.
Free time is provided for lunch (meal not included).
After lunch you visit the Peter and Paul Fortress. Peter the Great founded the city of St. Petersburg in 1703 and the Peter and Paul Fortress was the very first building constructed. The Fortress forms an irregular hexagon stretched from West to East with six pentagonal bastions at the corners. The Fortress was never besieged, it was destined instead to become the main political prison of the tsarist Russia.
Today the fortress is one of St. Petersburg's major tourist attractions and an emblem of the city. It houses the St. Petersburg City History Museum. After visiting the fortress, you return to the pier.
Mobility: NO wheelchairs
Russia Visa-Free Entry Voucher Information
With these private St. Petersburg shore excursions, our partners in Russia provide everything you need to satisfy Russia's entry requirements. You will NOT need to purchase a separate Russian Tourist Visa.
Russian law requires that cruise passengers taking Private Shore Trips have the following documentation:
1) A valid passport
2) A photocopy of your passport
3) Proof that you have purchased an escorted tour arranged by a government licensed agency authorized to receive foreign cruise passengers inside the St. Petersburg port area. Our partners in Russia provide a Visa-Free Entry Voucher as proof of your tour.
To process your Visa-Free Entry Voucher we will need the following information for each person in your private party at the time of your reservation.
-Full name as listed in the passport
-Passport Number
-Passport Expiration Date
-Date of Birth
-Nationality
-Gender
Special Note- Your cruise line may tell you that you must purchase an expensive Russian tourist visa to get off the ship if you are not taking their big bus tour. This is not true. The visa they refer to is only for passengers who plan to go ashore unaccompanied by an authorized guide. With the Visa-Free Entry Voucher our partners in Russia provide, you are required to depart and return to the port with the tour we have organized for you. You do not have the option to stay in St. Petersburg and return to the ship on your own. Visa-Free Entry Vouchers are sometimes called a "blanket visa".
Four Week Notice- To obtain the needed Russian Tourist Visas we can only accept reservations with a minimum of four weeks notice.
can also be customized to fit your needs. If you have a larger group, we can offer you a private
using a mid-size bus or full size coach. Please
with any questions or to receive a customized quote.
