Russia (St. Petersburg)
Trip Summary
St. Petersburg, Russia is always an awe-inspiring destination that seems to be on everyone’s bucket lists. But the visa requirements, the expense, and the distance always seem to be a deterrent in going. However, we didn’t want these things to prevent us from visiting this magical place, so my husband and I (and his family) booked a summer 11-day Scandinavia and Russia cruise on the Regal Princess. After seeing Tallinn for a day, we headed to see the star of the cruise itinerary–St. Petersburg, Russia!
Since Russia requires a visa to visit, you can visit the country through a sponsored tour or go through the visa process yourself (but this process is expensive, time-consuming, and quite an involved process that requires a lot of documentation). We didn’t want to worry about not getting the visa in time for our visit, so we decided to book a tour through the ship (if you take an authorized tour through the ship, you can stay up to 72 hours in Russia without a visa).
I am glad that we ended up taking the ships’s tour, because travel in Russia is very unlike travel anywhere else–it is actually pretty stressful! When we got off the ship and walked through the immigration area, we were immediately stopped by agents who motioned that only one person was allowed in the immigration booth at a time. I say booth because once you walked inside, glass panels closed in front of and behind you, and there, you gave your passport to the immigration agent.
I thought I had everything I needed for entry into Russia, so I was a little confused when the agent looked at my passport then to me and pointed to me while biting down on his teeth. Obviously, I don’t speak Russian, and this person didn’t speak a word of English, so the conversation awkwardly continued with the agent still pointing to me and clacking down on his teeth. Then he started to point to himself, and the clacking got louder, and I started to think, is he wanting something to eat? What in the world is he asking? I started looking around to see if anyone could help us communicate and thought about just how ridiculous the whole exchange was and started to laugh. Well, that’s he wanted! I was smiling in my passport photo, and apparently, you have to look the exact same as in your passport picture, so the agent’s pointing and teeth clacking were an attempt to make me smile. So just so you know! Take a glimpse at your passport photo and make that exact face–or you’ll have the same confusing exchange that I did. Gracious!
I then got a piece of paper that I would have to show the agent on my way back onto the ship, and when I exited the booth and slipped it into my passport, one of the other ship passengers saw me and said to hold onto that piece of paper with my life. If you lose it, they won’t let you back on, and you’ll be stranded, she said. So I placed it very, very carefully in my things and put it away. We had hardly stepped foot into Russia, and already, it was making me nervous!
But the nervousness soon dissipated when we met up with our tour group. We took the 2-day Best of St. Petersburg tour, and after our big tour group and less than stellar guide in Tallinn, I hoped this tour would be an improvement, and thankfully, it was. The groups for this tour are smaller (32 people), and while the tour is very expensive, you do cover a lot of ground and go all around St. Petersburg to see the sights.
We also had a wonderful guide who was an absolute encyclopedia of information. Everyone was given earbuds so we could hear her narrate us through all the buildings, and this quiet, soft-spoken woman just blew me away with how she knew every possible detail about every possible place. The tour was 9.25 hours each day, and she talked the whole time, so not only did I marvel at her knowledge, but also how she kept her voice the whole time. No small feat!
We covered a lot of sites on both days, seeing the Peter and Paul Fortress, Hermitage Museum, Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, St. Isaac’s Cathedral, Grand Palace in Peterhof, Lower Garden, Yusupov Palace, and Rasputin Cellar.
The tour also included a canal cruise and lunches at Russian restaurants which were amazing in themselves (one place had a formal dining room with museum quality paintings and crystal hanging from the ceilings and the other had large tables that stretched the length of the room while a folklore show played on the stage). At both meals, the plates included bread, caviar, various fruits, and of course, a shot of vodka.
One of the things I admired most is just how grandiose everything was–from the mosaic Biblical scenes to the mass amounts of gold covering the walls and ceilings of so many of these places.
Peterhof Palace was one of these places covered in gold, and I remember just staring open-mouthed at the grandeur and splendor of every room we entered. The extravagance even continued outside into the gardens as we walked around the lower grounds and saw fountain upon fountain just glimmering in gold.
However, so many of these places had very strict photography rules in that you could not take pictures or video inside many of the rooms. People were actually stationed in each room to enforce this policy, so I meekly obeyed, but I would have loved to have gotten pictures of some of these rooms–they were truly spectacular!
The level of care and protection the Russians have toward their history is truly remarkable. Not only was photography forbidden in a lot of places, but jackets and bags couldn’t be taken inside some of the museums, booties had to be worn over shoes, and visitors could only walk within a specified distance away from certain paintings (there was a rope boundary and an alarm sounded if you got too close). I could see why, though, as our guide pointed out paintings that had been defaced, and it was sad to see that some masterpieces had been destroyed this way.
Even so, St. Petersburg went beyond our biggest expectations. I knew it was a massive city with so much history, but the grandeur of it all really took everything to a new level. Even having seen ornate rooms covered in gold in European museums and palaces, I don’t think anything will top the extravagance of St. Petersburg–it was truly breath-taking!
For the massive itinerary, impressive tour guide, nice tour busses, and smaller group size, this tour gets high marks!
Princess Cruise’s 2-day Best of St. Petersburg Tour: A
Favorite Experiences
Narrowing down favorite experiences is hard for this trip, because everything was so awe-inspiring! I do think, though, that the most gasp-worthy sights were in the Hermitage Museum. Everything from the Ambassador’s Staircase to Nicholas Hall was just huge in its grandeur, and as the day started to go on, I started to notice that the tour groups would almost take turns in the rooms, timing out their speeches so that they could easily move from room to room without overcrowding the space. I started to shamelessly spy on the group ahead of us and when they started to move to the next room (and my group wasn’t done in the previous room yet), I would take my camera out and sneak over to the empty space to take people-free pictures and just stare at the splendor for a few seconds.
The biggest time gap was at the Ambassador’s Staircase, so when I saw the next group climb the staircase and disappear upstairs, I snuck off and just stood in the silence of that beautiful space.
Everywhere I looked was exquisite, and not a soul was in sight, so it was a dream to just stare at the beauty and just take it all in. Climbing that red carpet and hearing your own footfalls bounce off those walls and all that gold was surreal and when my tour group caught up with me, I then watched their awe at the beauty, too. So much to take in, but those few moments alone in that space were probably my favorite.
What I Wish I Knew
Russia was pretty cold in June, so if you go, pack layers that you can wear. In the places we had to leave our jackets behind, we had to stand in line for a bit outside, and it got quite cold in just a long-sleeved shirt. Perhaps, a shawl or a heavier shirt to wear over it would have helped, because I wasn’t expecting having to leave my coat behind.
Also, I would have brought some caffeine had I known how long the days were going to be. Granted, the days were full of amazing experiences, but at the end of the day, you really got tired, and an extra jolt of energy would have been helpful in those later hours. I remember that more and more people stayed on the bus when we stopped at some of the later sights, and while I totally understood everyone’s exhaustion, I still thought, “when are we ever going to be here again?” This was a once in a lifetime experience, and it was sad to see half the bus napping instead of going inside to see these gorgeous places by the day’s end. So if you get tired easily, load up on caffeine early in the day and bring something like a 5-hour energy drink to keep you going later in the day. You don’t want to miss anything!
Though the days were busy and so much was packed into the itinerary, I am glad that we saw all that we did. St. Petersburg really does require at least two days to see, and even then, we only saw the highlights of the city. Definitely go and remember that it’s a once in a lifetime trip, so the tours, while terribly expensive, do pack in a lot, and you get to see a lot of cool places.
Regardless of how you choose to explore St. Petersburg, planning is a must, so check out this forum for some FAQ and this informational page on the port itself. It’s a beautiful city and worth the visit!
I also post reels and TikToks regularly of all the places I’ve reviewed on here, so if you want to see some videos of what to expect, check out my social media here:
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Happy travels!
