from $310,00
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One Day Private Active Shore Excursion

Price Per Person from 160$
1 day (9,5 hours)

Duration

Visa free Shore Excursion

Type of the tour

Private Tour

Tour category

min 2; max any

Group Size

Overview

Please note, this is a private tour. That means you are the only participants on it. The tour price does depend on the number of travelers and the itinerary is fully flexible:press Custom Tour button to see more museums/activities you can add/ replace/ eliminate .

After meeting your tour guide and driver you will go for the metro tour which includes the most beautiful stations in St Petersburg (you will be about 60 meters under ground). To avoid crowds and save time we do early hours visit to the summer residence of the tsars, wonderful baroque style Grand Peterhof Palace, followed by a walk in the park with the world famous fountains. This tour covers all the major sights so we get back to the city in the quickest way possible – by hydrofoil. Then we see the number one attraction in our city, Hermitage museum. Besides its unique art collection you will see the gem of the museum – Winter Palace with its luxurious gala room and have a coffee break in the museum cafe . It will take you a very short time to get to the Church of our Savior on the Spilt Blood from there ;the church is famous not only for the murder of Russian  tsar AlexanderII , that happened right there (hence the name), but also for the amazing mosaics that cover all the walls there. On Wednesday( day off for the museum)  we replace it with Kazan cathedral, a functioning church – ladies, take your kerchiefs please. After seeing the breathtaking mosaics, you will top your tour to admire the royal jewelry in the Faberge museum.

Highlights :

Number of people in your group 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10+
Price Per Person US $ 310 250 215 200 185 175 170 165 160

Children under 6 у.о. will be included   for free; children of 6-18 y.o. and students with ISIC get discounts: $10 off the cost of the tour

Activity level:
High

Transportation:
Comfortable sedan (1-2 people), Mercedes Viano (3-4 people), Mercedes Sprinter (5+ parties) with A/C ; Wi-Fi (upon request).

Guide:
experienced and licensed English- speaking guide (this tour is available in Spanish, German, French, Italian , Portuguese, Chinese as well  but by slightly different price).

8:30am (will be adjusted to your ship’s arrival to St Petersburg) Meet near the ship.

8:30-10 am driving to Peterhof with visit to metro stations

10-12:30 pm Early hours visit of Grand Peterhof Palace and walk through the fountain park

1:00-1:30pm by hydrofoil to St Petersburg.

1:30- 3:30 pm The Hermitage guided tour with 30” coffee break

3:30- 5:30pm The Church of our Savior on the Spilt Blood guided tour (on Wed. -with photo stop only) or Kazan Cathedral (on Wed) and Faberge Museum with an audio guide.

6:00pm back to the ship

  • Guide services for 1day
  • Driver services for 1 day
  • Baby car seats for children under 6 y.o.
  • Admittance fees to all museums listed in the program
  • All port fees and all local taxes
  • Visa waiver for the shore excursions
  • Bottled water (one bottle per person per day)
  • Rain ponchos in case of rain while visiting Peterhof Lower park
  • Permits for video and photos in the museums
  • Headphones for groups of 6 or more
  • Special memory gift
  • The cost of lunch boxes and coffee break

Reviews
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Cathy Pace, August 14, 2019; "Star Pride" cruise ship
Thank you so much Julia! You were certainly right when you said Kate was your very best tour guide! She was absolutely fantastic! Very professional, added some humor, so very polite and her knowledge was outstanding! I learned so much. She parted the mobs of tourists like “Moses parted the waters of the Red Sea” – and did it effortlessly and respectfully. She took the items that we especially wanted to see at the Hermitage & made sure we saw them all! A superb management of time given all the things that were on our itinerary for the day and the crowds of tourists & traffic. Your husband did an expert job getting us where we needed to be on time, safely & professionally. I appreciated the suggestion of reading Peter the Great prior to our visit – it certainly helped me understand more of what I was seeing. I also read War & Peace – and it too proved to be beneficial. I’ll look forward to continuing my study of Russia with the list of books below! Thank you for contributing to my literacy! We loved your city and the experience we had with Kate. If/when we come back, we would LOVE to have her again. We wish her the best and you also – as you are doing a fabulous job with your tour company! Thank you so much!!
Swan and Kim, Serenade of the Seas
Dear Julia It was lovely to hear from you. Both Kim and I had the most enjoyable and fruitful trip with Dancing Bear. Not only Kate was informative and very helpful, but she also made the trip interesting. I must say our tour in St Petersburg is the highlight of our trip. We will definitely recommend your tour to any of our friends as I am sure you will definitely not disappoint them. I will try out your recipe as it is winter now in Australia and a hot borsch will warm us up.
John, Deborah, Harry and Gary. Celebrity Silhouette
Hi Julia, I would like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to you and your team for making our trip to St Petersburg a memorable one.Your communication beforehand was very good and we felt very at ease that everything would go smoothly. I would like to convey to yourself, Anastasia, Anatoly and Alexei our thanks for providing a wonderful experience. We would not hesitate to use you again or recommend Dancing Bear tours to others. 5 stars from us.
Lis, “Disney Magic” cruise ship
Julia, It was fantastic to meet you and Lana while we were in St Petersburg. We had a wonderful time and really enjoyed learning about the Russian culture and experiencing the beautiful landmarks, churches and museums. Everything went perfectly and we could not have asked for a better day so thank you!!!I will definitely look through the reading list, although I am still only on page 200 of War and Peace. Thanks for the recipe too, I didn't get to try it in Russia so nice to have the recipe.Thanks again!
Cindy, “Fantasia” cruise ship
Hi Julia, The tour has been fantastic and Lana is so kind, lovely and knowledgeable. Please know that we cut it short only because the group was getting tired and wanted to just get a chance to buy some souvenirs.I will highly recommend your company to anyone I know who is heading this way and certainly I will be in touch should I ever be back to do some more in depth exploration of this beautiful city. Thanks for all of your help.
Rob, “Fantasia” cruise ship
Julia, Thanks for a great tour, Tatiana and Vladimir did a very good job to accommodate our needs. We will be sure to recommend you to future cruisers.
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Kazan Cathedral is one of the grandest churches in St Petersburg with its colonnades of 96 columns embracing Nevsky prospect like the outstretched wings of a gigantic eagle. Kazan Cathedral was  designed and built between 1801 and 1811  by Russian artists, (despite being modeled on St Peter in the Vatican) to house a venerated icon, Our Lady of Kazan.

Chinese Palace which was created at the time of Catherine the Great. It is a unique rococo style residence with a famous bugle work cabinet. It is the only palace in the vicinities of SPb which survived World War II. It is one of the private residences which means that only chosen ones could come there, be one of them. Enjoy this unique architectural miracle, much more impressive inside than from the façade. Feel special as it’s only the second season when you can take pictures inside.

This stunning pavilion was created for the wife of Nicholas I which could relax after grand receptions there. It is located on a man made island and decorated in the style of Pompeii and XVIII century Italian country houses. The pavilion is a dream about Italy, an oasis of Southern paradise in the North of Russia. Only the chosen ones could come here. Join them!

There is a chance to drop to the Amber Workshop to see how masters responsible for the restoration of Amber Room keep creating other masterpieces; there will be a chance to take pictures in the workshop as it is not allowed to do that in Amber Room itself.

A special treasure room with ambassadors’ gifts and private belongings of Russian Tsars-all made of gold and covered with diamonds, rubies and emeralds; it is possible to visit it with the museum guide only, should be booked well in advance

One of the most famous collections of French impressionists and post impressionists outside France is situated in the General Staff Building in St Petersburg – just opposite the main Hermitage Museum Complex ( across the Palace Square) – let us know if you are interested and we will book tickets in advance.

We offer unique, once in your life time experience, which proved to be a climax of St Petersburg visit for many of our guests: a lunch with Russian family in their apartment. Enjoying home cooking and speaking with your host and hostess you will learn and understand a lot about Russian culture, traditions and lifestyle, see the way local people live and discuss with them everything under the sun!

The Pavlovsk Park and Palace ensemble is among the finest royal residences in the environs of St Petersburg. Unlike other famous royal residences Pavlovsk has the unique charm of a private estate. The palace was designed in reserved classical style and will be highly appreciated by true art connoisseurs. During a tour of Pavlovsk Palace you will not only be able to witness stunning state rooms used for official ceremonies and festivities in the palace, but also some private rooms where the family could gather together in the evening.

An interactive museum of Soviet arcade machines that are the core of the collection. There are over fifty of them on display. The ticket includes some tokens to play. The museum will help you to go back in time and learn more about the Soviet Russia. As for your kids, they will be curious to learn what was interesting for their fathers and grandfathers.

One of the coziest and most hospitable museums of our city.

Museum has 12 halls of art space. Interior dolls, theatre dolls, fairy-tale dolls, dolls depicting customs and traditions are on display there. All in all, the museum has over 40000 exhibits. It is guarded by purring spirits – 3 cats that appear when the museum is closed and dolls wake up… The only disadvantage is that you can’t play with the dolls, you can only look at them.

A unique and the first one in Russia art space where exhibits of shadow art are on display. You will learn the history of our city in light and shadow language there, meet Peter the Great, its founder, and even face your own shadow. Are you ready to look at everything and even yourself from a different angle?

Unique monument of the XV century built in Western gothic style. The only civil building in this style that survived in our country. There ambassadors were received, the Novgorod parliament and court sat and the grand dinners took place. Now the Novgorod jewelry collection of VI-XVII centuries is on display there.

Enjoy 14 halls with over 250 Novgorod icons of XI-XIX centuries. Novgorod is one of the centers of icon painting in our country. This exhibition is one of the best collections of Russian icons as it allows to follow the history of icon painting in our Russia.

Stretch your legs and enjoy the public boat ride. You will see views of the Volkhov river and the lake Ilmen which is called the Slavonic Sea because the area round is so flat. It takes 1-1.5 hours.

Kremlin is the heart of the city, the fortress in its center. During the tour you can see St Sophia cathedral, the oldest temples of our country made of stone, the monument to the Millennium of Russia and the place where merchants used to trade which is called “Yaroslavovo Dvorische” – Prince Yyaroslav court.

A functioning Russian orthodox monastery. It was founded in the XI century by Yaroslav, the grand duke who was baptized by St George, hence the name. St George cathedral, a gem of Russian medieval architecture, has unique frescoes and even an ancient graffiti.

Kazan Cathedral  one of the grandest churches in St Petersburg with its colonnades of 96 columns embracing Nevsky prospect like the outstretched wings of a gigantic eagle; it  was built between 1801 and 1811 to house a venerated icon Our Lady of Kazan by Andrey Voronikhin (a serf of Count Stroganov).

Divo Ostrov (the name means Wonderful Island in Russian and the attraction is really located on an island) is the best amusement park in Russia. It was founded in May 2003 and had 17 attraction rides then. Now there are 46 of them. Some of the amusement rides are for adults, some for families and some for kids. Divo Ostrov gives unique impressions to people of all ages. Every adult gets a ticket to his childhood and every child finds himself in the world of his dreams and fantasies.

If you are a passionate train lover, this place is your paradise: it’s the biggest railway museum in Europe, a sort of “Technical Hermitage”.  You can practice driving a train with the help of the simulator here: enjoy 6 real life scenarios! If you come with small ones, there are game zones especially for them. If you finally get bored of trains, you can take a selfie with a sad peasant  in the cold carriage or to practice Morse code with a plaster telephone operator.

Russian museum is the biggest museum of national art in the world and a unique architectural ensemble of the historical center of Saint Petersburg. With its 400000 exhibits it covers the history of Russian art from X century icons  up to XX-XXI century avant-guard art  and soviet  painting. You can see Ilya Repin, Mikhail Vrubel, Mark Shagal, Vasiliy Kandinsky, Kazimir Malevich and many others there.

An annual festival of sand sculptures on the territory of Peter and Paul Fortress; international team of sculptors from different European countries create sculptures from special sand on the given subject which varies every year; the exhibition will be of great interest for you and your little ones

St Petersburg boat tours offer a perfect way to see the city under a bit different angle – sailing under numerous bridges along rivers and canals, and listening to curious stories from your guide. St Petersburg boat tours are especially majestic during the White Nights season in St Petersburg.

This private museum is a model of Russia made at the scale 1:87. The model is 800 square meters and symbolically shows all regions of our country. It’s the biggest model in Russia and second biggest in the world (after Minjatur Wunderland in Hamburg). It took 100 people 5 years to complete it. The model is interactive, so your children will be delighted to press buttons there.

It’s a museum inside the other museum. This section has 2400 exhibits which makes it one of the most prominent collections of this kind. Our country had the biggest Jewish population in the world at the end of the XIX century. So, this exhibition shows how the Jews lived in the Russian empire. You will know everything about traditional costumes, books, things used in everyday life, holidays, crafts the Jewish took part in, holidays they celebrated, etc.

These stunning pavilions were created in 1830-40 for the wife and daughter of Nicholas I (the daughter’s name was Olga). There the tsarina could relax after grand receptions.  They are located on manmade islands and decorated in the style of Pompeii and XVIII century Italian country houses. These pavilions are dreams about Italy, an oasis of Southern paradise in the North of Russia. Only the chosen ones could come here. Join them!

Agate rooms are a two-storied bath house. The first floor was used to take a bath and the second one had famous rooms where guests could relax afterwards. Their walls were decorated with agate – hence the name.

This unique complex was built by Charles Cameron for Catherine II in the 18th century and was restored only after WWII. It managed to preserve almost intact. Fortunately, this treasure is not as popular with mass tourism as Catherine palace, so if you want to enjoy something truly authentic and not overcrowded, this is definitely your choice.

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The Faberge Museum has the world-class collection of Faberge Masterpieces (including 14 Easter Eggs), gift boxes, Russian enamels etc.The collection is situated in 9 beautiful rooms of Shuvalov Palace. It was opened in November 2013 and founded by the “Link of Times” Cultural Historical Foundation, established by Russian entrepreneur Viktor Vekselberg to repatriate lost cultural treasures to Russia.

The fourth tallest dome construction in the world. St Isaac’s Cathedral used to be the main Russian Orthodox Cathedral of the Russian Empire. The enormous decoration of the interior of the cathedral, was created in the Russian Academy of Fine Arts.Gilded bronze, malachite and lapis lazuli together with countless paintings, columns, mosaics, will take your breath away.

One of the best private palaces in the Europe .Its real gem is a home theater. Outstanding Russian singers and dancers performed there.In this palace young Felix Yusupov, the heir of the family, and other conspirators assassinated Grigory Rasputin.  During a visit to the palace you will learn about the plot of Felix and how it was brought to life.

Peter and Paul Fortress here our city was founded in 1703.Peter the Great started a fortress to protect the lands won back from Sweden. Now it is one of the most important 18th century fortresses in Russia and Europe.St Peter and Paul Cathedral is the burial place of almost all Russian Tsars from Peter the Great up to the last Russian Tsar Nicholas II and his family.

Many metro station vestibules and platforms are adorned with marble, granite, bas-reliefs and mosaics which makes them look like underground palaces. The very first 10 stations appeared after WWII and have various military and Soviet symbols reminding visitors about the glorious victory over Nazi Germany. Owing to the city’s swampy subsoil, most of the lines were built extremely deep underground.

Peterhof is definitely “a must-see” for any first-time visitor to St Petersburg.It is often called the “Russian Versailles”: it is a real “kingdom of fountains” and true paradise for little children (as well as adults) with amazing cascades, a variety of unique and playful fountains, Grand Peterhof Palace, and other small ones.

Catherine Palace Is a must to visit. Inside you will find a succession of interconnecting rooms in Baroque style and somewhere in the middle of that enfilade is the famous Amber Room which was called by contemporaries “the eighth wonder of the world”. The palace was badly damaged during WWII and amber panels were stolen by the Nazi. But they started restoration in 1979 and finished it in 2003.

St Petersburg Siege Memorialcommemorates the hardship that Leningrad‘s (the soviet name of our city) citizens endured during the siege which lasted 900 days (1941-1943) and took away about 1.5 mln lives. The most striking part of the memorial are the tableaux of soviet citizens facing south towards the enemy. It was designed to be viewed from a distance. In the subterranean memorial hall are relics from the siege.

Offers fresh food from all over the former Soviet Union: melons, tomatoes, farmhouse honey, pickles, sour cream, ham and gherkins, not to mention imports such as kiwi fruit. Most vendors offer the chance to taste a sliver before buying. Outside the market are “babushkas” (pensioners) who sell things they have grown at their dacha (summer cottage) or gathered in the forest.

Hermitage Museum one of the most important and oldest museums in the world. It has one of the largest collections of paintings. If you spent one minute viewing each exhibit of the Museum it would take you11 years to see everything. The collection of the French Impressionists is exhibited in the General staff building which is located opposite the Winter Palace.

Most famous for almost 21,000m² of mosaics that cover both the interior and the façade of the building. The mosaics were created in Russia, which makes them even more valuable. It is the only building in our citybuilt in the style of Moscow churches. The church was built on the place where Alexander II was assassinated, hence the name.

St Petersburg boat tours offer a perfect way to see the city under a bit different angle – sailing under numerous bridges along rivers and canals, and listening to curious stories from your guide. St Petersburg boat tours are especially majestic during the White Nights season in St Petersburg.

Alexander Palace was commissioned by Catherine II for her grandson, future Russian tsar Alexander I and later became the summer home of a succession of Imperial heirs, each of whom left their mark on the building.