Shore Excursion: 2-Day St. Petersburg City Tour

There is a lot to see in St Petersburg so any 2 day tour needs a balance of seeing sights and not being too hectic. I thought this tour did that fairly well. Guide was excellent, knowledgeable and organised. Not a fan of the compulsory gratuity. I think a gratuity should be a reward for service not an expectation.

Olga did an amazing job leading us around all the top spots in St Petersburg, including the Winter Palace, Peterhof Gardens, Catherine's Palace, the Church of Spilt Blood, and more. Her knowledge was seemingly endless as she shared amazing history as well as personal anecdotes. The small group was really good, as we had personal attention throughout the trip. Because you're visiting so many places in such a short time period, the only drawback is that you wish you could have more time in each - Peterhof Gardens could easily be a full day in itself, for example. But if you're visiting for the first time and really want to get a taste of everything the city has to offer, this is a great tour. Please note there is a lot of walking, and because of the small group size there is not a bathroom on the bus, as its a small van size. That wasn't a problem for us, but for many of the older folks on the tour we needed more frequent stops for bathroom breaks (which Olga was happy to accommodate). A wonderful tour that I'd recommend to anyone. TJ Travel is a good, well-trusted company to use.

We had a wonderful 2 day tour with Ivan, a very competent driver and Victoria , a very knowledgeable guide, who showed us the highlights of many places.

This was a great tour particularly because of our guide, Nina. She is a mid 30ish woman who is a walking encyclopedia. Her English vocabulary is better than that of many Americans. She is also very down to earth and willing to talk about her family. We have been on many cruises and she is possibly the best guide we’ve ever had. Her timing of when to visit sites was very impressive as we avoided long lines.

Our guide, Idahn (sp?) , was excellent— knowledgeable about the sights and open to questions about everyday life in Russia. The tour was very well-organized and kept to itinerary, notwithstanding an unforeseeable delay in the disembarking procedure. It included every sight on our list, and although it was an ambitious itinerary, we were satisfied with the attention given to each stop. Obviously, the visit to the Hermitage, quite crowded with other tourists, was limited to high points.

We SO enjoyed our two day trip to St. Petersburg! Yelena was our tour guide and she couldn't have been more friendly or informatiive. She chose great places for lunch and handed out ponchos for those of us who didn't plan on the heavens opening up! I highly recommend this - the days are long, because there is so much to see, but it was worth it!

Great tour. Swetlana was vert knowledgeable . She took us to great local restaurants. It was a small group . We had 4of us and there was another family of 4. So much nicer than the large groups booked through the ship

T. J. tours have a fabulous guide in Daria B. and a steady driver in Constantine. It was a superbly executed tour at about 50% of the cost of a cruise-sponsored alternative. There were so many highlights: The Church of the Spilled Blood, The Peter and Paul Church, Peterhof, Catherine's Palace and the Hermitage. Our day was jam packed with one awe inspiring sight after another. Daria was knowledgeable about St. Petersburg's history, pleasant and organized. She keep up good pace and coped easily with minor adjustments that had to be made to the schedule. We didn't miss anything or feel too rushed. We have done two Viator tours in the last three and both exceeded our expectations.

We were treated to an amazing 2 day tour of St. Petersburg. Dmitry's knowledge of Russian history is incredible & he was very happy to respond to the tour group's questions. He also brought us to an incredible Georgian restaurant for lunch! Vladimir was a very talented driver & always on time! His van is impeccable & very comfortable. We were placed on a tour with other families with children so TJ Travel does seem to try to group tours with similarly situated guests.

The whole 2 day tour ran like clockwork, with a really superb guide who spoke excellent English and was very knowledgeable about all the places visited. There were 10 of us in a minibus. We saw everything detailed in the tour specification and we never had to queue anywhere for admission. I have already recommended this tour to 2 other couples who are going to St Petersburg next month.