The detailed 3-day Moderate tour description

This is our most popular 3-day tour. It includes the sites and museums that are absolute must-sees of St. Petersburg and are very likely on your to-do list. We will meet you at your hotel or at cruise ship directly and the journey begins!

The first tour day is only 6 hours long and focuses on the central part of St. Petersburg. You will do a city tour with photo stops at most popular sites and then will enter the main museum of St. Petersburg - the world-famous Hermitage. The general tour (and its small group tour option) only includes a visit to the main museum complex and does not take you to the General Staff Headquarters building where they display the collection of French impressionists as well as art of the 20th century. Keep in mind, that a tour of General Staff Headquarters requires separate entrance tickets which are not included into the tour rate but we can add a visit for private/group tours at small additional fee. If you are only interested in modern art rather than classical art, we can replace a visit to the main building of the Hermitage with a visit to General Staff Headquarters. And yes, the tour of the main building includes a visit to the Winter palace that used to be the residence of the royal family. The Hermitage tour is quite challenging as the museum is huge and you will have to walk/stand a lot so after the tour you will have a lunch break and then go either to St. Isaac's Cathedral or to the Church on the Spilt Blood depending on traffic and tour pace. You will do both chuches during the 3 days, so the order of visits does not matter much.

The second tour day is focused on the suburban residences of the royal family - Pushkin, also known as Tsars Village and Peterhof. If you don't like crowded museums, we suggest replacing Catherine's palace tour with Pavlovsk palace tour. Catherine's palace is extremely crowded during the high season and even though we always get the entrance tickets in advance, you may have to wait in lines anyway. Besides, after seeing the splendor of the Winter palace, Catherine's palace won't impress you as much whereas Pavlovsk palace will offer a more personal feeling to the lifestyle of Russian emperors. After the tour of the palace you will drive to Petrhof where you will enjoy the dance of the fountains of the magnificent Lower park of Peterhof. You will see the Great palace from outside too.

The third tour day focuses on St. Petersburg as well as the 1st day including more sites and museums for you to explore. We have also included a rivers and canals boat tour to the itinerary that will allow you to rest during the day and show the city from a new perspective. Among the sites to see we offer Peter and Paul's fortress with an inside visit to Peter and Paul's Cathedral (the oldest Cathedral of St. Petersburg) and one of the museum of your choice - Faberge museum tour or Yusupov's palace tour. Keep in mind, that guided tours to these museums are expensive for groups of 2-4 persons so to make the rate more economical, these museums are included with individual audio guide system. Groups of 5 persons or more will get a tour conducted by the tour guide.

If you are not on a tight budget, it might be a good idea to include a hydrofoil ride on the way back from Peterhof. Or we can do a metro ride on the way back from Peterhof. Keep in mind, that the tour guide will suggest cafes/restaurants for you to stop for lunch each day. If you are with a group of 6 persons or more, we suggest arranging lunches in advance as it is not easy to find spots at good cafe/restaurant for a big group at once during lunch time. You will know the menu and cost for lunch on each tour day in advance.

To conclude, our Moderate 3-day tour is perfect for 1st time visitors of the city who come on cruise ship/ferry or stay at a hotel. It is also a good option for families with children as the sites and museums are mixed so that the children are not bored or tired.