Two Days in St. Petersburg, Russia – The Best Private Tour Itinerary

How can you see as much as possible in St. Petersburg, Russia in only two days?    For me, the answer was a St Petersburg private tour.

I was really excited to visit St. Petersburg on a Baltic Sea Cruise with Windstar Cruises.  Russia’s imperial capital evokes images of powerful tsars with colourful, and sometimes salacious, histories.   Of grand music by the likes of  Tchaikovsky, great literature such as Anna Karenina, and more art works in one place than you could possibly see in a year.

I wanted to see it all.

Of course, that’s not really possible in two days.  That’s why I was happy to discover Insider Tour while reviewing options for St. Petersburg tours or navigating on our own.

With Insider Tour, we were able to customize the list of St. Petersburg sights for the tour.  They took care of the paperwork, so that we could avoid the time-consuming and costly process of obtaining a visa.  Cruise passengers are allowed to enter St. Petersburg without a formal visa as long as they take a tour with a licensed company and stay for less than 72 hours.  A St Petersburg private tour turned out to be the best choice – – an easier process to get into Russia, a private guide and driver to save time getting around, and skip-the-line tickets for St. Petersburg attractions.

To see as much as possible, the schedule was jam-packed.  Although we took some quick stops to enjoy some borscht and some blini, I would have liked a bit more time to try some other Russian food items.

Here is our two-day itinerary for visiting the top things to see in St. Petersburg, along with some of the fascinating tidbits we learned along the way.

Day 1 – Meeting our St Petersburg private tour guide

Our guide, Dmitry, and driver Valery, were waiting for us outside the passport control office at the St. Petersburg cruise port.

I’m not sure what I was expecting, but Dmitry appeared to be part hipster and, based on his extensive knowledge, part Renaissance man.  Plus, he had a voice that could narrate movie trailers.

“In a world where a Russian tsar decides to build a fabulous city on a swamp,” Demitry began.  Okay, he didn’t say that exactly.  But Dmitry did tell us about how St. Petersburg came to be.  It was founded in 1703 by Peter the Great to solidify access to the Baltic Sea.  Peter was also a travel buff and hired the best European architects to design neoclassical palaces and mansions to line the city’s canals.  That’s why St. Petersburg is often referred to as the “Venice of the North”.

Our first stop was the St. Nicholas Naval Cathedral, one of St. Petersburg’s largest cathedrals, dating to 1762.  St. Nicholas is said to have performed many miracles for sailors.  The cathedral’s beautiful baroque architecture has made it a celebrated monument in the city.

Address: Nikol’skaya Ploshchad’, 1/3, Saint-Petersburg, Russia, 190068

The Catherine Palace

On our first day of the tour, the focus was on Russian royalty, starting with the Catherine Palace.  It’s 30 kilometres south of St. Petersburg in Tsarkoye Selo (Tsar’s Village), which is part of the town of Pushkin.

It’s mostly associated with Catherine the Great, one of the most compelling tsars who was known as much for her affairs of state, as for her…affairs.  The palace was actually named after Peter the Great’s wife, Catherine I.  It was rebuilt in a flamboyant Rococo style by their daughter, Empress Elizabeth.

Catherine Palace is huge (325 metres long) and over 100 kilograms of gold were used to gild the facade and the statues along the roof.

German forces destroyed most of the palace during World War II, leaving only a hollow shell.  It was reconstructed fairly recently, in 2003.

Address:  Garden St, 7, Pushkin, Saint-Petersburg, Russia, 196601

Highlights of the Catherine Palace

We toured through the glitz and glamour of the Palace, with accompanying description by Dmitry, but the highlights had to be the Great Hall and the Amber Room.  The Great Hall, also referred to the “Light Gallery”, has large gilt-framed windows so that the light makes the mirrors and gold chandeliers sparkle.  The entire ceiling is covered by a fresco called “The Triumph of Russia”.   The Great Hall was used in the 18th century for balls, formal dinners and masquerades.  Can you imagine a waltz around the hall?

The Amber Room is probably the most famous one in the Palace and, unfortunately, photos are not allowed there.  The walls of the room are covered with gilded panels encrusted with amber.  The Russian Royals used the room to entertain and impress foreign guests.  The amber panels were dismantled by Nazi forces in World War II and have never been found.  It took more than 25 years and a ton of amber to recreate the room as part of the palace’s reconstruction.

Colourful stories of Catherine the Great

Although she didn’t build the palace, Catherine the Great’s presence is everywhere here.

She was Empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796, often called the Golden Age of the Russian Empire.  She was actually from Germany and married as a teenager to Peter III, who became Russian emperor.  But after six months on the throne, Catherine overthrew him with the help of a military officer (who was also her lover).  Her husband was later killed – – which may have been her doing.

During her reign, Russians adopted western European culture.  Indeed, Catherine the Great corresponded regularly with French philosophers like  Voltaire, and she opened the Hermitage Museum to display her art collection.

Her accomplishments are often overshadowed by the legends of her scandalous personal life.  Catherine took many lovers during her reign (some of them lived) and, as was the fashion in the aristocracy of the day, employed professional ticklers to help her relax after a tough day of ruling.  (Who knew history could be so fascinating!)

Peterhof – The Versailles of the North

What made Peter I so great?

Peter the Great ruled in the late 17th century and is known for expanding and modernizing the country, as well as building St. Petersburg.  An unusually tall man ( 6’8″), he was an autocrat who was merciless if anyone opposed him.

And he had a thing for fountains.

After visiting Versailles, in France, Peter decided to expand his summer home at Peterhof (30 kilometres west of St. Petersburg) and add a few fountains – 150 of them.  It’s interesting to note that the fountains at Peterhof don’t use pumps.  The system relies on gravity and a 22-kilometre long water system.

The “Grand Cascade” in front of the palace is the most popular, with tourists gathering at 11:00 a.m. to watch when the fountains are turned on.  The gilded centre piece of the fountain shows Samson tearing the jaws of lion open, symbolizing Russia’s victory over Sweden at the time.

Peterhof address:  Razvodnaya Ulitsa, 2, Saint-Petersburg, Russia

Peter the Great was also a prankster.

Dmitry led us on a tour through the beautiful gardens at Peterhof – – an amazing creation given the northern climate.  During our walk, we saw several trick fountains, such as “the Umbrella” which was built in 1796.  When visitors walk under the top, water starts to flow, creating a dense water curtain all around them.  Peter called these “squirting amusements”.   There’s something about a dictator with a sense of humour.

It was a fantastic day visiting both palaces — a real advantage of St. Petersburg private tours.  Most tours go to one or the other, and it wouldn’t be possible to get to the two palaces in one day using public transportation.

Day 2 – A city walk & souvenirs

Day 2 of our St. Petersburg sightseeing itinerary began with a stroll along the Neva River and a quick souvenir stop.  Dmitry showed us a shop where the items are handcrafted locally.

The matryoshka nesting dolls looked a little different from the one I loved playing with as a kid.  Here, they’re hand painted to depict traditional clothing from various parts of the country.

Of course, the Fabergé eggs on sale are all replicas.  The original jeweled eggs were made in Saint Petersburg between 1885 and 1917 and there are only 50 of them.  They were created as Easter presents for the Russian royals.  You can see nine of the original eggs at the Fabergé Museum in Saint Petersburg, a stop that we weren’t able to fit into our schedule.

Other local souvenirs include Imperial Porcelain which has been made since 1774.  The lovely signature pattern is called Cobalt net.  Other popular items include amber jewellery and Raketa wristwatches, which are made near Peterhof.

Click on the images for more information and pricing on these Russian souvenirs.

The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood

It would be tough to choose just one St. Petersburg must-see, but this cathedral (also known as the Church of the Resurrection) ranks high on the list.

What’s with the “bloody” name?  The church was built on the site where Tsar Alexander II was assassinated in 1881.  On the outside, it looks a lot like St. Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow, but stands in stark contrast to the more classical architecture in St. Petersburg.

Like the other sites we visited, the church was heavily damaged in the war.  It was reopened in 1997, after 27 years of restoration work.  During the war, the church was used as a morgue and afterwards, it served as a warehouse for vegetables leading to the name, “Savior on Potatoes”.

Address:  Griboyedov channel embankment, 2Б, Saint-Petersburg, Russia, 191186

The church interior is a sight to behold.  It contains over 7500 square metres of mosaics – – more than any other church in the world, according to its restorers.  I’ve never seen anything like it.

The Hermitage Museum

A visit to the State Hermitage Museum is one of the top things to do in St. Petersburg and a must on our tour itinerary.  This is the second largest museum in the world and home to over 3 million pieces of art from all over the world, including works by da Vinci, Rembrandt and Michelangelo.

Visitors can go inside five of the six buildings that make up the entire museum, including the Winter Palace, which was the official residence for Russian monarchs from 1732 to 1917.    To be honest, a visit of a few hours doesn’t do it justice, but Dmitry, who is also a licensed museum guide, deftly led us through the confusing rooms and corridors to see as much as we could.

Fun fact:  I didn’t see any, but up to 50 cats are “employed” by the Hermitage to keep it free of rodents.  Surplus cats are given away to good homes along with official “Hermitage cat” certifications.

The buildings themselves will leave you almost as awestruck as the artwork does.

This amazing staircase is your first view upon entering the Hermitage Museum.  Built out of white marble with plenty of gold embellishment, it’s the only room in the Winter Palace that retains its original 18th century Baroque style befitting the Russian royals of the day.

The Leonardo da Vinci Room in the Old Hermitage contains two masterpieces by the Renaissance artist – the Benois Madonna (above left) and the Litta Madonna. The works focus on the emotions between the mother and child.

I was equally impressed by the Raphael Loggias (above right).  This copy of the Gallery in the Papal Palace in Vatican City was commissioned by Catherine the Great in the late 1780s.

Palace Square

The Hermitage provides a great view onto Palace Square, an historic place in St. Petersburg.  This is where Bolshevik militants stormed the Winter place in the 1917 revolution that ended the Romanov dynasty.

The Alexander Column in the square is something of an engineering marvel.  It’s 47 metres (156 feet) high and weighs 600 tons, yet they had no cranes to construct it in the 1830s.

St. Isaac’s Cathedral

As mentioned, it wasn’t possible to do everything on the tour.  We didn’t get a chance to go inside St. Isaac’s Cathedral, but we did stop outside in the square for a photo.

St. Isaac’s is the fourth largest cathedral in the world, which may have saved it during World War II.  It’s believed that German forces used its dome as a reference point for sighting.  The interior is lavishly decorated with precious stone and mosaics.

Two notable statues sit outside the cathedral – – The Monument to Nicholas I (above) and, behind the cathedral, the famous Bronze Horseman, a statue of Peter the Great.

Address:  St Isaac’s Square, 4, Saint-Petersburg, Russia, 190000

Panoramic views to close out our tour of St. Petersburg