St. Petersburg and Helsinki

[kim nelson]

Our family will be in these 2 ports this summer. Would appreciate any info on St. Petersburg as we have hired a van and guide through our ship's excursion site. We want to see the Hermitage, Pushkin, and Peterhof. We will be in St. Petersburg for 2 days. Any ideas on how to arrange an itinerary would be great. Also is Porvoo outside of Helsinki a worthwhile excursion?

You may want to try Red October for St. Petes

Unless you have Russian visas, you will have to book your excursions through the ship. This may not be a bad alternative though, as they offer everything you are looking for at reasonable rates. The ship will use a "group visa" for the tours, but you will not be able to shop on your own if that is a consideration.

Most ships also have private drivers available that you can use the "group visa" with if you want to go on your own.

Have a great cruise and let us know how it went.

[margaret]

Just returned from a cruise of the Baltic Seas. Regarding your question on Helsinki - you might just want to do this port on foot on your own. It is a very beautiful setting and there is so much to see and do that you really don't need a tour. Also, you can probably arrange a tour after you have boarded the ship - the excursion office generally has all tours available. There was a channel on our TV that continuously showed all the ports of call and pictures of what you would visit. If you do the city on foot, make sure you find the indoor market - it was a neat experience. You are in for a real treat. The Baltic Seas cruise is the best one we ever took. So much to see and so much history - it is a beautiful part of the world.