St Petersburg/Russian Visa's

[Dark Knight]

hey ho forum botherers

we are going to St Petersburg on a cruise , now I know your visa is covered by ship's tours and private tours, but what if you want to get off the ship and go for a walk
is it possible or do we need a visa?

answers on a postcard to:

[wolfie]

In a word DK, yes, you need a visa and they are expensive; not possible to just get off and walk around and the ship berths someway out of St.P.s so one place to take a ship or private shore excursion.I don't know if it's one of those places where you need a visa , even if you are not getting off the ship, e.g. India/US.

I have just spent all day with one daughter navigating the hurdles of a visa for India. She and her sister are going in March, courtesy of the bank of Mum & Dad for a special birthday.

[david63]

If you go off on your own then you will need a Russian visa - no two ways about it. In fact technically a tour guide cannot leave you if you only have a tour visa, so you could not just walk back to the ship.

Not knowing where you will be docking but if it is the new terminal then there is nowhere to walk - it is literally in the middle of nowhere and about half an hour's drive into St Petes.

My advice for St Petes, and I know that there are some who will disagree, is to do a private tour - you will see far more and see what you want, not what somebody else wants.

[towny44]

DK, I don't believe you can do your own thing in St Pete., you either need to book a ships tour or one of the many private tour companies that offer similar, but most likely cheaper tours than the cruise line ones. In either case a group tourist visa is what is used so, in theory, you cannot leave your tour group, but they do allow you quite a bit of free time.

[Romig1]

Having seen the ghetto-like residential area near to the new terminal, I doubt any tourist would make it as far as the city centre should they be allowed to try and walk off the ship!

[Boris+]

When we were in St Petersburg, we were all told not to do the 'normal' thing and try and take a photo of the ship from the quayside. We thought it was weird, but some passengers did try - and the guards came and took their camera from them and stamped on it. If I hadn't seen it, I wouldn't have believed it.

The new terminal buildings are modern and very near the ship, but as already mentioned - firstly I don't think passengers are allowed to go out and about on their own, and secondly there is a large and very drab run-down residential area to get through in order to get into town.

Bye the way, watch out for the mozzies - they can be huge; and 'public facilities' in town can leave a whole load to be desired.

Have a great trip.

Em

[david63]

I don't think passengers are allowed to go out and about on their own

Anyone can go ashore in Russia independently if they have a visa - nobody can stop them.

[Meg 50]

if you are on a ship's tour, they organise a group visa - cost included.

If you do a private tour, many of the operators organise a group visa - cost included

If you want to do your own thing you need your own visa which is expensive and fiendishly complicated to acquire.... do a trip....

[Boris+]

Sorry - I got it wrong (but it's been a hectic and tiring day) - what I meant that it was a lot of bother to get a visa, and for me ..... I just wouldn't fancy it, I don't trust it.

Whatever you decide, you need to feel comfortable when you are there.

Have a great time.

Em

[kaymar]

Nah, don't listen to these softies, Dark Knight, get off and have a mooch around if that's what you want to do. Don't let these foreigners tell you what you can and can't do.

Of course, you just might be grabbed off the street and never heard of again but, hey, nothing's perfect, is it?

[CaroleF]

We were also warned about not taking photos of the ship on the quayside when we arrived in St Petersburg - this was last September. We were at the new Cruise Terminal and I certainly wouldn't have wanted to wander around - there's nothing there apart from the terminal with a couple of little shops - and the rest is a building site. I was up in the buffet for an early supper - the ship organised an early dinner for those of us going off to evening performances at the ballet etc - and I could look across to large, grey dingy blocks of flats - the rest was a wasteland. Not somewhere you would want to wander around.

If you thought the American immigration people were unfriendly then meet the Russian ones - mostly young women. The first time we landed we had to present our passport - open at the photo page - together with our tour ticket which proved we were on a group visa. We had our passport stamped and then a card was inserted into the passport - don't lose it - and this was taken from us when we returned to the ship and our passport stamped again. The second day our passport was just examined. When on a trip we had a little free time but only in one of the gift shops and our tour guide was with us all the time - all the prices incidentally were in dollars! The Russians do not want Roubles. We didn't bother to get any and didn't need them.

Carole