Re: St. P'burgh in winter

 I reckon the suburban palaces are probably not even open ... it will be very cold.

Usually they are open all through the winter. I would suggest visiting Pavlovsk. The park is beautiful when covered with snow, and the palace tour will only take an hour or so. At to the cold, it depends. The temperatures in December can vary from +5 to -25 C and are grossly unpredictable, unlike in the hinterland Russia.

I was there over Christmas (western) through early January. All the palaces were open, but it WAS cold cold cold.... (-10 F).  I thought it made the experience more interesting. Just keep you camera under your jacket if outside as the cold ruined a companions camera she left slung over her shoulder.

 Pavlovsk... Probably far less crowds as well ?

Right. Many people are coming on Sundays for cross-country skiing, for which Pavlovsk park is particularly popular, but they usually don't go to the palace.

Pavlovsk in winter WAS magical...reminded me of the scene in Dr Zhivago. the other fun thing about winter is Troika rides...We took one which went to a huge Zakuski buffet with vodka and hot tea and then back...was expensive but well worth it.

[Practice your russian]

Robert...

Practice your russian and visit a number of the smaller "mom & pop" type shops, the prices will be better than at a bigger "department" store!

Good Luck
Dasvidanya!
R.

I'm AFRAID of those "Mom & Pop" shops, they were the one's I was warned about !
Cheers,
Robert

Hi Robert,

Here is a lovely and hillarious travelogue of Colin Owen's visit to St. Petersburg in December 2002:

http://www.bangor.ac.uk/~fos007/tril.htm

I stayed at the Astoria and loved dining there and also at the Grand Hotel Europe. The ambiance has that old-world feeling of being among diners c1900's! Also there is Prince Kochubey's Palace Restaurant. Here is a list I found:

http://www.tour-to-stpetersburg.com/dinning/rus_europ.htm

Do not forget to write of your trip when you return and of all the books you find!!!! And if you walk by Anna Vyrubova's house on your way to the Alexander Palace please take photos!!!! You will be adored forever  

Joanna

I want to thank everyone for the suggestions. This a great way for a "virgin" Russian vist.
The hotel I have no choice over. It is a business trip, after all, & from past experience it will be Hilton class. They need all the bell & whistles for the reason to be there I suppose.
For such a short amount of time [plus  the short days AND being alone during the day] I am rather limited as to just how much I can see.  Is there a good "city tour" just to get an orientation?  In winter ? That troika ride sounds great for dinner. I imagine the hotel can arrange that for us.
If at all possible & assuming we do not freeze first, I will do anything   to get us to stay an extra day or 2.
Russian, hmmm.  Well, I have some Bulgarian & can read the Cyrilic alphabet. But do not speak Russian.  I guess that can get me by this time. From my Bulgarian experiences, not as many Russians are likely to speak English as in western  Europe. [ I dislike that term, it sounds so political].
Ideally, I would like a personal guide for at least one day. Any reccomendations?
Remember, I do not leave until Dec. So keep the advice & hints coming in !! I'll just print out the lot before I go !!
Handy-dandy instant St.P. travelguide !!
Cheers,
Robert
PS, going to take the plunge & buy a digitalk camera as well. Next I'll be asking how to post :-/

Hi Robert!

How I envy you. I just got back from a trip St. Petersburg, but I would love to visit again. (And yes, even in the winter!)

If Pavlovsk is high on your list of palaces to visit, I have a wonderful suggestion for a guide. While my husband and I were there we arranged two private tours through a travel agency.  Both the guides were excellent, but the guide I would like to recommend was particularly good.   Her english is excellent (through home/school stays she has spent quite a bit of time in the US), she's very knowledgeable, I believe she's now working on her equivalent masters, and she's extraordinarily personable.  I really enjoyed spending the day with her and learned so much from her about Russian history as well as information concerning daily life in modern Russia. (Since she was the first person other than my husband that I had spoken to in over a week, I talked her ear off!)

I know you're limited on time, but if you plan to visit outside the city, she's a great choice for a guide. Our tour was only suppose to include the Catherine Palace and Pavlovsk, but when I told her about my interest in seeing the Alexander Palace, she arranged for us to see this palace too.  She was also very sweet about it and even asked when I told her how important this site was for me to see, if I prefered to visit the inside on my own!
(I declined her offer and we went in together, but I was very touched that she respected my needs.)

Anyway, if you're interested in contacting her send me a PM and I'll forward her contact info.  I was going to place it in this message but thought better of it...no sense helping evil advertisers gather another email address for spam, no?

Oh yeah, one more thing!  Here's a handy link re: the private rooms of Nicholas and Alexandra in the Winter Palace:
http://hydrogen.pallasweb.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=other_Palaces;action=display;num=1078886057;start=50#50

Scroll down.  The map is located near the bottom of the page, message #58.

Amy

Thank you !
I will contact you the closer  I get to an actual date.
Do you think that she would be there in Dec.? I do not mind traveling in the Wintretime, I hate traveling in summer. But I can understand folk who live in it wanting to get away.
Best,
Robert
P.S. Good idea about loading the poor girl with a ton of crappy email-spam.

Hi Robert,

A very good way for you to find out about SPb is to buy a travel guide or three.

I can highly recommend the colorful glossy publication: St. Petersburg from the Eyewitness series, by Phillips and Rice  There has been a recent update printed in 2003. It contains helpful listings of restaurants and a good map section, and illustrates transportation markers and Russian currency. If you decide on one book, this would be my choice.

also worth considering is St. Petersburg in the Lonely Planet series while not as attractive, it does provide excellent complimentary information.

and if you can find a copy of St. Petersburg in the Everyman series (my favorite guide) presents a different perspective to the two guides listed above. It provides more of a historic background to the art, architecture and history to this glorious city. It includes sectional 3-D maps of the city with key buildings of interest to the tourist.

and finally, St. Petersburg by Rose Baring in the Cadogan series. This is different to the other guide books since its main focus are the suggested walking tours of the city, complimented with excellent information, not seen in other guides. All maps list both the English and Russian names of all key points of interest along these walks. The book is however in greyscale.

I sincerely hope that your brief experince in SPb will meet with your expectations in every way! All the best,

Belochka  

Thank you !
I will contact you the closer  I get to an actual date.
Do you think that she would be there in Dec.?

Chances are she will be there, but you'll have to contact her to know for sure.  I know she's working on her equivalent masters and that she's in school during the fall/winter/spring.  Her "high" season for tours is, of course, in the summer, but I know she will also arrange tours in the winter.

I forgot to add that one of the reasons I'm recommending her is because Pavlovsk is her favorite St. Petersburg palace and I think therefore that it might be a good fit.  Exploring a palace with someone who is passionate about the subject is much more fun than to visit with someone with a "this is just my job" additude, n'est pas?

I agree with Belochka, get a guide book or three.  We took two. The DK Eyewitness Travel Guidebook is excellent. My only warning though is that if you pick out a restaurant from a travel book, double check in the phone book that it still exists!  Better yet, ask the hotel clerks or just walk out your door. Along Nevsky there are tons and tons of cafes and restaurants.  Added bonus,  nearly every cafe/restaurant we ate at had an english language menu and someone on staff that spoke minimal english. Between our broken Russian, their broken English and hand gestures, we never really had a problem.  BTW- Russian food is delicious! And so is the beer. Yummy!

Amy

Robert,

There is a great little used bookstore called 'Iskatel" on the corner of, if I remember correctly, Moika Canal and Nevsky. It is located on Moika on the right hand side of Nevsky if you are facing in the direction of the Winter Palace/Hermitage. They carry mostly Russian books but do have some foreign ones, most books are used and some rare, which is why I liked it. The prices, I found, were much better than any of the other bookstores or fleamarkets I had visited... Good luck on your winter St Pete trip, you will have fun I am sure! Let us know how it goes...  

Helen

Well, I said "YES" without even blinking an eye, but it is just for 2 or 3 days [meaning 1 or 2 nights] Not sure of the dates yet,  But it is Dec.  I would love to hear vespers at a cathedral or large church, the tombs, of course, antyhing I can squueze in.  NEEDED: advice on shopping. I have been warned about paying too high prices, especially at the flea maerket. Do not even know where/when that is.  But books, Amazing how I can clean out a bookstore in record time.
 We will be staying at a Hilton-type hotel, so food will not be a problem. However, anyone have any favourites in that dept. ?
I am normally a pretty blase traveler, but I am already excited & it is not even until Dec. !
My friend has never been there either, but unfortunately, he will be working during the day, leaving us dinner together.  Which we love doing, a nice Russian place would be special.
Thanks again,
Robert

 NEEDED: advice on shopping. I have been warned about paying too high prices, especially at the flea maerket. Do not even know where/when that is.  But books, Amazing how I can clean out a bookstore in record time.
 

I've been eavesdropping on this conversation, since I will be in St. P's for the first time for a week in late Sep/ early Oct. So glad you asked this question about the books - I see you got a great reply! Does anyone know how to print a single response, without getting the whole thread - I am new to forums in general.

All:
One thing that is confusing me with all the comments from people who have traveled there before - and often. You seem to describe a freedom of movement I am not expecting. Americans, as you know, are still required to be "invited" or be part of a Russ. Fed Gov't recognized "tour." One of the ways of getting around the last requirement seems to be these "tours" created for one person, which is how I am going. I have just recently gone through the Visa Application process, so I know Americans must still furnish proof of this association. My every second seems to be orchestrated. For sure, they tailored the tour to my needs - for example, I am Orthodox and I told them on Sat and Sun I am definitely going to Church. Plus they made arrangements for me to attend a service at the Feodorovskii Sobor in T.S. But, this is all arranged ahead of time and is not willy nilly. One of my biggest concerns is adequate time to comparison shop. I get the impression I am going to have an afternoon to shop and that is it - no wandering around the city, finding interesting book stores. Can someone set me straight.  Tanya

Good question.
I had not even thought about that !  I guess I had presumed  my friend's booking would include me ! [other Americans will be going, but for the business part].
I have traveled to Bulgaria several times, and all the warnings about "registering, airport verifications , etc. proved no longer in effect. Even when I was there, purely by co-incidence at the same time as the Pope & a huge NATO conference !!

Guess I had best check on this. Anyone have any idea of how long this takes & can I do it in London? I could use a British passport, but that gets soooo complicated.
Thanks for the "heads up !!
Robert