Traveling in Russia

[Reed]

Does anyone know of someone who leads tours to Russia.  Someone who has a background in the Romanovs etc.  

[CarolynnB]

Suzanne Massie usually does a tour each year---but they're pretty expensive.  There is a link from this site to Exeter Travel, which features her tour, along with others.

[_Rodger_]

Princess Katya Galitzine also has a tour of St. Petersburg through her husband's travel agency.

[3710]

Go on your own! Almost all Romanov Palaces are open to general public (museums, concert halls etc) If language is a problem it is easier to hire an interpretor for a day or two, to sort tickets etc out (American news paper ''St.Petersburg Times'' has listings). Will save yourself a fortune.
Galina

[Belochka]

I agree completely with 3710.

By going independantly you can stay as long as you like and wander through each of the Palace rooms and look at whatever piece fancies you, instead of being herded en mass. You have full control.

Traveling on the metro and rural trains is so much more fun than being on a huge bus full of tourists. This way you will have the opportunity to be among Russians and see so much more!

The occassional use of a private guide hired for a day is a very good idea. They can be hired to cater for your personal requests which may be different from the set itinerary most organizations provide. Some can come with a driver and car who can take you out to the more distant regions or neighboring towns.

~ ~

[amy]

My husband and I are traveling to St. Petersburg this summer and the route we chose was to more or less go on our own.  

We are working through a travel agency , Nota Bene Travel, and they've been very helpful.  Through them we arranged hotel accommodations, they are helping us with our visas and picking us up/dropping us off at the airport.  They'll also arrange private tours with a car and an interpreter.  The rates for this service are really reasonable.  I'm not sure we'll use them all the time, especially for in-town tours like the Hermitage, but we will using them for out-of-town excursions.

Here's the link:
http://nb.travel.spb.ru/

On the site it looks like they only arrange tours packages, but given the experience I've had with them it looks like they're pretty flexible.  They've been very responsive, e.g. they always get back to me within 24 hours.

Good luck on your travel plans, Reed.

[Anya]

Which Romanov palaces are open to general public??
And is there transportation to Tsarkoe Selo from St. Petersburg??

Thanks!