Catherine Palace and Park, Northwestern District, Russia

5101Fergie 5:00 PM Mar 16, 2020

Snowy visit
The hotel Petro Palace in middle of St Petersburg booked us a taxi which cost 1600 rubles - a great price as it was a good 40 min drive. The driver pointed out various interesting sights on way. I had pre booked the tickets on line but we forgot our passports for ID. They were not happy but in the end they let us in. I don’t think we would have got in if it was busy but we were almost the only people there. Very enjoyable visit and as we were the only ones in each room we really got to experience it in full. We used the audio guide which we found told us as much as we wanted to know. It was -11 so we didn’t experience much of the gardens. I had wanted to go back to St Petersburg on the train but the snow was getting thicker and no one was around (we had not heard another English voice since we arrived and had already caused chaos on metro not buying right ticket and not understanding anyone) so we went to find taxi. The first driver had offered to wait but I said no as didn’t want to feel we had to get back to him at particular time. This could have been an error but we were lucky as we found one vacant taxi after some old ladies pointed us down a road. The visit was great and the snow made it magical but if you get anxiety then keep your taxi waiting as I was slightly worried we were going to be stranded. Taxi back was 2100. A real treat with no summer crowds.

4travellerIndian 5:00 PM Feb 16, 2020

Better not to tour with a group.
We booked tickets in advance as we had read a number of reviews about not getting tickets at site. One ticket cost us 1500 Roubles each. The e-voucher did not mention that the ticket windows for individuals would not open before 12 noon. Apparently individuals are not allowed to enter before 12 noon, even though we could see hordes of groups making their way inside the gates, well before 12 noon.So we had to wait for the ticket window to open so that we could exchange our on line voucher for an entry ticket. We used that time to walk around the gardens, which however was a nice experience. We also had to deposit our backpacks and jackets in the cloak room. Fortunately,we had also booked an audio guide, hence we did get a good audio commentary of each room which we visited. The audio guide was quite descriptive and well worth the money. Photography was permitted except in the Amber room, where however you were not allowed to linger. The fact that we had to put on a shoe cover, showed how they value their parqueted wooden floors. I think it is not a good idea to get a group ticket with a guide as we saw the hordes of tourists being herded unless you go in for a private tour guide for your party exclusively. The few private guides, who we overheard, were giving a fairly detailed commentary. After we completed the tour of the various rooms, while exiting, we had to pass through a long corridor which had photographs of the bombed Palace and its restoration. The worst thing about wars is the bombing of historical Palaces. It is indeed laudable how the Russian managed to restore the Palace. It had started raining when we finished the tour though it was end September. So, had to wait inside the entrance foyer since once you exit, you cannot get back into the Palace. There is a separate ticket for the gardens, but our ticket was inclusive since you have to perforce exit through the gardens. There are separate tickets for small exhibitions like the carriage house. We had to however miss that as the rains made us make our way out as soon as we could, to avoid getting drenched.