2013 -St. Peter Line – St. Petersburg
We caught a taxi to West Terminal , as it seemed too inconvenient to look for a bus.
We checked in early 3pm , a very painless process. They looked at our passport , online Reservation and hotel booking .They gave us our boarding card , which also served as a room key, departure card , arrival card and immigration paper…then we simply walked on to the boat….
Our room was simple but clean and adequate …shower was good…lot,s of hot water. We stayed on the 4th floor…just down the hall from guest services.
We decided on the buffet at 29euros as it included , appetizer ,main and dessert , plus a glass of champagne , vodka shot and unlimited wine…hated the wine but still thought it was good value. We enjoyed trying the different foods …especially the red and black caviar.
After dinner we went to the nightclub and stayed for three hours. Watching the entertainment. All in all a very enjoyable night.
Next morning we had the buffet breakfast for 11 euros..once again , no complaints with the meal .We docked on time. It took about 25 minutes to clear customs . we showed our arrival and departure cards and passport .They give back your departure card, and you keep that on you for your whole stay …it shows the tour you booked with St Peter Line. They didn’t even look at our hotel receipt, But we our own, The people in front of us had trouble though. I think they had a private tour booked and they were questioned and taken out of the line…..no worries though saw them at the Hermitage so they must have straightened it out.
We exchanged money in the terminal, there is an ATM as well and went outside where the shuttle van was waiting.
The van stopped at St Isaacs Cathedral ….which was only a 10 minute walk for us to our hotel…glad we had a map though.
Nevsky Grand Hotel
We are so happy with this hotel. They are very helpful and have a English speaking person on the desk. They let us check in right away at11AM. They gave us a better map and directions to the Hermitage which is only a 10 min walk .Great location. The room is small but clean and nice…breakfast included and we got a great rate with Expedia.
100 Country Trek 
Beautiful photos. Thank you 😊
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Thanks have a great day.
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You are welcome. Have a great day, too 😊
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sounds like an amazing experience
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A fascinating site to see.
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great city St P! Interesting way to get there, I wanted to use the train (back in 2007) but couldnt get a booking and ended up bussing to Tallinn and taking the ferry to helsinki from there, which was only a couple of hours from memory. thanks for sharing!
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such beautiful photos.
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What an awesome way to get to Russia. I thought the food looked amazing. Champagne and vodka and wine? What a night 🙂
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The food looks delicious! Wow that’s a very large hotel.
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Yes ..very huge..but it was fun trip
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Ah! What a good way to get to Russia. We would love to do that.
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It was an interesting site to see. And a great way to go across from Finland by ship.
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Thank you for sharing.
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what a fun trip! Looking forward to reading more about it 🙂
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Looks like a great place to visit!
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Very interesting site to see.
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NO WAYYY so cool ❤
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Absolutely. Such a fun place to visit.
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Great trip to Russia. Your wonderful photos remind me of our cruise from Finland to Russia a few years ago. 🙂
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Such a great site to see…we were there 10 years ago..but was fun trip.
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wow what a trip! Here’s hoping we can all travel freely again soon
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Absolutely. Hope we all will get back to our norm with our travels.
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Sounds like a great way to travel and the buffet is a great deal and looks delicious 🙂 We went to St Petersburg in 1984 when it was still Leningrad. It was winter so very cold and snowy, but beautiful. I’m looking forward to reading about your more recent experiences there.
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I should have added that we were there about 10 years ago..I will update this.
But we did have a fun time there.
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I can’t wait to read about your adventures in Saint Petersburg! I went there almost a decade ago, and it was a short, but fun time. 29 euros for dinner (and unlimited drinks) is the dream!
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Yes we were there about 10 years ago..I should have added the date..but it was an interesting site to see.
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Unlimited wine sounds dangerous.😄 It is great that the short cruise included entertainment.
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We were there 10 years ago.. but it was a fun time. Very interesting entertainment.
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Looks good so far, as long as the room is clean and you have a private bathroom all is good! Hope you enjoy the rest of your stay 🙂
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Yes it was an amazing site ..we were there 10 years ago.
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I agree with Anneli, the room is a bit plain but hey, you are just sleeping there anyway. Hot water for a refreshing shower is wonderful!
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It was a fun visit. I should added the date ..10 years ago.
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I can’t remember the name of our hotel i St. Petersburg, but it was way back in the 70s so it’s probably gone now or name-changed. I think it was on the Nevski Prospekt and it was nearly opposite the Aurora. I had always imagined me getting to St. Petersburg, hailing a cab, and like Anna Karenina, dramatically demanding “Take me to the Finland Station” but I would have probably ended up in prison in those days for daring to act like this – even if taxis were available. I don’t seem to remember any. Love the image of the food, reminds me of breakfasts in Finland and Sweden, that lovely bread.
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We enjoyed our time there ..such a great site to see. We stayed there for about 3 nights ..such much to see.
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We’ve used that St. Peter Line crossing a couple of times from Helsinki but found the boat to be very dated but passable. I think we have been spoilt by the much nicer Siljja Line ferries that we have used frequently between Helsinki and Stockholm.
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We crossed into St Petersburg from Helsinki . There was great entertainment and fabulous food on board . We actually crossed into Russia 10 years ago.
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The onboard food looks good. 🙂
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Totally yummy and great entertainment.
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👍
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The room looks pretty plain, but you had lots of hot water so that’s good. Interesting things to see, I’m sure.
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The room was just OK but the food and entertainment was fabulous.
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