Have you ever been in Russia? What did you not like most?
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About ten years ago, my husband and I took a Scandinavian cruise that included a stop in St. Petersburg, Russia. We decided to take a tour of the Hermitage museum. It was an awful experience.
Unfortunately, it was probably a weekend or holiday, when the people at the Hermitage is always a lot. Besides, you probably came with all of your cruise
To simply bypass all the halls of the Hermitage without stopping, you will need a full day. To learn more about the exhibits - two weeks Only the Louvre can compete with the Hermitage in terms of quantity and quality of the exhibits, I suppose.
It is a pity that you have such bad impression of St. Petersburg. This city - the former capital of the Russian Empire, full of palaces, churches, temples, drawbridges during the White Nights, beautiful views of granite embankments, surrounding by suburban residence of the Russian tsars, etc.
I hope you will visit it again and your view will change.
Just do it better in the summer - then the city will be at its best.
Unfortunately, it was probably a weekend or holiday, when the people at the Hermitage is always a lot. Besides, you probably came with all of your cruise
To simply bypass all the halls of the Hermitage without stopping, you will need a full day. To learn more about the exhibits - two weeks Only the Louvre can compete with the Hermitage in terms of quantity and quality of the exhibits, I suppose.
It is a pity that you have such bad impression of St. Petersburg. This city - the former capital of the Russian Empire, full of palaces, churches, temples, drawbridges during the White Nights, beautiful views of granite embankments, surrounding by suburban residence of the Russian tsars, etc.
I hope you will visit it again and your view will change.
Just do it better in the summer - then the city will be at its best.
This is absolutely not an indictment against people who take cruises but, I feel that it's very difficult to visit St. Petersburg for one or two days and be shuttled around place to place. It always seems to be a visit to the Hermitage and the Catherine Palace in one day, which is totally not ideal. I understand Russia is a difficult country for those who might not feel comfortable visiting without an escorted tour, and I applaud the effort to actually visit this part of the world, so absolutely zero judgement(!), but I agree that the Hermitage really needs a full day. If it's possible, one should also try and give themselves some time to explore the Nevsky Prospect and the surrounding streets.
This is absolutely not an indictment against people who take cruises but, I feel that it's very difficult to visit St. Petersburg for one or two days and be shuttled around place to place. It always seems to be a visit to the Hermitage and the Catherine Palace in one day, which is totally not ideal. I understand Russia is a difficult country for those who might not feel comfortable visiting without an escorted tour, and I applaud the effort to actually visit this part of the world, so absolutely zero judgement(!), but I agree that the Hermitage really needs a full day. If it's possible, one should also try and give themselves some time to explore the Nevsky Prospect and the surrounding streets.
To be fair, the visa system is probably the main reason why most tourists to SPB go with a cruise. If Russia implemented a 'pay-on-arrival' or visa-free system you'd have a lot more people flying in, staying 5-7 days, and more generally taking their time.
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