3 Days Visa Free Trip in Saint Petersburg
This 3 days visa free trip covers most of the popular attractions in Saint Petersburg. Saint Petersburg is the second-largest city in Russia and it used to be the capital of the Russian Empire.
To enjoy a 3 days visa free trip, you could simply book a registered cruise to Saint Petersburg from Helsinki/Tallinn. This is due to the fact that the Russian law allows tourists to travel and stay in the port cities for up to 72 hours if the tourist arrive by registered cruise or ferry tour operator.
Summary of this itinerary:
A. Day 1 – St Petersburg City Centre
B. Day 2 – Mariinsky Theatre & Peterhof Palace
C. Day 3 – Peter and Paul Fortress
About Russia
Russia is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world (measured by land size). The size of the country is more than one-eighth of the Earth’s inhabited land area.
The currency of Russia is Russian ruble (RUB).
Day 1 – St Petersburg City Centre
Start your day by visiting the world’s second largest Orthodox church building, St Issac’s Cathedral. The interior of the Cathedral is amazingly lavish and the drum of the dome provides superb view of the Issac Square and magnificent city views of other areas of St Petersburg.
The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood is also another iconic symbol of St Petersburg. The exterior mosaics and architecture are beautiful regardless of day and night. The Church was used to be an Russian Orthodox church but it is currently functions as a secular museum.
After visiting the iconic cathedral and church of St Petersburg, it is time to explore the State hermitage Museum. The museum is the second-largest art museum in the world and the museum complex are split into the following four huge sections: Hermitage Theatre, Old Hermitage, Small Hermitage and the Winter Palace.
When you feel tired after walking up and down in the museum, you might want to take a relaxing boat tour and enjoy the landscapes of the ‘Venice of the North’.
Day 2 – Mariinsky Theatre & Peterhof Palace
Mariinsky Theatre is a historic theatre of opera and ballet in St Petersburg. The Mariinsky Theatre was the leading music theatre of late 19th-century Russia where it hosted debut of several famous stage masterpieces. It would be a waste not to watch Swan Lake, a classical Russian ballet, which is born in this Theatre.
The Peterhof Palace, which is nicknamed as “The Russian Versailles”, was commissioned by Peter the Great as a direct response to the Palace of Versailles by Louis XIV of France. The Peterhof Palace is definitely a lot better as compared to the Palace of Versailles as there are lesser tourist in Peterhof and you can enjoy a slow stroll in the garden without any disturbance.
Try to visit the Peterhof Palace early as the palace is large and it takes a significant amount of time to complete a full tour.
Day 3 – Peter and Paul Fortress
For the last day, it is a must to visit Peter and Paul Fortress before leaving St Petersburg. The Peter and Paul Fortress used to be the original citadel of St Petersburg and it also served as a prison for political criminals in the past. Currently, the fortress served as a museum and it contains several attractions with exhibition to showcase the compound’s past.
The most popular attractions within the fortress are the prison compound and the St Peter and Paul Cathedral which is the first stone church in St Petersburg.
Ending Remarks
Three days are sufficient to visit most of the famous attractions in St Petersburg. However, Russia is a very large country with lots of attraction. If it is easy to get a visa with your passport, you might want to spend longer time to try the famous Trans–Siberian Railway and visit more cities. Otherwise, this three days visa-free travel will be good enough to have a taste of Russia.