2825 Trip Tale: Touring St. Petersburg by water

When we returned to St. Petersburg after visiting Tsarskoe Selo the six of us decided to go on a canal boat ride to tour the city. Peter the Great admired European cities, so it was carved out of swamp land on the Neva River. During the time it was being built aristocratic families were required to move there and masonry building was not allowed anywhere else, reserving the resources for Peter's city. It was renamed Petrograd in 1914, Leningrad in 1924, and returned to its original name in 1991.

The guide dropped us off in the canal boat area and we negotiated with the ticket vendors. If you're pressed for time, you can skip this unless you find one with a guide narrating the sights in your language. The loud speakers were ear splitting in a very brisk but monotone Russian, but the wind was even more brisk. Gloria and I took shelter under a canopy and swaddled ourselves in one of the blankets for some shelter.





This part is not the canal, and it felt a bit like being a thimble bouncing on the ocean. These are some of the cruise ships that bring tourists by the thousands. Smaller cruise ships travel the river between Moscow and St. Petersburg with stops along the way.