Q & A
My mother wants to go to St. Petersburg, Russia, this summer to see the palaces, Hermitage, etc. The tours I've found seem to include just three days there. Any suggestions of tours of the city for a week? -- C.Q., Arlington, Va.
There is much to see in the fascinating city of Peter the Great -- with more than 500 palaces and the vast Hermitage museum among the draws -- but most tour companies combine St. Petersburg with Moscow, devoting just three or four days to each in the usual itinerary. The exception is during the White Nights Festival in June, when some tour companies offer trips exclusively for that event, too late for your mother this year.
Regent Holidays, a British company specializing in Eastern Europe and Asia, runs both custom and scheduled trips. Every Saturday a Regent tour (usually no more than 20 people) departs from Moscow for an eight-day guided trip that includes three days of sightseeing in each city and overnight train from Moscow to St. Petersburg, for $1,090, at $1.85 to the pound (without air fare). The trip can be customized to consist of three nights in St. Petersburg (with no Moscow visit), for $1,100 a person in summer with air fare from London included, or it can be extended (extra nights at a three-star hotel are $130 a person per night). An English-speaking guide can be arranged for $46 a person per half day. Information: (44-117) 921-1711; www.regent-holidays.co.uk.
Steppes Travel, also based in Britain, with an office in St. Petersburg, has been offering custom trips to the city for 15 years. One suggested four-day itinerary includes lodging at one of three central four- or five-star hotels or a private apartment, a city tour and visits to the Russian Museum, the Hermitage and Catherine Palace; from $1,840 a person, with air fare from London, hotel, guide, car and driver and entrance fees; (44-1285) 651010; www.steppeseast.co.uk.
A higher-end customized trip is offered by Exeter International, in Tampa, Fla., which specializes in deluxe travel to Russia and Eastern Europe. The company will design an itinerary that includes accommodations in a five-star hotel, car and driver and English-speaking guide; they can also arrange behind-the-scenes tours and book theater tickets and restaurant reservations. The daily price estimate for a private tour, based on two people traveling together in July, would be $650 to $850 a person, based on double occupancy. Information: (800) 633-1008, www.exeterinternational.com.
However you go, with a scheduled or custom trip, you can find a knowledgeable guide once you arrive. For example, you might look into one of the guided tours given by Peter's Walking Tours, based in St. Petersburg, with a team of eight English-speaking guides. Morning tours leave every day from the International Hostel. Special tours include a Rasputin Walk, a Dostoyevsky Walk and Peter's Food Tour; a Siege of Leningrad tour is offered every Saturday.
Peter Kozyrev, founder of the nine-year-old company, says the walks emphasize not just the main attractions but also the city itself, its history, culture and everyday life as seen in its markets, back streets, public transport and the like. Most tours are three to five hours and cost $14.25, at 29 Russian rubles to $1; group size is an average of 10 to 12 people. Tours can be customized (with less walking, for example). Information: www.peterswalk.com.
Now that we are retired, we would like to follow our love of J.S. Bach by visiting Bach festivals, at least in the United States. Is there a complete list? -- Emily and Marc Eisen, Monroe Township, N.J.
Probably the most comprehensive list of festivals appears on www.bach-cantatas.com/Links/Links-Festivals.htm. The listing includes more than two dozen festivals within the United States, with links to each festival's home page, from the Peoria Bach Festival, which took place June 1 to 5 in Illinois this year, to the White Mountain Musical Arts Bach Festival in North Conway, N.H., Aug. 25 to 28. (Note that some of the festivals are not exclusively devoted to Bach.) The listing includes Bach festivals around the world, organized by country, if you wish to extend your visits beyond the United States, and has links to a range of Bach societies, concerts and recordings.
A similar listing can be found at www.jsbach.org/web.html, a collection of Bach-related Web sites with a number of festivals including two of the oldest, dating back to the 1930's: the Winter Park Bach Festival at Rollins College in Florida this past winter, and the Carmel Bach Festival, July 16 to Aug. 6 this year, in California.
FLORENCE STICKNEY
Q & A