St Petersburg Planner
When I first read Dostoyevsky's Crime & Punishment in high school, I'd never thought I would ever get a chance to see St Petersburg. Communism and language barriers can deter even the most intrepid travelers. It's only recently that I'd heard about Baltic cruises to St Petersburg and realized that it's a safe destination. As I looked through the list of available cruises, I discovered that most affordable cruise ships only anchor in St Petersburg for 2 days. To fully explore the city, I need at least 4 full days.
Alternatives to Cruises:
I initially thought that Russia is too expensive to DIY (do it yourself). It is not. The reason that most tours are expensive is that it provides a private driver, car, and a guide. The real cost is the car/private driver. I am a DIY traveler and I prefer to travel like most locals do by taking the metro, trains, buses, etc... It adds to the experience of being there.
There are land tours from the US ranging from less than $2000 to $5000. I recommend going to affordabletours.com to take a look. They also offer some discount on tours.
I also looked into tours originating from London. London is a good hub for US travelers. First of all, they speak English there and have tours/All Inclusive holidays to all most destinations. Click here to Search for deals from UK. Budget tours to St Petersburg & Moscow from London are reasonable. You can either do private tours (more expensive) or group tours. One of the places that was really responsive to my email enquiries is Russian Gateway UK Ltd.
All of the options above are more expensive than what I was able to customize for our travel needs. Of course, my DIY option requires lots of planning time and research. If you want no hassle, I'd recommend tours. But if you'd like everything tailored to your needs and budget, then I suggest looking into the research that I did for ideas.