From Australia to Russia & Back in an Evening - A Virtual Tour Review
· 4 min read
By Alex the Langoholic, author of Hot Linguistics
Working from home has its advantages. For one, I got to travel to Russia when I packed up at five o’clock yesterday.
Traveling during the pandemic is a challenge, especially navigating the different rules for every place you try to go. Some countries have chosen not to do very much to prevent normal activity, but here in Australia it has been relatively strict. For people who love to travel, the announcement that we were not allowed to leave the country came as a shock. We can’t even travel freely between all our own states.
Here’s where Hop A Tour comes in. We know right now travel is difficult for most and impossible for some, and Hop A Tour is offering a unique experience that satisfies the feeling of wanderlust many of us have. They offer live-streamed walking tours of various cities around the world with qualified guides. The tours focus on different things like architecture, food, and art. These are exactly the type of walking tours that many major cities around the world offered before the pandemic. I’d been on several of these already in person, so the format of the tour was familiar and exactly what I’d hoped for.
Visiting Russia in the past required a lengthy visa process. Now, thanks to the livestream, I felt like I was walking through Saint Petersburg chatting to a friend. No visa needed, just a stable Internet connection. There is no special software required, you just follow the link you receive when booking.
The livestream was broadcast in HD quality, so I could see all the details of the buildings – just what you need for a tour of architecture. The camera was incredibly stable and without sudden movements, which added to the experience of walking through the city. At times the guide turned the camera into selfie mode, which helped create the feeling of walking with a friend.
Our guide was Vladislav. He is very knowledgeable about the city and clearly has a passion for architecture and local history. As we walked along our route Vlad pointed out various buildings and talked about their style, the architects, and their history. He spun a narrative that explained the origins of the city and compared the modern city with aspects of its past. I was impressed by how the tour did have a route and a script, but Vlad was able to make it personal at the same time. He showed close-ups of various features people might miss like little statues of cats, and commemorative plaques and talked about them. He was able to adapt to us participants asking questions through the streaming app, and even interrupted himself to respond to his environment like when a certain car passed by that he wanted to show.
We started at the statue of Catherine the Great in Yekaterininskiy Sad at 9am local time and after a short introduction began walking north along Malaya Sadovaya Street. Vlad was careful to show us the view down Nevsky Ave, and although we walked along it later, he pointed out that locals more often take the smaller streets we were going towards. A short while later we turned onto Ital'yanskaya Ulitsa and walked towards the Fine Arts Square. We then continued towards the Griboyedov Canal where Vlad explained some of the recent development in the area and showed us the view of The Savior on the Spilled Blood. Here we stopped and learned a lot about the history of the church. We continued the tour south, away from the church and back onto Nevsky Ave. A few minutes later we came through a magnificent archway into the palace square, which was the final stop of the tour.
Remember I said the tour satisfies the fires of wanderlust? It also stokes them. Thanks to Vlad pointing out all the amazing buildings, theatres and museums in the area, Russia has moved up in my travel list for when I can leave my country again. This tour really highlighted some beautiful parts of the city and I am looking forward to visiting in person eventually. For the time being, the tour satisfied my desire to see new things, and really reminded me of going on these types of tours in person. The tour was so immersive I barely blinked and the hour had passed. It was sadly time to leave Russia. Travel has never been this easy.
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Categories: Guest Post