St. Petersburg Guided Tours

From the very first contact via email with St Petersburg guided tours we knew we were in good hands. We hand picked our tour and our every request was met by Valeria putting together our tour just as we had asked,including a ride on the metro taking in some magnificent stations.
Olga, our guide & Dmitry, our driver/guide, were informative, relaxed, so knowledgeable and passionate about their city and heritage. During the initial car tour we were filled with the wonder of their city, the architecture, the history, the beauty of this awesome city. None of our questions were taken lightly, they answered us with passion and detail.
The stunning night time cruise was truly breathtaking- we would recommend a night cruise over the day cruise but try to find a cruiser with tourist information over the speakers- the musician we had on our boat was lovely but we could not really hear Olga talking over the music and we were there primarily to find out about the city!
The following day Olga made ‘Catherine’ come to life at her palace and we loved how she described the magnificence of the Peterhof ground & the history of the fountains. The stunning views over the Baltic were an added bonus.
Dmitry was always one step ahead of us – the car was there as soon as we had visited all our destinations to whisk us off to the next one. We did not queue anywhere- Olga confidently striding into each destination with an air of calm authority!
We cannot express enough how incredible our experience was of St Petersburg and without the input from Olga and Dmitry we would have come away with just the sites as a reminder rather than full of wonder and knowledge.
Thank you all.

“St. Petersburg Guided Tours” provide fantastic customer service with a 5 STAR guide & driver. All questions, prior to trip were answered right away by Valeria via email. We wanted a 2 day customized PRIVATE TOUR for 4 people, including seeing the Grand Choral Synagogue. Valeria was so accommodating in providing exactly what we requested PLUS a fantastic guide, DARIA & great driver, Andrew. These 2 are the best team. We never had to wait in a line, ever! We saw other tour guided waiting in long lines with their tour groups. Daria, was like royalty and got us in right away. In additon, she stayed with us the whole time and explained everything thoroughly, and never appeared disinterested. Andrew always had his Merecedes Van waiting for us when we finished a site. In addition, St. Petersburg Guided Tours provided us the Best Price and I researched multiple Tour Companies. 3 other tour companies did not provide the customer service, price or tour itinerary we wanted. Our first day in St. Petersburg was a 12 hour day, since we wanted to see many sites and do a canal ride. We got to see all sites on list. Did not go to tourist traps that other tour compaines go to. We wanted a quick lunch: Daria did this. Before returning to cruise ship, Andrew stopped at a hotel so our friend could use the WC. So accommodating! Day 2: tour 9:00 am-4:45 pm to be back on the ship by 5:30 pm. We saw everything on wish list with perfect representatives!! Daria, Andrew and Valeria, you were wonderful!

We had such a great time – we would love to do it all again.
We requested for a two day custom tour . Valeria arranged advance skip the q tickets and also the visas. We also left the ship at a leisurely 8.30 whereas the coach tours left at 6.45 am!
on the first day we met Valeria at the port and then we toured st petersburg by private van and visited the Peter and Paul Fortress, the Cathedral of the saviour of the spilled blood, an exquisite gift shop, had lunch in a traditional pie shop and then went to a Matryoshka workshop to learn to paint our own Russian dolls and then on to the hermitage museum for a grande finale to the day.
Day 2 we travelled on the metro and saw the opulence of the stations then went on to the Catherine Palace as we especially wanted to see the amber room. After lunching locally we went to see the fountain gardens at Peterhof.
Throughout our tours Valeria amazed us with the history of St Petersburg and the sites we visited – she was extremely knowledgeable and told us many anecdotes and witty stories which brought the history of the sites to life. We really felt immersed in St Petersburg and its history and enjoyed every moment
The tour was excellent value (especially compared to the ship tours ) and was perfect for our family.
Thank-you so much to Valeria and our driver Andrew we hope we can come back and see more.

We had a private tour of three days organised by St Petersburg Guided Tours. Valerie was v helpful in assisting us to create the itinerary that we wanted. Zara, the guide, is very knowledgeable about art, Russian history, and the country. She has a lovely personality, and great sense of fun. She took great care of us during the tour. She gave us good recommendations for where to eat in the evenings, how to get around and what to see in our time after the tour. Pavel is an excellent and safe driver.

The advantage of the private tour was that we were able to see all of the main sites in three days. It was tailored to our interests and we learned so much about St Petersburg and Russia. It was at our pace, and had flexibility each day, to spend more or less time at various places. We are keen walkers and Zara happily tramped miles thru various parks and along avenues.

We visited as part of a Princess Cruises Baltic Cruise. After reading rave reviews of ToursinStPetersburg.com, I contacted them by email and was pleased with the response and suggested 2 day tours. During several discussions, Valeria offered a tour that covered the sights we were interested in, as well as some that she thought were important. There were 6 retirees in our party. We were met at the port by Nadia, who was an excellent tour guide with a delightful personality. She had been an exchange student in the US so was especially good with our American English. The van driver, Michael, was superb, managing to park immediately near the sights, and to get pick-up locations so our walking was minimal. We visited the Church of the Spilled Blood, St.. Isaacs, the Faberge Museum and the Hermitage on day 1, then drove to the Catherine Palace and Peterhof Garden with a brief shopping stop on day 2. Nadia suggested lunches in lovely local restaurants which offered great food and atmosphere. We felt secure the entire time of our visit. Valeria, the company owner, made a point of meeting us in person to thank us for the reservation. The prices for our private, customized tour was just over half the cost of the ship’s offerings. I heartily recommend St. Petersburg Guided Tours.

If you want to see St Petersburg from a cruise ship and have only 2 days then the people to contact are St, Petersburg Guided Tours. We had 2 days full of information, we saw all the sites and travelled on the Metro (London tube needs to learn). From our first contact via email with Valeria who put our tour together, who arranged our 2 day visas, to meeting Nadia our guide and our driver Dmitri everything went like clockwork. Nadia was a mine of information especially in the Hermitage Museum. The price we paid was far less than the same type of tour organised by the ship and we had the benefit of one to one, not mixed in a group trying to hear the guide. At all sites that admission charges were required Nadia went of to get the tickets and then said follow me and walked us to the front of the queue, we never had to wait. We had lunch breaks both days , we had said we only required a snack and they took us to small fast food cafes which was ideal (we paid for both their meals). Would we go to St.Petersburg again, definitely, and we would certainly use St.Petersburg Guided Tours, Excellent.

At short notice I managed to secure a full day St Petersburg private tour for my husband and I. We were just delighted with our guide Valeria..from her warm greeting at the Port, her knowledge of her city and the history to all the little extras like NO waiting in queues at all. Because we didn’t have to stand in line with other tour groups, there was no wasting time and we were able to fit so much into our day. Our car was modern and comfortable and our driver was fantastic…he’d drop us at the door and the 3 of us would scoot in to where we wanted to go…tickets already purchased to present….and after he’d be waiting out front ready to go again!. Valeria took us to her favourite lunch spot..to eat divine fresh bakery items and great coffee. She was so easy to chat to about everyday life in St Petersburg it was a real treat. She asked if we wanted to stop for any souvenir shopping which I did, and we went to a little shop tucked away with the most fabulous selection of Russian dolls and handpainted Christmas decorations along with lots of other interesting souvenirs (very reasonably priced). With limited time in St Petersburg this was the absolute best way to get around and see everything you want to see at your pace (we packed heaps in) and no frustrations that can be encountered even with small tour groups. Valeria was fun and energetic, highly organised and with her excellent English, just a jewel of a tour guide. Highly recommend to anyone who wants a personal and totally engaging tour of St Petersburg. THANKYOU WE WILL BE BACK! X

I visited Russia with a negative, if as it turned out, a somewhat uninformed view of Russia and as a result a low expectation of our Baltic cruise stop in St Petersburg; well, what a surprise that turned out to be, absolutely stunning!
We booked through St Petersburg Guided Tours and was lucky enough to have Valerie (Valaria) organize, reorganize and then lead our small group of 4. She has patience, perfect English, a genius for context and for painting the picture that gives such colour and realism to the visual experience.
St Petersburg is a seriously great experience. I’ve drawn the deep breath at the Pyramids and the Sphinx, the Terracotta Warriors, Angkor Wat and the Forbidden City etc. I can assure you St Petersburg resides in the top three. The Hermitage, Peterhof Fountain Park and Grottos and the Yusupov Palace plus much more just dashed my preconceptions.
Our 2 day private tour for 4 with Valarie turned out to be a steep discount to even the elite class of 16 from the ship.
Strongly recommend both the city and St Petersburg Guided tours.
Sonny

Since St.Petersburg is visited by over 7 million tourists (of which 3.5 m foreigners, most of which package tours) picking the right tour guide can be tricky. I was lucky to find Valeria of St.Petersburg Guided Tours (not to be confounded with similarly named Tour-in-StPetersburg). I booked a 3-day private tour and everything went smoothly and as promised. The communications by by email and also by WhatsApp during my visit was rapid and efficient. I wanted to see Moscow after my 3 days in St.P. and she advised how to get there best (by Sapsan high speed train) and booked tickets and seats for me since international reservation on Russian Rail did not work. Also, Valeria showed flexibility according to the weather and knew how to skip long queues of mass tourism.
A memorable experience I can warmly recommend to other individuals or small groups. I wish Valeria much success with her small sympathetic enterprise.

We wanted to have a more personal tour for our 3 days in St Petersburg. One where we could go at our pace but more importantly see things as locals would. There are many operators in StP and difficult to work out which is best for you. After much research (having been a Travel Agent for many years) I chose to work with Valeria. We could not have been happier with the arrangements and contact we had at all times and the confidence I felt when dealing with her. From the purchasing of theatre tickets to the day to day schedule we were not rushed but were able see all our desires. Having Nadia as our guide was special in its self as we learnt so much about the people and the way of life in StP through Nadia. She effortlessly moved us to the front of queues ensued we were moving in the right space to be in front of the most famous paintings and works or art while others could only stretch to get a glimpse. Our transport and driver couldnt be faulted, clean vehicle personable driver always waiting when we were ready to move onand excellent driving skills. We would definitely use Valeria and her company again and would recommend her for a hasslefree option when travelling to StP

Unfortunately we have extremely limited time in St Petersburg, but Valeria collected us from the station and dropped us off to the airport having a ranged to maximise 100% fully our very limited time in St Petersburg.

I had been desperate to visit the Hermitage Museum since I was very young and therefore this was the highlight of the trip. Valeria had organised a route through the museum that we saw everything without wasting a minute.

I cannot more highly recommend the service that we provided an extremely pleasant way in which you assisted us with everything.

Many thanks. I really hope to visit again to finish seeing your most beautiful city and museum.

We took two day tours with Valeria, one to Peterhof and one to Catherine Palace and Pavlovsk. Valeria, our contact and guide, is extremely knowledgeable about the history, architecture and art work of the sites. Not only were the tours efficiently arranged and excellently conducted, Valeria was happy to provide additional information, such as recommending restaurants and a tour of the best subway stations. She responded immediately to my first email of inquiry and followed through on every question. She clearly loves her city and is enthusiastic about sharing it.