Private Shore-Excursion: 1-Day Fully Flexible St Petersburg Tour

Overall we had a really positive experience during our 2 day visit. Elena was very knowledgeable of Russian history and culture and that made the trip both in the city and countryside informative and enjoyable. She went out of her way to make sure she was showing us a good time.

Veronica was so very personable and knowledgeable my husband and I were so very comfortable and enjoyed the day immensely. We have decided all tours from this point forward will be the private tours, we were able to pick and choose the sights we were interested in, thus we had more time in these places.

I scheduled a visit of the Hermitage and the main Cathedrals/Churches in St Petersburgh. The guide had everything planned to ensure that we were back on the ship on time for other commitment. She was very nice, flexible and accommodated the route to fit everything we wanted to do. It was expensive but worthy. I would have like to hear a bit more of the history of the country but maybe next time.

Our excursion with Ilya and Valentin (the driver) was the most pleasant and enjoyable experience of our entire 14 day trip througout Norther Europe. The 8 hour private tour started in a very comfortable, immaculate Mercedez passanger van. Our tour guide Ilya was friendly, professional, extremely courteous and spoke perfect English. We were a group of 7, incuding my 78 yo mom who has didifculty walking and two kids 9 and 12. We are also a group of Ukraninans who speak and understand Russian and Americans who do not. Ilya went out of his way to make sure that everyone in the group was engaged, accomodated and entertained at all times. When my mom got tired, he procured a wheel chair for her at the Hermitage. He also changed the itinary on the fly to suit our interests. While we never felt rushed we managed to see so much of St Petersburg in one day. This was truly an exceptional tour. Incredible value for the money!!! over 8 hours of personalized, private tour with a fatastic guide -- money well spent! It has now been a couple of months and my family still talks about this tour, the Georgian restaurant that we loved (Phali Hinckali) and our amazing tour guide, Ilya. The phrase that keeps popping up is "it just couldn't have been any better". Thank you, Ulko tours, Ilya and Valentin.

Our guide and driver were wonderful. Very knowledgeable and accommodating for our group of ten, ages 22 to 73. They recommended sites that we had not previously seen, and took us to a marvelous Georgian restaurant for lunch. we were in contact with the company by e-mail from the time we made the reservation, with offers to notebook tickets and suggestions for our itinerary. I highly recommend them.

We booked this tour, which was actually with Ulko Tours, because we were traveling with 3 generations of family members and needed extra flexibility with mobility, desired sights to see, and scheduling. The manager of the company, Ksenia, was very informative and helpful arranging the city drive tour, as well as delicious lunches, tours of the Hermitage, including the Diamond Room, the Catherine Palace, the Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood and a number of other sights. She was helpful to arrange the 3 wheelchairs that we needed for our family who had difficulties walking. The organizational process was straight forward with lots of instruction and information given to us. Liza, our guide was great. She was extremely knowledgeable, with very good English, prompt in meeting us at the cruise terminal where we exited the cruise ship. Liza answered our many questions about St. Petersburg, the monuments, and Russia in general. She helped us ordering from the menus at the restaurants, and was very cooperative in getting us back to the ship in time for sailing. This private tour enabled us to skip the very long lines waiting for entrance to the Hermitage and Catherine Palace. The private minibus that the 10 of us were driven in was even specially designed for those with mobility issues. We would recommend this tour company to anyone needing a shore excursion especially designed to adapt to personal preferences, and desired sights to see.

Our guide and driver were wonderful!! They met the Seabourn Ovation at the cruise terminal, and my grandson and I got through customs without any problems. The Mercedes was comfortable. Sergei was a very good driver, and Nadia was an excellent guide!! The company supplying the tour was ULKO Tours. I had worked with Anton of ULKO prior to the trip, and he was very accommodating. I highly recommend this company!!

Our guide was excellent and very personable. We saved so much money over the prices from the cruise ship and saw much more than we would have seen for the same price. HIGHLY recommended.

Natali our guide was excellent. We had as flexible itinerary that we wanted. We told her what we wanted to see in the allotted time and she made it happen to our complete satisfaction.

I cannot say enough positive things regarding our day in St. Petersburg. We only had 1 day in St. Petersburg and we were met at the cruise terminal by our guide, Kirill, who was holding a sign with my name on it. Kirill, and driver, Sergey, were amazing. Kirill's knowledge of the city's history was awesome! He knew all the details related to our time and Peterhoff and really helped us make the most of our limited time. We enjoyed a lunch following the palace and then headed back to the city to the Fabrege museum and a great shopping spot. Even before our visit, Anton (from the office) was extremely responsive to emails and assisted us in getting tickets in advance of our tour. Overall, a fantastic experience and I highly recommend for a private tour - make the most of your time! Worth every penny!