Private Shore Excursion: St. Petersburg Experience

Well, to begin with, it snowed!! Nobody expected it and I was happy to have an ancient vintage fur with me, so I fit right in. Daria, my tour guide, was absolutely terrific. She's a teacher and is well-versed in art history, so we were able to be steeped in knowledge as we visited the digs of Catherine the Great and thrilled to the Peterhof fountains. She even set off one of Peter's "trick fountains" simply to entertain us. It was a pretty cold day to be daring enough to get herself drenched. This is a completely private tour for two people and we got to be first in line for everything. Just to spend a few minutes alone in the Amber Room was a thrill. Anyway, we ditched one of the church tours in favor of the Vodka Museum and a memorable tasting.Quite frankly, I can't believe I might develop a taste for pork fat, but does need something to protect the stomach lining if one is to take shots of vodka (the only way to drink it, apparently). We had a beautiful Mercedes, bottled water, and Daria provided constant comment, which made it incrediby entertaining. She took us to a supermarket so I could buy coffee,and to a pharmacy for some cold medicine (still recovering from the cold,I am). The boat ride was the only disappointment,as I have been on lots of river and canal cruises but none with such a disinterested crew and a rather slovenly cabin. Everything else was abfab! Thanks Daria (and also to the driver, whom I choose to call Amtrak because I can't pronounce his name). This tour is totally worth the price and is best if you ask for offbeat stuff (we went to a pie shop) and bring your guide and driver to lunch with you. I have photos but I don't know where to upload them!

I planned to make this the highlight of a crushingly long 23-day repositioning trans Atlantic cruise and I was rewarded handsomely, mostly because of my tour guide Daria and her stalwart companion/driver whom I choose to call Amtrak because I was never able to grasp the pronunciation of his Georgian name. Not the Georgia in the U.S., silly. The Russian one. The company provided a "blanket visa," which allowed us to stay in St. Petersburg and vincinity for 72 hours as long as we were accompanied by our minders. No problem there, as they arrived in a shiny black Mercedes, had two bottles of water, and treated us like royalty. Well, modern royalty, not the over the top stuff that pleased Catherine the Great. Her gilded palace was on our list, but first we went to Peterhof, the collection of palaces and gardens that served as a private paradise for Peter the Great and his family. Daria got us there just in time for the grand orchestrated fountain display that happens but once a day. She also demonstrated a couple of the trick fountains that get you soaked when you step on a certain rock. Quite the prankster, that Peter the Great. Anyway, Catherine the Great's palace was next and we toured the inside quite thoroughly after a quick lunch. We got to the legendary Amber Room before anyone else and had it to ourselves for a few minutes before the hordes of tours decended. Really stunning gold work, although the real gold is long gone. Daria chatted non-stop about history and threw in some surprising facts along the way. She seemed really genuinely interested in her subjects, although she's probably done this hundreds of times. After we cruised Putin's neighborhood in the suburbs we went to the the Vodka Museum (not on the tour,she had to get special permission to take us there, but I couldn't take any more churches), and sampled the local wares, including some pork fat on black bread to prepare the tummy for the onslaught. We visited the terrific and artsy subway, took a so-so boat ride, went to the supermarket for coffee to replace the icky cruise java, went to the drugstore for some cold medicine. It snowed and it was bitterly cold, so naturally the sneezing began. In conclusion: This is a fabulous tour, especially for those with an interest in art (I wanted to see a Tintoretto) . And vodka, whichis everywhere. Driver was great, Daria's English (she's a teacher) was near perfect, and we really learned a lot without any pressure. Well worth the money! огромн

We booked a 2 day tour in June while on a Baltic Sea family cruise. We were a group of 13 people including a 17 month old. Everything from the pick up to the drop off on the last day went very smooth! Olga was our tour guide and did a phenomenal job! Since my mother-in-law had been to St. Petersburg on a prior trip, we had a list of places we wanted to go and Olga let us make the most of all of our stops as well as made sure we were able to fit it all in. Olga was extremely knowledgeable and was able to answer all of our questions. She took us to a couple local places for lunch and helped us order from the menu and make our choices. Olga was also able to arrange a trip to the Russian Ballet for 2 people in our party on the same day! Would definitely recommend this company as well as Olga as a tour guide.