Highly recommended! I just received my paper tickets via courier in Singapore for my trip next... read more
Highly recommended! I just received my paper tickets via courier in Singapore for my trip next... read more
Our adult family group went on a 4 day trip to St. Petersburg organised by Olya in VisitRussia - it... read more
VisitRussia.com is a great company!!! We used them in Aug 2015 on our Baltic Cruise and they were great!!! If we go back we would use them again!!!
Beautiful palace, ashamed the Nazi nicked all the real amber.
The English speaking tour was limited.
The tours in Moscow and St. Petersburg organized by VisitRussia were a wonderful way to see some of the highlights of Russia. Our guides in Moscow and St. Petersburg were very knowledgeable and pleasant to spend time. We were particularly impressed by the Natalia Sokolova who guided us in St. Petersburg and its surroundings. We were a party 7 including 3 children, Natalia guided the adults and managed to keep children interested, “edutainment” (education and entertainment) type of contest was really good and we can recommend Natalia Sokolova as highly professional guide. Everyone was super impressed by her.
Apart from the arrangements in St. Moscow and St. Petersburg, all worked well during our driving tour between two capital cities. We stayed in Zavidovo and in Valday. Many thanks to Daria Minisheva from VisitRussia who organized the tour.
Every driver showed up when expected, both guides were informative, experienced, and delightful, the hotels were comfortable, the excursions fascinating, the train ride relaxing, and everything went exactly to plan. I lead trips across Western Europe for my university every January, so I am well acquainted with travel--and the issues of planning a tour. The folks at VisitRussia simply did an excellent job at a reasonable price. (For example, we added the Peterhoff excursion--highly recommended--in St. Petersburg. It added $72 per person to our overall tour. But the hydrofoil out and back is 1,200 rubles and the entry to the gardens and mansion is 1,200 rubles...and at the present exchange rate that means about $80! And we had Luba, our wonderful guide, to show us around. She even managed to get us past several crowded lines to go directly in to the mansion.)
The following is a letter I sent to travel agents at American Express and Optima Tours, which they encouraged me to post here:
Dear Optima Tours and American Express,
I wanted to express my appreciation for the tours, tour guide and driver you organized for my family during our visit to Saint Petersburg May 19-22. Natalia Ilatovskaya was simply wonderful. She quickly adapted to our family, which included a 7- and 4-year old, and made them the focus of much of our activities, while still sharing fascinating and important information with my wife Victoria and me. Her creativity in having the girls listen for key words in her descriptions of historic sites or in finding specific artifacts (like crowns, tridents, frogs, etc.) kept them engaged and all of us happy. During the tour of the Ermitage, she also brought paper and markers, and had them draw their favorite floor designs, chandeliers, paintings, etc. It was an experience none of us will ever forget, and we owe so much of that to Natalia's knowledge, creativity, patience and kindness. Maybe one of my personal favorite memories will be her teaching my girls a special, period dance in the Great Ball Room at Ekaterinsky Palace.
I also wanted to express our appreciation for our driver Aleksandr. Our connecting flight into Saint Peterburg was delayed, and we barely made the connection. Our luggage did not. After filling out forms, this meant that we did not emerge from customs at the Saint Petersburg airport until at least two hours after we originally landed. It was a big relief to see Aleksandr waiting for us, holding the sign with our name on it. His van was exceptional, the children's seats were high quality, and his friendship (and driving skills) were appreciated.
Attached are a few photos from our trip. The first is just to share a picture of our family: me, my wife, and girls Yuliana, 7, Katya, 4, and Liza, nine months. The others are a few of Natalia in action…and Aleksandr saying goodbye.
Again, my thanks to you Daria and Olga for your assistance in setting up these tours for my family. It was a great time (even without bags for a couple of days).
All My Best,
Jon