If I stay at 4 star hotels in Moscow and St Pete will I be able to book and be picked up at my hotel. I've been unable to find a website that lists daily tours, please advise.

Yes although the private tours tend to be very pricey.

Please explain what you mean by "private", I was looking for a bus type tour that would take me around for the day. Also what do you mean by "pricey". $50, $100, $200 for the day?

I doubt the 4-star properties in Moscow and St Petersburg book group tours. In Moscow the best group tours are run by Patriarchy Dom<BR><BR>http://russiatravel-pdtours.netfirms.com/<BR><BR>Unfortunately there isn't a comparable organization in St. Petersburg, but if you look on the older Russian posts you can see the names of some guides whom you can hire privately. There are some bus tours from Gostiny Dvor but they are really of inconsistent quality.<BR><BR>Private guides from hotels such as the L'Angleterre, the Marriott, the Sheraton, etc. will probably be $150 or so per day.

For an idea on what tours are available see: http://www.sokoltours.com<BR><BR>The best way to see the cities is to take a walking tour. If you don't want to do much walking and are happy with a drive-by have your hotel organize a car for the day.

Have you checked the web site of "Uncle Pasha"? He and his wife sound like the kind of guides you need.

Ispay,<BR><BR>Do you know the web site address?

Uncle Pasha is at:<BR>http://www.unclepasha.com/