Tour Guide Recommendations (St Petersburg and Russia)
 

Hello, there will be 2 of us traveling to St. Petersburg 30 July - 3 August 2008, and Moscow 4-7 August. We would like to see if you have any recommendations for a tour guide (and how much a tour would cost. We're looking at 2 days, I think, in each city. We are interested in history, some art (not too much, though we would like to go to the Hermitage and Pushkin Gallery), and taking photos. We are students, so would like some ideas / quotes to see what we can afford! Thank you all in advance for your help.

Oops - I meant St. P and Moscow in the title. Thanks!

I would highly recommend Natasha Sigaeva. We had her for a guide last year while in Russia. She is fully licensed, speaks excellent English,
has a degree in Russian History and
is very personable. She lives in St. Petersburg....her email is: [email protected]

We found Olga here on this forum and were very pleased with her. She is also fully licensed and totally flexible - she will take you anywhere you want to go.

http://www.tourservice.sp.ru/

I used Tatiana (russianadventure dot com)in St. Petersburg. Loved her style. She was very accommodating. Her website will give you a great feel for who she is. She wasn't exactly cheap, but for the price I paid I got to see everything I wanted (within my time constraints)so that alone was worth the money.

In Moscow I used a couple different services. I contacted Olesya at (russiangirlfriday dot com)but she was not available. She had someone who was not a guide (which if you want to get into important sites is a big deal) but she could get me around Moscow. I would never have been able to navigate the Moscow subway as quickly or effiecently without her. It was a cheaper alternative, it got me where I wanted to be and lots of insight about Russia.

I was told by the private guide I hired to get me into the Armory(as we were waiting to get in) that private guides take less priority then the tours. She didn't think she would even be able to get me in because all the spots had been filled by tours. The Diamond Fund was no problem as long as the guide was allowed in (and you aren't without a guide). So you may want to find a tour that includes the important sights you want in Moscow.

We used Red Ocotber for two days and were extremely satisified.