Hello, we are Maria and Polina! It seems now we have been in this business forever. We have been working as professional guides in Saint-Petersburg for about 10 years. Each of us being an excellent private guide worked for different companies in our beautiful city running tours of different kinds and this way got precious experience. Having decided we are strong enough to work on our own we arranged TourPetersburg Company. Thus, we have been functioning for more than 7 years as an official company at the touristic market of St. Petersburg.
We see our aim not in arranging tours properly or just booking tickets in museums. We are happy to break people’s stereotypes about Russia and Russians. We show the country and the city we live in with love. We would like you to see St Petersburg the way we see it and to fall in love with it forever.
We work very hard and as a result we are happy to say that we receive more and more enquiries every year. We try to pay as much attention as possible to every detail in our work: our tour guides are highly professional and easy-going, our drivers are helpful, polite and attentive, our prices are the lowest among competitors.
We are proud to inform you that we do not have negative comments about our tours. Every businessman tells his clients about the personal approach in his work. This is what we try not to proclaim but to practice. Of course, we have standard sample tours to make the process of choosing what is important to see here or not easier for our guests. Then the process of improving the tour begins. We are attentive and flexible to tourists’ ideas and suggestions and do not want everyone to have one and the same tour. Keeping in mind their wishes, desires and special needs we would like them to enrich the standard sample tour with something unusual that will help our guests to know Russia and Russian people better, to pay attention not only to interesting and famous museums, spacious parks and magnificent palaces of Saint-Petersburg but also to see our everyday life sitting quietly in a café watching ordinary Russian people around, for example.
Our goal is to change foreign guests’ perception of Russia and people who live here. That is why working with tourists mostly coming to Russia for the first time we still would like to give them the possibility to choose what they would like to see in St Petersburg. There are several options. Of course, you may have the must-see tour, this is what most visitors do. Also there is always an opportunity to mix it with something not usual as, for example, a visit of Russian banya, a photo session in Russian traditional costumes… This way the tour becomes a very special experience, nobody will have anything of this kind. We ask and provoke our guests to be brave and extraordinary. They are very grateful for it later!
We are so delighted to hear when in the end of the tour our guests say their ideas about Russia were totally different and they did not expect to find here so many well-educated, English-speaking, positive, enthusiastic young people. Most of the tourists are sure Russia is going to be unusual, strange and unpredictable. It is a pleasant surprise for them to realize we are very hospitable, highly professional and willing to communicate and to share.
I am Polina, a professional guide in Saint-Petersburg. I will be happy to help you here as I love my job and dealing with people of all nationalities. I have a degree in English and management. When there is free time I love reading, especially about Russian history. I will be happy to welcome you here in Saint-Petersburg and to show you our beautiful city.
Phone Number: +7 931 231 01 90
E-mail: info@tourpetersburg.com
Hi. I am Maria, a native citizen of Saint-Petersburg. I have been a tour guide here for seven years. Why have I chosen this job? Because I like to speak languages (English, Italian and of course Russian), to meet new people, to tell them about my country's history and the city. I would like to enjoy Saint-Petersburg with you. You are warmly welcome to one of the most beautiful cities of the world, to my city!
Phone Number +7 921 650 20 70
E-mail: info@tourpetersburg.com
August 2014 Maria was our St.Petersburg private guide for two days. The days were full, informative and fun. Maria ushered us around and made St.Petersburg trip VERY easy. We entered sites without waiting in lines - which were all VERY long - and she pre-arranged lunches. The days in Saint-Petersburg went from 07:45 to 17:30. We would highly recommend Maria as the best St.Petersburg travel guide. Thank you, Maria, for two great days.
June 2017 This was an absolutely amazing tour of beautiful St. Petersburg. Our tour guide Maria, our driver Yelisyeyi (Елисей) and owner Polina really know the city and the best way to show it off. My group of four adults arrived at 9 am via the Norwegian Getaway at the Port in St. Petersburg. After negotiating long lines at Russian customs we found Maria waiting and we were whisked away to explore and enjoy as much as we could during our two-day visit. We created an a la cart tour that included sightseeing, restaurants, evening cocktails, the Hermitage museum, churches, tombs, coffee and much more. As a small group we easily moved through the city and sites. Maria is extremely knowledgeable, very well versed in Russian history and culture, excellent English, and well connected...Maria seemed to know everybody. Our driver knew every route and navigated the city effortlessly. My favorite thing about the tour is I feel like I was really shown the history, culture and life of St. Petersburg.… More
June 2018 While on a Baltic cruise in June our friends and my wife and I had a free night in St Petersburg . I contacted Maria a couple of months before leaving after seeing some internet posts and she was able to arrange a special evening tour of some very local pubs.they handled all the transportation, visa, and destination planning. It turned out to be the night of the Russia vs Egypt World Cup match. Maria adjusted the itinerary to go to at least local spots with all the World Cup fever and excitement. We had planned on 3 couples but 1 couple could not attend so 4 of us , a great driver and Maria. She took care of all our ordering, language help and lots of local color. On our 10 day Baltic tour our evening in St Petersburg was by far the highlight. I have taken many private tours in Europe and rate Maria number “1”. We are from California and in mid 60’s. Don’t miss a… More
October 2014 I loved the custom made tours and the flexibility offered. Maria Kostina was gracious, polite, knowledgeable, and flexible. She understood that the main purpose of the tour, was not just to get information, but to enjoy the city and be able to wander around and change things as we went along. There were some restrictions due Holidays, days off, and Russian customs of buying tickets early, but these were all dealt with well. Most importantly, there was no RUSHING... I would highly recommend her as a tourist guide in this beautiful city...
June 2017 My friends and I had a two day tour of St. Petersburg with Maria and our driver whose name I could not possibly spell. I cannot sing enough high praises for them or for Polina who helped plan our tour. They answered our many emails sent prior to our trip and sent an itinerary that included many of the St. Petersburg highlights. It took forever to go through immigration from our cruise ship. Maria was patiently waiting for us through all the madness. The Mercedes van had snacks and drinks waiting for us. St.Petersburg is an amazing city. There were many sights to see and Maria was able to explain the history of Russia and the importance of each sight. We always felt like VIPs with no line waiting and personal service. They were able to customize the things we wanted to do such as see a subway station and go to a restaurant and bars that locals would go to. We were constantly amazed and impressed. For… More
July 2018 Thank you for the most interesting 2 days in St. Petersburg! Your professionalism, flexibility, and kindnesses are most appreciated, and about which we will be sharing with our friends. All of your combined efforts provided an excellent visit to such an astounding city, and I will be encouraging all of my clients to the Baltic area to experience your tours.
August 2014 Maria, thank you again for your excellent private Hermitage, Peterhof and Amber Room tours during our visit to St Petersburg, Russia. August is the busiest time of the year but you were able to move us through the venues and the city with finesse usually at the head of the line. Your knowledge of the history and art of Russia made your St.Petersburg private tours very worthwhile. Your command of English was spot on and entertaining. Hugs from the eight of us.
June 2017 Yesterday we took a private tour arranged by TourPetersburg and it was fantastic! We discussed what we wanted with Polina who was terrific arranging a full day of sightseeing and she truly delivered a great experience. She even bought Russian sweets and sodas for us! Talk about professionalism and going the extra mile for the customer!!! Our tour guide was Maria who was knowledgeable, personable, and a delight. We cannot recommend them enough. We left St. Petersburg wanting to return and have Polina and Maria arrange everything for us.
July 2018 My wife and I took a Baltic Cruise this July. We found out that we either needed to get a visa, take a cruise “tour excursion”, or hire a private tour company. After lots of research, we chose Polina and TourPetersburg. It was the best decision of our trip. I contacted Polina back in March and she was so instructional, accommodating, and sweet. We weren’t easy, as we wanted not only a day trip to see all of St Petersburg’s main tourist attractions, but we also wanted to experience the nightlife. Polina came up with a perfect itinerary! We were picked up at our cruise and saw all the sites we wanted to see (including the hermitage, the winter palace, the summer palace and the Church of Spilled Blood...not to mention the FIFA World Cup fan zone). Everything we asked to see, they showed us. We were then dropped back off at our ship for dinner and a quick nap. Our guide (Maria) met us back at the… More
June 2014 Polina was our private guide for two fabulous days in Saint Petersburg. She was extremely helpful (and patient) in the planning process of our St.Petersburg tour package. We were celebrating our son's birthday on our second day, and she made a lunch reservation and even ordered a birthday cake! We were able to see and do the things we absolutely wanted to in our two (short) days in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
