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
October 2016 Can’t say enough wonderful things about our 2 days of touring in SPB. Maria took such good care of me on my 1st day and customized our 1/2 day so i could see exactly what I wanted. Elena took over on day 2 and we walked the city with my husband and also saw exactly what we wanted to see. The depth and breadth of knowledge about the history, the architecture, the artists and their work was so detailed and substantial. We were so impressed. Hope to get back someday for more!
June 2018 We had two magical days in St. Petersburg. It is an incredible city. We didn’t miss a thing. The city is gorgeous and maintained so beautifully. There are sumptuous gardens and forests throughout the city. Everything is sparkling clean and manicured. The architecture is so stunning. We visited museums, palaces, The Church of The Spilled Blood and an awesome synagogue. The food we had was different and very tasty. We had a terrific and knowledgable guide named Maria with a private driver. The highlight of our trip was dinner with a wonderful Russian family. Polina and her family invited us into their home and prepared a wonderful Russian dinner for us. We so enjoyed hearing about the life in Russia. We realized that the people and lifestyle are very similar to ours. They are friendly, affectionate and easy to be with. We really felt like family. We fell in love with the city and the people. We hope to return again.
December 2018 You must get Maria Kostina the best tour guide ever warm friendly kind helpful and hugely knowledgeable. What an amazing city from stunning winter and summer palaces to Maria taking us to everyday coffee and doughnut cafe for locals.
September 2014 Our St.Petersburg guide was Maria and she made all places in Saint-Petersburg we visited so memorable. Excellent English and an outstanding knowledge of Russian and Art history. She organized everything, bypassed all the queues and made sure we saw all the important things without rushing and even arranged a trip to the local restaurants for lunch. Brilliant!!
May 2017 Excellent tour with an excellent guide. Loved the impressionists section that you wouldn't see on regular shore excursions and was lovely seeing the faberge eggs without the crowds. Would highly recommend this tour company.
June 2018 We loved the tour and your beautiful city. Maria was terrific and VERY knowledgeable, always finding answers to our questions and we found Maxim to be very good driver. We will recommend you and your company to others in future.
January 2019 We were lucky to have such a professional guide on our excursion to the Hermitage, and so kind and positive person as Maria! She tells about tiny details of one or another art objects with keen interest and passion so that all group is captured by her story reveling many new curious facts! Her English is very beautiful and adjusted to the group. Thank you so much, Maria! And I can’t wait to arrange another cultural trip with you!
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
