Select your guide or read some background info on them. View their customer feedback. Click here.
Arrange Airport Pick-up
Avoid the airport taxi service and have one of our
drivers waiting for you. Your guide can also be waiting for you at the
airport. Click here.
Rent A Cell Phone.
A cell phone can be delivered to you when you arrive
at the airport.
Click here.
Check hotel reviews
Get an American's perspective. Ed Ryder has been to nearly every
hotel in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
*Some St. Petersburg hotel reviews by Lena Morozova.
This is Sasha, our operations manager who oversees all aspects of service delivery for Saint Petersburg and Moscow.
He can also be hired as your personal guide in Saint Petersburg. (This photo was shot at the Grand Palace in Peterhof.)
Saint Petersburg & Moscow English-Speaking, Licensed Guides
When you go to Saint Petersburg for the first time, you'll be in for a big adventure. And if you decide to hire one of our guides, you'll get even more out of your visit.
We've been assisting travellers arriving to Saint Petersburg by air, rail, and cruise ship since March 2002. Realizing that your visit may be a once in a lifetime event, we strive to do our best to make your time here exciting, fulfilling, comfortable and safe.
And when you hire our service, you just don't get a guide, you get an organization. Our customers have 24 hour access to a manager in case they encounter a problem, or don't like their guide, or whatever. Someone is there for you if you need additional assistance. Click here to meet our Saint Petersburg guides.
Moscow Guides Now Available
In January 2004 we expanded our service to Moscow. You can hire your
own, personal, English-speaking guide to explore Russia's largest city.
Driver services are available in St. Petersburg. We can even arrange specialty vehicles, like limousines, if it is your desire.
Costs:
• Saint Petersburg guides are $130 per day, plus expenses.
• Moscow guides are $160 for 8 or 9 hours, plus expenses.
"Plus expenses" means transportation, meals, museum/theater entry costs. There are no big surprises with this. Simply, as the guide is assisting you, the guide should not have to take money out of their own pocket to show you around.
Transportation Costs: After your guide meets with you, you cover their transportation costs... Example: If you go for a ride on a canal boat, you pay for the guide's seat on the boat - that sort of thing.
Meals: It is assumed you will need help ordering from the menu, and that the guide will eat with you. Usually the cultural education continues over the meal. However, if you want to eat at an extravagant restaurant, it is okay to make arrangements to have the guide meet back up with you after the meal.
Museum/Theater entry costs: If a guide has a license for a particular museum or palace, they usually can get in without additional costs. If not, their ticket prices are still fairly inexpensive because they get a price break for being a Russian citizen. Foreigners do pay more to visit museums and theaters. (It is just the way it is.)
How It Works
First, send
us an email and tell us about your expected visit. We'll give you some
ideas on what to see, how long you should stay, etc:
russianguidenet@mail.ru
After you decide on your trip, it is time to make your guide arrangements. You can pick your own guide by reviewing the guide profiles section of our website, or we can just assign a guide to you.
The service is paid in advance. A check is preferred if you are in the US. Or you can pay by credit card using www.paypal.com. If you are outside the US, there is an additional 4% charge for paying us with a Visa or MasterCard. It's 3% if you are in the US.
If you need additional time with your guide, you can pay the guide directly in cash at the end of each day.
Prior to your arrival, we can work out an itinerary on how to manage your time, or you can just decide after you arrive what you want to do. You have ultimate flexibility when you hire a guide service like ours, and you are the boss. Where to go, what to do, how long to stay at a particular place, or whether to skip a destination or switch a day to see it - it is all up to you. To get started, write us an email at: russianguidenet@mail.ru
If you are a cruise ship visitor, click here for additional information.
This is Lena Morozova. She is our customer
service manager and she handles all email correspondence with our customers.
Besides English and Russian, she is also fluent in Spanish. Lena can also be
hired as your personal guide in Saint Petersburg. (This photo was taken on
Arbat Street in Moscow.)