Customer reviews of «History & Architecture» tours in Saint Petersburg

The Metro Palaces Tour with Vladimir was fab. Vladimir is very professional and obviously loves his city. I describe myself as an introvert, or very guarded. Therefore, I truly appreciate how at ease I felt with Vladimir. He was approachable and I was comfortable asking him random questions. He always had a thoughtful answer. I am not well-read in Russian classics but prior to flying home, I managed to read The Nose by Gogol, downloaded several Dostoyevsky books, and added a few Russian films to my playlist. This is testament to Vladimir's infectious passion about literature. Overall, the tour was cerebral--which is a compliment. I highly recommend this tour if you are interested in going below the superficial layer of the main touristy sites.

The excursion was great! And Vladimir is very professional! It was intersting information and good organization. We are very satisfied. Vladimir, thank you a lot from our group!

We took the Metro Palaces tour with Vladimir on our first night in St. Petersburg. This was our first visit and we can't imagine a better introduction than the two hours we spent learning about the history of the city through the design of the metro system. Vladimir is a wonderful guide - extremely knowledgeable, friendly and clearly passionate about the subject matter. We highly recommend the tour and Vladimir as a guide to this amazing city.

It was really fascinating tour allowing to understand much better Russian history.

Great tour. In 2 hours you see the first stations built on line 1. It goes beyond the superficial architecture to explain the meaning and reasoning behind it and provide a very interesting picture of 20th century Russian history and culture, including the Revolution, the Siege of Leningrad, Soviet values, industrialization and others. Vladimir explains all this in detail, covering things that would be easily missed otherwise. You also see a couple of construction details affected by the Cold War. Fascinating. Daniel.

The metro palaces tour was a great change from the usual humdrum of museum visits. Vladimir was engaging and gave us a great glimpse into the beautiful metro stations along the red line starting from Avtovo going to Ploshchad Vosstaniya. He was organized and very accommodating with our group's last minute tour request. I would definitely recommend taking a tour with Vladimir.

Dear Vladimir We have joined the Metro Palaces tour. It was really good and interesting. I've always considered the St. Petersburg Metro as one of the most appealing parts of the city and I enjoyed the tour very much. I was not just a tour but a journey through the most significant times of the Russian History. Very well detailed and organized. Thank you. Daria & George

Vladimir guided us very professionally telling about smallest details of Metro palaces, pointing out different interesting facts and answering all questions we have! Highly recommended tour no matter weather or time of year! :)

Vladimir is a great host and is very knowledgeable about the city and the metro stations. He really helped me understand the essence of the beauty of these stations. The tour is really remarkable and totally worth it. And Vladimir is very accomodating and very helpful (he helped me catch a bus to Peterhof at the end of the tour as well). Thanks you Vladimir for giving me this tour. I thoroughly enjoyed it and got some really nice pictures. :)

The metro palaces tour was great. Vladimir was very knowledgeable on the subject and made us see the stations in a different way. We have done lots of tours in many places and this one ranked as one of our favorites. Vladimir was also very accommodating to our schedule.

Vladimir.....I can't imagine our trip to St petersburg being complete without meeting you and visiting the metro palaces. You did a wonderful job exposing us to the beauty and art housed deep below the city. You knowledge of history and the relationship of the metro stations was so educational. Thanks for adding such a unique adventure to our visit. Everyone coming to St p should take your tour

Everything was excellent! Igor is the perfect guide, we loved our Hermitage tour. He help us buying the tickets and confirmed our appointment days before. Completely recommended.

Very informative and interesting. A good mix of history and art. Will recommend it.

Igor Ribin was our guide in Saint Petersburg and he took us literally everywhere. His knowledge of Saint Petersburg is extensive and he was happy to adapt his tours to our interests. His Hermitage tour is amazing in respect of his detailed knowledge of the art and artifacts in this remarkable museum. You definitely appreciate having a guide. Igor also guided us at the the Hermitage Storage Facility, this is a fabulous off the beaten track must see in Saint Petersburg and the assistance of a professional guide such as Igor will help greatly. We would recommend Igor Ribin as a Saint Petersburg guide, particularly his walking tours and go with his suggestions you will really discover a lot of interesting places. Thanks Igor we had a wonderful time. Helen & Andrew

Igor was very knowledgeable. Really, he has information about every room and every piece in the Hermitage. He picked out the most interesting rooms and pieces for us and told about the history of it. The tour we had was very informative. We had a bad start due to the fact that Igor was waiting outside for us, while we were waiting inside as stated on the confirmation. The tour started half an hour later because of this. Next to that, Igor's appearance was not totally as expected; he wore a shirt with stains on it. You can, of course, wear casual clothes but well, this was just not really presentable. Therefor, I give this tour 3 stars.

Thanks for the nice tour, Igor! It was informative and detailed. I can recommend it for those, who are interested in Russian history...

Igor was very knowledgeable- extremely knowledgeable about Russian history. He was well organized and knew exactly where to take us. It was a busy schedule and we walked lots but we felt like we saw and learned so much. We wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Igor as a guide. His English by the way is fantastic!

We were fortunate to book Igor for a two day hermitage and city tour. We learned so much, covered so much ground and enjoyed the experience that we booked Igor for another day to Peterhof and Catherine’s Palace at Pushkin. Igor is in himself a quintessential Russian experience. His passion for his craft, the history of his city and the landmarks know no bounds. As an Australian, Igor looks, sounds and acts like what we would believe a typical Russian would be, stern, forthright and a sense of humour as dry as a dead dingoes donger. Dressed partway between Sherlock Holmes and a university professor you scuttle along after him, keeping up with his long stride as he talks verbatim into a microphone connected to your own earphones. ‘We’ve got a lot to cover today’ he chimes, ‘so lets get cracking!’ I’ve always hated the wasted time that goes with group tours, Igor – not only removed any wasted time with us, but we covered more in one day (albeit we were beat!) than a two day group itinerary. All on foot. If you are after lots of laughs, morning, afternoon tea, long lunches and commercial recommendations then Igor is not your man. If you are after a jammed packed experience, with each landmark contextualised with time and place, a story woven between them, fact based descriptions that enable your own imagination to go back to that era, and the occasional quiz to check you’ve been listening – then Igor IS your man. We thoroughly value our travel experience with ...

I have booked Igor for a second time for another two day individual tour (2016 and 2018). It was like visiting an old friend again, and am very thankful to him for tailoring my trip again, and building upon what we saw in 2016. This time we visited the areas outside the main tourist sites - we visited the areas associated with Soviet History, the Siege monument, various metro stations. The main reason for my trip was to run in the marathon, and Igor tailored my trip to pick up my racing number from the stadium. We also visited a newly built exhibition (built in 2018) on the history of Russia - This was awesome! and would recommend you take a trip there. We also visited the main football stadium in St P (new Zenith stadium which was used during world cup) - this was impressive. I really enjoyed taking the buses around the city with Igor, as a solo tourist who does not speak Russian, this would not have been possible alone. Igor is such great value for money, and would I definitely book him again if I return to St Petersburg. .................................................................................................................................... (My 2016 review) I really enjoyed my tour to St Petersburg with Igor. He was able to tailor my tour to include a comprehensive historical tour of Dostoevsky's St Petersburg. The tour was very detailed, yet flexible. St Petersburg is a great city with so much history, I plan to return...

We thoroughly enjoyed our tour of St. Petersburg with Marina. We informed in advance about our route, which she gladly set up for us. She arrived on time at our hotel, spent a few minutes fixing the plan, and then gave us an excellent overview of the city. She was friendly, she liked to discuss many topics, and, as an avid traveler, she herself understands how much information is enough for a short period of time. We highly recommend Marina!

Its was great! He adjusted the tour to hit key items of interest and gave me a thorough view of St. Petersburg I had a fantastic experience and highly recommend her.

What an amazing tour of an amazing city. Leonid met us at the station in a minibus, as we had planned before - he was on time, very friendly and made sure that I could drop my things in my hotel before we started our tour. On the tour, I was able to change a few things that were in my interest, and Leonid was more than happy to do it. I felt that I had not only a great tour, but also made friends with Leonid.

A great guide, she took us around St. Petersburg, making it very affordable and local for us. She was always very kind and kind to our needs. We really enjoyed our time with Marina.

We were very impressed with Diana as our guide to St. Petersburg. She is knowledgeable, professional and polite. She was also very helpful with our requests. She made us very comfortable, and we really loved to study and admire the history and beauty that the city has to offer. We highly recommend it to anyone who wants to have a great experience with this city.

Wow, what a great experience. Our guide couldn't have don a better job. Not only did she do a great job showing us the sights of St. Petersburg , but she gave us restaurant recommendations and helped in any other way she could. Great job

The two-day tour in St. Petersburg was excellent! Leonid is an exceptionally professional, with extensive knowledge of history, culture and the world. And he has a great sense of humor! Highly recommended!

St Petersburg is a fantastic city - full of history, politics...and great tour guides! Vladimir was a wonderful guide, showing us the highlights of Soviet architecture. Both his Metro Palaces and Futuristic Buildings tours were fascinating - way beyond the banal information offered by bog-standard guidebooks. He was engaging, well-prepared and passionate about his subject. Thanks for making sure we'll never forget our trip to St Petersburg!

Vladimir Put on your walking shoes! Vladimir will take you on a great tour and explain the details of some remarkable buildings across Vasilievsky Island. He is a hugely knowledgeable host and really loves his topic. If history and architecture are your go, then this is a must do for your agenda. Rob and Peter Melbourne, Australia