Testimonials
For more testimonials, please follow my Tripadvisor link :
Here are my comments which I hope you will at least use part if not all to add to your website with our huge thanks.
Our guide for the day was Ekaterina who arrived spot on time at our hotel to take us for the day on our Private Tour. From the start it was apparent that our guide was extremely knowledgeable and knew how to put things over in an easy way. We started with an informative tour of St Petersburg, stopping at various points of interest, always with full explanations. Onto Peter & Paul Fortress, Prison and Cathedral. Very moving at times. Everything brought to life with Ekaterina’s descriptions. In the afternoon we went on to The Hermitage. It was great the way our guide knew exactly how to avoid the worst of the crowds and still take us to the most exquisite areas. We had so many questions and Ekaterina had so much information to give, we ran out of time, so we went back the next day by ourselves to The General Staff Building to see the Impressionists. The day was very intense and hugely enjoyable. We were so lucky with our guide and indeed her driver Roman who also spoke English. The day was driven by passion for the past sprinkled with lots of humour. We would not hesitate to recommend booking with Ekaterina.
Well I hope I’ve briefly covered everything. We really did love our day with you!
Hope all continues to go well for you – you certainly deserve it.
Very best wishes
Lyndy & Harry Katz xxx
Stanmore, Middlessex, UK
July 3, 2019
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Dear Ekaterina,
Just arrived back in England and our reminiscing on our amazing weekend in St Petersburg. We feel blessed to have enjoyed the great weather and to have visited the hermitage museum and Catherine Palace with you. We all enjoyed your passion and enthusiasm for Russian history and felt we learnt a lot more in your company than expected. We particularly enjoyed your anecdotes and the 'secrets' in many rooms in the palaces.
We wouldn't hesitate to recommend your guiding to any friends who visit St Petersburg and we are happy for you to use any extracts from this email in your marketing.
Thanks again,
Sue, Simon, Victoria, Georgina and Charlotte Beswick.
Bristol, England
April 22, 2019
Ekaterina was our guide on a tour of the Summer Palace. She was informative and interesting and her passion for the subject came across very strongly (even though she must have said this so many times in the 8 years she’s been a tour guide). She chatted to us in the car on the way to the palace and pointed out several sites of interest. She was more than happy to answer any questions we had.
The tour of the palace more than lived up to expectations. Despite several large tour parties making their way through the many rooms, Ekaterina was able to guide us so that we weren’t too overwhelmed by the other parties. We were a party of three, interested in the renovations carried out on the building and also to hear about the historical background. The weather was fantastic which made our tour of the gardens even more pleasant. What an amazing place it is.
Thank you Ekaterina for bringing alive the history and stories of the Summer Palace.
Five Star rating!
Jackie Richards (London)
April 23, 2019
Dear Ekaterina!
I would like to thank you very much for being our tour guide in St.Petersburg.
I appreciate your kindness and knowledge and I would be glad to recommend you being a tour guide to
whoever willing to have a tour in St.Petersburg.
My regards,
Ebrahim Baqer
UAE
March 30, 2019
Dear Ekaterina,
Thank you so much for such a fantastic couple of days, Tom and I absolutely loved your guiding and fascinating insights into St Petersburg.
We would love to give you a quote for your website!
We had the most fantastic guide in Saint-Petersburg - Ekaterina. We spent two days with her and she was amazing at telling us all the stories that no guide book will ever tell you. She also created a bespoke tour for us with information on the Seige of Leningrad, we would thoroughly recommend her.
Love from
Tom and Becky Perry, UK
December 17, 2018
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Dear Ekaterina |
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Hi Katia!
Thanks a lot for today we very much enjoyed it. Please find below a review feel free to use for your website!
We had a private guided tour organised with Katia for our family of four including an 8 year old and a 5 year old to Peterhof Katia showed up on time in our hotel. She was very polite and charming. She explained to us beforehand what to expect. We took the speedboat to Peterhof. |
| Dear Catherine! We had wonderful tourist journeys in St.Petersburg. Thank you once again for all your care and guidance! With best regards, Jose Maria do Amaral-Gurgel São Paulo, Brazil May 18, 2018 |
Dear Ekaterina!
Special thanks for Catherine Palace tour. We were happy to see you. We were impressed with your tour and your candy gift. We love it! Also the restaurant you recommended was great! Thanks for your help and your guiding!
May 3, 2018
| Hi Ekaterina! Thank you again for your marvellous hosting at The Hermitage, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves! Warm regards, Katie Francis Brisbane, AU April 28, 2018 |
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Dear Catherine, With warm wishes, |
| Hi Ekaterina Just wanted to thank you for our wonderful tour of Catherine's palace, your knowledge of the history and your command of English are amazing. You made the tour very interesting and engaging. Thank you also for sorting out the sleigh ride which was quite magical. With very best wishes David and Alex Gargrave Dorset, England March 14th, 2018 |
| Dearest Ekatarina, Many thanks for a most splendid experience. You really made Sankt Petersburg alive and exciting. You are absolutely world class. Also a lot of fun. With the very best regards Johan Harmenberg Stockholm, Sweden August 18, 2017 |
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Hi Ekaterina Kind regards, Onn family Malaysia/ UK July 22, 2017 |
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Outstanding tour. Best that I ever had. Thank you very much. Michael E. Kassner Los Angeles, CA June 27, 2017 |
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Hi Ekaterina, Just wanted to say a very big thank you for the tours you guided us on. Without your input the things we saw and places we visited wouldn't have meant as much to us. You brought the history of St Petersburg alive. I would like to rate you on TripAdvisor too. Best regards, Cheryl Renecle, Johannesburg , South Africa May 9, 2017 |
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Dear Katya. Warwickshire , UK May 7, 2017 |
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Hi Ekaterina
London, UK March 30, 2017 |
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Dear Ekaterina, I wanted to thank you again for the tour of The Hermitage you gave to my husband Rodney and myself last week. Your perfect English and exceedingly vast knowledge of the history and art of The Hermitage was truly appreciated thus ensuring that we were able to experience and learn so much more of Russian beauty and art than would have been possible by any other tour. Being only the two of us you were able to provide individual attention as well as providing answers to all our questions and we felt quite privileged.You certainly made our tour feel very special as well as being quite unforgettable. We are looking forward to visiting St Petersburg in the future and I will definitely be in touch again to organise more tours. Wishing you all the best. Deborah and Rodney Cox Australia November 4, 2016 |
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Hi Ekaterina , We had such a wonderful time in St Petersburg. The opulence and the history are remarkable. Beyond our expectations. Having you as our guide made our visit even more special. Spectacular. October 29, 2016
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Dear Catherine, I very much enjoyed today and have you to thank. It was my pleasure to enjoy your company at the Hermitage. Kind regards, Robin Gandevia Sydney, Australia October 5, 2016 |
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Our tour guide, Ekaterina Sibirtseva, has a profound knowledge of her native St Petersburg. She gave a most interesting description of the buildings, history and objects in this magnificent city. In addition to her "script" Ekaterina revealed some fascinating details about St Petersburg during our discussions. We highly recommend her as a guide.
UK September 25, 2016 |
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Ekaterina, Karen Nimz Milwaukee, USA September 14, 2016 |
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Dear Ekaterina, It was an honor to have you as our guide in St. Petesburg. We truly enjoyed the excursion to Peterhof on Thursday and the walking tour yesterday.
USA July 23, 2016
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Dear Ekaterina
Dubai July 1, 2016 |
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Hi Ekaterina
June 8, 2016 |
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Catherine: I hope all is well with you. Sheryl and I returned to the US in late April. We had a great trip. I want to thank you again for help.Your knowledge of Russian history, culture, architecture, and art was most impressive. Your patience and understanding was appreciated.Your recommendations and suggestions were helpful. We felt that in our 3 ½ days with you, we saw the major sights, experienced the Russian culture, and learned about Russian history. We talk about you often. You made the trip most enjoyable and we will always remember your little saying “it was quite the scandal”.We consider you a friend and would highly recommend you as a guide to anyone traveling to St. Petersburg.
Jerry and Sheryl Day, USA
May 9, 2016
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On the first occasion we were joined by our colleague from Moscow who made the arrangement with you. We covered, Peter and Paul Fortress, St Isaacs Cathedral, Cathedral of the Resurrection as well as some general sight seeing around The Hermitage.
The arrangements all worked perfectly in terms the time of collection and return. The locations visited were outstanding in there own right which coupled with your in-depth and vivid knowledge of the history and development of the sites made them come to life. We thoroughly enjoyed our first encounter with St Petersburg and our colleague was delighted. We asked him if he had used your services previously he said “no, but isn’t she great, I was really lucky to select such a good guide”.
We clearly were impressed and thoroughly enjoyed your pleasant manner and company, and followed with a 3 hour tour of The Hermitage with yourself just a few days later. The Hermitage is awesome, yet you were still able to enhance the enjoyment we gained from the visit. Again your knowledge of the buildings, the history of the key characters involved and the detail of the art and artists was simply extraordinary.
Again, thank you for two great guided tours which were excellent from start to finish, we would not hesitate to contact you again for our next tour needs for either ourselves, colleagues or any senior business contacts who visit.
Kind regards,
Richard and Kamila, UK
March 25, 2016
Visiting on your own, the Hermitage is a beautiful building with a wonderful collection of art. Visiting with Ekaterina as your guide, however, the Hermitage comes alive with a captivating history and incredible stories of Russian royalty. Her in-depth knowledge of both art and history makes every room a highlight of the tour. Regardless of if you have only two hours or an entire day to kill, I would highly recommend going to this must-see museum with Ekaterina.
G‘day Ekaterina,
All the very best, kind regards
Hi Katherine,
Thanks for the tour again. Look forward to seeing you again.Regards,
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Dear Ekaterina, after returning home again and having our photobook ready, we like to say thanks again for the great time we had with you in St. Petersburg. It has been the third time now that you showed us parts of your beautiful city and I have the feeling I became to know it now quit well. You have showed us so many parts of St. Petersburg and told us so much about it’s history… Thanks again for everything. We enjoyed seeing you again and do hope you will be successful having your own agency now. We have given your name and address already to some friends of us who maybe wants to visit the city next year. It is so beautiful and in your company it is a great pleasure to see all the beauty of it! We wish you all the best and hope to meet again, as we certainly will come back one day! Best regards, Ida Eisses Bad Fallingbostel - Germany August 23,2015 |
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Dear Ekaterina, Thank you for being our guide during our visits to St. Petersburg for two years in a row. You are a great tour guide and that’s the reason we asked you again to guide us for the second time we visited your beautiful city. Hereby a couple of reasons why you are a perfect guide and why I would recommend you to everybody who is looking for a guide for St Petersburg and surroundings. * You communicate very well in perfect clear English. * You are organized and trustworthy and you have a pleasant and very friendly personality. * We made a couple of tours which were all very well prepared with tickets, transportation and good drivers. * You retain a lot off facts when walking around the city, museums and parks and you are a great story-teller with a friendly sense of humor. * I never saw a piece of paper with information. You have an in-depth knowledge of the history and importance of everything we saw or asked for. * You have an inspiring passion for all subjects we asked you to tell about. * The speed of your the tour is fine; neither too fast nor too slow. Just good timing! * You are also flexible to enjoy spontaneous moments like a concert of a male choir in the garden of Catherine Palace or to adjust a car route because my sister and I wanted to visit a special church. Because of your contribution as a guide, our two visits to St Petersburg became even more special! You are really is a good ambassador for St. Petersburg!! Thank you very much! Dear greetings, Mathilde, Netherlands August 24, 2015 |
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Our tour consisted of a tour around St Petersburg and the Hermitage. We were so impressed by Ekaterina's knowledge and her passion for her job! We have been on many tours in the past and become bored but she made everything interesting and we felt comfortable to ask questions, which again she knew the answers too! She knew the best places to visit, she was friendly and professional throughout the whole tour! If we go back to St Petersburg again we would definitely book her for another tour. Gemma and Simon , UK July 2,2015 |
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I have been on many organized St. Petersburg tours over the years. I had the opportunity to observe Ekaterina as a tourguide on an excursion with many people as well as the pleasure to participate in private tours. Not only is she very knowledgable about the history and culture of St. Petersburg, her English is also perfect and she really makes a difference. Unlike many unmotivated guides in the city who do not care or are boring to listen to and hard to understand, Ekaterina really wants you to see and understand her hometown, which she truly loves - and she succeeds every time! I recommend her highly as your guide when coming to St. Petersburg.
Bob Style (USA)
30.06.2015
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Hello Ekaterina,
We would like to thank you for making our day at the Summer Palace so enjoyable <...>
Our day out with you was the highlight of the holiday <...> May we also say how impressed we were with both your wonderful English and your great knowledge of Russian history. It was interesting to see how much St. Petersburg had changed and for the better. Let us hope that our two nations can establish more friendly relations because we found the people so kind and helpful <...>
We do not know if you intend coming to our country one day but if you do please contact us and we shall, perhaps show you some of London <...> It would be nice to hear from you if you have the time in your busy life.
Our kindest regards to you and thank you once again.
Albert and Norma Barclay (United Kingdom)
18.05.2015
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Hi, Katerina ,
My name is Pete and my friends and I had you as our guide through the Hermitage on July 25th. I have attached a picture from our trip. ( I am the guy in the green shirt:) You did such an amazing job providing us with information about Russian history, the museum, and the works of art and made our visit to the Hermitage a very memorable one <...>
Thank you again for a fantastic tour!
Pete Sellenkowitsch (Canada)
22.08.2013
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Hello Catherine, I hope you are well, and not working too hard this summer! Sorry it has took me so long, but I just wanted to write to you to say thank you for taking us around Peterhof, it was a really amazing experience that I'll always remember. See you, Delphine Evans (United Kingdom) 19.08.2013 |
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Hi Ekaterina, We are still enjoying the memories of out trip to St Petersburg. We also remember your enthousiastic guidance on are Ekatarina palace visit :-) Untill we meet again. Best regards, Koen & Nelly Verhaeghe (Belgium) 10.11.2013 |
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Ekaterina is an excellent tour guide. She is so friendly and engaging. Her knowledge of St.Petersburg and its rich history is impressive. Ekaterina plans her tours so well that, we witnessed the artworks in the Hermitage at a time without the huge crowds! And of course she was able to tell us all about these beautiful paintings and their artists. I absolutely recommend a tour with Ekaterina in St.Petersburg. John Catania (Australia) 07.08.2013 |
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Hi Ekaterina, 11.05.2012 |