Guide in St. Petersburg

For our time in St. Petersburg during a scheduled 3-day port call, my husband and I and another couple hired a private tour guide. After some investigating, we chose Natalya German-Tsarkova (Engels pr.43-12, St. Petersburg 194017, Russia), who advertises in ITN’s MART classifieds.

We arranged our tour entirely via the Internet, selecting her 3-day tour at a cost of $475 per person, excluding meals. Our visit, May 20-22, 2011, was outstanding. We could hardly believe how much we saw and experienced in three days.

Each day, Ms. German-Tsarkova met us at the port and drove us to sites we had selected. She is an excellent driver, so we were able to relax and enjoy the sights despite the busy traffic and crowds. Never did we feel pressured to keep to a schedule. With jet lag, we elected not to attend any optional evening performances.

The small touches that Ms. German-Tsarkova provided humanized the immense scale of the city and many of its buildings. Highlights included a ride on the Metro; a visit to the Siege Memorial and battle lines from World War II, and arriving at Peterhof in time to watch the fountains begin their daily dance.

In the lower Peterhof garden we heard two different classical music performances outdoors and had birds (nuthatches and tomtits) come to our hands to eat pine nuts. A walk on the banks of the Neva River outside the Peter and Paul Fortress provided an unimpeded overview of the city that many visitors never see.

Ms. German-Tsarkova is a delightful host with an encyclopedic knowledge of the city and its history and architecture as well as of the fine arts. We recommend her highly and without reservation.

LINDA HARFST
Madison, WI