Alla guides

[battybabe]

We've booked a private tour for 9 with Alla. Who was your guide, and would you recommend her? If not, why?

[mellohappy]

We had Elena and I would definitely recommend her. She was very knowledgable about all sights, navigated us past the crowds very quickly, and shared some personal stories of life in Russia that were very interesting.

[lynncarol]

We had Natasha. She is really an indep. guide/translator, but Alla uses her when things get busy. She was wonderful!!

[Peregrina651]

We had Elena and I would definitely recommend her. She was very knowledgable about all sights, navigated us past the crowds very quickly, and shared some personal stories of life in Russia that were very interesting.

 

The other word that I would use to describe Elena is astute. She has been the business for a long time and she really keeps an eye on her people. It isn't just her ability to navigate or her storehouse of knowledge (which are excellent) but her ability to take care of everyone and make sure that everyone's needs are taken care of --a rest, a place to sit, etc.

 

Unfortunately, while you can request a specific guide, there are no guarantees who you guide will be.

[xander]

In sept 07 we had Albina. She was wonderful , very sweet and polite, and very knowledgable, would highly recommend her. She spoke fluent English. Friends of ours visited St. P this month and arranged a 3 day tour with Albina, they too loved her and had a wonderful time.

[Miss Jolly]

Our family of 4 ( including 2 young teens) had Natasha in August, 07. We were very pleased with her. Ilya was our driver. He had limited English but was pleasant. Natasha explained the complex Russian History to my 13 year old daughter through the eyes of Anastasia and had my DH's interest for the whole time.We personally planned our itinerary to suit our own family's interest and we found Alla to be very helpful in this planning.Make sure you go to Peterhof and also the subway station.Too stunning to miss out on!

[traveller123]

Last June our guide was Natalia. She was very good. She has her own business and I believe works with Alla when available. She was knowedgeable, organized, etc. and her English was excellent. She had lived for a while with a family on the US east coast (PA or NJ, can't remember). Our driver was Igor and he was terrific. He spoke no English, but that didn't matter. I think he kinda understood some of what we were saying. He was very careful when driving, didn't speed on the highway, could squeeze into any parking space, and always had a smile on his face.

[John Bull]

A travel writer & veteran of 50+ cruises.:rolleyes:

But only just found Cruise Critic.:confused:

So perhaps not the most wide-awake cruiser or travel writer I've come across :D

 

 

Five posts, but all identical

So does that qualify as a vindictive one-post wonder. :p

 

 

We took a 2-day tour of SPB with Alla last month - our guide was Julia. Very efficient & helpful from first contact, and an excellent tour with a knowledgeable & sociable guide.

 

No worries

 

 

JB :)

[holomuku]

We loved Alla tours- I am sorry however I can't remember the name of our gentleman guide who was I believe a "fill in" for the summer folks. It is such a seasonal tourist spot that she has to use different folks at different times-- but always the best from what we experienced.

 

Alla is very professional and responsive to any requests. We had a GREAT time on her 3 day tour and would recommend her, and her team, at any time. My review is available on the "review" section of trip advisor.

 

Alla- once again, thank you for a great experience. We are off to see the cities of Oslo and Amsterdam this summer- any thoughts or suggestions much appreciated! Again- thank you for making our 3 days in SPB so fantastic!

 

These will be very precious memories! Again, thank you and your team!

 

Sally & Steve Alkazin

[dogs4fun]

We had a wonderful 2 days with Alla Tours last August. Our guide was Valentina and she was marvelous. She spoke excellent english and was SO VERY knowledgeable. She shared many interesting tidbits about Russian life (both before and after the breakup of the Soviet Union) that we found very interesting and sometimes funny. She had also been to the USA on several occassions to lecture (she is a university professor) and shared her experiences with us.

We had no waits in lines and she kept a careful watch over us. Our driver was also excellent and somehow transported us effortlessly from place to place in the horrendous (my opinion) traffic.

I suspect that all of the guides that Alla hires are top notch. :)

Hope you have a wonderful cruise and a great tour of SPB...it is an amazing city!

jill

[dakacz]

I think the experience with Alla tours depended on the tour guide. Our Tour guide gave very little information. On our 40 minute trip form Petrohof there was complete silence and when we got to St Catherines palace he said We can wake up now. I don't think anyone was sleeping and would have enjoyed some commentary. Also, On the trip back to STP we again had silence except when someone asked a question about something we were passing. I believe other tour guides were more informative. So I think it's the luck of the draw regarding tour guides and maybe Alla needs to monitor her guides better.

[Genessa]

we were extremely happy with Julia in 2011. She was very informative and answered all our questions in-depth, as well as giving us a running commentary. Her English was exceptional - we had no problems either understanding or being understood by Julia.

 

When dh & our travelling companion were chatting independently Julia was upset that they were going to be missing something very important.

 

The only time we didn't have commentary was when someone at one of the sights was speaking.

[cathy82]

Our guide was Irena. She was fabulous - very knowledgeable and charming. Our tour was in May 2009.

[slix1]

We just had Svetlana and she was great. She gave us an insight to the city, palaces, churches, museums, and growing up in Russia. The time on the bus was for preface of where we were headed, recap of where we had just been, and answers to anyone's questions.

[Goldiedog]

We just had Svetlana and she was great. She gave us an insight to the city, palaces, churches, museums, and growing up in Russia. The time on the bus was for preface of where we were headed, recap of where we had just been, and answers to anyone's questions.

 

We have also just had Svetlana and Egorcwas our driver, they were brilliant.

[Loyal2RCCL]

We used Alla Tours on our Baltic cruise last month and had Angie as our guide. I can't say enough great things about her. She was very flexible with special requests, her command of English was very good and she was extremely imformative without the typical overkill. Angie was great about navigating us thru the crowds and we avoided the long lines, giving us more time to explore. I highly recommend Alla and Angie.