Insider Tour
Insider Tour
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About
Established in 2003, Insider Tour offers a unique perspective on all things Russian - history, architecture, arts, and present day life. All tours are conducted by experienced career tour guides with your unique interests matched with your tour guide's area of expertise. Fully licensed. No visa required for cruise guests. We offer tours in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Novgorod, and across the Baltics.
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Detailed Reviews: Reviews order informed by descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as cleanliness, atmosphere, general tips and location information.
5.0
689 reviews
Excellent
645
Very good
42
Average
2
Poor
0
Terrible
0
Nicholas D
1 contribution
Jul. 2019 • Couples
Insider Tour offered excellent value and delivered excellent results. Katie our beautiful tour guide was brilliant, be sure to ask for her.
Written February 20, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Oksana
Ottawa, Canada19 contributions
Aug. 2019
This excursion exceeded our expectations. As a family of 4 (including an elderly person with some mobility challenges) we needed to have a personalized, private experience at an accommodating pace and with guaranteed tickets for our wish list. Our two day tour included entrances to Catherine's summer palace, the Hermitage, Peter and Paul Fortress, St Isaac's, Church on Spilled Blood and the Fabergé museum. Plus stops at several viewpoints, easy and safe walking transfers at our pace, and so much more. Our tour guide Katherine /Ekaterina/ was very knowledgeable about history, culture and the arts at each stop, and resourceful in terms of the tour logistics. The Mercedes mini-bus was clean, new and very comfortable (my husband may have had a nap en route) and the driver was excellent.
Written February 20, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
ranko s
2 contributions
Jul. 2019 • Friends
We were 2 couples to participate to the privet shore excursion with French guide .
It was the exact experience we were expecting !!
Very good driver Alexi
Very compétant guide Ekaterina .
Both very agréable and doing ther best to please us . We recommande strongly this tour.. we enjoyed every minute of those two full days .
It was the exact experience we were expecting !!
Very good driver Alexi
Very compétant guide Ekaterina .
Both very agréable and doing ther best to please us . We recommande strongly this tour.. we enjoyed every minute of those two full days .
Written February 17, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
teamspud2018
Rugby, UK12 contributions
Aug. 2019
Fantastic and eye opening tour of imperial and present day St Petersburg. Great driver and guide. Very knowledgable, prompt and efficient. Would highly recommend. Family of four tour in a people carrier over two days coming off a cruise ship. Privately arranged using recommendation from friends.
Written February 16, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Tkaraman1
Istanbul, Türkiye12 contributions
Jun. 2019 • Family
We have used this agency for a 2 day visit of St. Petersburg.
They have shown us the old Tsar houses and explained us details about the lifestyle of the era.
They have also shown us the city in itself and have brought us on a boat ride that was amazing.
Our familly speaks French and they were able to provide us a guide who speaks French and could explain everything well.
The car/bus they have provided was very clean and modern and the driver was always there waiting for us.
Overall a very good experience.
They have shown us the old Tsar houses and explained us details about the lifestyle of the era.
They have also shown us the city in itself and have brought us on a boat ride that was amazing.
Our familly speaks French and they were able to provide us a guide who speaks French and could explain everything well.
The car/bus they have provided was very clean and modern and the driver was always there waiting for us.
Overall a very good experience.
Written February 8, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Paul a
christchurch92 contributions
May 2019 • Couples
We did the 2 day st.petersburgh tour in may as a small group tour of 4 pax. I thoroughly recommend this company As they very reliable and were on hand when our ship berthed. We got exactly what we paid for with no hassle.
Written February 8, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
kimrealestate
maryland104 contributions
Aug. 2019 • Couples
Can not believe it has taken me so long to write this review! Unfortunately I do not remember the name of our guide or the driver but it was a terrific 2 days in St Petersburg. We arrived on the Star Legend and since this port was the highlight of this cruise for me I wanted to book a private tour. What a great idea it was! I arranged it very last minute via email from the ship with just a few days to spare. They were very responsive and accommodating. We paid $500 cash since there was not enough time to do the credit card. This was half the price it would have been if booked on the ship. I was a little apprehensive and worried about someone being there but there they were waiting with a big, clean E Class Mercedes to take us all around. We were too late to get a ticket to Catherine’s Palace so went to her sons castle instead in Pushkin. Another must see was the Fabrege Museum. I can not remember everything we saw but it was 2 action packed days with no waiting in lines and our guide knew everything......very informative, great English and we had great conversations about our two countries. She took care of all the tickets, we went in side doors and never waited in line as she flashed her special pass. The driver was called ahead and waiting for us whenever we were ready. They took us to a great lunch place each day and a shopping spot as I had a specific request. We learned a lot about Catherine the Great, talked a little about current events and recent history. Our guide was a university professor and her father was a retired Russian Army officer so it was a really interesting exchange. Highly recommend Insider tour. Only way to see St Petersburg!
Written December 14, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Michael A
1 contribution
Nov. 2019
Alexandra at Insider Tour arranged a wonderful two day tour of many of the highlights of St. Petersburg. Our guide Valentina has spent many years since 1973 conducting tours of this city and did a fabulous job. Really two days was not enough to see all.
Written November 10, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Jannette L
5 contributions
Sep. 2019 • Family
Julian was our guide, we really really enjoyed our trip to Potsdam with Julian. We were unlucly with the weather, but were happy to continue as Julian's love for the history was infectious and we were swept along by him. We had to take buses and trains, but hé was clear and even when it was busy he wasn't rushing us....hé delivered thé information on Potsdam with great pace and personality. Thankyou Julian for making our day so enjoyable and I actually feel I have learned alot without the effort of learning... !!
Written September 28, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
David M
Texas32 contributions
Jul. 2019 • Couples
We did a custom three day itinerary with Insider Tour in Saint Petersburg. Insider was very responsive and helpful in designing a tour that allowed my wife and I to maximize our time in Saint Petersburg. I would highly recommend them.
We spent three wonderful days with our guide Ekaterina (a very great tour guide!). We found her to be very personable, knowledgeable and passionate. Too many highlights to list them all, however a couple of special items were the Hermitage Museum including the Diamond Room, and vodka tasting along with Russian dinner at Dom’s (Ekaterina’s recommendation).
Insider handled all of the paperwork necessary for blanket visas, so we didn’t need to get them before the visit. They also purchased the necessary entry tickets for the museums and galleries.
Bottom line, we had a great time.
We spent three wonderful days with our guide Ekaterina (a very great tour guide!). We found her to be very personable, knowledgeable and passionate. Too many highlights to list them all, however a couple of special items were the Hermitage Museum including the Diamond Room, and vodka tasting along with Russian dinner at Dom’s (Ekaterina’s recommendation).
Insider handled all of the paperwork necessary for blanket visas, so we didn’t need to get them before the visit. They also purchased the necessary entry tickets for the museums and galleries.
Bottom line, we had a great time.
Written July 28, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
bcbajafan
BCS23 contributions
Hello is there the possibility when booking one of the tours to add an hour of 'free time" to just explore a park or market? Also if we add the dinner option, can we have this dinner alone as a family or is the tour guide is required to come along? Thank you!
spb_insider
St. Petersburg, Russia7 contributions
Absolutely! You can add free time and do any changes to the itinerary you may desire. You can also dine alone. We help all our guests create their personalized travel experience.
Hi, I'm travelling to Moscow and Saint petersburg. we are 5 . We want a guide for our trip. Moscow trip (JUly 22 and 23) St. Petersburg (24,25,26) we want to visit the golden ring as well
spb_insider
St. Petersburg, Russia7 contributions
Dear Mark S,
By all means - we can arrange such a tour for you! You can find more details like detailed tour descriptions, timing, pricing, reservation and cancellation policy by visiting our website that you can find on our TripAdvisor page (sorry cannot post a link here due to TripAdvisor policy).
If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to ask!
BobShallotte_NC
Shallotte, NC70 contributions
Yes, This is Robert Grundy from Shallotte and I did write this review, despite the efforts now of the Insider Tour to call it Spam.
spb_insider
St. Petersburg, Russia7 contributions
Dear Sir,
Thank you for your question and for confirming this negative review was indeed written by you.
The reason we had to suspect this review was not legitimate is twofold:
• We tried to contact the author of this review for almost a week via TripAdvisor but all our requests to get in touch with our office to get a refund were ignored.
• At the end of his tour the real Mr. Robert Grundy as we know him rated our tour “5 stars” and with very positive commentary when he gave his signed written feedback form to our guide.
After several days of searching for the answer we had to conclude that the review was without merit.
E K
Hendersonville, NC58 contributions
Hi, E. What would you like to know about this attraction?
We are scheduled for this tour next week.
Do you have to pay for this in cash or do they accept credit cards?
E K
Hendersonville, NC58 contributions
Hi, E. What would you like to know about this attraction?
We are scheduled for this tour in a week. Do you have to pay for this in cash...or do they accept credit cards?
RHMorea
Atlanta, GA88 contributions
They take cash or credit cards. If you are in a mixed group they will need the currency to be the same. So 1 person can't pay by credit card and the rest by cash. Has to be all the same.
ChuckGee
San Francisco, CA279 contributions
If you book an evening activity through them, do they provide the transport from and to the cruise ship? (Example: ballet show). Is it part of the fee.
spb_insider
St. Petersburg, Russia7 contributions
Dear ChuckGee,
We do arrange evening performances for our clients complete with tickets and transportation both ways. Please note that we arrange private, available only for yourself transfers and not public bus transfers used by multiple tourists at the same time (like your cruise line does, for example).
I hope this answers your question.
christy s
Austin, TX49 contributions
HI Rachel, I am booking with Insider Tours for a trip in May. I am planning the Grand Slalom with them in St. Petersburg. I was wondering which tour you took? How much walking was involved? I know they are long days 9-10 hrs but how much of that is riding vs walking?
Thanks
spb_insider
St. Petersburg, Russia7 contributions
Dear cannsyl,
If you decide to book a private tour with Insider Tour you will have the ability to design your own itinerary. We can customize every element of the tour day to suit your travel style, including your preference for walking. If you choose not to customize our standard tours presented on our website, then you would be looking to spend approx. two thirds of your time ashore walking and one third driving around as a rough estimate.
Hope this helps! Please be sure to let us know which tour you decide to book and how to modify it to suit your wishes.
Have a great day!
notanline
Philadelphia12 contributions
Wwe will be in SPB via cruise for 2 days in August. Last year we spent 5 days in the citi and saw a lot with privat and group tour arrangements. This year we would like to visit siege museum and learn about citi during WW2. Also we would like to revisit Russian museum, because we had a chance to see only part of exposition in Mikhailowski Palace, and we heard that 20th century exposition and Benua Wing are very interesting expositions too.
We have visas, but time is very limited and we would like to spend it productively.
spb_insider
St. Petersburg, Russia7 contributions
Dear notanline,
Thank you for your online enquiry. All of your desired changes are possible with us and we will be happy to arrange this tour for you. Please contact us via our website (you can find the link at the top of this page) to proceed with your tour reservation.
Ben F
Munich, Germany
How much time for shopping does the St. Petersburg Two Day Grand Slalom tour offer? I want to see as much as I can, but also want to be able to purchase souveniers for myself and family.
spb_insider
St. Petersburg, Russia7 contributions
Hello, Ben and thank you for your question!
All of our itineraries can be accommodated to allow time for shopping thanks to our flexible approach. We can realistically squeeze out 1/2 hour if you prefer to keep the overall tour duration as is. If you prefer to have a longer shopping opportunity we can always add more time to your tour to satisfy your needs.
So as you can see it is very customizable and can be changed any way you want.
If you do decide to retain our services please do so via our website.
Have a fantastic day!!