Reviews › Marianna with MaxiBaltTours is the best tour guide we ever had

Our family of three was on a 14-day cruise on the NCL Norwegian Gateway and used MaxiBaltTours for our shore excursions in St. Petersburg on June 24 and 25, 2019. We were met at the dock by Alexei, the owner, on time and thoroughly enjoyed the two days under her guidance.

We were absolutely thrilled with our tour and tour guide Marianna in St Petersburg. She was just wonderful. We never waited in line; she knew just what to do at the right time.

Marianna was extremely knowledgeable about the places we visited as well as Russian history. Our group of seven had a nice, air conditioned van. In the van Mariana used a microphone to tell us about the sites we were passing. We all wore headsets when we were out of the van and Marianna was able to talk to us while we were in the museums and palaces. The collection of entrance tickets and sound systems just happened with no delays. The coordination between Marianna and the driver eliminated any down time on such a full tour. The driver was a very professional assistant. There were only seven of us on the tour and Marianna went out of her way to make sure we had a great tour and saw all of the important sites.

We loved hearing a little of her background as well. She had a great sense of humor.

We saw Petergoff, Hermitage, St. Isaac's, Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum with an amazing sculpture of Pushkin, Summer Palace, Church of Spilled Blood, Peter and Paul Fortress.... Marianna also showed us stuff off the beaten path that made the tour even better. Marianna described the history of every location, bringing the buildings to life. With her high-spirited descriptions, you can picture the events that took place in the palaces and other places you visit.

On June 24 and 25, everything was very crowded due to the major summer holiday in St.Peterburg. We had a limited time to spend in the Hermitage but not only did she skillfully avoided traffic jams in it due to the immense amount of Chinese people touring the Hermitage simultaneously with us and other people, but she managed to bring us to a faraway wing to show my favorite Gudon’s bust of Voltaire as well as Impressionists. We are art lovers and asked Marianna many questions. Her answers far exceeded our expectations: She often knew facts we were unaware of.

Since I injured my foot and was limping, she found an elevator that we used to go up and down to avoid climbing the stairs. And not only that. When I told her that the walking shoes I was wearing were too loose and that this was a reason of my repeatedly twisting my leg, she immediately said that we’ll stop at a department store, where I could buy new comfortable shoes. I was so touched by her kindness and compassion not only towards me but to every member of our group as well as passersby, etc., etc.

Dear Marianna, thank you so much for making our trip to St Petersburg the best part of our two week trip to the Baltic! We will spread a word about your spectacular performance to all our family members and friends and post our experiences to other social media platforms. We strongly recommend Marianna with MaxiBaltTours for anyone visiting St. Petersburg.