September 23, 2019

Skip the Line: Hermitage Museum Private Walking Tour

Greetings Mr Kuznetsov.

A little note of praise on the part of my wife Valerie and myself for the excellent performance and service given to us by the two very charming young ladies which were assigned to us as our guides namely Ms. Alyona for the Hermitage Tour and Ms. Julia for the St Peter and Paul Fortress Tour - not forgetting also the tour of the artillery museum which was not programmed but requested by myself on the spot once I became aware of its existence.

You have every reason to be proud of the above mentioned two young ladies since they both showed us the depth of their knowledge of the Hermitage Museum and St Peter and St Paul Fortress.

In the case of Ms. Julia, she also acted as a top-notch translator for me when we visited the Artillery Museum given that all signage was in Russian.

Both ladies were very patient with us and we appreciate their politeness and kind attitude.

Please convey our appreciation for their efforts in our regard.

They both deserve it.

We are highly satisfied with their overall performance.

I have just written very good reviews of the two Tours and also mentioned and lauded them on Get Your Guide.

In the coming day, I will endeavor to do the same on Trip Adviser.

A word of thanks is also due to your good self for making it possible for Ms. Julia to accompany me to the Artillery Museum as a moment's notice. Had she not accompanied me, I would have lost out on much of what was written on the explanation boards since I do not understand Russian. Her presence made it possible for me to understand what as written since although I am history aficionado and very au courant about weapons, but I am not an expert and there were exhibits which saw for the very first time and were thus a learning experience as a result - without Ms. Julia I would have lost out.

Thank you for making this possible.

I thank you for your kind attention and I wish Ms. Alyona, Ms. Julia, and your good self well.

With respect.
Ray

 

September 12, 2019

Moscow Shore Excursion from St. Petersburg

Hi Olga,

Hope you are doing well.

We really enjoyed the tour to Moscow on August 19 with Julia and Max!
Julia was very helpful and please give our special regards and Hug to her from all of us. Julia-We miss you! 

Max was very detail-oriented and was very informative. Please give our regards to Max.
Hope we had more time...but God's willing we like to come for a longer time to see the City.

Please say Hi to Ksenia!

Again, Love to Julia and Max!
Olga-Thanks for all your help!!!

With our Warm Regards,

Vilas Joshi
Durham NC - USA

August 12, 2019

A big thank you / Review

Hello Ulko Tours, Dear Julia,
We would like to thank you (again) for the fantastic day we had in St. Petersburg thanks to you (and of course the driver). What a great knowledge you have of this magnificant city and the history of it. Loved the stories! Even all teenagers enjoyed the stories about the many beautiful buildings and bridges and about Peter the Great and Catharina the Great - history like that is not boring at all! . We will highly recommand Ulko Tours, and especially you Julia, as tourguide to anyone who wants to visit St. Petersburg.
Kind regards,
Family Weijers and family Schelleman from the Netherlands

July 22, 2019

St. Petersburgh - June, 2019

Ulko Tours - St. Petersburg, Russia Our family of three was on a 14-day cruise on the Norwegian Gateway and used Ulko Tours for our shore excursions in St. Petersburg on June 24 and 25, 2019. We were met at the dock by Marianna 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 ULKO Tours for anyone visiting St Petersburg.
Nataly, Alex and Lena Teplitsky

July 17, 2019

Danke aus Deutschland!

Dear Ksenia,
we are happy back at home. We thank you very very much for your so good preparation of our tours in Moskau and St. Petersburg. The driver Alex (?) with the guide Nadezhda in Moskau and the driver Sergei with the guide Elena in St. Petersburg were so much friendly and very good, so that we have had wonderful hours with them. They showed us the places we wanted to see and talked with us about the history oft he places. Many thanks to them.
If we ever will be back in Russia, we will contact you.
With friendly regards
Anneliese and Werner Deutschland

July 2, 2019

Best Destination Tour Ever. Trust ULKO to over-deliver at every opportunity.

As briefly as possible, Elena Ulko and her team specialize in personalized attention for more-intimate groups...not tours for the masses. Their attention to detail, follow-up, and CARING gives immediate trust and confidence that a visit to a “great unknown land” will be safe and rewarding.

In our experience, everyone on Elena’s team is the consummate professional…an expert ambassador of that city. They love to share history and make key events, people and places come alive(!) through stories. While planning for an NCL Baltics cruise, my wife and I discovered ULKO, and their response to inquiries in fluent English in the middle of their night (7hrs ahead) gave us immediate confidence (thanks, Ksenia!). We booked tours to Rostock/Schwerin, Tallinn, St. Petersburg, and Stockholm at HALF the cost of NCL’s excursions. Every group tour was a small group. Every guide was an expert, professional ambassador. We were CARED for. One guide in particular, Marina Ermolenko, was one of the most gifted historians we could have ever hoped for. Every key person in Russia’s colorful history was like a family member to her. She LOVES her people, “her palaces” and passionately brought St. Petersburg’s history to life. We are very thankful for the extraordinary kindness and the experiences that Ulko gave us, not to mention the VALUE. Book with confidence! You won’t be disappointed!  

PS – the Russian Folk-Show at Nikolayevsky Palace is absolutely fabulous. Don’t miss it. And if you’re looking for souvenirs, local ARTISTS set up shop in the lobby at show intermission…BEST VALUE, for beautiful, authentic ART…the stuff you want to bring home…not the 3-x-priced garbage sold in typical tourist retail. Awesome show, awesome souvies!  Truth.

Thanks!
Mark and Lynn Edson