Dear Tatyana,

It was so good to hear from you!  I will give you some feedback.
We had a fabulous time in Moscow!  Thank you so much for being so helpful.  In the short time we were there, we were able the visit the main highlights of the city we were excited about seeing. Appreciate so much you were able to take us to The Kremlin.  It is our fault we did not realize it was an independent walled city.  You made our time in Moscow very special, Tatanya.
We hope all is going well for you Tatanya. It was so very nice to meet you. We enjoyed your company and expertise the entire time we were together. Maybe you will get out to San Francisco someday?  You know our address!  We did have fantastic days in Moscow with you and we thank you, again, so very much. 

Sincerely,

Kathy
September 2011

Dear Tatiana, 

We have just gotten home from the long trip AND and cruise home........with a NYC weekend inbetween;  Please forgive the late reply. 
To answer your questions........ 
We were very impressed with your services and with Russia overall.  Moscow, expecially, is such a vibrant and exciting city...we so loved seeing it and 'being there'.  Your touring offerred to us many wonderful scenes, and information to round it out.  The only constructive comments MIGHT be that, as we discussed, the first day was a bit too ardous...trying to fit it all in; and that making the pre-payment an option would be a plus for your services.  It helped us such alot; we appreciate your doing that for us. 
The second day, with more relaxed time in the museum as part of our itinerary,  offerred time to explore more of Moscow AND to relax a bit inbetween. This was helpful to us, and allowed us to 'take in more fully' what we were seeing that day.  We loved the cemetary and I wished that we could have spent more time there.  My husband (this time) was too tired and so WE ended that visit a bit prematurely...no fault of the tour guide who offerred more. 
I feel that It was important for us to have had time 'on our own' in Moscow...and would recommend to others, to plans accordingly.  It allowed us to really stop and enjoy the music, the food and the people in a more personal and quiet way than just 'touring' all the time. 
The sites chosen by you for us to see, were awesome in combination, and my pictures of them came out wonderfully...I am completely happy.  The second day, we were SO happy that the guide was a bit flexible and made time to give us a tour of the Cathedral just accross the street from the P Museum.  We feel so fortunate to have seen so much outside of the planned day tour from the River cruise.  We felt badly that so many others came so far and were unable to have a similar experience as we were fortunate to have.
Thank you , again, for your expert services.  We have very fond memories of Russia, largely because of your fine efforts.
 
Most sincerly,
 
Nancy O'Toole
August 2011

Dear Tatyana,

We were delighted with the service provided by Russia Travel Group during our recent visit to St Petersburg. The quality of the cars, drivers and guides was excellent. We really enjoyed our time in St Petersburg.
However there was no evidence of any airconditioning at the hotel  although it promoted itself as being airconditioned. The room and the food lived upto our expectation.
The tours generally were very good and value for money.  Perhaps the only exception was the City tour and visit to Peter and Paul Fortress, I would like to have had more time there.
Natalia who was our guide at the Hermtage was fantastic.
I have informed our local Travel Agent that I would recommend your company to anyone looking for a Russian trip
Thanks for your part in planning our trip. 
PS. We were sorry not to meet you when you brought the tickets to our guide for The Peter and Paul Fortress. It was only when he was back in the car we realised it was you he had been talking with.

Sincerely Anne McCulloch
July 2011 

The tour was well organized and our guide was outgoing and well prepared. We would recommend you agency to others without hesitation.
Thank you.

Gabor
June 2011

Tatyana, 

I am sorry we haven't been able to respond to your email; we are still traveling and haven't always had internet access. 
To answer your question as to how we enjoyed our trip and how we felt your tour group did, we could not have been more pleased.  Everything went so well and of course the only thing we might have done differently was to have spent more time in Moscow!!  The hotel Izmailovo Vega was very clean, a helpful staff and nice breakfast and even though we are not "shoppers" as some tourists are, we did enjoy the flea market  Sat. morning.  It is nice for those who like to shop to have that option so close. 
You and Alexandra both did a wonderful job of informing us of history and points of interest.  You made a concerted effort to show us so much!
Thank you again for such a nice experience  (and the special consideration of Bruce's radio station excursion).
 
Bruce and Kay Thompson
June 2011

Overall the tour was very good. The hotel and hostel were fine. Great location. The guides were very good, especially Katya in St. Petersburg.  The tours we took were good except for the boat, that was a waste of time and money.  What I did not like was that we saw one thing per day, for example Katya says it is possible to see Peterhoff and Catherine Palace in one day.  We could have done the Hermitage and the boat tour in one day.  We missed some stuff inside The Kremlin, because we did not  have tickets for it.
Overall I would recommend your company to some one, i would just tell them to be very specific on what they wish to see.

Janet
May 2011

Dear Tatyana,

We are back to normal with excellent memories of our recent travel experience. We have only favorable comments for the whole arrangement which worked out perfectly. But as every rule has its exceptions we have to admit that an English speaking driver would have been a welcome improvement. Be sure that if an opportunity arises we will highly recommend your agency.
Thank you again,

Best regards from 4 Paniaras
 
Marlen Paniara
May 2011

Hi Tatyana/Natalya,

Back home now after a long holiday, the highlight being your country.
I think it was a good idea to spend some extra time in both Moscow and St Petersburg.  I would have felt cheated if we had only done the cruise with a few days either end for sightseeing.  We needed at least a week in St Petersburg to take in all the wonderful museums, which we had.
The young women you supplied as historians were excellent.  They were personable, friendly and very willing to please, and adaptable, changing the schedule as needed to suit us.
Unfortunately, due to the fires, our cruise was down on numbers, which was unforeseeable.  We did change our cabin to a suite as I think my partner and I would not have remained partners after 12 days on the ship!!  The suite was very comfortable.
My only criticism of the cruise was the food.  I think the main courses could have been better, especially the vegetables.
I also felt that the ship berthed a long way out of town in St Petersburg.  It took a long time to get back to the centre due to traffic jams.  I know this is not your problem and that your boats cannot moor in front of L'Hermitage!!!
We were very happy with your service and your company Tatyana.  Thank you for all the emails answering my many questions.  Everything worked out accoding to plan and I will be recommending your company to any of my friends who are contemplating a trip to Russia.
Jane Hills, our friend who came with us, is writing to Trip Advisor to say how much she enjoyed it.

Many thanks Tatyana.

Carolyn Streader
October 2010

Hello Tatyana,

well we had a good time but it was less than we expected.
First of all we really liked our guides and our driver they did a great job.  
The first day we suposed to end the tour at 4pm and we finished it at 2:30, we had all day in suzdal were is nothing to do, for us that afteroon was a totaly lost of time (when you go to russia from mexico you really expect to do the best of your time and not being in a hotel).
I think it would be better if you drive your clients to vladimir that same day!!
 
Greetings,

Andrea Pena
August 2010

 
 
Dear Mrs Tatyana,

First of all I would like to thank you for the efforts done in order to make our trip unforgettable.
 
In fact, Russia is a wonderful country with its history, culture and past. I travelled to major cities of Europe but like Moscow and St Petersburg I didn't find. I loved St Petersburg more than Moscow maybe because of the religious aspect of the city and the people who are thin. 
As for the drivers and guides who has worked with us during our stay: I'm pleased to inform you that:
1- SLAVA was a wonderful driver having the disponibility , serviability and the know-how.
2- Andrey in St Petersbourg was Ok.
For the guides:
Marie, Catherine, Elena or Alexander was all very professional, helpful, they do all their best to show us the maximum of Russian 's culture...
You can be quiet as you have such these guides...  
Hope that I answer all your interrogations.
 
NB: several friends asked me to arrange them a similar trip to Russia and sure I will refer them to you.

Kind regards,

Nicole Haddad
August 2010

Hello Tatyana,

We have finished our Golden ring tour and had very good service from Sergei the driver, Sergei the tour guide and Alex who represented you in Vladimir.
We enjoyed our tour, but thought the hotel in Suzdal was terrible. Some of the staff were friendly, but most of them were very rude and unhelpful. I would warn my friends against staying there.
I would  be pleased to recommend Russia Travel Group if you used a better hotel.
Thank you very much for arranging a tour to meet our specific requests.
I am aware that this was the first time that you have used Sergie the driver and must report that my wife and I were both very pleased with him.
As for the hotel, I will tell as many people as I can how bad it was !!
Thank you again

Peter Morris
July 2010

Dear Tatyana,
 
Sorry for our delay in providing comments.  We met a guide in Moscow for tours of Stalin's Bunker and the Royal Armed Forces Museum on July 6, 2010.  We visited Vladimir, Suzdal, Rostov, and Sergiyev Posad with RTG from July 7 to July 9, 2010.  Additionally, the agency arranged our train tickets.  I would recommend Russia Travel Group to anyone traveling to Russia. 
Moscow. We more or less designed our own tour in Moscow and your agency was very accomodating.  We met the guide at Stalin's Bunker and then took the Metro with the guide to the Armed Forces Museum. 
We met our guide Oleg at Stalin's Bunker at 1pm.  The only problem I had with this was finding Stalin's Bunker itself.  It is down a very nondescript street in a somewhat rough looking neighborhood.  I admit that this difficultly was somewhat my fault for wanting to start the tour at Stalin's Bunker rather than have the tour group provide us with transportation, but a recommendation to perhaps meet at an easier to find nearby location (such as one of the Izmailovo hotels) would have been appreciated.  Oleg was an outstanding guide.  The information he was able to provide at both sights was great  The amount of information that he had was unbelievable.  We could ask him extremely specific questions and he would always know the answer.  His English was very good and we had no problems understanding him.  We were running a little short on time at the end (we had tickets for a show that evening) and Oleg did his best to get us out on time.  We got the feeling that he was able to make the tour last all night at no additional charge if we had asked him to.  He was very passionate about the subject matter and I highly recommend his services.  He even helped us arrange a taxi back to our hotel at the conclusion of the tour.
Golden Ring. Overall, we are very satisified with the work your agency did in planning the tours.  We had a great time and the logistics were well planned.  The local guides were very informative and the sights well organized.  Particularly, the planning of the tours such that we had the late afternoon and evening to ourselves in Suzdal was very well done. 
Our driver Alex was outstanding.  He was always where he was supposed to be and on time.  When we were finished with a sight we never had to wait for him.  It was nice to know that our luggage was safe and that we would not lose any time on account of the driver taking a personal excursion.
The sites in each city were also great.  Our day afternoon and evening on our own in Suzdal was the highlight of our trip through Russia.  We greatly enjoyed the restaurant we found and walking through this beautiful town in the evening.  The tour itinerary was well planned such that we had a significant amount of time to wander through this amazing town.  Our individual guides in each town were also very good.  I may be wrong on the names, but Katja in Vladimir and Elena in Suzdal were particularly excellent. 
 
Once again, we had an excellent time and would recommend Russia Travel Group to anyone traveling to Russia.  Thank you as well for your excellent communication throughout the entire booking process. 
 
Sincerely,
 
Kevin and Allison Bull
June 2010

Hello Tatyana,

Trip was great and the guide was wonderful!!! 
Very knowledgeable and accommodating.  We would recommend your agency to anyone we know going to Moscow.  Thank you for helping to make our trip memorable.

Susan Bank
June 2010

Hello Tatyana:
 
Please forgive me for being so remiss in answering your e-mail.  I have been so busy at work since I returned from Russia, I've barely had time to think!!!  I am happy that Susan answered your e-mail in a far more timely manner and wanted to reiterate her evaluation of our guide Eugenia and the tours:  we absolutely loved the whole experience!  Eugenia was wonderful and the tour you put together for us was great.  Eugenia was most accommodating and thankfully was able to secure tickets to the Armory for our group after we learned, at the last minute, that we were not visiting the Armory with Viking on their included tour.  We were most grateful to her and to your office since we would have been very disappointed if we would have missed that experience.
We loved Russia and hope to return some day.  Thank you, too, for your recommendation of your colleagues in St. Petersburg.
 
Best regards,

Dorothy
June 2010

Dear Tatyana and Natalya,
 
Thank you very much for taking care of our group in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Everyone enjoyed the experience, and is happy to have taken the opportunity to explore these great destinations with your help. Everything that was planned came through just fine, all hotel reservations and transportation arrangements were delivered as promised and on time, the guides were very knowledgeable and helpful. We especially appreciated the central location and cozy set up of the hotel in St. Petersburg, comfortable train accommodations and bigger van when it was available. Our guide Irina in St. Petersburg was exquisite! All requests the group expressed were met with attentiveness and professional attitude. We are truly grateful for the  job you have done, and will not hesitate to recommend your agency to anyone.
I will ask the members of the group if they have any additional comments, and will forward their opinion to you.
 
All the best,

Dr. Alina Artemova
Director of Music
Blessed Sacrament Church, CA
June 2010

I am happy to give your firm a positive review.

Joseph King
March 2010

Hi!

Thank you for a great trip! I would say the Moscow part was very good. Our own guide and car made us able to choose what we wanted to do and see. As for Krasnaya Polyana, all in all it worked perfectly as well. The only thing was that nobody spoke any English at the hotel, so when we arrived late Sunday, we knew nothing about what was going to happen. So a little info about where to eat, infrastructure, weather forecast etc, such info as we would have gotten from an English receptionist would have helped. Luckily the people at the hotel was very friendly and always wanted to help, so we made it far by sign language and some bad Polish.
Another thing was the shortage of time to get our visas. We got ours the day we left, so any later and no trip. But I wouldn't say that was only your fault, things just took more time than we had planned.

In short, we want to go back sometime again.

Thank you again!

Best regards,

Jaran Frivik
February 2010

Dear Tatyana,

We are now in Prague - still talking about our time in Russia - It was fantastic. We all had a most wonderful time and Sophia and Eugenia were the best.  We saw everything we requested and more and both guides made the history of Russia really come alive for us.  My sons, especially,(as did Geoff & I) loved the Soviet History and tour of the Victory memorial and Stalin's bunker.  I think we will need time to absorb the visit.  I will email you further once I get home.  Please thank both Sophia and Eugenia, Vladimir (St Petersburg driver) and Oleg (Moscow Driver) for their total professional help in making the trip such a wonderful experience.
Regards,

Linda
January 2010

Dear Tatyana,

Now that we are back in warmer Sydney and have had time to reflect on our trip - I wish to say that we had an absolutely fantastic time in Russia.  The hotels recommended by you, Sophia and Eugenia, Vladimir and Oleg (the drivers), the tours, everything was more than I had hoped for.  We have come away with an incredible new understanding of Russian history (and a desire to learn more) and the visit to the Victory Park and Stalin's bunker in Moscow rate among some of the highlights.  St Petersburg was everything and more than we expected.  Visiting Russia in winter was a magic of its own.
We are now thinking ahead to possibly another trip - but not for a few years.  With this in mind, do you do the Trans Siberian and if so what stops are involved and how long does one need to go from east to west or west to east.  As usual, we would prefer to do it in the winter!!!  We do love the cold and snow and lack of tourists while visiting places of interest.
Once again, please convey our thanks to everyone involved in our trip for making it such a wonderful experience.  The rest of our holiday was equally wonderful - we went on to Budapest, Prague and Krakow.
 
Kind regards,

Linda Allanson
January 2010

 
Natalia,
 
Excellent with Sergey. He took good care with us and we enjoyed his guiding us very much. Decided not to go to Sergiev Posad given weather - snow came down heavy as forecast.  Looking forward to Bolshoi. Thank you.
 
Regards, J King
December 2009

OK. I give you feedback. It is good thing. I would use your services again, and will! I am going to send you another email separate from this one about it, because I have a question about it. I am very happy with the documents you sent, and getting them to me quickly, which solved my problem.  They were accepted by consulate and visa was issued without delay or excitement.

Thank-you again for getting me my documents for visa!

Clint
October 2009

Trip was good, our tour guide "Eugenia" did excellent for her job.
 
Regards,
 
Trinh Nguyen
September 2009

Dear Tatyana,

I hope this note finds you in good health. If I start from the end of the services you provided, I certainly would rate your company excellent. The two guides were excellent. Natalya went beyond the call of duty to help us and was a very knowledgeable guide. At first we were disappointed that Natalya did not guide us to the Tretyakov Museum but Tatyana was a fabulous guide for the Museum. She made the best use of the limited time we had. Our driver during the touring and transfer from the hotel to airport was also excellent. His driving expertise was notable and his vehicle was modern, clean and comfortable for us. You certainly do not need improvement in the above.
However, where improvement is necessary is the need for you to have a better understanding between the client, you and the visa document company. You should know how particular the Embassy is in the way these documents are presented. In our particular case the word "may" should not have been used when there was no doubt that we were going to Ukraine and returning to Moscow to return home. This error caused us to have to return to New York an extra time with more waiting in line since this Consulate is very busy.
The other area of improvement would be the first contact on arrival to Moscow should have been smoother. You can imagine how we must have felt on arrival when no one was there to greet us. The first few times telephoning with no answer was disappointing. After an hour of waiting a driver with what we call a junker vehicle showed up to transfer us to our hotel.
So. after that beginning, all went very well.

You can certainly use me as a reference for future clients and I shall recommend you as well.

Sincerely,

Barbara
September 2009  

Hi Natalya, 

First let me apologize for not answering your email earlier. After we left Russia we went to Italy And Turkey before coming home. You asked for feedback on the tour and any possible suggestions. I will deal with it in three sections    .....St Petersburg  /  Moscow  /  Suzdal.
St Petersburg: Pick up from the airport was great with the driver waiting for us when we cleared immigration  -  car was excellent with plenty of room and air conditioning / driver was very friendly. Hotel was in an excellent position with easy access to tourist sites. The accommodation was good however lacked air conditioning and was hot. Hotel staff (counter) were rude and of no help to us at all. (no maps or information) Cleaners were friendly and efficient. Our guide ANN BOUNDAKOVA was first class. She did an excellent job. Itinerary was good.
Moscow: Pick up from the train was good. Driver was good. Hotel was again in an excellent position for tourists walking to attractions. Room at the Budapest was excellent (air con worked well /everything very tidy) Staff were excellent and were quite willing to help with any questions we had. Also provided guide map to help us get around. Tour guide EUGINE did a good job. Itinerary was good.
Suzdal .....The trip to Suzdal was good (car was four door and air-conditioned ) The young chap who took us was also good with information. Upon arrival we commenced the tour without lunch or drinks. I think the tour guide needs to understand that most people would probably need to have a meal or something. Having said that our guide KATE  did a good job with the tour in Suzdal. The hotel was first class in accommodation however the meals in the main dining room left a bit to be desired. However Vladamir was a disappointment. We saw one church that was apparently closed all the time and a second church that we were not able to go into as apparently a bus load of pilgrims had arrived. I'm sure that Kate was embarrassed and also disappointed. We then visited the glass museum which was not really what we expected. The third day in Suzdal was at leisure, but as we had walked around town after we arrived back from Vladimir we found to be a waste of time. We suggest this tour be shortened by one day and return to Moscow after the trip to Vladimir.
 
Natalya, please do not be offended by the above comments as they are only suggestions from a westeners point of view. We would definitely recommend your travel group (we already have)  to anybody thinking of going to Russia. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay in your country.

Many thanks for your assistance in putting our tour together,

Regards Graham and Jillian Dingwall
August 2009

Dear Tatyana,

Sorry not to write to you right after returning home but I was very busy taking care of my grandchildren that stayed in my house for few days, so only at this moment I found a quiet moment to check my mail.
Our visit in Moscow was just wonderful. The service of your company was more that we could expect ( except the misunderstandings at the beginning...). Evgenia was a perfect guide: knowledgeable, not only in the precise field of our sightseeing (history, art etc.) but also in any other topic that we asked her about. She has a very pleasant personality and a wonderful English. The driver Svietlana was also very pleasant, helpful ans always on time. We will recommend your company to anybody from our country, planing to visit Russia.
 
Thanks again for your service. We hope to see you one day in our country.

Best regards,

Sophie
August 2009

Tatyana,

We had a nice trip in Russia.  Everything was well organized and on time. The tour guides were courteous, knowledgeable and spoke very good English. We had a great time, and we loved the museums, churches, canals... we had seen.

Thanks a lot for all your planning and coordination.

Suzanne Pan
July 2009

Dear Tatyana,

I had a brief conversation with my clients and they said both the guide and the driver were great, and they appreciated that they were from the local community and so well informed. I will send an email to my entire company and recommend your services.

Thanks again for everything!

Ronni  Forrest-krull
June 2009

Dear  Tatyana,

We spent 3 days outside Moscow in the "Golden Ring" area.  If you only see Moscow and St. Petersburg you are not really seeing Russia. Visiting the Golden Ring area allows you to visit the countryside and see historical Russia at the same time.
Travel times are unexpectedly long in the area due to poor roads and Moscovites traveling to rural dachas. Three days is probably a minimum trip length. To see all the towns in the "Golden Ring"  would probably take about 6 days.  This is because the roads are not good and are very crowded so it takes a significant time from Moscow to get there, especially during the afternoon rush hour. We loved our three days in Suzdal, Vladimir and Sergey Posad. Suzdal is absolutely charming, full of churches, nunneries and monasteries, small and easy to walk around. Vladimir is not the most beautiful town but it has lovely churches - see the one in the meadow if you have the time.  Sergey Posad is a large monastery which is lovely and can be also be visited as a day trip from Moscow.
See the wooden house museum in Suzdal - it gives you an idea of what rural life was like - total contrast to the palaces of St. Petersburg. A guide and driver is highly recommended.  Roads are not marked at all in many places, there are no English road signs.  On our trip to the region, there were 3 police checkpoints between Suzdal and Moscow, having a Russian speaking guide reduces the anxiety. One highly recommended guide is Sergei  with Russia Travel Group.  He lives in Vladimir, studied history in the University there, is highly knowledgeable and speaks wonderful English.

Laurie Jacobs
June 2009

Tatyana,

I was very impressed with the overall tours. Sergei was spot on with every single airport transfer and I appreciated his professionalism and abilities. We were able to have a few laughs with my little bit or Russian and his little bit of English. Please thank him again for me. The highlights were of course the outstanding guides in Volgograd and Borodino. Olga was great in Volgograd, very charming, and professional. At first I thought I would miss the Stalingrad landmarks I wanted to see, and she showed me so much more.   A great
afternoon and very well organized. She has a bright future and her English language and knowledge was great. She wouldn't even take a tip. Please thank her for me. My driver in Volgograd was great as well, I really thought highly of him. By far the top was Natalia and the trip to Borodino. The battlefield was fantastic as were the museums, but I really appreciated the extra work she put in. She had a computer presentation to share on the ride out, and even had additional information available to me. Really excellent and the
height of professionalism. On the ride home, I really appreciated the talk we had about Russian culture, family, God and the future. She could not have possibly done better, i was sincerely touched by her efforts for me. Both Sergei's took the extra effort to walk me to the correct check-in location at the airport. This was a great additional touch. Lastly, every effort you and Natalia made on my behalf to accommodate my planned itinerary are greatly appreciated, especially arranging the flights and transfers.
You have my highest recommendation. 

Very sincerely,

Tim Seppanen
May 2009

Dear Tatyana,

We had a really good time in St. Petersburg. The driver was very prompt in picking us up at the airport upon arrival, and also very early in the morning picking us up at the hotel
to take us back to the airport. Very polite. Everything seemed to go smoothly.

Thank you for all you did on our behalf.

Calvert Johnson
May 2009

Dear Tatyana,

My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed our tour organized by your agency. First, the reason you chose your tour as versus others was the quick response I received when inquiring about a tour. Guides and drives were all in time as prescribed in the tour itinerary. The guide we had for 4 days, Sergei, was exceptionally good, very knowledgable, helpful in many ways and pleasant.  Other local guides were good, too. You had organized the tour well having local guides to give special attention to each location. The restaurants were well selected and we enjoyed different Russian dishes for each day. Less than two years ago, we travelled to Russia with Exeter, Customized Tour for just two of us.  We paid a lot but were very unhappy, especially for poor quality of guides.  Your tour, on the other hand, was very well run, reasonable, and guides were all so good.

Thank you very much for all your work. When we decide to come to Russia again in the future, which will be our fourth tour, we will certainly call on you. 

Kind regards,

Anafu Kaiser
April 2009

Dear Tatyana,

My brother Robert has written to Natalya, sending his greetings, thanks and compliments. I have been rather busy since returning from Russia with a family emergency that required a trip to Detroit, so I am a bit late in responding.
First, I want to say that the trip far exceeded our expectations! We could not have been happier with the amount of care and concern we received from you, Natalya, Svetlana and Sergei. I especially want to compliment Natalya, who is by far the finest, most personable and most knowledgeable tour guide I have ever had. The fact that Robert and I were the only people on the tour meant that we had all of our questions answered and concerns met immediately. I realize that won't always be the case, as in warmer weather I hope you have much, much larger groups! But for us, it was amazing.
We discovered RTG on the Internet. We had never heard of it. We really had no idea what to expect. Several years ago I had purchased a tour of Israel with a Catholic travel agency based in New Orleans, Louisiana. The company went bankrupt and I never got my trip, or my money back.  So, I was very, very nervous this time, especially in light of the global economy. The trip sounded too good to be true. I kept wondering, "What's the catch?"
My first concern was in wiring the money to Estonia. I am sure a lot of Americans would be very leery of wiring cash to a bank in another country. I, for one, am much more comfortable using a credit card. The New Orleans company demanded a check or money order and would not deal in credit cards. If a problem arose and a trip was canceled, a traveler would be able to obtain a refund through the cardholding bank. So I was quite worried from the time I wired the money till I heard from you that the transfer had been successful.
When Robert and I landed in Russia, we were worried that no one would pick us up. Because our flight was delayed, we came in before Svetlana arrived, and we had taxi drivers surrounding us like vultures! We were very relieved when we finally located Svetlana. From that point on, everything went very nicely. Svetlana had the information for us, you spoke to us on the phone, the hotel had our room, and Natalya was early each day, ready to show us Moscow. She also was able to help us with restaurants and the Izmailovo Park Flea Market, where we had  a wonderful time shopping.
We did enjoy the location of the Izmailovo hotels. It is very close to the Metro. And it is adjacent to the flea market, which is where we spent our afternoons, looking at the amazing merchandise.
If there are any recommendations I could make, I would suggest, if at all possible, that American travelers be allowed to use their credit cards to purchase the tours. And for travelers who have never had to obtain a visa, the visa process can be intimidating. Robert lives in Houston, Texas, which has a Russian consulate. So I flew to Houston and we turned in our papers there. Robert picked them up a week later and brought my passport and visa to me when we met in New Jersey before flying to Europe. Thus we were able to obtain the visas for $131 rather than spending the extra money to use an agency. I would imagine most American tourists would find an agency the only real possibility for obtaining their visa, as the embassies and consulates no longer accept visa applications by mail.
But that is not to say that Robert and I did not have a wonderful time. And let me repeat that the trip greatly exceeded all our expectations. We really DID see Moscow in two days! And for that we are very, very grateful!

Sincerely,

Mike Flanagan
January 2009

Ladies,

Sorry about the delay in responding to your email regarding my trip. Yes i had a fabulous time, all the guides and drivers were professional and polite. I didnt get stood up once by anyone at any time. Moscow was great and the Vega hotel although a way out was a great place to stay. Vladimir and Suzdal were amazing and again the hotel was great. thankyou again for arranging my trip and hopefully one day I'll do it again.

Kind regards,

Russell Robinson
January 2009