Maria
Hey hey hey! Glad to see you on my page! My name is Maria and I’m the most active and craziest tour guide of St Petersburg you have ever met! I love my city and that’s why I enjoy giving guided tours of St Petersburg. By the way, with me you can book a guided tour in Spanish or English.
I’m a type of a guide who doesn’t like to do what I call a «routine» excursion. I love to show attractions that are hidden behind the majestic palace facades and tremendous monuments. With me you will find out stuff that your eye would never catch if you were walking by yourselves.
It’s been 5 years already since I started to work as a tour guide of St Petersburg, and you know what? This job always gives me such a great amount of energy and inspiration. It makes me feel so good to see the eyes of the people who fall in love with my city. Moreover, I get the greatest pleasure from these amazing talks about cultures. During my city tours we will surely find some time to take a break at a coffeeshop to chat about life, dreams and passions.
I think if you are looking for the best tour guide of St Petersburg you should definitely choose me. I find myself a very easy-going and open personality, I love talks and discussions, and all the other ways of communicating with people. I am always up to new ideas and changes, so if you suddenly decide to change something in the tour – I am always for it! I do want my guests to feel comfortable, just like home. Don’t be shy, if you need any kind of help: just ask and I’ll try to do my best to be helpful.
Cultural exchange plays a big role for me during the tours. I love speaking about local life and traditions, discuss the differences between the cultures, and find similarities. I like the feeling that I can show something new to people. I am capable of speaking three languages (Russian, English and Spanish), which allows me to broaden my «targeted audience».
All my friends know that beside guiding I have another great interest in my life – dancing. It is not just a hobby for me, but more like a life style. I started to dance when I was a little girl, and now it’s been 20 years since my dance life began. 12 of them – I have been a dance teacher. I can teach you how to dance various dances, but my favorites are Cuban salsa and bachata.
Let me know if you are interested in any dance experiences, and I will recommend you a couple of great places for this. And, of course, you are always welcome to join my dance classes if you feel like relaxing a bit after a long day of touring.
My favorite type of tours is city tours. It doesn’t really matter if it is a walking tour or a tour by car. I believe that this is the best way to make up a full image of the local life. You can’t meet a lot of locals in The Hermitage, can you? Most of the visitors would probably be foreigners from all other the world. If you are more into local experiences, my advice would be to go see little hidden streets, off-the-beaten-path cafes, local supermarkets, etc., which we can do during a city tour.
My favorite places are parks of St. Petersburg. The greatest ones are The Summer Garden and Michael’s Garden, that are very conveniently located in the city center. If we are on a walking tour, we can easily make a little detour to have a glance at one of these nice peaceful gardens. I love walking around the city and showing cute and cosy places, like beautiful little yards, nice coffeeshops, or even secret ways to climb a roof. There is definitely nothing better than taking a cup of coffee and relaxing on The Arts Square after a tour to The Russian Museum.
I am proud to say that I am licensed by The Russian Museum, so I can give you a great comprehensive tour of the museum galleries. The Russian Museum provides a great chance to immerse into the world of the Russian art in full. If this idea excites you as much as me, we have a lot in common!
