Date: 2011-05-12
From: Michael Hammes
Just returned from Russia. Cannot tell you how much we enjoyed the trip. All of the arrangements worked to perfection. Punctual pickup at the airport and also from the train and punctual delivery to the airport for the trip back. Not a minute late on any day. Enjoyed both hotels, no issues there.
Must comment on the guides. Olga in Moscow was outstanding, about our age (early 60's). Turns out she is a veteran who teaches other guides. She was knowledgeable and we enjoyed being with her. Had her join us for lunch daily.
Irina in St Petersburg was even better. She is the age of our children (34) and we were ready to take her home with us. Her knowledge of every site was masterful. Her Hermitage Museum tour equally informed. She was outstanding in every way. I doubt there are better guides available and as you know this was a concern of ours. Please pass on our comments. The company should know how good they are.
If there was anything we would suggest be improved upon it was the vehicles...although they were not unacceptable.
Overall outstanding. You certainly took good care of us and we will most likely travel with you again.
Thanks for all your effort on our behalf.
Mike H.
Date: 2010-10-11
From: Konradsblatt-reisengruppe
Thank you very much for great trip for our group in Moscow and Golden Ring of Russia. Short report is published in the newspaper - come here: http://www.taritravel.com/specials/1292096476.htm
Date: 2010-06-08
From: John Fitzpatrick
Had a great time. The weather was good and the guide was excellent. Thanks for your patience and flexibility with me and my reservation. You did a great job. Overall good value for the money (With Kensington tours)
Date: 2010-06-05
From: Barbara Leah Seltzer
On your scale of 1 to 5, our trip was 5+++. From the moment we arrived in Moscow, we were met and escorted to our hotel by our guide and driver. The hotel was great and the buffet breakfasts were fantastic. Our guide went above and beyond the call of duty. She was very knowledgeable as well as personable. She suggested places for us to eat dinner as well as things for us to do on our own time. She fulfilled a dream of mine: SHE GOT US TICKETS TO THE BOLSHOI BALLET - 3RD ROW ORCHESTRA! When it was time for us to take the train to St. Petersburg, she escorted us to the terminal and waited until we boarded the train. Every detail of our itinerary was carried out without a hitch. The same holds true of our driver and guide in St. Petersburg. We were met at the train and embarked on our tour immediately. Our hotel was great here too. The drivers in both cities were very pleasant and available as needed. We did not interact with them as they did not speak English. Our guide in St. Petersburg was as knowledgeable and personable as in Moscow. She too made suggestions for us and did a fabulous job of carrying out our itinerary plus other sights. When we were due to leave St. Petersburg, our driver and an assistant took us to the train station. Our experience with Kensington Tours was fantastic from beginning to end. Thank you, Dana, for setting everything up and putting it into motion. We will definitely recommend you, and Kensington Tours, to our family and friends. If we have an opportunity to travel again, we will certainly call on you. Again, Thank you for a job well done
Date: 2010-05-22
From: Ashley Haase
Generally an excellent trip. Both guides were excellent. (with Kenstington tours in Moscow and St Petersburg)
Date: 2010-02-13
From: Peter Wagner
Dear Michael, dear Marina,
Our St.Petersburg group returned safely and they are so happy.
I highly appreciate the professional cooperation with you. You really cared for everything. I liked it and you must know that St.Petersburg, which I visited twice, is one of the cities in the world which I love so much.
Thanks for the outstanding cooperation and I’m sure you will get another business from Eberhardt. I thank you so much.
Bolschoe Bam spacibo.
Regards
Peter
Date: 2010-02-11
From: James Martin
Hi all Tari,
We had a super time; great tour all round. Everyone enjoyed it; we saw all the sights we wanted to and tried the local foods, vodka, champagne, caviar and had some great nights out. Tari Tours were excellent; Julia our guide was brilliant, very knowledgable and helpful and the driver Sasha was always on hand.
I've attached the completed form. I will be in contact again soon about a visit somewhere.. not sure yet where I want go next but I'll let you know.
Thanks to you and your team for everything,
Best wishes,
James
(Broadway, UK)
Date: 2009-12-28
From: Jeff Foran
Hi there -
A quick note to inform you that our trip went exceedingly well. The driver (Alexi) was excellent; always on time , always in the right place to pick us up and always in good spirits. His vehicle was immaculate, he was a careful/excellent driver and he was dressed in a most gentlemanly fashion.
And,our guide, Natalia German, was over the top. Smart, superb English skills, very knowledgeable of the history, art and all cultural aspects of the sites we visited. She kept us informed, amused and the time flew by with her. It did not hurt that she was beautiful and charming as well. Also, she was most helpful in pointing out the spots where locales congregate, the restaurants they frequent and the places that she and her friends liked so we saw a bit of St. Petersburg life that many visitors miss.
It was a wonderful experience made especially easy and enjoyable by our driver and guide. I would recommend your services to any of my friends and as the services and site visit program were what made the visit so very special.
Jeff
Date: 2009-08-28
From: Lucien Wagner
MAKS 2009
Good evening Michael,
Sorry for being so late. I thank you for all , you have done for the preparation of our trip. The participants were very satisfied. We arrived every time on time at Maks; it was a challenge. Alfa was perfect.
I hope to organize maks 2011 with a larger group.
Best regards,
Lucien Wagner
Date: 2009-06-29
From: Linda McKay
It is hard to believe the Russia Trip is now over. I just wanted to write you and thank you for making all the arrangements for us. Everything went very well (other than Dave's camera getting stolen while we were in line for coffee at the Hermitage) and the guides and drivers were all wonderful.
The ballet was the peak of the experience for me. It was fabulous.
Linda McKay, 2009
Date: 2008-08-07
From: Dr. and Mrs. Jack C. Meshel
"Our Guide's name was Natalia Smirnova. She was EXCELLENT. Her English was perfect and she spent more than the allotted time to make our tours complete and enjoyable. We are widely traveled, but we have to say, that this guide was of the finest quality we have ever encountered. The driver, Victor, was of equal quality. We do thank you so much for finding them for us. We would encourage you to use them for other clients and, further, if we should tour in St. Petersburg again, we would insist upon having this guide and driver again" Dr. and Mrs. Jack C. Meshel, 2008
Date: 2008-07-21
From: J.P Sarkar
"Moscow: All schedules were perfectly implemented. The guide Svetlana was very sensible -did more than planned perhaps. Whenever we wanted a little extra visit she eagerly did that for us. The hotel Sokolniki Holiday Inn is a very good hotel, perhaps meeting the 5-star standards. Besides the ambience, it is located in central but not-too-crowded place, security was good. The train ride to St. Pertsburg was very enjoyable, confort level being extraordinary. Warsaw: It was an excellent experience. The guide was extremely friendly and cooperating. On our request, she arranged a tour herself to another place. Margaret was all the time careful about our needs. I give her the best rating. The Holiday Inn Hotel was very good with its location and service. " J.P Sarkar, 2008
Date: 2007-09-18
Hi,
thank for the website you are running - I found there the most valuable info about Tadjik mountains...
Still I do have a few questions:
We want to go into Matcha Mountains (Zeravsanskyj chrbet..) this summer and so do you have any information about how to get from Ayni to Matcha (ut the zeravsan river valley)? if there are any access restrictions and so on??
And finally could you recommend us any transport from Samarkand to at least Ayni? thank you for answer even if we do not want to go in Fans mountains:-) and be your clients..
Date: 2007-09-14
From: Walter Meier, Switzerland
Dear Oxana,
I have returned back home from my trip to Moscow. I spent a wonderful time with good weather in your city. My guides and the driver were perfect. Please accept my thanks for the excellent organization of the sightseeing with my best wishes for your future.
With kind regards,
Walter Meier
Date: 2007-05-24
It is nice to browse the Tari tours website very dynamic and informative. We hope to build up good business relationship with Tari Tours and provide all the ground handling services in Pakistan.
With best wishes to the team of Tari Touris,
Nasir Hussain
Date: 2006-05-07
From: Rashel Sold, Israel
Almost two weeks since we returned from our visit to Russia and I am still recuperating from the massive tour and the many wonderful palaces, museums and other interesting spots that we were able to visit, admire and enjoy.
No doubt that you set-up a memorable tour with the utmost possibilities and I can only sumarise it with one word - BRAVO !!!
You even fixed a perfect weather, what more could we ask for???
The train, even though in economy class, was comfortable and pleasent. Even the meal box was not as bad as one could expect.
The hotels were comfortable and clean, maybe overcrowded at meals...
The guides, Elena in Moscow and Alex in St. Petersburg, were friendly, nice, helpfull and with utmost will to please and satisfy each and everyone in the group. They had fanthastic knowledge and while Elena is excelant with English language Alex is a walking Encyclopedia. We enjoyed being with them and I would appreciate if you could transfer our thanks as a group and my personal appreciation being the poor and tough leader. I sometimes gave them, especialy Alex, hard time but not because I wanted to make it hard on them but rather to not loose control of the group as one unit. It was not easy for any of us to lead 37 people and I truly and honestly appreciate the great help, assistance and cooperation granted to me by the two dear friends!!!
My friends can often be typical Israeli and make nasty comments / remarks. Even on this tour some behaved rude. Please tell both guides that if any of them was hurt by someone I apologise for it. Unfortunately it is beyond my control to change grown-up people.
The gala dinner was the bonus of it all. We never even dreamed or expected something so wonderful. You made us feel like one of the Tzars/Tzarinas. A real and special THANK YOU for this.
And last but not least, it was a special pleasure and honour for me to communicate with you.
Your readines to meet all of our requests, your thoghuts of the smallest details and professional knowledge of setting the program made it very easy for me.
I was often wondering what will it be like? Am I right giving my confident in an unfamiliar agent in Russia rather than use a local one?
Not only that I was not even once disapointed. On the contrary, it was a real pleasure for me to have you as a partner for the game.
Thank you from me personaly for a job well done and for making our tour most beautiful and memorable.
Date: 2005-07-02
I have just returned from a fabulous holiday to Russia, made more memorable by our tour guide, Gennadiy, please pass on our thanks
Date: 2004-12-10
Dear Michael
Sorry for this late reply. Got caught up in my pending work.
What do I say about the tour.... Except that it could not have been nicer.
Everything was above expectation. ... not just my own opinion but also that
of the group.
Every one was touched by the care taken by Tari and its guides including
Zoya... who despite her limitations in English speech ... really braved the
cold and was on hand to help out with a cheer... all the late arrivals.
The 3 persons who arrived later and on delayed flights felt that she was
like Florance Nightingale when they arrived Moscow in dull and chilly
weather.
One thing ... the mental block about visiting Russia in winter was broken.
Every one was comfortable despite the minus 10 c temperature and did not
feel the chill. They thoroughly enjoyed the cold weather. Snow is a rarity
in India and here it was snowing every day and our people were enjoying
themselves.
I hope I can prevail on more people to travel in winter. At least we made a
beginning. I remember you telling me during the WTM 2003 you come to Russia
in Winter at its beautiful. ... it was no sales talk !
And the museums and palaces that we visited were fabulous. We say in our
brochure that the palaces and its gardens in Russia leave many a west
European destination by the way side. Of course we could not see the
gardens, as they were all white ... but even that were beautiful as the
Indian love to see the snow.
Before I left I was a little frightened on the meals and in particular for
the vegetarians and so I carried the ready to eat Indian food stuff as well.
But I came back with most of it. Whatever, I managed to serve as a
supplement was not entirely consume. Even the Indian vegetarian like the
food that was served.
If I am to strike any discordant note ... it can only be for the Russian
immigration authority. Every member of the group was in business class and
therefore were the first in the immigration queue. Each one at a valid visa
stamped on the passport plus the voucher and invitation letter for visa.
They were all in middle age. Without exception everyone was make to stand a
side and wait till the others were cleared. Then after 15 - 30 minutes they
were just handed back the passport and told to go out.
Does not create a good first impression. I know this is not in your hand but
should there be any occasion for you to meet with the authorities, you may
bring up the matter.
Yours is such a beautiful country and why should this stupid immigration
guys being allowed to spoil that image.
Thank you once again for the excellent arrangements and with warm regards
Benu
