Terrific experience/ the Volga Dream. My wife and I and four friends wanted to do a boat trip between Moscow and St Petersburg and didn’t want one of the fleets of ships with 200 passengers. And in addition to size we found a number of negative TripAdvisor reviews on many of those larger ships. We found the Volga Dream which takes only 100 passengers and which is privately owned by a Russian family. It could not have been better. The crew was exceptional in their friendliness and professionalism, and the boat itself was in wonderful shape and exceptionally well maintained. Despite having 100 passengers, we never found anyplace too crowded to do exactly as we wanted. The shore excursions were very well planned and executed. And the food was excellent. We would warmly recommend the Volga Dream to anyone wanting to do either Moscow to St Petersburg or the opposite direction. We made arrangements through Travel All Russia which included also some days in both Moscow and St Petersburg, and in every aspect those arrangements were superb. Rather than staying on the boat for those periods, we enjoyed wonderful center-city hotels and restaurants and superlative guides. That we would also warmly recommend.

one word - Excellent I enjoyed every part of this tour - Saint Petersburg was lovely and our guide Daria delightful knowledgeable and helpful, the driver Sergei also; there was some queuing for Catherine's Palace but everything we visited was stunning - I particularly loved the Faberge Museum. Daria was maybe a little too keen on "comfort stops" we didn't really need and implied "shopping". The Kempinsky was excellent too, staff, food, location ... The Volga Dream was great - I actually loved my tiny little cabin (326) as I could lie in bed and let the river flow by as I watched the forests and villages we passed - the locks were fascinating! The food was first rate every day and the service - both Restaurant and cabin staff excellent. The little sorties onto land were good too - though Mandrogi artificial and over-priced - I especially liked Yaroslavl and Uglich. Entertainments on board were great too - I enjoyed Olga's Russian language introduction and Ludmilla's lectures a Highlight of your tour - she opened our eyes to so much of what is Russia past and present both Political and Cultural - brilliant! One small thing - you could have chosen better films for the evening - Doctor Zhivago / From Russia with Love / Leviathan?! War & Peace? Anna Karenina? you will have a better knowledge of great Russian filmmakers than I do ... Moscow I loved - even better than Saint Petersburg - the guide (Milla) was ,,, interesting! and quite funny but she got us through the crowds and round the sights expertly. The Marriott was fine - great location though a bit soulless - I ended up round the corner at Petr 1 which was very good. I will definitely be back to Moscow ... I haven't said how wonderful the Olgas were! superb - classy, competent, charming ... Thank you for everything!