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3 Day Battlefield Tour

This tour was something I had wanted to do for a long time and I was not disappointed. From the minute Mikhail picked us up from Gumrak Airport I knew that he was the right person to help us gain an understanding of the Battle of Stalingrad from the starting point of the battle through to it's final conclusion. He showed us all the sites in the city on the first day and Mamaev Kurgan where we saw the hourly changing of the guards as well as visiting The Panorama Museum which has the most amazing diorama of the battle. On the second day we visited both the German and Russian war cemetaries at Rossoschka which was a very sobering experience. It makes you realise just how many lives on both sides were lost. On the way we were introduced to two women who had competed in the Sydney and Beijing Olympics which was a real honour for us. And on the third day we went to Kalatch on the river Don where we could see where the two Russian armies linked up on the 19th November 1942. We picked up some local souvenirs from local cossacks and had our photo taken wearing the local headgear. Needless to say it looked better on them than it did us. But the real highlight was when we were asked if we wanted to attend a memorial service for two Russian soldiers who had been killed during the battle and were being buried at Golubinsky. We felt very honoured to be a part of this experience. This was the best part of our holiday in Russia and what a way to end it. Many many thanks to Mikhail for passing on all his knowledge and for all our great experiences in the City on the Volga. I think a return trip in winter is on the cards.

Visited June 2017

Una Gran Experiencia!

Cuando uno toma habitualmente un tour, espera sólamente un recorrido por los lugares turísticos. Lo que hace la gente de Sputnik, es acompañarte a revivir la experiencia de una de las batallas más terribles en la historia de la humanidad, donde se definió el curso de la guerra mundial. La gente de Sputnik no sólo tiene buen trato y gran conocimiento del tema, sino que además tienen un gran sentido del respeto por los acontecimientos vividos en Stalingrado. La gente de Sputnik además, en todo momento está atenta a tus requerimientos y son bastante certeros para responder casi cualquier pregunta.

Visited June 2017

Esperienza memorabile

Il tour è organizzato in modo molto professionale. Michail (la nostra guida) è venuta a prenderci puntualmente in albergo e ha rispettato perfettamente il programma concordato; avendo effettuato il tour di tre giorni, posso garantire di essere completamente soddisfatto;consiglio di effettuare il tour di tre giorni , per avere davvero un ricordo indelebile dei luoghi della tragica battaglia , e una visione completa degli avvenimenti. Anche mia moglie è rimasta molto contenta. Non è pensabile vedere tutte le cose che abbiamo visto da soli , e nemmeno sarebbe possibile apprezzare tutti i dettagli storici senza l'ausilio di una guida come è stato per noi Michail . Fa il suo lavoro con molta passione e dedizione,raccontando episodi frutto della sua continua ricerca storica. Parla inoltre un perfetto inglese. Se visitate Stalingrado (Volgograd) e siete interessati alla storia, rivolgetevi senz'altro a lui.

We booked a three-day tour and were fully satisfied. Michail provided to be a professional and passionate guide. We visited all the places connected with the tragic battle and saw not only monuments. Michail speaks very good English and adds a lot of details to the explanations. So that you truly enjoy this tour. Absolutely recommended!

Visited July 2017

Excellent Guidance

My partner wanted to visit Russia for a significant birthday, and as I had luckily been several times previously, I agreed - providing that we visited Volgograd. So, I was a little apprehensive...would my extra ruin her birthday? Phew, I need not have worried. Mikhail (who was booked for us by Tsar Voyages in Moscow) proved to be an excellent guide to his home city, giving us just the right amount of detail on WW2 - the war memorial is incredible - as well as more general tourist guidance, including a trip on the Volga (the crayfish were delicious), and recommendations for dinner.

So, if you are thinking of visiting Volgograd, perhaps for the FIFA World Cup in 2018, then I would suggest you make contact with these guys early, to enhance your trip.

Visited July 2017

Another Great Tour of Volgograd

Our second Stalingrad Tour (me and two adult sons). Last year we did a two day tour of the battlefield inside the City (excellent). This year we did three days with the search teams yearly excavations and a one day trip to several sites outside the City.

The Excavation teams are non-profit organisations that work to find missing Russian soldiers still buried out on the Steppe and to give them proper re-burials. It was an amazing experience - interesting and moving. The base is a campsite where we were made to feel very welcome by the "proper" search team who shared everything and with who we spent a couple of good nights socialising! The excavations were fascinating, and the blessing by an Orthodox priest at the close on the last day was very special. Highly recommended. Mikhail stayed on site and out in the field with us and provided great information and translation as always. Made some great friends and thoroughly enjoyed it!

The tour outside Stalingrad/Volgograd was tailored to our needs, and included a trip to Pyatimorsk-Sovietsky (near Kalach) to see the monuments to the encirclement of the 6th Army, to Kalach itself, to Paulus' HQ (before he moved in to the city) across the Don at Golubinka, and to a very old cathedral close by (which can be seen in some of the old photos of Paulus at this location. We finished off back in the city with a one hour cruise on the Volga, where we got a great view of the old Mill, the landing stage, Kruschev's boat and Mamayev Kurgan - a great way to finish of the day. It really was a good day and gave a good perspective as to the scale of the cauldron. Again I have no hesitation in recommending it.

Mikhail is a great guide and if you visit Stalingrad/Volgograd and are looking to learn a little more and see some out-of-the-way sites then he provides a great service.
 

Visited August 2017

I recently undertook a 4-day “Battle of Stalingrad” tour led by Mikhail Shuvarikov of Volgograd Sputnik Travel Company. This was my second trip to Volgograd and the reason for my return was I did not feel the local guide we used on my first visit, a five day tour in 2013, had been thorough. Where my first trip was disappointing, my second trip under Mikhail was the complete opposite. Mikhail provided a thorough strategic and tactical explanation and provided both perspective and detail at the various locations where we stopped – his knowledge and passion for the story of Stalingrad in 1942/43 was always evident and would be hard to equal. In addition Mikhail introduced us to new locations associated with the battle and also under his guidance we were far better able to investigate the same locations we had “briefly” visited 4 years previously, including being taken to new memorials that we had not seen or been made aware of on the previous trip despite only being a couple of hundred yards away. Away from the guiding, Mikhail proved a friend to our group, joining in our conversations and sharing his humour with us. He also arranged locations for lunch and dinner and generally smoothed our trip along on a day to day basis. Finally Mikhail is punctual and excellent at working out/keeping to his timetable, picking us up and delivering us back to the hotel at times arranged and this despite being flexible to our requests during the day. For all these reasons I have no hesitation in giving Mikhail and Volgograd Sputnik Travel the very highest recommendation to all potential visitors to Volgograd.

Visited September 2017

Geweldige ervaring met Volgograd Sputnik Travel Company

Met Michael van StalingradTours bezochten we o.a. het noordelijk district van Stalingrad waar de Rode Oktoberfabriek, de Barrikady en de Tractorfabriek zijn gelegen. Tijdens deze excursie kwamen we op de meest bijzondere plaatsen. De volgende dag een excursie geboekt met Michael naar de begraafplaats Rossoshka. Ook nu weer voorzag Michael ons, vanaf het moment dat wij in zijn auto stapten, van allerlei informatie. Voor de middag regelde hij dat wij mee konden liften met een rondleiding in het Panoramamuseum. Michael is een geweldige gids met veel kennis van de geschiedenis. Ook persoonlijk houdt hij zich bezig met alles wat maar enigszins te maken heeft met de Slag om Stalingrad. Michael is ontzettend goed in organiseren en daarnaast zeer prettig in de omgang. Ook Galina, die de rondleiding gaf in het Panoramamuseum, beschikt over zeer veel kennis. Ze is een gedreven persoon met een flinke dosis humor. Volgograd is een fascinerende stad, een heerlijke stad. Om een goed beeld van de geschiedenis van Stalingrad te krijgen kunnen wij StalingradTours/Volgograd Sputnik Travel Company ten zeerste aanbevelen. Niet voor niets ontvingen zij 5 sterren op TripAdvisor en het certificaat voor uitmuntendheid.

Visited September 2017

Fantastische detailreiche Tour zu einem der bekanntesten Schlachtfelder des 2. WK

Ich war mit Mikhail und seinem Fahrer Sergej zwei wunderbare Tage in Stalingrad unterwegs. Es ist unglaublich was er an Detailwissen und historischer Fachkenntnis mitbringt. Er hat mich an Stellen geführt und die Hintergründe dazu erläutert von deren Existenz ich als Geschichtslehrer nicht gewusst habe. Selbst schlammüberflutete Straße waren kein Hindernis auf unserem Weg zum Hauptquartier der 6. Armee welches wohl alleine nicht zu finden ist. Auch war die ganze Tourvorbereitung sehr professionell...so konnte er auch alle Orte mit historischen Fotografien unterlegen. Eine Tour mit Mikhail ist wirklich schlichtweg einfach nur empfehlenswert für jemanden der in das damalige Schlachtgeschehen einsteigen möchte... Gerne wieder. Vielen Dank!

Visited October 2017

Vacation in Stalingrad: A fantastic tour with an excellent guide and delicious foods in a legendary city!

My journey in Volgograd started with a warm welcome from Mikhail (my guide) at the Gumrak airport. I was always curious about Volgograd or Stalingrad in it previous name, and after weeks long travel in St Petersburg and Moscow, I was surprised to arrive in Volgograd with warm and sunny weather! My tour was involved with visiting major sightseeing places like different memorial squares, parks, Volga river port, Mamaev Kurgan Hill as well as the well known Museum Panorama. Mikhail was very patient and knowledgeable as he gave me a comprehensive introductions and stories behind each site that I visited. This is definitely a Hero City since every street and corner within Volgograd has heroic stories to tell! Another highlight of this tour is to visit a few previous battlefields that were preserved to commemorate the brutal battles of Stalingrad, especially in the factories area (Red October factory, the Barrikady gun factory and the Tractor Plant). For visitors who are interested in more details of the battle of Stalingrad, I will highly recommend to sign up for a longer tour (e.g. 3 Days or 4 days tour), so that you will get a chance to visit many previous battlefields outside the city. It shall give you a full picture of the war in Stalingrad area. Mikhail also gave me some travel tips to walk around the city in my free time, and I was able to explore the city on my own after the tour. In general, to compare with many other major sightseeing cities in Russia, the modern day Volgograd was very peaceful and cozy to stay, and I was so glad that I sign up for the tour and Mikhail was definitely a one of the best guides to travel with! 

Visited October 2017

An excellent tour of a vast battlefield thanks to a great tour guide.

The Volgograd Sputnik Travel Company, aka Stalingrad Tours, is a highly recommended organization to guide visitors around the vast area where the battle of Stalingrad took place. This area is so vast that the company offers a one day, two day, and three day tour depending on how much the visitor wishes to see. The principal guide, Mikhail, knows his history – he was born in this city, and he has spent decades studying the great battle that took place here. Mikhail's command of the English language is great; at times he spoke like a scholar from a British university. Volgograd is a city of 1M where the vast majority of residents do not speak English like you would find in Paris or Berlin. The only folks I met who spoke English were the receptionists at my hotel, the young lady who was at the counter at the local McDonalds, and Mikhail. This was really important because I had a medical emergency and ended up in the outpatient clinic of the local hospital where none of the health care providers, including the senior physicians, spoke English. Mikhail's presence was crucial for navigating the Russian health care system. Be sure that you get a short term medical insurance policy through this company. Thank you for the memorable tour of your city.

Visited October 2017