Itinerary

Day 1 – Arrive in Moscow

Arrival at Moscow airport. Our driver will take you to your hotel.

Day 2 – Moscow City tour and Underground guided tour

Today you will have a tour around the most beautiful sights in Moscow and you take a glimpse of its culture and history. The tour starts in the heart of the city, at Red Square. After observing St. Basil’s Cathedral, Lenin’s Mausoleum, the State Historical Museum and other sights of the area we move along the Moscow river embankment. On the way we enjoy views of the Kremlin and continue with the Cathedral of the Christ the Savior.

Then we travel to Moscow State University on the Lenin’s Hills and the Sparrow Hills. Visit to the observation spot of the Sparrow Hills opens an outstanding view on Moscow. After this stop we pass through the Memorial Complex at Poklonnaya Hill and Victory Park, Triumphal Arch, Kutuzov Avenue, New Arbat, Boulevard ring, Pushkin square, Tverskaya street and end the tour at Manezhnaya Square.

Moscow Underground Guided Tour

Guided tour of Moscow Underground – explore one of the masterpieces of the Soviet era, created in the Socialist Realism style. The Moscow Metro, with its stations decorated with marble, mosaics, stained-glass panels and bronze sculptures, looks more like a vast art museum. It was one of the proudest achievements of the Soviet era, and it still beats many other European underground system with its ultra-reliable service

Day 3 – Red Square, Kremlin Grounds, Armoury Museum

Today you will visit Red Square, arguably one of the most famous squares in the world. It got its name from the Russian word for "red", which many centuries ago meant "beautiful". Each building here is a legend in its own right. You will see the brightly-domed St Basil's cathedral, the world-renowned Lenin Mausoleum, the expansive facade of the GUM department store, Kazan Cathedral and the Kremlin towers. During the Soviet period, Red Square was associated with images of stone-faced Communist Party leaders standing in the cold atop Lenin's Mausoleum, watching military parades. Today, Red Square is a popular tourist attraction that’s often used for rock and pop concerts including high-profile artists such as Paul McCartney, Pink Floyd and many others.

You will discover the interior of the Kremlin - the former residence of the Tsars and now the residence of the Russian President. You will also visit one of the Kremlin’s beautiful orthodox cathedrals. Cathedral Square still retains the aura of early Tsarist Russia, where the spirits of Ivan the Terrible, Boris Godunov and the early Romanovs loom large. You can also visit the Armoury to see its unique collection of ancient state regalia: the ceremonial vestments and coronation dress of the Tsars, gold and silverware by Russian craftsmen, and ceremonial weapons and arms (optional excursion at your request).

Guided tour of the Armoury Museum. Its collections represent the wealth of Russian tsars, accumulated throughout the centuries. The first mention of the Armoury was recorded in 1508, when it started to function as the storehouse for the Kremlin’s weaponry. However, within a few decades, the structure had gained the added function of a workshop and a repository for all sorts of treasures of the Imperial Court. In 1813, the Armoury building became an exhibition hall and museum. The Armoury’s collection is overwhelming. It contains such exhibits as the chalice of Yuri Dolgorukiy, the helm and armour of Boris Godunov, a collection of over fifty Faberge eggs, golden and silver works of applied art by Russian, European and Oriental masters, priceless weapons and other works made of precious metals and stones.

Evening transfer to the railway station. Our driver will meet you in the lobby of your hotel to take to the train station, where you get an overnight train to stunning St Petersburg

Day 4 –St Petersburg City Tour

Arrival in St Petersburg. Our driver will meet you at the end of the platform.

It is impossible not to fall in love with St Petersburg, one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Once you have visited it, you’ll understand why. The most European of all Russian cities, St Petersburg is the second largest city in Russia. But unlike the busy capital Moscow, it is calm and unhurried, just as a real museum-city should be.

A city of palaces and museums, broad avenues and winding canals, St. Petersburg's short history has endowed the city with a wealth of architectural and artistic treasures. Alongside world-famous attractions such as the Hermitage, St. Isaac's Cathedral and the Mariinsky Theatre, the city has scores of lesser known but equally fascinating sights that reveal both the pomp and extravagance of St. Petersburg's political and Imperial past, and also the mysterious, tragic genius that has touched so many of the city's great artists and writers. Still considered Russia's cultural capital, St. Petersburg reflects the country's extraordinary fate like no other city, and its uniquely rich atmosphere exerts a powerful grip on even the most jaded traveler.

Today, we take you around the stunning 'Venice of the North', as St. Petersburg is sometimes known. You will see the Peter and Paul Fortress, St Isaac's Cathedral and the Church of the Saviour of Spilled Blood. Then there's the famous Aurora warship, the legendary ship whose canon-fire gave the signal, on the order of Lenin, for the beginning of the Great Socialist Revolution more than 90 years ago.

Day 5 – The State Hermitage Museum (Winter Palace)

Today you will have a guided tour of the Hermitage, former residence of the Russian Tzars (the famous Winter Palace) and one of the best museums in the world. This is St. Petersburg's most famous building, the Winter Palace not only physically dominates Palace Square and the south embankment of the Neva River, but also plays a central political, symbolic, and cultural role in the three-century history of the city.

This stunning palace, an architectural masterpiece in itself, contains a collection over 3,000,000 works of art representing the development of world culture and art from the Stone Age to the 20th century. The collection includes works by Leonardo Da Vinci, Titian, Raphael, French impressionists, sculptures and treasured icons, coins and Tsars’ jewellery. The Hermitage is an unforgettable place to visit.

Day 6 – Guided tour to Tsarskoe Selo (Catherine Palace & the Amber Room)

If any proof is needed for the extravagance of Russia's Imperial rulers, then it can be found in the fact that, in less than two centuries, the Romanov Tsars established a suburban estates - Tsarskoe Selo a - that, in terms of grandeur and excess, outstrip even Versailles.

A guided visit to one of the major architectural treasures of Royal St Petersburg – the settlement of Tsarskoe Selo (now part of the modern town of Pushkin) located 25km south of the city.

Built for Empress Elizabeth by Bartolomeo Rastrelli, the architect of St. Petersburg's Winter Palace, the Catherine Palace is undoubtedly Tsarskoe Selo's top attraction, particularly renowned for the extraordinary Amber Room. Less well known, and currently much more dilapidated, the Alexander Palace is nonetheless a neoclassical masterpiece, and has a particularly poignant connection with the family of the last Tsar, Nicholas II.

The Palace is an astonishing example of baroque architecture with its striking interiors that are simply spectacular. The Catherine Palace is known for its legendary unique Amber Room that was looted during World War II, and completely and painstakingly recreated as recently as 2003, a process that took over 20 years and cost more than $12 million.

Day 7 – St Petersburg

Transfer to the airport. Our driver will meet you in your hotel lobby and take you to the airport.

If you would like to spend a day longer in Russia, visit Sergiev Posad or include Novgorod in your trip,

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