RUSSIA FOR ME
Day 1 – St Petersburg
Arrival at St Petersburg airport, where our driver will meet you. Transfer to your hotel.
Day 2 – St Petersburg, city tour
As a city of Russian emperors, St. Petersburg has a ton of history to explore and incredible sights to see. Your first tour of the trip provides a chance to see the most important of the city's attractions, and soak up some of its amazing atmosphere too.
Kazan Cathedral, built in a huge curve, the ornate Stroganov Palace, and the imposing Peter and Paul Fortress are all included on the tour. So is the incredible Bronze Horseman, which is a monument to Peter the Great, the elegant Mariinsky Palace and the glittering Palace Embankment. The city's main drag Nevsky Prospect will provide a real sense of the city, while iconic landmarks such as St Isaac's Cathedral with its golden domes and the swirly-whirly Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood will also impress.
Day 3 – Free time or a trip to Tsarskoe Selo
A chance to explore this magnificent city independently, or opt for an excursion to beautiful Tsarskoe Selo.
Tsarskoe Selo is a magnificent example of the extravagance of Russia's imperial past. Established by the Romanov Tsars, it's a suburban estate which in its grandeur, rivals even Versaille. Constructed in the 18th century, it consists of two vast and truly exceptional palaces set in extensive, landscaped gardens. The lavish Alexander Palace is undoubtedly impressive, but it's the Catherine Palace which is the one visitors come to see.
The Catherine Palace is renowned for its splendid baroque architecture and striking interiors, most famously perhaps its extraordinary Amber Room. Entirely unique, its walls are lined with slabs of bona fide amber – a beautiful but also incredibly expensive decorative technique. The room was looted in World War II and the painstaking and lengthy process to restore the room back to its original state cost more than $12 million.
To only focus on the Amber Room would however deny the rest of the palace's attractions. The so-called Golden Enfilade of state rooms, designed by Rastrelli, is particularly celebrated, as is the Great Hall. A vast 1,000 metres square, its double aspect and monumental, arched windows not only provide incredible views over the estate, but allow a flood of light to reflect off a myriad of mirrors and vast acreage of gilded stucco. Also, don't forget to look up. The huge ceiling is covered in one enormous fresco, The Triumph of Russia.
This optional excursion will cost 109 euro per person, and includes an English-speaking guide, transfer to Tsarskoe Selo, and the entry fee to the Catherine Palace.
Day 4 – Airport departure, transfer from your hotel
Our driver will meet you in your hotel lobby and take you to the airport for your return flight.
See our other Moscow and St Petersburg packages here
