Bright Colours of Russia, 7 days

Arrival in Moscow, International Airport.

Meeting by our guide in the arrival hall in the airport (after Customs zone). Delivery of the transport.

Transfer to the city centre.

Lunch in café/ restaurant downtown (set menu).

Sightseeing tour: You’re to take a fascinating sightseeing tour around Russian capital.

We included the most famous Moscow highlights into the route, so that you will get the most complete picture of the past and present of the city within 4 hours: New Maiden Convent, Savior Christ Cathedral, the Moscow-river embankments, Stalin’s Skyscrapers, Moscow University, Vorobievy Hills, “Luzhniki “Stadium, Walls and towers of Moscow Kremlin, Kitai-gorod, Tverskaya street, Theatre Square, Lubianka Square and many more…

Transfer to the hotel.

Tour by Moscow Cable way in Vorobjevy Hills during sightseeing tour: NOT included into package price.

Arrival at the hotel. Check-in, accommodation. Time at disposal.

Dinner in café/ restaurant downtown or in the hotel (set menu).

Overnight in the hotel.

07:00-09:00 Breakfast in the hotel.

09:00 Meeting with our guide in the lobby of the hotel.

Metro tour with the guide.

Excursion to Moscow Kremlin with the guide: territory and one of the Cathedrals.

Walking tour along Red Square: GUM, Historical Museum (outside), St. Basil Cathedral (outside)

Red Square: There are many tourist routes through old Moscow, but an excursion around Red Square should definitely be at the top of the list. Here you can feel the Russia’s pulse, be transported through its history and appreciate its values.

You will be able to explore Russia’s central square, and admire all its spectacular monuments, each of which has a long history about which entire books could be written: the Kremlin wall and the Spasskaya Tower, the jewel-like Kazan Church, the unique Cathedral of Saint Basil the Blessed, Lenin’s mausoleum, the elaborate State Historical Museum and GUM.

You will walk over the square’s Crimean dolerite cobblestones to the sinister Lobnoye Mesto, and visit the Alexander Garden, dedicated to Russia’s victory over Napoleon. There you will be able to see the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and watch the ceremony of the changing of the guard.

Moscow Kremlin: Many people are unaware that there is more than one kremlin in Russia - after all, "kremlin" is the Russian word for a fortress in the centre of a city. However, the Moscow Kremlin is unique: far more than a fortress, it is the historical heart of Moscow, and the spiritual and political centre of Russia. Every period of the country’s history over the last 500 years is represented here, from the 15th century walls and magnificent 16th- and 17th- century cathedrals to the grand 18th- and 19th- century palaces, and the huge Soviet-era Palace of Congresses. Many of Russia’s greatest leaders have made their contributions to the Kremlin’s architecture and history, including Ivan the Terrible, Mikhail Romanov, Peter the Great, Catherine the Great and Alexander I. The Moscow Kremlin is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the official residence of the President of the Russian Federation. You will learn about the Kremlin’s rich history and its role in Russia’s history over eight centuries. This unique ensemble of majestic buildings is guaranteed to make a lasting impression!

Lunch in café/ restaurant downtown (set menu).

Walking tour in to park “Zariadie”.

Return to the hotel by Metro.

Dinner in cafe/ restaurant downtown or in the hotel (set menu).

Overnight in the hotel.

07:00-08:00 Breakfast in the hotel.

08:00 Meeting with our guide in the lobby of the hotel. Delivery of the transport.

Transfer to Sergiev Posad (75 km, 2 hours).

Sightseeing in Sergiev Posad: visiting the magnificent monastic ensemble of Saint Trinity Convent (cathedral and territory) – a kind of the “Russian Vatican”. It is one the most important Russian monasteries and the spiritual centre of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Convent (lavra) currently is home to over 300 monks. You’ll visit the Assumption Cathedral famous for its unique frescoes and the Trinity Cathedral where the relics of Saint Sergius of Radonezh are located.

Lunch in café/ restaurant downtown (set menu) .

Transfer to Moscow (75 km, 2 hours)

Arrival at the hotel. Time at disposal.

Dinner in café/ restaurant downtown or in the hotel (set menu).

Overnight in the hotel.

07:00-08:00 Breakfast in the hotel.

Check-out from the hotel (till 12:00).

Meeting with our guide in the lobby of the hotel. Delivery of the transport.

Transfer to Leningradsky Railway Station.

Arrival at Leningradsky Railway Station in Moscow.

4 hours SAPSAN Train to Petersburg: tickets are not included into package price.

Arrival in St. Petersburg. Meeting by our guide nearby wagon. Delivery of the transport.

Lunch in café/ restaurant downtown (set menu).

Sightseeing tour: Nevsky prospect, St. Isaac’s Cathedral, Spit of Basil Island, Bronze Horsеman, Neva river embankments…

Transfer to the hotel. Check-in, accommodation. Time at disposal.

Dinner in café/ restaurant downtown or in the hotel (set menu).

Overnight in the hotel.

07:00-09:00 Breakfast in the hotel.

10:00 Meeting with our guide in the lobby of the hotel. Delivery of the transport.

Excursion in Peter and Paul Fortress: territory and Cathedral.

Excursion in Spilled Blood Church.

Peter and Paul Fortress: The fortress was established by Peter the Great in 1703 on small Hare Island by the north bank of the Neva River, the last upstream island of the Neva delta. Built at the height of the Northern War in order to protect the projected capital from a feared Swedish counterattack, the fort never fulfilled its martial purpose. The citadel was completed with six bastions in earth and timber within a year, and it was rebuilt in stone from 1706-1740.

From around 1720, the fort served as a base for the city garrison and also as a prison for high-ranking or political prisoners. The Trubetskoy Bastion, rebuilt in the 1870s, became the main prison block. The first person to escape from the fortress prison was the anarchist Prince Peter Kropotkin in 1876. Other people incarcerated in the "Russian Bastille" include Shneur Zalman of Liadi, Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich, Artemy Volynsky, Tadeusz Kościuszko, Alexander Radishchev, the Decembrists, Grigory Danilevsky, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Maxim Gorky, Mikhail Bakunin, Nikolai Chernyshevsky, Leon Trotsky and Josip Broz Tito. Today, the Peter and Paul Fortress is one of the most fascinating city highlights.

Spilled Blood Church: Visit to the Savior on the Spilled Blood. Architecturally, the Cathedral differs from St. Petersburg's other structures. The Church contains over 7500 square meters of mosaics—according to its restorers, more than any other church in the world. The walls and ceilings inside the Church are completely covered in intricately detailed mosaics — the main pictures being biblical scenes or figures — but with very fine patterned borders setting off each picture.

Lunch in café/ restaurant downtown (set menu).

Excursion to the State Hermitage Museum.

State Hermitage Museum: Visit to the State Hermitage Museum – one of the biggest and most famous museums of the world. According to the ranking of the world’s largest travel website TripAdvisor the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg is the best museum in Europe in 2014. The collection of the Hermitage includes more than three million works of art and artifacts of the world culture. Among them are paintings, graphic works, sculptures and works of applied art, archaeological finds and numismatic material. The main architectural ensemble of the Hermitage situated in the centre of St Petersburg consists of the Winter Palace, the former state residence of the Russian emperors, the buildings of the Small, Old (Great) and New Hermitages, the Hermitage Theatre and the Auxiliary House. The excursion will get you in touch with the most important examples of Occidental Art, you will see masterpieces of Rubens, Rembrandt, Leonardo da Vinci.

Dinner in café/ restaurant downtown or in the hotel (set menu).

Overnight in the hotel.

07:00-09:00 Breakfast in the hotel.

10:00 Meeting with our guide in the lobby of the hotel. Delivery of the transport to the hotel.

Transfer to Kronstadt along St. Petersburg Dum.

Short introduction tour on the way. Visiting Naval Cathedral in Kronstadt.

Kronstadt and Naval Cathedral: the city of Kronstadt is located on the Kotlin Island in the Gulf of Finland. During your trip to Kronstadt, be sure to look at the warships that are in the very center of the city – in the Middle Harbor, which is very convenient for tourists. This is one of the main attractions of Kronstadt and a visiting card of the city.

Now the main base of the Russian fleet is in Baltiysk in the Kaliningrad region, and the secondary base is here in Kronstadt. But Kronstadt is the cradle of the Baltic Fleet, it was here in 1713-1723 under the leadership of Peter the Great that the first five harbors were built – Kotlinskaya (in 1714), Srednyaya and Kupecheskaya, Lesnaya and Voennaya (in 1723). These structures are classified as historical monuments and are the landmarks of Kronstadt.

Transfer to Petershof – the former Tsars' residence. 

Walking tour along the Lower Park of Petershof.

Lunch in café/ restaurant downtown (set menu).

Excursion in one of the palaces of Petershof.

Visit to Petershof (Petrodvorets). One of St. Petersburg's most famous and popular visitor attractions, the palace and park at Petershof (also known as Petrodvorets) are often referred to as "the Russian Versailles", although many visitors conclude that the comparison does a disservice to the grandeur and scope of this majestic estate. Versailles was, however, the inspiration for Peter the Great's desire to build an imperial palace in the suburbs of his new city and, after an aborted attempt at Strelna, Petershof - which means "Peter's Court" in German - became the site for the Tsar's Monplaisir Palace, and then of the original Grand Palace. The estate was equally popular with Peter's daughter, Empress Elizabeth, who ordered the expansion of the Grand Palace and greatly extended the park and the famous system of fountains, including the truly spectacular Grand Cascade.

Improvements to the park continued throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. Catherine the Great, after leaving her own mark on the park, moved the court to Pushkin, but Petershof once again became the official Imperial Residence in the reign of Nicholas I, who ordered the building of the modest Cottage Palace in 1826.Like almost all St. Petersburg's suburban estates, Petershof was ravaged by German troops during the Second World War. It was, however, one of the first to be resurrected and, thanks to the work of military engineers as well as over 1,000 volunteers, the Lower Park opened to the public in 1945 and the facades of the Grand Palace were restored in 1952. The name was also de-Germanicized in 1944, becoming Petrodvorets, the name under which the surrounding town is still known. The palace and park are once again known as Petershof.

Transfer to St. Petersburg.

Dinner in café/ restaurant downtown or in the hotel (set menu).

Overnight in the hotel.

Breakfast in the hotel.

Check-out from the hotel (till 12:00).

Meeting with our guide in the lobby of the hotel.

Transfer to Tsarskoe Selo – the former Tsars' residence.

Excursion in Catherine Palace with the famous Amber room.

Tsarskoe Selo, Catherine Palace with the famous Amber room: This is the residence of Catherine the Great which is famous to the entire world by the Amber Room, unique and special, where all the walls are covered with amber. The room was destructed during the World War II and re-opened to the public only in 2003.

Transfer to Pavlovsk – the former Tsars' residence.

Excursion in Paul’s Palace to admire the beautiful interior of the palace and its collections of China and clocks. The Palace is an 18th-century Russian Imperial residence built by the order of Catherine the Great for her son Grand Duke Paul. After his death, it became the home of his widow, Maria Feodorovna. The palace and the large English gardren surrounding it are now a Russian state museum and public park.        

Farewell early dinner in the restaurant “Podvorie”: Russian degustation menu.

Transfer to the airport “Pulkovo”: transport and guide.

Departure from St. Petersburg.

Price includes:

• DBL/ TWN accommodation x 6 nights in the hotels, including breakfast at the local hotels,
• Registration fees,
• Visa support documents (excluding delivery fee),
• Transport for excursions and transfers - according to the program above,
• Local guide(s) for excursions and transfers – according to the program above,
• Entrance fees to the museums - according to the program above,
• 6 lunches in cafes/ restaurants downtown,
• 7 dinners in cafes/ restaurants downtown or in the hotel.​​​

Price excludes:

• Tips,
• OW “SAPSAN” tickets “Moscow – St. Petersburg”: Economy class: from 4 500 RUB per pax; Business Class: from 9 000 RUB per pax. The prices are given for today. They are dynamic and should be reconfirmed after booking is made,
• Theatre tickets to Bolshoi Theatre: from 4 500 RUB per pax. The price is given for today, depend on the performance and category of seats. The price should be reconfirmed after booking is made,
• Tour by Moscow Cable way in Vorobivy Hills during sightseeing tour in Moscow: from 1 200 RUB per pax,
• Dinner-Cruise on board “Radisson” in Moscow: from 4 500 RUB per pax (incl. cruise duration of 2,5 hours, menu),
• Theatre tickets to Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg: from 4 500 RUB per pax. The price is given for today, depend on the performance and category of seats. The price should be reconfirmed after booking is made,
• Supplement for tickets to Nikulin Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard in Moscow: from 2 000 RUB per pax, price is dynamic and subject to change depending on the category of the performance and seats,
• Excursion to the Faberge Museum in St. Petersburg: 2 000 RUB per pax (incl. entrance fee, guide and transport prolongation),
• Cruise on the Neva-river and small rivers of channels of St. Petersburg (Summer time): from 4 500 RUB per pax (cruise duration 1,5 hours, guide and transport prolongation),
• Supplement for the Hermitage Theatre tickets in St. Petersburg: from 2 500 RUB per pax, price is dynamic and subject to change depending on the category of the performance and seats.

* The program can be changed and recalculated according to your request and group size.

** Upon booking services, changes in the program are possible, depending on availability of tickets and possibilities of museums.  The company reserves the right to make changes in order of excursions, while keeping the program as a whole.