Cultural Capital of Russia (6 days)

- Arrival in St.-Petersburg. Meeting with guide.

- City tour: «St.-Petersburg – Northern capital of Russia (only view points, without entrance). During a tour of St.-Petersburg you will see St.Isaac’s Cathedral, the Bronze Horseman, the Admiralty, Winter Palace, Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood and the Field of Mars. Than you will see Vasilyevsky Island, Rostral columns, stock Exchange building.

- Excursion to Peter and Paul Fortress (The tour includes a visit to Peter and Paul Cathedral, the first cathedral of St.-Petersburg, a burial place of the Romanov dynasty).

Transfer to hotel.                                                                      

- Check in at hotel.  

- Breakfast/Dinner.

 ( A guide and transport will be with you for 8 hours in total)

- Arrival in St.-Petersburg. Meeting with guide.

- City tour: «St.-Petersburg – Northern capital of Russia (only view points, without entrance). During a tour of St.-Petersburg you will see St.Isaac’s Cathedral, the Bronze Horseman, the Admiralty, Winter Palace, Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood and the Field of Mars. Than you will see Vasilyevsky Island, Rostral columns, stock Exchange building.

- Excursion to Peter and Paul Fortress (The tour includes a visit to Peter and Paul Cathedral, the first cathedral of St.-Petersburg, a burial place of the Romanov dynasty).

Transfer to hotel.                                                                      

- Check in at hotel.  

- Breakfast/Dinner.

 ( A guide and transport will be with you for 8 hours in total)

- Breakfast in hotel. A guide will meet you in the hotel lobby.

- Enjoy a bus excursion to Peterhof. Peterhofis known as Russian Versailles. The main attraction in Peterhof is its beautiful Lower Park with 150 fountains and four cascades. The main and the most amazing cascade called the Great Cascade is situated in front of the Great Imperial Palace which was the gala summer imperial residence for 200 years (Park complex and the small Palace, Grand Palace – external review).

- Transfer to restaurant. Dinner.

- Transfiguration Cathedral is an Eastern Orthodox cathedral. Unlike most Russian places of worship, this archictural monument has never ceased operating as a place of worship.

- Then you have free time.

- For an additional fee: Midnight St.-Petersburg Cruise: Drawbridges ($ 12 per person)/Russian Ballet in the palace theaters of St.-Petersburg. (from $39 per person).

(A guide and transport will be with you for 9 hours in total)

- Breakfast in hotel. A guide will meet you in the hotel lobby.

- Enjoy a bus excursion to Peterhof. Peterhofis known as Russian Versailles. The main attraction in Peterhof is its beautiful Lower Park with 150 fountains and four cascades. The main and the most amazing cascade called the Great Cascade is situated in front of the Great Imperial Palace which was the gala summer imperial residence for 200 years (Park complex and the small Palace, Grand Palace – external review).

- Transfer to restaurant. Dinner.

- Transfiguration Cathedral is an Eastern Orthodox cathedral. Unlike most Russian places of worship, this archictural monument has never ceased operating as a place of worship.

- Then you have free time.

- For an additional fee: Midnight St.-Petersburg Cruise: Drawbridges ($ 12 per person)/Russian Ballet in the palace theaters of St.-Petersburg. (from $39 per person).

(A guide and transport will be with you for 9 hours in total)

- Breakfast in hotel. A guide will meet you in the hotel lobby.

- Excursion the State Hermitage museum - Russia's best gallery of art and one of the most prominent art museums in the world. The museum was founded in 1764 when Catherine the Great purchased a collection of 255 paintings from the German city of Berlin. Today, the Hermitage boasts over 2.7 million exhibits.

- The Museum of the Imperial Porcelain Factory. The Hermitage exhibition, which opened in 2003, was created on the basis of the collection of Lomonosov porcelain factory museum, which consists of more than 30,000 items including porcelain, glass, drawings, photographs and rare publications. The exhibition shows the stages of development of the first national porcelain factory, founded in 1744, and the history of Russian porcelain. A master class of porcelain painting. You will have an absolutely unique possibility to decorate several porcelain pieces yourself. After baking you will be able to take them back home. You will not only get absolutely unusual souvenirs, but also the brightest, the most pleasant and the most unusual memories of your trip to Russia.

- Transfer to restaurant. Dinner. Then you have free time.

- For an additional fee: Russian folk show at the Nikolaevsky Palace in St.-Petersburg (Enjoy this unique opportunity of getting acquainted with the history and cultural traditions of Russia!) ($59 per person).

(A guide and transport will be with you for 8 hours in total)

- Breakfast in hotel. A guide will meet you in the hotel lobby.

- Excursion the State Hermitage museum - Russia's best gallery of art and one of the most prominent art museums in the world. The museum was founded in 1764 when Catherine the Great purchased a collection of 255 paintings from the German city of Berlin. Today, the Hermitage boasts over 2.7 million exhibits.

- The Museum of the Imperial Porcelain Factory. The Hermitage exhibition, which opened in 2003, was created on the basis of the collection of Lomonosov porcelain factory museum, which consists of more than 30,000 items including porcelain, glass, drawings, photographs and rare publications. The exhibition shows the stages of development of the first national porcelain factory, founded in 1744, and the history of Russian porcelain. A master class of porcelain painting. You will have an absolutely unique possibility to decorate several porcelain pieces yourself. After baking you will be able to take them back home. You will not only get absolutely unusual souvenirs, but also the brightest, the most pleasant and the most unusual memories of your trip to Russia.

- Transfer to restaurant. Dinner. Then you have free time.

- For an additional fee: Russian folk show at the Nikolaevsky Palace in St.-Petersburg (Enjoy this unique opportunity of getting acquainted with the history and cultural traditions of Russia!) ($59 per person).

(A guide and transport will be with you for 8 hours in total)

- Breakfast in hotel. A guide will meet you in the hotel lobby.

- At your choice: Enjoy a bus excursion to Gatchina palace or Tsarskoe Selo.

Gatchina is known for its palace and park. Beautiful and enigmatic suburb of St. Petersburg, was the favorite residence of Emperors Paul I and Alexander III.

Tsarskoye Selo (“Village of Tsars” in Russian) is located some 12 miles away from St. Petersburg, the ensemble of the Catherine's Palace and Park are among Russia's top historical recreation complexes visited by hundreds of thousands tourists every year. It was the residence of the tsars from the beginning of the 18^th century onwards. Famous Amber room is here.

- Transfer to restaurant. Dinner. Then you have free time.

-At your choice: Excursion to the History Museum-Scale Model «Peter the Great Aquatory» or Art Fan Museum.  

«Peter the Great Aquatory» - large scale model of St. Petersburg of 18th century.

Art Fan Museum houses over 300 exponents from almost every corner of the world, the oldest of which dates back to 17th century.

- Then you have free time.

- For an additional fee: Excursion to the Faberge Museum (World's largest collection of works by Faberge) ($14 per person);

(A guide and transport will be with you for 9 hours in total)

- Breakfast in hotel. A guide will meet you in the hotel lobby.

- At your choice: Enjoy a bus excursion to Gatchina palace or Tsarskoe Selo.

Gatchina is known for its palace and park. Beautiful and enigmatic suburb of St. Petersburg, was the favorite residence of Emperors Paul I and Alexander III.

Tsarskoye Selo (“Village of Tsars” in Russian) is located some 12 miles away from St. Petersburg, the ensemble of the Catherine's Palace and Park are among Russia's top historical recreation complexes visited by hundreds of thousands tourists every year. It was the residence of the tsars from the beginning of the 18^th century onwards. Famous Amber room is here.

- Transfer to restaurant. Dinner. Then you have free time.

-At your choice: Excursion to the History Museum-Scale Model «Peter the Great Aquatory» or Art Fan Museum.  

«Peter the Great Aquatory» - large scale model of St. Petersburg of 18th century.

Art Fan Museum houses over 300 exponents from almost every corner of the world, the oldest of which dates back to 17th century.

- Then you have free time.

- For an additional fee: Excursion to the Faberge Museum (World's largest collection of works by Faberge) ($14 per person);

(A guide and transport will be with you for 9 hours in total)

- Breakfast in hotel. Meet with a guide in the hotel lobby.

-The Russian museum of ethnography. The Russian Museum of Ethnography is one of the largest and richest museums in Russia. The museum collections include objects of ethnic culture of more than 150 peoples of Russia and its neighbours. The history of the Russian Museum of Ethnography began in 1902 when the Russian Emperor Nicholas II issued the special Edict No. 420, establishing the Russian Museum of the Emperor Alexander III. 

- Excursion to the state museum of Political History of Russia. The State Museum of Political History of Russia reflects political, economic, and social life of Russian society of the XIXth- XXIst centuries. The exposition ‘The Soviet Epoch: Between Utopia and Reality’ reveals images of that time – Stalin, Khrushchev and Brezhnev – presented in documents, things, and reconstructed interiors. You can see a typical kitchen of communal flat, a cabinet of bureaucrat of 1940-50s, can hear about attitude to religion and art in Soviet society, about prisoners of GULAG and dissident movement.

- Transfer to restaurant. Dinner. Then you have free time.

- For an additional fee: Excursion «Tea in a Communal apartment » (For mini groups) Communal apartments appeared in the Soviet Union following the Russian revolution of 1917. The communal apartment became the predominant form of housing in the USSR for generations, and examples still exist in "the most fashionable central districts of large Russian cities" ($8 per person)/Excursion to ERARTA museum - the largest private museum of contemporary art in Russia. The permanent collection contains over 2300 works by more than 250 artists from all over the country ($8 per person).

 (A guide and transport will be with you for 7 hours in total)

- Breakfast in hotel. Meet with a guide in the hotel lobby.

-The Russian museum of ethnography. The Russian Museum of Ethnography is one of the largest and richest museums in Russia. The museum collections include objects of ethnic culture of more than 150 peoples of Russia and its neighbours. The history of the Russian Museum of Ethnography began in 1902 when the Russian Emperor Nicholas II issued the special Edict No. 420, establishing the Russian Museum of the Emperor Alexander III. 

- Excursion to the state museum of Political History of Russia. The State Museum of Political History of Russia reflects political, economic, and social life of Russian society of the XIXth- XXIst centuries. The exposition ‘The Soviet Epoch: Between Utopia and Reality’ reveals images of that time – Stalin, Khrushchev and Brezhnev – presented in documents, things, and reconstructed interiors. You can see a typical kitchen of communal flat, a cabinet of bureaucrat of 1940-50s, can hear about attitude to religion and art in Soviet society, about prisoners of GULAG and dissident movement.

- Transfer to restaurant. Dinner. Then you have free time.

- For an additional fee: Excursion «Tea in a Communal apartment » (For mini groups) Communal apartments appeared in the Soviet Union following the Russian revolution of 1917. The communal apartment became the predominant form of housing in the USSR for generations, and examples still exist in "the most fashionable central districts of large Russian cities" ($8 per person)/Excursion to ERARTA museum - the largest private museum of contemporary art in Russia. The permanent collection contains over 2300 works by more than 250 artists from all over the country ($8 per person).

 (A guide and transport will be with you for 7 hours in total)

- Breakfast in hotel. Check out from hotel. A guide will meet you in the hotel lobby.

- The Grand maket of Russia - a miniature copy of Russia. The national show-museum “Grand Maket Rossiya” with its area of 800 square meters combines the generalized images of Russia`s towns and regions. The museum doesn`t have analogs in the world and is the only one such a project in the country. It is a unique chance to walk around the whole country from Kaliningrad to the Far East.

- Transfer to airport/railway station.

 (A guide and transport will be with you for 5 hours in total)

- Breakfast in hotel. Check out from hotel. A guide will meet you in the hotel lobby.

- The Grand maket of Russia - a miniature copy of Russia. The national show-museum “Grand Maket Rossiya” with its area of 800 square meters combines the generalized images of Russia`s towns and regions. The museum doesn`t have analogs in the world and is the only one such a project in the country. It is a unique chance to walk around the whole country from Kaliningrad to the Far East.

- Transfer to airport/railway station.

 (A guide and transport will be with you for 5 hours in total)