Moscow & St. Petersburg

JUNE 15, 2011 (TUESDAY)
UPON ARRIVAL – AFTER PASSPORT CONTROL AND CUSTOMS - MEET YOUR GUIDE AND TRANSFER TO THE HOTEL

JUNE 16, 2011 (THURSDAY)
10:00 CITY TOUR WITH NOVODEVICHIY MONASTERY
Moscow City Tour is a general overview of the city and its main areas within the boundaries of the Garden Ring and the Boulevard Ring: Red Square, Kremlin, Kitay Gorod, Tverskaya, Arbat and Zamoskvorechje. The tour will include famous landmarks: Red Square and Kremlin, St. Basil's Church, Cathedral of Christ the Savior, Novodevichiy Convent, Luzhniki, the White House, Moskva River and others. You will drive to the Sparrow Hills, 6 km south-west of the Kremlin, topped by the Moscow University skyscraper, for the best panoramic view of the city. Novodevichiy Convent founded in 1524 and proclaimed UNESCO World Heritage site in 2004. The convent has sheltered many famous Russian ladies such as Irina Godunova (the sister of Boris Godunov), Sophia Alekseyevna (sister of Peter the Great), Eudoxia Lopukhina (first wife of Peter the Great) and others.
13:00 LUNCH AT THE LOCAL RESTAURANT
14:00 TRETYAKOV GALLERY
Tretyakov Gallery is located in one of the oldest parts of Moscow Zamoskvorechje, not far from the Red Square. The Tretyakov Gallery is a national treasury which houses the largest and most distinguished collection of Russian art in the world. The gallery was named after Russian entrepreneur Pavel Tretyakov, who donated his house, where the Gallery is still located, surrounding buildings and almost 2000 works of Russian art from his own private collection to the city of Moscow at the end of the 19th century. The collection grew overtime and now features over 100,000 Russian works from medieval icons, including the ones by famous Andrey Rublev, to early 20th century.
18:00 RETURN TO THE HOTEL
19:00 DINNER AT THE HOTEL

JUNE 17, 2011 (FRIDAY)
09:00 BATTLE OF BORODINO PANORAMA MUSEUM"
Panorama Borodino (as it was then called) was opened on August 29, 1912 to commemorate the jubilee victory over Napoleon.The panorama of the Battle of Borodino by Franz Roubaud is the museum's main exhibit. The painting is 115 meters long and 15 meters high. The artist chose to depict the decisive moment of the battle when Napoleon Army wa struck its main blow.The modern equipment of the exposition allows to view the panorama accompanied by special sound-effects, reproducing the battle shooting of the beginning of the 19th century. The current exhibitions are organized in the museum, displaying paintings, engravings, decorative and applied art, numismatic, etc. dating back to the first half of 19th century
12:00 LUNCH
13:00 WWII MEMORIAL ON POKLONNAYA GORA
Standing at 171 metres, Poklonnaya Gora is one of the highest spots in Moscow, and is a home for many interesting landmarks. The main landmark is Park Pobedy (Victory Park), opened in 1995 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the end of WWII. Central alley of the park leads to the memorial church of St. George (also completed in 1995) and an impressive 142-metre obelisk. There are two interesting museums located in the Victory Park: the Museum of Jewish Legacy History and Holocaust, which is inside the Memorial Synagogue at Poklonnaya Hill; and the Museum of the Great Patriotic War.
16:00 FREE TIME
18:00 DINNER
19:30 MOSCOW CIRCUS WITH BACKSTAGE VISIT
23:00 TRANSFER TO THE TRAIN STATION
23:55 OVERNIGHT TRAIN TO ST. PETERSBURG

JUNE 18, 2011 (SATURDAY)
07:55 TRAIN ARRIVES IN ST. PETERSBURG. THE GUIDE WILL MEET YOU AT THE TRAIN STATION.
08:00 CITY TOUR BY BUS
St. Petersburg is one of the most fascinating cities in Europe. You will drive by the elegant buildings on the Nevsky Prospect, stately palaces on Palace Embankment along the Neva River, Palace Square with Winter Palace and Alexander Column, Bronze Horseman - the famous monument to Peter the Great, Admiralty, Schmidt Bridge, Strelka with Stock Exchange and Rosstral Columns, St. Isaac's Cathedral, Peter and Paul Fortress, Alexander Nevsky Lavra, Canal Griboyedova, Fontanka, Kazan Cathedral, Church on Spilled Blood and other finest architectural, historical and cultural landmarks.
12:00 LUNCH IN THE LOCAL RESTAURANT
13:00 PETER AND PAUL FORTRESS
During the tour you will visit Peter and Paul Fortress and St. Isaac’s Cathedral. Peter-and-Paul Fortress was built in 1704 to defend the city from naval attacks; however it never served it purpose. Instead its history is rather gruesome: thousands of laborers died while building the fortress, many political prisoners, including Peter's own son Alexi were kept and tortured in its cells, and the tombs of the Romanov family are in its Cathedral.
14:30 St. IsAAC CATHEDRAL
St. Isaac’s Cathedral is one of the world’s largest Cathedrals and can accommodate about 10,000 audiences. It was designed by then unknown Auguste de Montferrand and opened in 1858. The Cathedral is beautifully decorated inside with marble of 13 colors, malachite, lapis-lazuli, paintings, mosaics and stained glass made by the most famous Russian artists.
16:00 HOTEL “ARBAT NORD” CHECK-IN
19:00 DINNER AT THE HOTEL

JUNE 19, 2011 (SUNDAY)
09:30 TOUR TO PUSHKIN - CATHERINE PALACE AND AMBER ROOM
Pushkin and Pavlovsk are located 25-30 km from St. Petersburg. Pushkin's palaces and parks were created under Empresses Elizabeth and Catherine the Great between 1744 and 1796. The main landmark is the Catherine Palace designed by Rastrelli and named after Elizabeth’s mother, Peter the Great's second wife. Pushkin's original name is Tsarskoye Selo (Tsar's Village). It was renamed in 1937 after Russia’s famous poet who used to study here.
12:30 LUNCH IN "PODVORJE RESTAURANT"
13:30 CONTINUE TO PAVLOVSK
Pavlovsk’s park of woods, lakes and rivers, valleys and avenues, classical statues and temples is one of the most exquisite. The Great Palace is the centerpiece of Pavlovsk. It was designed by Charles Cameron between 1781 and 1786 on Catherine the Great's orders for her son Pavel, the future Paul I.
16:30 RETURN TO THE HOTEL
19:00 DINNER IN THE LOCAL RESTAURANT

JUNE 20, 2011 (MONDAY)
10:00 HERMITAGE TOUR  
The State Hermitage Art Museum occupies six magnificent buildings situated along the embankment of the Neva River, right in the heart of St Petersburg. The leading role in this unique architectural ensemble is played by the Winter Palace, the residence of the Russian tsars that was built according to the design of Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli in 1754-62. This ensemble is extended by the eastern wing of the General Staff building, the Menshikov Palace and the recently constructed Repository. Put together throughout two and a half centuries, the Hermitage collection consists of over 3,000,000 works of art and presents the development of the world culture and art from the Stone Age to the 20th century.
14:30 RETURN TO THE HOTEL OR CONTINUE HERMITAGE TOUR ON YOUR OWN

JUNE 21, 2011 (TUESDAY)
09:30 PETERGOFF (GRAND PALACE AND PARK)
Petergoff (formerly known as Petrodvorets), located on the southern shores of the Finnish Gulf 14 miles (29 kilometers) away from  St. Petersburg. The history of Petergoff began in 1704 when Peter I built a wooden house on the Gulf while overseeing the construction of the nearby Kronstadt Fortress. In 1713 he began transforming the area into an imperial residence. The Grand Palace was inaugurated in 1723 and later expanded by Empress Elizabeth. The Palace is surrounded by a beautiful park famous for its fountains. There are 144 of them, all operating without the use of pumps by a combination of naturally generated water pressure and magic. Each fountain is unique and once you step in the kingdom of fountains you will be surprised by this splendid beauty created by a man.  
14:30 RETURN TO THE HOTEL. FREE TIME
18:00 DINNER AT THE LOCAL RESTAURANT
19:30 PERFORMANCE AT THE MARIINSKY THEATER
23:00 RETURN TO THE HOTEL

JUNE 22, 2011 (WEDNESDAY)
10:00 YUSUPOV PALACE WITH RASPUTIN CELLARS
Morning tour of the Yusupov Palace located on a quiet stretch of the Moika River. This long yellow building once was a residence of the wealthy and respected Yusupov family and is mostly famous as a stage for Russian history's moments of high drama - the murder of Grigory Rasputin, a peasant who had gained control over the tsar's family through his alleged supernatural powers.  
14:00 RUSSIAN MUSEUM
State Russian Museum - the world's largest collection of Russian art. The museum is housed in the former Mikhailovsky Palace designed by famous Carlo Rossi. The Palace was built for Grand Duke Mikhail, brother of Tsars Alexander I and Nicholas I as a compensation for not being able to have his time on the throne. The collection numbers some 400,000 works and covers the entire history of Russian fine art from the tenth century to the present day. It reflects virtually every form and genre of art in Russia, including a unique collection of Old Russian icons, works of painting, graphic art and sculpture, decorative and applied art, folk art and numismatics, as well as the world's finest collection of Russian avant-garde.
17:00 RETURN TO THE HOTEL - FREE TIME
19:00 PERFORMANCE AT THE NIKOLAYEVSKY PALACE WTH SNACKS DURING INTERMISSION
22:00 RETURN TO THE HOTEL

JUNE 23, 2011 (THURSDAY)
11:30 TRANSFERS TO THE AIRPORT