meals - full board/srarts with dinner and terminates with lunch
transfers on arrival/departure
porterage
services of an English-speaking guide
circus with return transfer
excursion programme
1st day
Arrival in Moscow, accommodation at the hotel, dinner.
2st day
After breakfast half day city tour - visits to the banks of Moskva-River, to the Bolshoi Theatre and the University situated high on the Vorobiovy Hills for breathtaking view of the city. Walk through the Red Square overshadowed by the Kremlin walls and crowned by the beautiful St.Basil's Cathedral. Contrast the exuberant colours of St.Basil's Cathedral with the stark severity of Lenin's Mausoleum. Lunch at a city restaurant. Exc. to Pushkin Fine Arts Museum, a collection of master pieces from ancient Egypt, Rome and Greece and Western Europe, as well as a very impressive collection of french impressionist paintings Dinner at the hotel.
3st day
After breakfast exc. to the Kremlin (Ground's), 1 Cathedral, the Armoury. The Kremlin is the former residence of Russian tsars, it is an architectural ensemble of unique beauty which took shape between the 15th and 20th centuries. The Armoury Chamber - the treasury of Russian tsars with unique collection of gold and silver items of the 12-19th centuries. Russian arms and armoury of the 12-16th centuries, the state Regalia, Thrones, car-riages and coronation dresse of 16-19th centuries, as well as ambassadorial gifts of the 16-19th centuries. Lunch at a city restaurant. Arbat, metro - Walking tour - the metro with its stations decorated with marble, mosaics, stained class panelts and bronze, sculptures looks like a vast art museum. Circus visit. Dinner at the hotel.
4th day
After breakfast shopping, time at leasure. Lunch at the hotel. Transfer by coach to the airoport.
TOUR TO SERGIEV POSAD (MONASTERY OF THE HOLY TRINITY)
Approx. 7 hours
Enjoy a Russian country side along a 74 km road to Sergiev Posad, a lovely provincial town of Russia whose life centred around the monastery.
An overwhelming panoramic view of the Holy Trinity from the "Pancake" Hill.
A unique monastic ensemble of Russian Orthodoxy from the 15th to the 19th centuries.
A functioning monastery with 200 monks and 300 novices and an Ecclesiastical Academy on its grounds.
A possibility to stand a service and listen to the best choirs of Russia in any of the 5 churches open to public.
Excellent shopping opportunities of a flee market in front of the Holy Gates.
TOUR TO VLADIMIR AND SUZDAL
Approx. 14 hours
Vladimir - Architectural gems of the Golden Ring
Panorama of Vladimir from the platform of St.George Cathedral, a unique architectural example of the 13th century stone carvings.
Assumption Cathedral - a 12th - 18th centuries construction which has preserved world famous frescoes of Andrei Rublev.
A breathtaking display of traditional Russian handicrafts and folk art - lacquer miniature papier-mache boxes; embroidery; rock crystal and glass pieces. Suzdal - almost one thousand years of history
A sightseeing tour of Suzdal including the Kremlin grounds, the Cathedral of Nativity, the largest relic of which is the Golden gates, Europe's rarest survival of the 13th century copper gilding.
A breathtaking collection of the historical and archaeological department of the museum inside Archbishop's Palace, whose architectural masterpiece is the Cross-Vaulted Chamber.
Museum of Wooden Architecture in the open air with church and civil structures of the 18th - 19th century.
A downtown trading arcade, a glimpse into the life of a thriving merchant community of the 18th century.
All inclusive tour accommodation in Moscow at the hotel
Cosmos ****
or Izmailovskaya ***
In St.Petersburg at the hotel
Pribaltiyskaya ****
or Moskva ***
Full board/starts from dinner and terminates with lunch
transfers on arr/dep by a coach with porterage
hard class train Moscow/St.Petersburg/4-berth compartments
services of an English-speaking guide throughout the itinerary
excursion programme
1st day
Moscow. Arrival transfers, accommodation at the hotel. Dinner.
2nd day
Moscow. After breakfast - half day tour of the city-clients see Red Square and St.Basil's Cathedral with its eight colourful onion domes. Then drive to the sparrow hills to see the Olimpic stadium and the building of the Moscow State University. Lunch at a city restaurant. Promenade along old Arbat street where there will also be the change to shop for tipical Russian crafts and gifts. Then visit some Moscow metro stations, omately decorated with sculptures, paintings, mosaics and chandeliers. Dinner at the hotel restaurant.
3rd day
Moscow. After breakfast - visit to the Kremlin, the oldest part of the city and surrounded by huge buttlements. Clients can see the Cathedral Square with wonderful Cathedrals of 15-17th cents with its goldleafed domes and breathtaking interiors, the huge Emperior Cannon and 200 ton Emperor Bell, the largest in the world. The Armoury Museum is also included in our Kremlin tour. That is the oldest museum of Russia, a unique collection of crown jewels, icon covers, Faberge easter eggs and thrones. Lunch at the hotel. Time at leasure. Circus visit. Dinner at the hotel.
4th day
Moscow. After breakfast - tour of the Tretiakov Art Gallery - a vast scope of Russian pictorial art, from the 12th century icons to avangard of the beginning of the 20th century. Lunch at a city restaurant. Time at leasure. Dinner at the hotel. Transfers to the Railway station for the overnight sleeper service to St.Petersburg. Accommodation will be in shared 4-berth compartments.
5th day
St.Petersburg. Transfers to a hotel for breakfast. The sightseeing tour of St.Petersburg, a city of beautiful Baroque Palaces, picturesque canals, splendid avenues and elaborate cathedrals. Visit to Peter and Paul Fortress. It was built during the Russian-Swedish war but then its bastions were turned into political prison cells. Peter and Paul Cathedral was the burial-vault of Russian Emperors since 1725. Lunch at a city restaurant. Time at leasure. Dinner at the hotel.
6th day
St.Petersburg. After beakfast - tour of the Hermitage Museum, one of the biggest museums of the World. Its collection counts over 2.7 milion items, including mastrepieces of Leonardo da Vinchi, Raphael, Rodin, Rembrandt etc. Lunch at a city restaurant. Time at leasure. Dinner at the hotel.
7th day
St.Petersburg - After breakfast - visit to Petrodvorets (Peterhof), the Imperial Summer Residence on the Gulf of Finland. The Palaces and parks with fountains were built in 18th cent. under the order Peter the Great. The tour of the Big Palace includes gala halls, residential rooms and studies. Here art pieces of the 18th and 19th cents. Such as paintings, clocks, chandeliers are displayed. After lunch at one of the restaurants in Peterhoff clients will return to the city by hydrofoil. In the evening - folklore concert. Dinner at the hotel.
8th day
St.Petersburg. After breakfast time at leasure. Lunch at the hotel. Transfers to the airport for the departure.
