Winter Romance and New Year Fun in the Russian Capitals (CB-10)

Arrival in St. Petersburg. Our driver will meet you in the arrival sector with a Go Russia sign board. Transfer to the hotel.

Guided visit to one of the major architectural treasures of the Royal St. Petersburg - settlement of Tsarskoe Selo (Pushkin) located 25km south of the city. This small town has two gigantic palaces, set amidst huge and beautiful parkland: the glorious Catherine Palace, a Baroque masterpiece by the Italian architecture Bartolomeo Rastrelli, and the Alexander Palace, where the last tsar family dwelt. We will visit the Catherine’s Palace with the Amber Room. It features splendid interiors, designed by eminent architects Rastrelli, Cameron, Stasov and Monighetti.

Troika Ride around Catherine’s Palace

The folk show "Feel Yourself Russian" is comprised of the bright performances of St. Petersburg professional folk companies. During two hours of this dynamic colourful and picturesque show you will hear tuneful folk songs - romantic, and full of life, watch sparkling dances of different provinces of Russia, and learn that some items - such as saws, wooden spoons, and other traditional household appliances - can also be used as musical instruments! The national colour of the performance is enriched with the bright dresses made in accordance with Russian traditions.

It is impossible not to fall in love with St. Petersburg, one of the most beautiful cities in the world, and after you visit it, you can understand why. The most European of all Russian towns and cities, St. Petersburg is the second largest city in Russia. Unlike the busy capital Moscow, it is however calm and unhurried, just as a real museum-city should be.

Start your discovery of St. Petersburg with a guided city tour by car that will take you around the stunning "Venice of the North"; you will see the Peter and Paul Fortress, St. Isaac's Cathedral and the Church of Christ's Resurrection (The Saviour of the Blood). You will also see the famous cruiser Aurora; the legendary ship whose canon gave the signal, on the order of Lenin, for the beginning of the Great Social Revolution more than 90 years ago.

Free time in the afternoon for rest and shopping. In the evening you will attend a magnificent ballet performance in one of St. Petersburg’s dazzling theatres! (Please note that the availability of the tickets to a particular performance is subject to the theatre’s performance schedule which is only finalised two months in advance. Transfer to the theatre is not included)

A guided tour of the Hermitage, former residence of the Russian Tzars (famous Winter Palace) and one of best museums of the world. This stunning palace, an architectural masterpiece in itself, contains a collection over 3,000,000 works of art re presenting the development of world culture and art from the Stone Age to the 20th century. The collection includes works of Leonardo Da Vinci, Titian, Raphael, French impressionists, sculptures and treasures icons, coins and Tsar’s jewellery. The Hermitage is an unforgettable place to visit.

Transfer to the railway station. Our driver will meet you with a Go Russia sign board at the lobby of the hotel.

For demanding travellers who prefer to travel in particular comfort, Russian railways now offer a luxury travel option to discover a style fit for a Tzar! The introduction of a new train, the “Grand Express”, on the Moscow-St. Petersburg line is changing current assumptions about comfortable rail travel which is comparable in standard to that of a good hotel. Indeed, the “Grand Express” is a real hotel on wheels that features spacious sleeping compartments with toilets, showers, air-conditioning, wide sofas, LCD TV, DVD-players and WI-FI. “Grand Express” train also has standard 9 compartments carriages of 1st and 2nd class.

Arrival in Moscow. Our driver will meet you with a Go Russia sign board at the beginning of the platform. Transfer to the hotel.

You will enjoy traditional Russian breakfast in a local cafe.

Early check-in in the hotel.

The first part of the day today is devoted to the interesting and unique history of Russia – from ancient times to the modern days. We will travel back in time through several milestone periods. Our first stop is the most recent and most well–remembered Cold War period of military confrontation between the West and the East when the world stood on the verge of nuclear catastrophe.

A guided walking tour around major cultural and historical points in Moscow. You will see one of the famous “Seven Sisters” skyscrapers built during Stalin's last years and initially thought as elite housing. We will visit Lubyanka Square – the world-famous KGB centre of the Soviet epoch, Teatralnaya Square next to Bolshoi Theatre. Then we will continue our walk through the small central streets and lanes where every building has its own unique and interesting story. Most of them currently represent Russian theatres, hotels, museums or state institutions. We will also visit Tverskaya Street – the main and the busiest street in Moscow – with lots of shops, restaurants and unique combination of old, Stalin and modern architecture. We will finish our tour on the pedestrian Old Arbat Street, famous for its souvenirs and street dancers and artists. After the guided tour you will have some free time to browse among the shops selling merchandise and enjoy various Arbat cafes or restaurants.

We invite you to visit the former top secret command centre of the Russian Armed Forces recently converted into museum of the Cold War period. It is the newest museum opened in Moscow. After entering a regular building in a quite central street of the city and a ride on a rapid elevator 65 meters under the ground you will see a real top secret military facility of the USSR. During a short 30 minutes guided tour you will pass through the secret tunnels, see samples of communication equipment and fire arms, learn about the life and functioning of the secured post during the Soviet period.

We will visit the Red Square arguably one of the most famous squares in the world. It’s got its name from the Russian word for "red", which many centuries ago meant "beautiful". Each building here is a legend: you will see brightly-domed St. Basil's cathedral, the world - renowned Lenin Mausoleum, expansive facade of the GUM department store, Kazan Cathedral and Kremlin towers. During the Soviet period the Red Square used to be associated with images of stone-faced communist party leaders standing in the cold atop Lenin's Mausoleum and watching military parades. Today, Red Square is a popular tourist attraction and it is often used for rock and pop concerts including high-profile participants like Paul McCartney, Pink Floyd and others.

You will discover the interior of the Kremlin - the former residence of the Tsars and now the residence of the Russian president. You will also visit the Kremlin’s beautiful orthodox cathedrals. The Cathedral Square still retains the aura of early Tsarist Russia, where the spirits of Ivan the Terrible, Boris Godunov, and the early Romanovs loom large.

The fist mentioning of Armoury recorded in 1508 and it started to function as the storehouse for the Kremlin weaponry. However, within a few decades the structure had gained the added function of a workshop and a repository for all sorts of treasures of the Imperial court. In 1813 the Armoury building became an exhibition hall and a museum. The collection of the Armoury is overwhelming. It contains such exhibits as the chalice of Yuri Dolgorukiy, the helm and armour of Boris Godunov, collection of over fifty Faberge eggs, golden and silver works of applied art by Russian, European and Oriental masters, invaluable weapons and other works made of precious metals and stones.

Guided tour of Moscow Underground – explore one of the masterpieces of the Soviet era created in the Socialist Realism style. Moscow Metro with its stations decorated with marble, mosaics, stained glass panels and bronze sculptures looks like a vast art museum. It was one of the proudest achievements of the Soviet era and it’s still beating many other European underground system with its extremely reliable services.

Transfer to the airport. Our driver will meet you with a Go Russia sign board at the hotel lobby.