Winter St. Petersburg, Kizhi Island and Karelian Village Discovery Tour (KL-10)

Arrival in St. Petersburg. Our driver will meet you in the arrival sector with a Go Russia sign board. Transfer to the railway station. You will travel on a comfortable fast train to Petrozavodsk. Both 1st (2 berth) and 2nd (4 berth) compartments are available. Arrival in Petrozavodsk early in the morning.

Today you will have a guided city tour around Petrozavodsk. The city (in English translates to Peter’s factory) was founded by Peter the Great in 1703 in an effort to win The Great Northern War against Sweden. We will visit the National Museum of the Republic of Karelia - one of the oldest museums of the Russian North-West established in 1871 – where you will learn about the local history and traditional culture of Karelian people and the Russian North. In the evening we will visit historic village of Kinerma - a natural open-air museum representing a unique complex of traditional wooden architecture in Karelia. Seven of seventeen buildings of Kinerma have status of monuments of architecture. During a guided walking tour you will see dwelling houses and utility structures and visit a wooden chapel of the XVIII century.

The Kizhi museum is one of the most interesting cultural sights in the Northern Russia; it is also included on the UNESCO World Heritage list. This open-air museum includes more than 80 magnificent structures. The most amazing are the 22-dome Church of the Transfiguration (1714) and the oldest wooden church in Russia - the Church of the Resurrection of Lazarus. Dating from the 14th century, its whole structure was built without a single nail! In the evening we will take a local train to St. Petersburg. Arrival in St. Petersburg. Our driver will meet you with a Go Russia sign board at the beginning of the platform. Transfer to the hotel.

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.

The beautiful Yusupov Palace will always be associated with scandal, for it was here that Grigory Rasputin met his grisly fate. This influential figure, said to have wielded significant power over Tsar Nicholas II, was murdered here and the cellar where the crime took place now exhibits artefacts telling that gripping story. The splendour of the palace itself is a far cry from such horrors and you’ll delight in exploring its stunning interiors.

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 of over 3,000,000 works of art representing 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 airport. Our driver will meet you with a Go Russia sign board at the hotel lobby.