New Year’s Journey to St. Petersburg & Moscow 10 days, 9 nights

25.12.23 – 03.01.24

Day 1 понедельник

Arrival in St. Petersburg Meeting with your guide Transfer to the hotel

Day 2 вторник

Breakfast at the hotel Meeting with the guide.

09:00 - 14:00 City tour of St. Petersburg. You will see a unique architectural phenomenon called the Historic Center of St. Petersburg, which was entirely included in the list of World Heritage Sites. This was one of the first cases in UNESCO's practice when the status of monument was granted to a huge landscape, where hundreds of thousands of people live. You will see the monumental St. Isaac's Cathedral, the Admiralty, the Neva River with its granite-clad banks, the Sphinxes brought from Egypt on the University Embankment and aristocratic palaces facing the Neva, the Spit of Vasilyevsky Island with the Rostral Columns, the Winter Palace and the Palace Square, the Summer Garden and the Field of Mars, the Mikhailovsky Castle, the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, picturesque palaces of Nevsky Prospekt, Kazan and Smolny Cathedrals. Visit to the Peter and Paul Fortress, the original citadel and historical core of the city from which it grew. Between the first half of the 1700s and early 1920s it served as a prison for political criminals and is often nicknamed – the “Russian Bastille”. We will visit the Peter and Paul Cathedral, which has a 122.5 m bell-tower and a gilded angel-topped cupola. The cathedral used to be the main cathedral of the Russian Empire for a long time, where all the tsars and tsaritesses of the Romanov dynasty were buried.

14:00 – 15:00 Free time for lunch

Optional:

Visit to the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood – one of the most picturesque churches in St. Petersburg. The church was erected on the site where Russian Emperor Alexander II was assassinated in March 1881.The cathedral differs from other predominantly Baroque and Neoclassical churches of St.

Petersburg and harks back to medieval Russian architecture. Inside, the temple is a truly museum of mosaics. The church contains over 7500 square meters of mosaics—according to its restorers, more than any other church in the world.

Duration of the tour including transfers: 3 hours OR

Visit to St. Isaac's Cathedral, the largest Orthodox cathedral in St. Petersburg. It took 40 years, from 1818 to 1858, to build the cathedral and upon completion it was given the status of a principal church,

i.e. the main Orthodox church of the capital of the Russian Empire. The height of the cathedral is 101.5 meters and the interior area is more than 4,000 square meters. The cathedral is decorated with 112 giant granite columns. The height of the columns of the lower porticoes is about 17 meters, and the columns of the drum of the central dome reach 14 meters. Each of the giant columns consists of a single piece of granite. Ten to twelve thousand people worked around the clock for forty years on the construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral.

Duration of the tour including transfers: 3 hours

Transfer to the hotel Free time

Overnight stay at the hotel

Day 3 среда

Breakfast at the hotel

Visit to the Hermitage Museum (Duration of the tour including transfers: 5 hours. Time of entrance has to be confirmed by the museum and depends on the size of the group)

The State Hermitage Museum is a world-known museum of art and culture. Its collections, only a small part of which is on permanent display, comprise over three million items. The exhibition halls feature works of Italian Renaissance artists, including Giorgione, Titian, Veronese, and Leonardo da Vinci; Italian and Spanish fine art including Tintoretto, Velázquez and Murillo; Dutch Golden Age and Flemish Baroque painting, including the large collections of Van Dyck, Rubens and Rembrandt, and many other paintings and sculptures. The collections occupy a large complex of six historic buildings along Palace Embankment, including the Winter Palace, a former residence of Russian emperors.

Free time for lunch

Optional:

Visit to the Fabergé Museum in Saint Petersburg. The museum's collection contains more than 4,000 works of decorative applied and fine arts, including gold and silver items, paintings, porcelain and bronze. A highlight of the museum's collection is the group of nine Imperial Easter eggs created by Fabergé for the last two Russian Tsars.

Duration of the tour including transfers: 3 hours

Transfer to the hotel Free time

Overnight stay at the hotel

Day 4 четвергBreakfast at the hotel Free Day

Tour of Kronstadt. On the way to the sea fortress of Kronstadt you will drive across the Saint Petersburg Flood Prevention Facility Complex, unofficially the Saint Petersburg Dam, a 25 km long complex of dams for flood control near Saint Petersburg, and learn about St. Petersburg's long history of flooding and flood control. The dam extends from the city of Lomonosov northward to Kotlin Island (on which the city

of Kronstadt is located). Founded in the early 18th century by Peter the Great, Kronstadt had the strategic significance as a primary maritime defense outpost of the former Russian capital. The main base of the Russian Baltic Fleet was located in Kronstadt, guarding the approaches to Saint Petersburg by means of many military fortifications. You will make a stop at the Fort "Grand Duke Constantine". Then during the sightseeing tour around Kronstadt you will see the Kronstadt Footstick - a level gauge for measuring the height of the Baltic Sea level. From the zero mark of the Kronstadt Footstick absolute height measurements are made on the whole territory of the former Soviet Union. You visit the Naval cathedral of Saint Nicholas in Kronstadt (no excursion inside), a Russian Orthodox cathedral built in 1903–1913 as the main church of the Russian Navy and dedicated to all fallen seamen. The Hagia Sophia served as the prototype of this grandiose cathedral.

Duration of the tour including transfers: 6 hours

Day 5 пятница

Breakfast at the hotel Free day

Visit to the famous imperial residence Tsarskoe Selo, created by architect Rastrelli in the Russian Baroque style, which is characterized by majestic ensembles and huge size of buildings, powerful proportions, abundance of color and gilding. We will visit the Catherine Palace, created by Peter the Great for his wife, but it received its present form during the reign of Catherine the Great. Fascinated by antique art, the Empress wished to decorate her apartments in accordance with fashionable tastes and entrusted their decoration to the Scottish architect Charles Cameron, a connoisseur of antique architecture. The interiors he created were characterized by exquisite beauty. The most famous is the Amber Room, the jewel of the Catherine Palace, justifiably called one of the wonders of the world.

Duration of the tour including transfers: 5 hours OR

Excursion to the historic Konstantinovsky Palace, a monument of architecture of the XVIII century, named since 2003 the State Complex "Palace of Congresses". The complex is subordinate to the Department of Affairs of the President of the Russian Federation. The palace has preserved the atmosphere of luxury of tsarist times and multiplied it with the rigor of the Palace of Congresses, where nowadays events at the highest interstate level are held. In July 2006, the Palace of Congresses hosted the G-8 summit in St. Petersburg, and in September 2013 it hosted the G-20 summit. Among the halls visited on a guided tour there are: Marble Hall, Blue Hall, Belvedere, Presidential Drawing Rooms and many others.

Duration of the tour including transfers: 5 hours

Day 6 суббота

Breakfast at the hotel

Check-out and transfer to the railway station.

The high-speed express train Sapsan (literally meaning 'Peregrine Falcon') will bring you to Moscow within approx. 4 hours.

Arrival in Moscow. Meeting with the guide.

Transfer to the hotel. Check-in. Free time for lunch

City tour of Moscow. You will drive along the famous embankments and streets of the historic city: Boulevard Ring and Garden Ring, Kutuzovsky Avenue; you will see the Bolshoi Theater, the Moscow Manege, Stalin's High-rise buildings, the Triumphal Arch, Sparrow Hills, the building of Moscow State University, the Luzhniki Olympic Stadium, the Novodevichy Convent, the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, modern skyscrapers of Moscow City and many others.

Day 7. Воскресенье

Breakfast in the hotel Meeting with the guide

09:00 – 13:00 Visit to Zaryadye Park, a landscape urban park located adjacent to Red Square. The area of the park's facilities is almost 78,000 square meters. The park is divided into four climatic zones: forest, steppe, tundra, and the floodplains. These zones are organized in terraces that descend from northeast to southwest, with each layering over the next to create a total of 14,000 square meters of enclosed, programmed spaces integrated into the landscape: nature and architecture act as one. A total of 760 trees and about 7 thousand shrubs have been planted there. The objects of the park are worth to see: a large amphitheater with a curved glass roof, a concert hall, a scientific and educational center, and many others. Another feature of the new park is a picturesque view of the Kremlin, which visitors can enjoy from the Soaring bridge over the Moskva River. The Soaring bridge is a thin airy V-shaped structure with a large outward extension above the water. The bridge protracts 70 meters without a single support.

The construction withstands a load of 240 tons corresponding to three to four thousand people. Transfer back to the hotel

Free time

Optional:

Festive New Year's Night: Gala-Dinner, live music, contests with prizes and gifts, festive fireworks, dance artists.

No guide services are provided during the program.

Day 8. Понедельник

Breakfast in the hotel FREE DAY

Day 9. Вторник

Breakfast in the hotel Meeting with the guide

09:00 – 13:00 Visit to Red Square and Alexander Gardens. Red Square is one of the oldest and largest squares in Moscow. Owing to its historical significance and the adjacent historical buildings, it is regarded as one of the most notable and important squares in Europe and the world. In addition, it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1990. It is located in Moscow's historic center, in the eastern

walls of the Kremlin. You will see famous buildings such as Saint Basil's Cathedral, Lenin's Mausoleum and the GUM (State Department Store).

Alexander Gardens stretch along all the length of the western Kremlin wall for 865 metres between the building of the Moscow Manege and the Kremlin. The gardens were originally called the Kremlin Gardens, but after the coronation of Alexander II in 1856, the gardens were renamed the Alexander Gardens. Towards the main entrance to the park is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier with an eternal flame. It contains the body of a soldier who fell during the Great Patriotic War at the nearest point the forces of Nazi Germany penetrated towards Moscow. Post Number One, where the honor sentinels stand on guard, used to be located in front of Lenin's Mausoleum, but was moved to the Tomb of The Unknown Soldier in the 1990s.

13:00 – 14:00 Free time for lunch

Visit to the Moscow Kremlin: you will see the unique architectural ensemble of the Moscow Kremlin. Cathedral Square is the heart of the Kremlin. It is surrounded by six buildings, including three cathedrals (During your tour you will be able to visit two cathedrals: one with guided tour and another on your own). The Cathedral of the Dormition was the main church of Moscow, where all the Tsars were crowned. The gilded, nine-domed Cathedral of the Annunciation was originally the personal chapel for the tsars, and its abbot remained a personal confessor of the Russian royal family until the early 20th century. Between the Great Kremlin Palace (only outside view) and the Ivan the Great Bell Tower there is the Cathedral of the Archangel Michael, where almost all the Muscovite monarchs from Ivan Kalita to Ivan V of Russia were buried. The other notable structure is the Ivan the Great Bell Tower (only outside view), which is said to mark the exact center of Moscow and resemble a burning candle. Completed in 1600, it is 81 meters high. The Tsar Cannon is a monument of Russian artillery casting art, cast in bronze in 1586 in Moscow. Mostly of symbolic impact, it was never used in a war. Between the Ivan the Great Bell Tower and the Kremlin Wall there is the Tsar Bell, the largest bell in the world, weighing 201,924 kg.

Duration of the tour including transfers: 4 hours OR

Visit to the Kremlin Armoury. Originated as a royal arsenal, the Armoury was in charge of producing, purchasing and storing weapons, jewelry and various household articles of the tsars. Now the museum holds the treasures of the Golden and Silver chambers of the Russian tsars. The Armoury keeps ancient state regalia, ceremonial royal clothes and coronation dress, liturgical garments of the hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church, the largest collection of gold and silverware made by Russian craftsmen, Western European art silver, monuments of gunsmithing, a collection of carriages, items of ceremonial equestrian decoration.

Duration of the tour including transfers: 4 hours

Transfer to the hotel Free time

Overnight stay at the hotel

Breakfast in the hotel

Check-out of the hotel. Transfer to airport

Program is subject to change due to organizational reasons without reducing the scope of services provided!

The starting times specified in the program are advisory and may change depending on the transport situation and the entrance time confirmed by the museum!

Some optional tours have to be booked long beforehand. Please check the deadlines with your tour provider!

Net Package Rate per person in EUR

 The prices are subject to change depending on the EUR/RUB exchange rate and need to be reconfirmed!!!