St. Petersburg with Moscow add-on - 10 days from £2019

Accommodation

Hotel Sokos Olympic Garden (4-star) or similar
5 nights’ half board. This hotel offers that little bit of extra comfort and is located close to the centre of St. Petersburg and the attractive Olympic Park. It has a restaurant and lobby bar, sauna and fitness centre. The bedrooms are tastefully decorated and feature private facilities, air-conditioning, TV and internet access. Your hotel will be confirmed in your final documents.

Renaissance Moscow Hotel (4-star)
3 nights' half-board accommodation. One of the best hotels in Moscow, it is located close to the city centre. Facilities include three restaurants, four bars and a coffee house and bakery. There is also a health club with swimming pool, sauna and solarium.The superbly furnished guest rooms all have private facilities, mini-bar, telephone, TV, coffee and tea-making facilities and a safe.

Itinerary

Day 1: UK/St. Petersburg

You’ll fly to St. Petersburg, where we’ll transfer you to your hotel to begin your Russian adventure.

Meals: Dinner

Day 2: St. Petersburg

St. Petersburg is an enticing mix of the historic and the modern, steeped in heritage, intrigue and culture. Your Tour Manager will introduce you to some of its most familiar and famous sights, such as the Peter and Paul Fortress and the Alexander Nevsky Monastery with its cemetery teeming with important Russian names. Just walking around the city is an experience in itself, and you’ll want to stroll along its broad avenues, linger at the baroque palaces and breathtaking cathedrals or sit back and relax over a traditional ‘blini’ pancake from one of the many canal side cafés.

Meals: Breakfast / dinner

Day 3: St. Petersburg

You’ll already have been hypnotised by the graceful architecture of the city, and on today’s tour your Tour Manager will lead you around more of St. Petersburg’s stunning monuments and museums: the incredible St. Isaac’s Cathedral, the Smolny Institute, the Strelka and the fabulous Russian Museum. This is a city where the buildings and the history are intrinsically and emotively linked, and a highlight of the day will be your trip to the Church on Spilled Blood - built as a memorial to Alexander II on the spot where he was murdered.

Meals: Breakfast / dinner

Day 4: The Hermitage

You can’t take a trip to St. Petersburg without seeing the Hermitage, one of the world’s greatest art galleries. Housed in the beautiful Winter Palace, you’ll have a choice of some two million works of art, including the Italian Renaissance and French Impressionist eras and works from the true greats like Picasso, Rembrandt and Matisse. Even the building itself is a work of art, so don’t expect to scratch the surface too deeply - your Tour Manager will help you find some of the highlights with a morning tour, then you’re free to make your own discoveries for the rest of the day.

Meals: Breakfast / dinner

Day 5: Pavlovsk, Pushkin & Alexander Palace

There is life outside the city walls of St. Petersburg, and today you will venture into the beautiful surrounding countryside. Exploring the magnificent estate of Pavlovsk, the flamboyantly Baroque Catherine Palace at Pushkin and finally the Alexander Palace, residence of Russia’s last tsar, will leave you with a taste of the Russian high life and a fascination for the imperial history of this incredible region.

Meals: Breakfast / dinner

Days 6 - 9: Moscow

After lunch you will take the overnight train to Moscow – a vibrant and historic city that holds an incredible fascination for all of its visitors.

Your Moscow visit includes a city tour on arrival, and a second tour the following morning, with the remaining time left free for you to explore this magnificent city at your own pace.

Meals: Breakfast / dinner

Day 10: UK

Transfer to the airport for your return flight home.