Day 1    Moscow

Dinner in the hotel

Arrive in Moscow. Meet with the guide and transfer to the hotel. Check-in.

Day 2    Moscow

Breakfast in the hotel / Free time for lunch /

Dinner in the hotel

→ morning: Moscow city tour. Sightseeing with the guide, main tourist attractions: Red Square with Saint Basil's Cathedral, fortified walls and towers of the Kremlin, Lenin’s Mausoleum, the GUM Department Store, elegant Tverskaya Street, Teatralnaya Square, the Bolshoi Theater, Lubyanka - the headquarters of the former KGB, and Sparrow Hills adjacent to Moscow State University with a spectacular view of the city. Visit to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, rebuilt in the 1990s with extensive use of marble and gold, considered to be the most significant religious structure in Russia - home to the main Orthodox Church ceremonies.

→ afternoon: The Moscow Kremlin and Cathedrals. Excursion inside the Kremlin - the center of political, religious and cultural life of Russia. Visit 3 main cathedrals inside the Kremlin territory.

Day 3    Moscow - Sergiev Posad - Moscow

Breakfast in the hotel / Free time for lunch / Dinner in the hotel

→ morning: Sergiev Posad and Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius tour. Tour with a guide the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius in the town of Sergiev Posad (60 km from Moscow) - the spiritual center of Orthodox Russia. The area holds many splendid churches built in the 15th century - masterpieces of Russian Orthodox architecture.

→ afternoon: Free time available for self-guided or optional visits.

Day 4    Moscow -  St. Petersburg

Breakfast in the hotel / Free time for lunch / Dinner in the hotel

→ morning: Arbat Street and Moscow Metro. Walk along the famous Moscow pedestrian street, The Arbat, frequented by Moscow artists and full of craft shops and clubs of all kinds. Guided tour of Moscow Metro’s most impressive stations representing masterpieces of Soviet design and architecture. 

→ afternoon: Transfer to the train station (with an English-speaking assistant). Departure to St. Petersburg by high-speed daytime train (duration ~4 hours). Arrival in St. Petersburg and meet with the guide. Transfer to the hotel and check-in.

Day 5    St. Petersburg

Breakfast in the hotel / Free time for lunch / Dinner in the hotel

→ morning: St. Petersburg city tour. Sightseeing with the guide, main tourist attractions: Nevsky Prospect, Kazan Cathedral, the Palace Square and the Winter Palace, the Rostral Columns, the Admiralty and Saint Isaak’s Cathedral and Square.

→ afternoon: The State Hermitage Museum. Known to be the most complete art collection in the world. Founded by Catherine the Great in 1764 as a court museum, after 3 centuries of patient collection, the Hermitage boasts works from every art period in total of more than 16,000 paintings.

Day 6    St. Petersburg

Breakfast in the hotel / Free time for lunch / Dinner in the hotel

→ morning: Pushkin, Tsarskoe Selo, Catherine Palace and Park. The town of Pushkin, which surrounds the Tsarskoe Selo ("Tsar Village" in Russian), is considered Saint Petersburg's most charming suburb. In the course of the guided tour we will visit the halls of the Catherine Palace including the world-famous Amber Room and the immense Catherine Park surrounding the residence. 

→ afternoon: The Alexander Nevsky Monastery. Founded in 1710 by Peter the Great in honor of the Russian victory over the Swedes in 1240, it is one of the most important monasteries in Russia and holds the title of ”Lavra”, the most senior rating of Russian Orthodox monasteries.

Day 7    St. Petersburg

Breakfast in the hotel / Free time for lunch / Dinner in the hotel

→ morning: Peter and Paul Fortress. Peter and Paul Fortress is the oldest landmark in the city - founded by Peter the Great in 1703. Architecturally, it is a fortification masterpiece and the kernel from which Saint Petersburg grew into the city it is today. The Czars of the Russian Imperial Romanov family are buried within a cathedral inside the fortress.

→ afternoon: Continue sightseeing and explore the Smolny Convent (from outside), a jewel of Baroque architecture of the 18th century. Visit the Russian Cruiser Aurora (from outside) - famous for having fired the cannon shot that started the Bolshevik Revolution. Walk along the Nevsky prospect to the Kazan Cathedral located on the banks of the Griboedov Canal and dedicated to the Icon of Our Lady of Kazan, one of the most revered in Russia - designed in the image of the Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome. 

Day 8   St. Petersburg

Breakfast in the hotel / Free time for lunch

Free time. Transfer to the airport (with an English-speaking assistant). Departure.