Russian Culture & Cuisine

the ultimate cultural tour of St. Petersburg & Moscow

Dates 2008

May 16-26 Jul 18-28 Aug 8-18 Sep 12-22

Price per Person Twin: May, Jul, Sep: $7,920 Aug: $7,130

Single Supplement: May, Jul, Sep: $3,590 Aug: $2,870

Visa  
 $131 per person is the new consulate fee. 
This is valid if papers are received from participants
 at least 4 weeks prior to the USA departure date.

Our Tour Features

* 6 nights at Grand Hotel Europe, Superior Classic rooms
* 1 night on board the Grand Express
* 3 nights at Hotel National, Kremlin-view studio rooms
* Buffet breakfasts daily
* Lunches daily at fine restaurants
* Welcome Dinner at a fine restaurant
* All entrances
* Special visits according to itinerary
* Expert English-speaking guides
* Transfers with porterage
* Touring by deluxe vehicles
* Limited participation

Day 1 Fri:
Arrival St. Petersburg
On arrival, a guided transfer is provided to elegant Grand Hotel Europe. This evening we enjoy a welcome dinner.

Day 2 Sat:
The City & St. Isaac’s Cathedral * The Hermitage Museum
A morning city sightseeing along Nevsky Prospekt, passing Kazan Cathedral, the Lutheran Church of Peter & Paul, Stroganov Palace, Dom Knigi and the Admiralty. At St. Isaac’s Square, we tour the opulent interior of St. Isaac’s Cathedral, built between 1818 and 1849, and named for St. Isaac of Dalmatia, whose Saint’s Day coincided with Peter the Great’s birthday. The interior, all in marble and rare minerals, has columns of rare malachite, huge icons in elaborate gilt frames, gilded sculptures, mosaics and a painted domed ceiling with a skylight. We continue to Decembrists’s Square with the equestrian statue of Peter the Great and on Vasilievsky Island we view the Rostral Columns. After lunch, we drive to Palace Square, formed by the Winter Palace, designed by Rastrelli, and the former General Staff Headquarters by Rossi with the Alexander Column, a 700-ton monolithic piece of red Finnish marble. We tour the collections of French Impressionists and Dutch Masters, view fabulous rooms such as Malachite Hall, with elaborate parquet floors, malachite columns, tables, fireplaces and dazzling chandeliers and have a scheduled special viewing of the dazzling Gold & Diamond Treasuries. (B, L)

Day 3 Sun:
Petrodovrets: the Grand Palace & Monplaisir * Dostoievky House Museum
We travel by hydrofoil to Petrodvorets, largest of the summer estates of the former Czars, to visit Peter the Great’s opulent Grand Palace with rooms of great beauty: the Red Silk Drawing Room, the Green Silk Drawing Room, the Music Room, the Chinese Room, and Chesme Hall and also tour Monplaisir, Peter the Great’s favorite palace, with superb architecture and Dutch and Flemish paintings. We view the sparkling golden fountains, and after lunch, we visit the Dostoevsky House Museum, his last home, with a warm, cozy interior, filled with personal family belongings, photos, furniture and the clock set to the exact time of his death. (B, L)

Day 4 Mon:
The Russian Museum * Yusupov Palace * Kazan Cathedral
After a walking tour of Arts Square formed by buildings all designed by Rossi, we view the collections of the Russian Museum, within the former Mikhailov Palace with gilded and painted woodwork and a splendid frescoed ceiling. We discover works by the Russian Masters - Repin, Kiprensky, Schedrin, Surikov, Serov and Grabar. After lunch, we tour historic Yusupov Palace, built for one of St. Petersburg’s richest noble families, where, in 1916, the monk Rasputin was assassinated. We have a scheduled tour of all its special rooms. We stop at impressive Kazan Cathedral with its curved colonnade of 96 columns, statutes of famous generals of the Napoleonic wars, an interior notable for its 56 monolithic Finnish granite columns and a mosaic floor of colored marble. (B, L)

Day 5 Tue:
Peter & Paul Fortress & Cathedral * Menshikov Palace * Nevsky Monatery
We tour the Fortress of Peter and Paul, once prison for revolutionaries, and its Cathedral where Russian rulers, from Peter the Great to Czar Alexander II, are entombed in splendor of white marble, green jasper & rose quartz. We visit Menshikov Palace, built for Alexander Menshikov, Peter I’s closest associate, and the most splendid palace for its time, noteworthy for its old Delft tiles and stoves. We tour beautiful Nevsky Monastery and visit its famous Tikhvin section with the graves of Dostoevsky, Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov and Mussorgsky and Lazarus section where the famous architects Rossi, Quarenghi, Voronikhin and Starov are laid to rest. (B, L)

Day 6 Wed:
Pushkin’s Catherine & Alexander Palaces * Pavlovsk
We drive to Pushkin, once called Tsarskoye Selo (Czar’s village), to Catherine Palace, built for Peter the Great’s wife, Catherine I. Its façade, similar to that of the Winter Palace, was also designed by Rastrelli. We view rooms with color themes carried out in the upholstery, marbles and wall papers: White Vestibule, Green Dining Room, Blue Drawing Room, the restored, fabled Amber Room, with a fascinating history, and the Ballroom, designed after the Hall of Mirrors. We tour Alexander Palace with its cozy Victorian-style décor. It was the favorite palace of Czar Nicholas II and his family - the last Romanovs. After lunch at Podvorie, we tour Pavlovsk, smallest of the summer palaces, designed for Czar Paul by the Scot Cameron. Behind its simple, elegant façade is a beautiful interior with original period pieces, exquisite porcelains and elegant chandeliers. The palace was lived in by Paul’s widow and subsequent Czars. The palace, greatly damaged in WW II, was restored, and we learn how. (B, L)

Day 7 Thu:
The Summer Gardens * The Hermitage Revisited & to Moscow
We have a walking tour of the Summer Gardens, the green lungs of the city and year-round favorite of the locals. These gardens, bounded on all sides by rivers and canals, have thousands of trees and a multitude of statues, pavilions & alleys. We tour the small Summer Palace, the first proper royal residence built for Peter I. After lunch, a return visit to the Hermitage Museum. We have a late transfer to the rail station for an incomparable overnight journey in top comfort to Moscow on the Grand Express. (B, L)

Day 8 Fri:
Arrival Moscow * Pushkin Museum * Museum of Private Collections
On arrival in Moscow, our guide greets us. We transfer to the Hotel National before exploring the rich collections of French Impressionists, Dutch Masters and other European masters at the Pushkin Museum of Art. After lunch, we tour the unique Museum of Private Collections filled with the favorite possessions and treasures of all kinds of famous Russians, giving us a special insight into their tastes and hobbies. (B, L)

Day 9 Sat:
The Kremlin & Its Treasures * GUM, the Moscow Metro, Elisseyev
We enjoy a walking tour of the Kremlin Territory to view the Bell Tower of Ivan the Great, the Czar Cannon, the Czar’s Bell and visit its elegant Cathedrals. We enjoy two special visits: at the Armory Museum, richest museum in all Russia, with dazzling royal treasures, and the Diamond Fund, where rare diamonds (large to huge), precious gems fashioned into jewelry and baubles for the former nobles are displayed. After lunch we tour GUM, notable for its architecture: an enormous glass-domed ceiling, beautiful arcades and a sparkling fountain. We go underground to see beautiful Metro stations, with mosaics, paintings and chandeliers.We stop to window-shop in Elisseyev, an astounding gourmet emporium with superb Art Nouveau architecture. (B, L)

Day 10 Sun:
The City, Novodevichy Convent, Chorale Synagogue * Tretyakov Picture Gallery
Our morning city sightseeing takes us along Tversakaya Street, to Pushkin Square, through the streets of Old Moscow, across the Moskva River, and up to Sparrow Hills for a superb panoramic view. We view the huge buildings of Moscow University and elegant old churches. We stop to visit Novodevichy Convent, a white-washed brick fortress or kremlin, where many Russian greats such as Gogol, Chekhov, Stanislavsky, Mayakovsky, Chaliapin, Scriabin and Eisenstein are laid to rest. We visit Choral Synagogue, Moscow’s largest and oldest, opened in 1891. After lunch, we tour the colorful collections of the Tretyakov Picture Gallery, housed in a fairy-tale like building with red brick and lots of gingerbread features. We view exceptional paintings by Russian Masters and other works by Serov, Grabar, Vrubel and Surikov. (B, L)

Day 11 Mon:
Departure
After breakfast, guided transfers are provided to Sheremetyevo airport. (B)

Note on Cultural Evening Program:
We can book top seats for cultural events. We provide the program & prices to participants who can then decide what (if anything) they wish to book. A separate invoice will be issued to each participant.