Moscow & St Petersburg

Red Square, Moscow

Discover two of the Northern Hemisphere’s most extraordinary, intriguing and exciting cities on this thoroughly absorbing, unforgettable tour.

The Winter Palace, St Petersburg Grand Cascade in Peterhof

Available Feb to Dec 2022 & Feb to Dec 2023 Fly from these airports. Prices from

• Aberdeen £1,079 • Birmingham £1,079 • Bristol £1,079 • Cardiff £1,129 • Edinburgh £1,079 • Glasgow £1,079 • Heathrow £1,109 • Humberside £1,095 • Inverness £1,079 • Leeds/Bradford £1,095 • Manchester £1,079 • Newcastle £1,079 • Norwich £1,095 • Teesside £1,095 Personalise your holiday

• Kremlin & Red Square (half day) – from £54 • Highlights of Moscow (full day) – from £96 • Tsars’ Grand Palaces (full day) – from £120 • Cossack Folklore & Dinner (evening) – from £154 • Peter & Paul Fortress (half day) – from £69 Room for Sole Use from £158

Chapel of St George, Victory Park, Moscow

Finland

Russia

St Petersburg

Moscow

• Spend three nights in Moscow and three nights in St Petersburg • Enjoy a fascinating guided tour of the

Russian capital, the heart of Mother Russia • Take in the Kremlin, the onion-domed

St Basil’s, Lenin’s Mausoleum and the world-famous Bolshoi Theatre • Enjoy a fascinating introductory tour of exquisite St Petersburg, known as the

‘Venice of the North’ • Visit the world-renowned Hermitage

Museum • Train journey from Moscow to St Petersburg • Join optional excursions to the legendary

Peter and Paul Fortress, the Imperial

Palace at Pushkin and Peterhof Gardens • Enjoy some free time in both cities, exploring under your own steam or joining an optional excursion • Six nights’ carefully chosen four-star bed and breakfast accommodation • Outbound flight to Moscow, returning from St Petersburg, with coach travel and transfers throughout • Fully escorted by a friendly, experienced tour manager

Combining three nights in Moscow, the beating heart of Mother Russia, and three in elegant St Petersburg, this hugely enjoyable seven-day holiday includes fascinating guided tours and opportunities to join optional excursions in both cities. With a daytime train journey between the cities, this is a rich Russian adventure of irresistible attraction, one from which you’ll return immeasurably rewarded.

Your Hotels

Day One – Fly to Moscow Upon arrival in Moscow meet your tour manager and transfer by coach to your hotel base, where you’ll stay for the next three nights. Rest and relax after the journey, and enjoy your first evening in the city. Day Two – Included Moscow tour This morning’s included guided tour will introduce you to the fabled Kremlin and adjacent Red Square, where multi-coloured, onion-domed St Basil’s Cathedral, Lenin’s eerie Mausoleum and the former GUM State Department Store, now a glittering shopping mall, can be found. Other highlights of the tour can include Revolution Square, the newly rebuilt Cathedral of Christ the Saviour (one of the city’s most striking landmarks), the Bolshoi Theatre and the infamous Lubyanka, former KGB headquarters. This afternoon, an optional guided walking tour will reveal some of the secrets of the Kremlin, as you pass through the turreted walls and enter a truly fascinating enclave of imposing buildings. Sobornaya Square is home to the trio of cathedrals and the magnificent Ivan the Great Belltower, the Kremlin’s tallest structure. This evening you can choose to round off a wonderful day by enjoying dinner in the city. Day Three – At leisure, or optional tour A further day to enjoy the city. Some will head off to explore under their own steam; many, however, will enjoy a full-day optional highlights of Moscow tour, taking in Victory Park, where the Museum of the Great Patriotic War commemorates the Soviet Union’s incalculable sacrifices in World War Two. The building was designed by architect Anatoly Polyansky, and in its centre sits the Hall of Glory, a white marble room which features the names of over 11,800 of the recipients of the Hero of the Soviet Union distinction. A large bronze sculpture, the ‘Soldier of Victory’, stands in the centre of the Hall of Glory. The museum is also home to a ‘memory book’, which attempts to record the name and fate of every Russian soldier who died in World War Two. Enjoy a visit to one of Moscow’s landmark metro stations and to the Kremlin’s Armoury Palace plus free time for shopping, and the chance of dinner and a final evening in Moscow. Day Four – Train to St Petersburg Transfer to Leningrad Station and board the train to St Petersburg, arriving later today. Sit back and take in the scenery as you enjoy the relaxing journey. On arrival at St Petersburg’s Station, meet your tour manager and transfer to your hotel, where you’ll stay for the next three nights. Enjoy a first evening in St Petersburg at leisure, perhaps choosing to take dinner in the hotel or one of many restaurants in the city. Day Five – Included St Petersburg tour After breakfast enjoy a fascinating orientation and introductory tour of the ‘Venice of the North’, which in fact, but for its canals and innumerable bridges, is more Paris or Madrid, given the grand sweep of its squares and the opulence of its great palaces and civic buildings. Founded by Peter the Great as a westwardlooking bastion, St Petersburg is a match for the finest of all European cities. Palace Square, towered over by the Alexander Column, is also home to the fabled Winter Palace of the Tsars, a Baroque masterpiece that houses part of the extraordinary Hermitage Museum. The exquisite Admiralty building is crowned by a gilded spire and topped in turn by a weathervane in the shape of a frigate, the city’s most enduring symbol. Across the Neva River lies the Peter and Paul Fortress, where the city began, and Peter and Paul Cathedral, burial place of the Romanov Tsars. This afternoon, you’ll step inside the gilded portals of the fabled Hermitage museum, to enjoy a guided tour of some of its phenomenal collection. Entrance fees to the buildings are not included in the morning, but entrance to the Hermitage museum is included in the afternoon. Day Six – At Leisure, or optional excursion Join today’s optional excursion to the Imperial Palace at Pushkin and stunning gardens at Peterhof, both lovingly reconstructed since World War Two, and reflecting the grandeur of Imperial Court life, under Catherine the Great and the Romanovs. Entrance is included to the palace, and a visit is made to Peterhof’s garden. This evening, join an optional evening dinner excursion to a folklore show, to immerse yourself in the traditions of Cossack dancing and folk songs. Day Seven – At Leisure, or optional Peter and Paul Fortress visit followed by departure A last optional excursion includes entrances to, and a guided tour of, the Peter and Paul Fortress, and a visit to the sumptuous, intimate Yusupov Palace, perhaps the city’s finest Imperial residence, scene of the murder of legendary ‘monk’ Rasputin. This afternoon, transfer to the airport for the return flight to the UK at the end of a wonderful break. Holiday Inn Sokolniki, Moscow HHHH Bed & Breakfast nights 1-3

This welcoming hotel is located in the northeast of Moscow and close to Sokolniki metro station, which allows easy access to and from the city centre. The hotel houses a bar, a restaurant, a café, a spa with an indoor heated pool, a fully-equipped gym and a sauna. All rooms have air-conditioning, a safe, telephone, a TV, complimentary Wi-Fi, and 24-hour room service.

Original Sokos Olympia Garden Hotel, St Petersburg HHHH Bed & Breakfast nights 4-6

Close to the Tekhnologicheskiy Metro and with good transport links to Nevsky Prospekt, the Hermitage and St Isaac’s Cathedral, this comfortable hotel has a bar, a restaurant, a lift and complimentary Wi-Fi. All the guestrooms have air conditioning, a hairdryer, flat-screen TV and a safe.