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The Splendour of St Petersburg & Moscow

When: 01-08 September 2019 & 15-22 September 2019
Duration: 7 nights
Meeting point: St Petersburg, Russia
Program

Day 1, St Petersburg

Arrival in St Petersburg, Meet & Greet by Motivate Tours Representative
Transfer to the hotel
Check in to your selected hotel
Free time for Dinner
Overnight in the hotel (depending on the time of arrival, an option tour / sightseeing can be suggested)

Day 2, St Petersburg

Breakfast at the hotel
Meeting with your guide for the tour

CITY TOUR

During the tour, you will be taken to the most precious monuments of the city’s rich history and original architecture carefully preserved as the world cultural heritage. You will be able to hear amazing stories and to take fine pictures of the main architectural and historical sites like Nevsky prospect, the Kazan Cathedral, the Winter Palace, Vasilievsky Island, St. Isaac Cathedral, Peter and Paul Fortress, the Senate Square and the Palace Square. The 3-hour sightseeing tour will allow you to get a brief but bright impression of Saint Petersburg.

PETER & PAUL FORTRESS

Peter and Paul Fortress is the place of birth of Saint Petersburg, here began the foundation of this beautiful city. Today it is home to several museums, which exhibit to everyone the splendid history of Saint-Petersburg’s foundation and growth. Here you may visit main museums like the Peter and Paul cathedral – the tallest building in the city center and the burial place of members of the Imperial family – the Grand Ducan Mausoleum, the Boat house, the Artillery Armory, the Mint, Engineering and Commandant's house, guardhouse and many others. The fortress also used to be a political prison as you may see during a visit to its casemates, in the XIX in became the main political prison of Russia

Free time for Lunch
Overnight in the hotel

Day 3, St Petersburg

Breakfast at the hotel
Meeting with your guide for the tour

HERMITAGE. WINTER PALACE (MAIN COLLECTION)

It is hard to imagine a trip to Saint Petersburg without visiting one of the most famous museums worldwide – the State Hermitage. Its priceless collection occupies 5 historical buildings of which the Winter Palace – the former residence of the Russian Royal family – is the most remarkable. Its rooms, decorated with marble and gold provide a fine background for the treasures of the Hermitage. You might be surprised to know that the collection of this unique museum contains over 3 million exhibits including the paintings of Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael and other famous artists; however the collections of the Egyptian, Oriental and Ancient Greek art should not be missed as well. You will be literally overwhelmed by the beauty of the museum and will never forget this magnificent and legendary place

Free time for Lunch
Free time for Dinner
Overnight in the hotel

Day 4, St Petersburg

Breakfast at the hotel
Meeting with your guide for the tour

PETERHOF (PARK ONLY)

Located on the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland, 34 kilometers from St.Petersburg, spectacular Peterhof attracts thousands of tourists with its parks, palaces and, mainly, fountains. Among the suburban parks, Peterhof is probably the most famous for its fountains and is thus frequently compared to Versailles. ‘The Samson’ of the Grand Cascade is the most powerful and magnificent of them and thus has been made a symbol of the park. As a former residence of the Emperors, Peterhof is also the home of several palaces with the Grand Palace as its main landmark. It had been destroyed by the Nazis and then carefully restored as to exhibit the splendor of the Royal way of life. The beauty of Peterhof, its marvelous fountains and palaces has left nobody indifferent, and you will probably be no exception.

Free time for Lunch
Overnight in the hotel

Day 5, St Petersburg, Moscow

Breakfast at the hotel
Check out of the hotel
Transfer to the railway station
Sapsan train St. Petersburg-Moscow (2nd class)
Arriving at the railway station
Free time for LUNCH
Check in at the hotel
Free time for Dinner
Overnight in the hotel

Day 6, Moscow

Breakfast at the hotel
Meeting with your guide for the tour

CITY TOUR

Moscow is the capital of Russian Federation and represents a unique set of old architecture masterpieces and modern high-tech buildings. If you want to know more about the history of the Russian capital, you need to take this City tour! In only a few hours, you will have a glimpse of its main landmarks, such as the Red Square, the Kremlin, the Victory Park, the White House, the Arbat, Cathedral Christ-the-Saviour, the observation platform of Sparrow hills, Lomonosov University and much more! It is an interesting and efficient introduction to Europe’s biggest city.

CHRIST THE SAVIOUR CATHEDRAL

This tour is a wonderful introduction to the most majestic and grandiose cathedral of Moscow. It was edified for the first time between 1839 and 1883, in memory of the Russian’s victory on the Napoleon I, in 1931 it was dynamited and reduced to rubble and then, in 2000 rebuilt again. And today among the necklace of Moscow Cathedral of Christ the Saviour is considered the main temple of the city. During the tour you will hear a lot of the little-known facts from its "biography" and admire the countless details of the stunning interior.

Free time for Lunch
Free time for Dinner
Overnight in the hotel

Day 7, Moscow

Breakfast at the hotel
Meeting with your guide for the tour

KREMLIN (TERRITORY AND CATHEDRALS)

Visit one of the most well-known sights of Moscow – the Kremlin with its red brick walls and 20 towers holding their own unique history. Since its first construction in 1156 as a wooden fortress by the order of Grand Duke Yuri Dolgoruky, it has been rebuilt several times. The current appearance was formed in 1495 by the best architects of Russia and Italy. Today Kremlin is the residence of Russian President and the main symbol of the country, revered by all of its citizens.

RED SQUARE WALKING TOUR

Even if you have seen this place and its landmarks dozens of times, it will be a breathtaking experience to see it in real life. During the walking tour, you will have the time to take pictures of this 73,000 square meters brick-paved square surrounded by the Kremlin Walls, Lenin’s Tomb, St Basil’s Cathedral, Resurrection gate, GUM superstore and the Russian State Historical Museum. Turn to the left, and find yourself in one of the oldest urban public parks in Moscow - Alexander Garden. It keeps a lot of valuable architectural monuments: Kutafia tower of the Kremlin, Italian grotto, an obelisk to the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty, as well as sculptures, fountains and mosaics based on popular fairytales. The guide will tell you about the numerous of important historical events, which took place on the Red square and bring you all around it to discover from different points of view.