PALACES AND MOSQUES

Breakfast at the hotel

09.30   City tour including a visit to the Shuvalov palace to view world’s largest collection of works by Fabergé

During your memorable city sightseeing tour guided by our professional guide you will see the most remarkable architectural ensembles of St.Petersburg: Palace Square and Winter Palace, Spit of the Vassilievsky Island, University Embankment, Main Building of the State St.Petersburg University, Admiralty, Senat Square, Monument to Peter the Great (Bronze Horseman), St.Isaac’s Cathedral and St.Isaac’s Square, Field of Mars and Summer Gardens, Cruiser Aurora, Smolny Cathedral.

City sightseeing tour continues at the Fabergé Museum, located in the Shuvalov Palace on the Fontanka River – one of the most beautiful palaces in St. Petersburg. The museum’s collection contains the world’s largest collection of works by Carl Fabergé, including nine of the famous Imperial Easter Eggs, regarded not only as the finest jeweled works of art, but also as unique historical artifacts. The museum’s collection also includes pieces of decorative and applied art made by the Russian masters of the late 19th  and early 20th centuries.

13.30   Lunch/local restaurant

15.30   Tour of the Hermitage (Main Museum Complex)

Founded in 1764 by the Russian empress Catherine the Great, the State Hermitage Museum is one of the oldest and largest art galleries in the world. It houses more than 2.7 million exhibits. During the tour you will visit 4 buildings of the Main Museum Complex: the Winter Palace, Small Hermitage, Old Hermitage and New Hermitage. You will see works by Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Roden, Rembrandt, Rubens, etc.

18.00   Back at the hotel

Breakfast at the hotel

09.00   Departure to Tsarskoye Selo (Pushkin)

10.30   Tour of the Catherine palace and park

Located 29 km south of St.Petersburg.  Tsarskoye selo became the official summer royal residence in the middle of the 18th century. Catherine palace – a splendid example of the Russian Baroque style – is a stunning royal retreat well-known the world over. The splendor of the palace is magnified by the beautiful park surrounding it. During the tour of the palace you will see elegant state rooms as well as the famous Amber Room.

12.30   Lunch/local restaurant

13.30   Departure to Peterhof

14.45   Tour of the Grand Peterhof Palace

Peterhof palace-ensemble is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is included in the state register of the most valuable cultural objects of the Russian Federation and proudly bears the title of one of the “Seven Wonders of Russia.” As a former residence of the Russian monarchs, Peterhof brings together the finest achievements in national and international culture. The architecture and decor of Peterhof reflects all the artistic styles of the past and the personal tastes and preferences of every Russian monarch.

19.00   Back at the hotel

07.00   Boxed breakfast & Check-out

07.30   Transfer to the Airport for the flight to Kazan at 10.30

12.40 Meeting at the Kazan airport.

Transfer to the hotel. Check in. Free time

14.30 Late lunch in one of the city restaurants with master class

16.30 KAZAN KREMLIN walking tour.

You will visit UNESCO WHS – the Kazan Kremlin – and see Kul-Sharif Mosque – the main Juma mosque of Kazan and the Republic of Tatarstan, the Cathedral of the Annunciation, the Governor’s Palace and one of the symbols of Kazan – the falling tower of Sjujumbike.

18.00 Visit to the National Museum of Republic of Tatarstan

19.00 Transfer to the hotel. Free time

Breakfast at the hotel

Full-day visit to Great Bolgar.

Great Bolgar is the city where local population accepted Islam in year 922.

We invite you to travel back in time, when the Volga Bolgarians explored that area, called “The Country of Cities”. There used to be about 250 small cities around and “Great Bolgar” was the biggest one. Thanks to its exceptionally favorable geographical location at the crossroads of river and land trade routes Great Bolgar quickly transformed into the largest shopping centre, known far in the East and in Europe.

Peter the Great and Catherine II saved the heritage of Bolgar. Now these objects are places of pilgrimage in the “North Mecca”, as the city of the Muslims of Russia has been long called.

During the tour you will also see:

The Red, Black and White Chambers and eastern baths.

Cathedral Mosque and Big Minaret of the Khan Sepulcher.

The Northern and the Eastern Mausoleums.

Lunch in Chingizhan restaurant

Return to Kazan.

Breakfast at the hotel and check-out.

08.00 Departure for the tour of Sviyazhsk Fortress founded by Ivan the Terrible in the second half of the 16^th century. Located within 30 km of Kazan, it is a unique historical and architectural ensemble where numerous monuments of Ancient Russian architecture, orthodox culture and history of the 16^th-20^th centuries have been preserved.

Lunch at a local restaurant

14.00     Transfer to the airport

• hotel accommodation on a Standard TWIN/DBL sharing basis with daily breakfasts: 3 nights in St.Petersburg & 2 nights in Kazan;
• 5 lunches at local restaurants;
• Foreign passport registration fee;
• Transportation for transfers and sightseeing tours as per above itinerary;
• Fully licensed English speaking guide for transfers and sightseeing tours as per above itinerary;
• Entrances to the Hermitage (Main Museum Complex), Grand Peterhof Palace, Fabergé Museum, Catherine Palace & Park in Tsarskoye Selo (Pushkin), Kazan Kremlin, Bolgar, Sviyazhsk, National Museum of Tatarstan.