Once you have checked in you are free to explore on your own. Take in the spectacular sights of St Petersburg with one of our optional excursions, dine at one of St Petersburg’s exclusive restaurants or spend the time relaxing in your hotel.

On the way, you will learn about the history of Tsarskoselskiy ensemble and the tragic destiny of Catherine Palace under the fascist occupation. Upon arrival to Pushkin, you will visit one of the most magnificent monuments of “Baroque” architectural style – Catherine Palace, which is the composite center of the big architectural and park ensemble.

Your full day adventure tour proceeds with a visit to the Russian Museum. The Russian Museum is the first state museum of Russian fine art in the country. It was established in 1895 in St Petersburg under the decree of the Emperor Nicholas II. You will also visit the Church of the Savour.

After the tour, your driver will take you back to your hotel. You will then have a bit of free time to explore St Petersburg or take one of our optional St Petersburg excursions, before going to a local restaurant for a traditional Russian evening meal.

The collection of the State Hermitage includes more than three million works of art and artefacts of the world culture. Among them are paintings, graphic works, sculptures and works of applied art, archaeological finds and more! In addition, to our regular tour in the Hermitage museum we offer an unforgettable visit to the Golden Room, displaying the smallest and most valuable treasures from Catherine the Great and unique artefacts unearthed from Scythian, Greek and ancient Oriental craftsmen including ceremonial arms, plates, dishes and decorations for clothing.

In the afternoon, you will walk to the embankment where the hydrofoil will take you to Peterhof. We will provide lunch boxes on the way. You will start at Dvortsovaya Naberezhnaya, where you will take the Meteor hydrofoil to the very centre of Peterhof.

You will arrive back in the city at 17:00; where you will have an hour to have some free time before the next activity of the day.

Next, you will visit the famous Faberge Museum exhibiting nine Easter eggs made by artisans employed by the House of Fabergé for the last two Russian emperors, known as masterpieces of jewelry art.

Your day will end with an evening meal at the hotel restaurant before being taken from your hotel to the railway station for the Grand Express or Red Arrow train to Moscow. You will spend overnight on the train from St Petersburg to Moscow

Moscow Kremlin is a unique architectural ensemble famous for its spectacular cathedrals including the Cathedral of the Annunciation, the Assumption Cathedral where Russian tsars and imperators were crowned; the Cathedral of the Archangel – a burial place for Grand Princes; Church of the Deposition of the Robe; the Patriarch’s Chambers and the Ivan the Great Bell Tower.

Your tour proceeds with a visit to the Armoury Museum – a world-famous museum-treasury that has a unique collection of ancient state regalia, gold, and silver utensils, Tsars apparels and sacerdotal robes, weapons, luxury carriages and harness.

In the afternoon, you will stop for lunch at Café Pushkin, before embarking on a city tour by car.

Your car tour proceeds from the very centre of Moscow, the Red Square. After observing St. Basil’s Cathedral, Lenin Mausoleum, the State Historical Museum, and other sights of the area we move along the Moskva River embankment. On the way, we enjoy views of Kremlin, and continue to the Cathedral of the Christ the Savior, New Maidens Convent, Moscow State University. Visit to the Sparrow Hills observation spot opens outstanding view on Moscow. The tour concludes with a drive past the Memorial Complex at Poklonnaya Hill and Victory Park, Triumphal Arch, Kutuzov Avenue, New Arbat, Boulevard ring, Pushkin square, Tverskaya street and ending at Manezhnaya Square.

Once your tour is over, you will have time to stop for an evening meal at a local restaurant before being taken to your hotel where you will spend the night.

The tour starts with a visit to the State Tretyakov gallery, a national museum of Russian art dating from the 10th to 20th centuries. Russian factory owner Pavel Tretyakov founded it in the 19th century, and now the Gallery is one of the largest museums in Russia.

After the tour in Tretyakovka, we will stop for lunch at a local restaurant before proceeding with a visit to Museum of Cosmonautics where you will learn about the pioneering achievements of Soviet Russia. The museum no longer focuses exclusively on the achievements of the Soviet space program, but now includes dedicated sections to the space programs of the United States, Europe, China and the International Space Station.

After visiting the Museum of Cosmonautics, the tour proceeds with a walk to VDNKH. As soon as you enter through the arch at the main entrance, you will see the enormous Central Pavilion, a Stalinist structure decorated with reliefs narrating the history of the Soviet Union. Two avenues lead from the fountain and walking along them you will see pavilions devoted to various sectors of the economy (metallurgy, transport, etc.), as well as pavilions devoted to the different republics (Kyrgyzstan, Armenia). These are all impressively eclectic and incorporate architectural styles from a wide array of time periods and nations. There are 50 of them in total.

Once your visit to VDNKH has concluded, you will be taken to a local restaurant for dinner. You will then be taken to the railway station to catch the overnight train from Moscow to Kazan.

After a bit of free time, you will meet for lunch at a restaurant near the hotel before beginning a guided city tour by car. During the tour, you will see the white stone walls of Kazan Kremlin; the Old Tatar Settlement with the first stone mosque – the Al Mardjani Mosque; the legendary lake Kaban, the Tatar State Academic Theatre and more.

Your city tour finishes at 18:00 with a visit to the Chak-chak museum where you will stop for a traditional tea party. The Chak-chak Museum is in an old merchant’s house from an old Tatar settlement. The museum records information about historical and cultural heritage, clothes, and even language, which it recites to visitors interactively. During the tea party, you will learn how to cook chak-chak, and some secrets of cooking other Tatar dishes. Over a cup of tea, you can immerse yourself in the history and life of the Tatar people and learn a lot about its traditions and customs.

You will round off this day with a transfer back to the hotel where you will spend the evening.

Sviyazhsk is located at the confluence of the Volga and Sviyaga Rivers. The distance from Kazan is just over 30 km up to the Volga. Founded in 1551 as a fortress which was built within 4 weeks, Sviyazhsk became a military base of the Russian army during the siege of Kazan in 1552. Now it’s historical and cultural gem of the Republic of Tatarstan. The complex of city buildings includes the works of Ivan Shiryaj and Postnik Yakovlev, famed as one of the builders of Saint Basil’s Cathedral on Moscow’s Red Square. It is rumoured that Sviyazhsk became a prototype of the mysterious Buyan island-city mentioned in the Tale of Tsar Saltan, of His Son the Renowned and Mighty Bogatyr Prince Gvidon Saltanovich, and of the Beautiful Princess-Swan written by Alexander Pushkin.

After your tour of the island, you will stop for lunch involving a masterclass on how to prepare meals of Tatar cuisine. You’ll have a chance to make 3 dishes of Tatar cuisine by yourselves before enjoying your own culinary creations.

An evening transfer will take you to Kazan railway station where you will catch the overnight train to Yekaterinburg.

After lunch, you will have a tour to the museum that is dedicated to the first president of Russia, Boris Yeltsin. Opened in 2015, the Boris Yeltsin Centre is dedicated to the former president and you will get to watch the cars he used in Soviet times and learn about the actions of Boris Yeltsin during the last years of Soviet Union, including how he became president and how he led the country through the times of change, and finally, how he resigned from the office. The complex is set next to a lake in the centre of Yekaterinburg, the industrial city where Mr. Yeltsin lived for much of his life and where Czar Nicholas II and his family were murdered by the Bolsheviks.

Your day proceeds with a walking tour along the Weiner Street – “Yekaterinburg Broadway” with its many cafes, restaurants, pubs and streets. It is a good place to walk along, to relax and have a beer at one of the cafes or pubs there.

Dinner will be served at a local restaurant that serves a local delicacy, Ural Dumplings. You will return to your hotel in the evening where you will spend the night.

As part of this tour, you will get to see the historical centre of the city including the Isset River dam, the monument to the founders of the city, the chapel of Saint Catherine, the patroness of Yekaterinburg; as well as the merchants’ houses of the 19th century standing on the banks of the city pond. You will also get to see the main squares of the city – 1905 Square, where the city administration building stands and the Russian Army Square with the Memorial to Soviet soldiers killed in the Afghanistan War of 1979-1989.

There will be a stopover at a local restaurant for lunch before proceeding with the second half of the day, where you will visit the Church on the Blood of All Russian Saints, built on the former place of Ipatiev’s house, which became the last home for the last Russian Emperor Nicholas II and his family in 1918. Next, you’ll visit the monastery of Holy Majestic Martyrs at Ganya’s Pit before moving along New Moscow road to visit the memorial to the victims of the Stalin regime repressions of the 1930-50s. You will get to know the history of Great Sibiria road and cross the Europe-Asia border (marking the event with a glass of wine!)

You will arrive back in Yekaterinburg in the evening where you will stop for dinner at a local restaurant. After dinner, you will be taken to Yekaterinburg railway station for the overnight train to Novosibirsk.

You will arrive in Novosibirsk later in the evening, where your guide will meet you and take you to your hotel ready for check-in.

In the morning, you will take a tour of the scientific city – Akademgorodok, known as the only scientific city in the world, where all the branches of the sciences are presented. You will enter Akademgorodok by Lavrentiev Prospect, where you will get to see the famous NSU building, Techno-park building, and the House of the Scientists. On your way back to the city centre, you may visit the River Ob reservoir. Next, you will visit the Archaeological Museum at the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography. You will plunge into the past of Siberia, feel the life and culture of the Nomads and discover objects from ancient excavations.

After stopping for lunch in a local café, you will return to Novosibirsk for a full city tour including the Railway Station – the largest station of the Trans-Siberian Railroad; the Ascension Cathedral – the first building made of red brick; Krasny Prospect street; Lenin Square in the city centre with the biggest Russian theatre; St. Nicolas Chapel – the geographic centre of the Russian Empire; and the River Ob’ embankment with the colourful Siberian farmer’s market. Your tour will conclude with a tour inside the largest Opera House in Russia and an authentic dinner at a Siberian restaurant.

Once your tour has concluded you will be transferred to Novosibirsk railway station for the evening departure to Irkutsk. You will spend the next two nights on train.

After breakfast, you will start your day with a 2-hour city tour by car starting at the Epiphany Cathedral, leading to the oldest stone-structure Church of our Savior and the only Catholic Cathedral in Irkutsk, the Polish Roman Catholic Church. The tour continues through Kirov Square and you’ll ride along the main street of Irkutsk, to reach the Angara river embankment, where you’ll see the monument to Alexander III.

Your journey proceeds along the Angara river to the Taltsy museum of wooden architecture. The museum displays the settlements of indigenous Siberian people of the 17th-20th centuries and gives you a window into the communities that call Lake Baikal their home. After visiting Taltsy, you will proceed with a short car journey to Listvyanka village.

On arrival, you will be offered a delicious lunch at one of the local restaurants in Listvyanka before your guided tour of the local Baikal museum. You will see various aquariums displaying local fauna and life around Baikal and a display of the Lake’s only mammal, the Baikal Seal. Your guide will show you the famous Shaman Stone before having the opportunity to take a chairlift to a nearby viewpoint (additional charge) where you will get a chance to take panoramic pictures of Baikal from above.

You will be able to enjoy a traditional Baikal lunch (additional charge) before continuing your visit to the local 19th century wooden St. Nicholas church and the local fish market Listvyanka is famous for.

In the evening, you will check into your hotel or chalet in Listvyanka, and have the option to enjoy a Russian banya experience or a traditional dinner for an additional charge.

After breakfast, you will meet your guide and be taken to Listvyanka pier where a ferry will be waiting to take you across Lake Baikal to the old train station at Port Baikal where you’ll start your day-long trip on this historical train.

In Port Baikal, you can walk around a little or visit the Circum-Baikal Railway Museum before boarding the train. The train will depart from Port Baikal and make stops at villages along the way, which gives you plenty of chance to walk around and take beautiful pictures. The guide will take you through the longest tunnel on the railway and will show you the water pump towers that used to pump water for the steam train.

You will stop for lunch at Polovinnaya station. In the evening, the train arrives at Irkutsk railway station where your driver will meet you and take you to your hotel in Irkutsk.

While travelling on the train you will see the spectacular sites across the southern shore of lake Baikal. You will have plenty of time to relax ready for your evening arrival in Ulan Ude. Your guide will meet you at the station and take you to your hotel to check-in, freshen up and prepare for dinner.

Ivolginsky Datsan is a complex of Buddhist monasteries that is the centre of Buddhism in Russia and pilgrimage site for believers and tourists from all over the world. The Dastan was opened in 1945 as the only Buddhist spiritual center of the USSR. The altars and interiors of the temples of the complex are decorated with authentic works of art.

After exploring Ivolginsky Datsan, you will be taken to the village of Old Believers, a UNESCO World Heritage Site included for its unique cultural heritage. Your visit to the village of Old Believers will include a traditional lunch and folklore performance with Russia represented by the Yakut heroic epos “Olonkho” and the verbal art of the Old Believers in Transbaikalia. The tour includes a visit to the museum and lunch in the Old Believer’s house with an entertainment program.

In the evening, you will be taken back to Ulan Ude for a relaxed walk through the centre of the city including Soviet square, where the largest monument of V.I. Lenin’s head in the world is located. After visiting the square, the tour continues along Lenin’s pedestrian street, past the merchants’ houses of the 18th-19th centuries to Odigitrievskaya church. Your tour ends back at your hotel where you will spend the night.

You will meet your guide very early in your hotel lobby (05:00) where you will be taken to the train station for the train to Khabarovsk city.

After your dinner you will experience an evening city tour of Khabarovsk including the Amur river embankment and Amur Cliff, Muraviev-Amurskiy street and the monument to Muraviyov-Amurskiy – 1st Governor General of Khabarovsk territory. Your tour will continue through Lenin and Soboro-Komsomolskaya square with Uspenskiy Cathedral; the Glory square and Glory Memorial with Eternal Fire; Spasso-Preobrazhenskiy Cathedral and the city ponds – a public recreation area with music and illuminated fountains.

The tour will end around 22:00 at your hotel where you will spend the evening.

Your day will start with a visit to a local school ethnographic museum in Sikachi-Alyan followed by a visit to a local Nanai family, a meeting ritual in folklore style, an excursion around the household and learning about the traditions and lifestyle of the locals. For lunch, you will be served a variety of traditional cuisine including ukha, fish dishes, fresh vegetables, and herbal tea with bakery goods.

After lunch, you will experience either a boat or snowmobile trip (depending on the time of year) to some ancient rock paintings “petroglyphs” dating back to 12000 B.C before heading back to the village for a seasonal masterclass of salmon or pike caviar cooking and tasting.

In the afternoon you will get the chance to take part in Nanai games such as Nanai archery (chuck-catch), “tamyan” triple jumping, sledge jump-over and stick pull-over before experiencing a farewell ritual.

After your Nanai experience, your guide will take you to the railway station for the overnight train from Khabarovsk to Vladivostok.

During the city tour, you’ll visit the main attractions of the city including the viewpoint at Egersheld and Tokarevsky Lighthouse, the railway station and marine station, central Square with the Monument to Fighters, the historical Center of Vladivostok, Svetlanskaya Street, Nikolai Triumph Arch, Korabelnaya Nabereznaya, Vladivostok “Arbat”, before concluding with a visit to the Arseniev museum.

You will stop for a late lunch at a local restaurant before checking into your hotel. Afterwards, you will have some free time to explore the city for yourself, relax in a Russian banya, or enjoy a traditional family dinner.

Russky Island was established in the mid-20th century. In Soviet times, the Island was a military and forbidden island, however, the island has achieved a new status as a popular resort area with unique coastline decorated with fortifications, splendid beaches, azure sea and picturesque coves.

You will stop for lunch at a local restaurant before spending the second part of the day on a military highlights tour.

The Vladivostok Fortress is a unique system of fortifications that is like no other in the world with numerous fortifications that can be seen on the top of the hills, at the base of the cliffs and on the coast. Today you can come across the remains of the fortress everywhere, from the northern suburbs to the islands of the Peter the Great Gulf. During the tour you’ll visit Fortress museum based on the Bezymyannaya battery in the city centre, the C-56 submarine museum located on Korabelnaya Embankment, and Fort #7 located near Zaria Factory.

Your tour will end in the evening with a trip to a local restaurant for dinner before being transferred to your hotel for the evening.