A New Russian Route

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHTS: Arrival. Transfer to the hotel.Welcome to Europe!!!. On arrival at the airport we shall be waiting to transfer you to the hotel. You can enjoy free time until your tour starts, information about the meeting place and start time can be found on the information boards in the hotel reception area.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT: Panoramic visit of St. Petersburg. Catherine Palace. With a local guide we begin the panoramic visit of this beautiful city crossed by the Neva River and built on 40 islands. St Petersburg is the second most important city in Russia and capital of the Russian Empire. This imperial city reveals the history of the Russian tsars through its museums, palaces, and architectural wealth. The visit includes the Peter and Paul Fortress (entrance included), origin of the city. The city is surrounded by numerous palaces. We take an excursion, with a guide and tickets, to the CATHERINE PALACE which is located 25km from St Petersburg. It was the Tzars summer Rococo residence. Note: Depending on availability, Peterhof Palace may be visited instead of Catherine Palace. The Peterhof Palace, with very similar characteristics, was also a former residence of tsars.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT: Hermitage Museum. High speed train to Moscow. Today we have included the visit to the Hermitage Museum, with a guide, a fantastic art museum located in the building that was the Tsars’ Winter Palace. In the afternoon we take the “Sapsan”, the modern high- speed train, and in four hours we cover the nearly 800 km separating the two cities, arriving in MOSCOW and transferring to our hotel.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT: City tour of Moscow with entrances. We will start our day with an exciting visit to Russia’s huge capital city. This city unites past, present and future in a very unique way. We will visit the immense avenues, elegant shopping areas, the Red Square where Lenin’s Mausoleum is, Saint Basil’s Cathedral, the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. We will also enter the Kremlin with a visit to two of its main cathedrals. We will try (not guaranteed) to coincide with the ceremonial military parade in Sobornaya Square. Enjoy the afternoon at leisure.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT: Viewpoint over Moscow. Great Patriotic War Museum. We will learn more about the history of Russia and its capital. We will pass by the university viewpoint, with its fantastic view over the city where newly married couples leave flowers (we could go to the viewpoint after Saturday’s visit instead of Sunday) and we will get to know (including entry) the Great Patriotic War Museum (World War II) that also shows us many aspects of the Soviet period. Free afternoon.

TODAY´S HIGHLIGHT: Forests, pretty scenery around the hills of Gorokhovets. Volga district. Dinner included. We leave Moscow early and travel towards VLADIMIR, here we visit with a guide the majestic Cathedral of the Assumption (entrance included) that forms part of UNESCO’s World Heritage. We will then take time for lunch (included). We continue eastwards, stopping in the small town of GOROKHOVETS, its walled Kremlin, great views, 17th century monastery, and surroundings that seem to divert from time. We go on to NIZHNY NOVGOROD, the capital of the federal district of Volga, the fifth most populated city in Russia and the place where Maximo Gorki was born. We will stroll along the banks of the Volga; we will see the monumental staircase going up to the Kremlin and the monument that tells the story of the victims of the Second World War. Dinner included.

TODAY´S HIGHLIGHTS: Makarievo Monastery, Ferry on the river Volga. Lunch included. Leaving the busy roads behind, we continue and encounter large plains, fir forests, lakes, and villages of wooden houses. MAKARIEVO shows us its great 15th century monastery on the banks of the Volga, a beautiful place virtually untouched by tourism. We cross the river Volga by ferry (a crossing of around 20 minutes, cargo ferries cross the river, in very limited conditions). Lunch included. We continue to CHEBOKSARY, the capital of the Republic of Chuvashia, a beautiful and tidy city on the banks of the Volga. Its population speaks Chuvashian, a language of Turkish origin. On arrival, enjoy a small folkloric show (if the group is under 12 people, this show is not given).

We leave for YOSKHAR-OLA, the capital of the Republic of Mari-El. Here the inhabitants, who lived in the forests for centuries, speak a very ancient language derived from Hungarian and Finnish. Its urban centre has been completely transformed in recent years; and is now one of incredible beauty. Here we will take our included lunch. We go on to SVIJASCHK, an island on the river Volga; declared UNESCO World Heritage, and inhabited in the times of Ivan the Terrible. We will take a walk among its churches and its ancient wooden dwellings. Continuing to KAZAN, and to the hotel.

TODAY´S HIGHLIGHTS: city tour of Kazan.A full day in KAZAN, the Tartar capital, and a city with just over a million inhabitants. Enjoy visiting wiht a local guide the Kremlin (entrance included) and the city centre in which the mosques rub shoulders with the Orthodox churches. We will also see the House of Lenin (only on the outside, as it is closed on Mondays), a pleasant early 20th-century traditional dacha. The afternoon is leisure time to explore independently.

After breakfast, transfer to the airport and end of our services.