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| Tours to Russia and Eastern Europe |
| A Journey through Northwest Russia to St. Petersburg 9 days/8 nights 2007 Tour Dates: Anytime. Contact us and let us know when you'd like to go. In 2007 Kutrubes Travel continues to offer its popular tour to Russia. This trip is not a tour of the usual sites, but one through which you will gain an understanding of the local culture, traditions, and way of life of the people of Northwest Russia. We start our tour in Tallinn or Riga and transfer to the city of Pskov, seldom visited by Americans. The architectural wonders of Pskov and the natural beauty of the surrounding countryside are among the best kept secrets in Northwest Russia. Pskov is Pushkin country, the location of the poet's family estate. Pskov and neighboring Novgorod are the birthplace of modern Russia and the celebrated setting where Alexander Nevsky fought his battle against German conquest in 1242. Both Pskov and Novgorod are noted for their important styles of Iconography. We visit the historical and cosmopolitan attractions of St. Petersburg and explore these in depth. Please note we need at least one month to arrange for tickets the Marinsky7 in St. Petersburg. This trip can be combined with any of our other tours we offer in this region like our Classic Baltics, Unknown Belarus, Ukraine, or Essential Moldova. |
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Day 1 Transfer to Pskov from Riga or Tallinn followed by check-in at your hotel in Pskov. Pskov is as old as Russia and was the center of the very first trade routes with the west. The city is noted for its own unique style of architecture and iconography. City sightseeing tour includes Pskov Kremlin and Trinity Cathedral built in 1699.Vist the small Prikaznye Palaty Kremlin museum. After Kremlin tour take a short drive to Alexander Nevsky and St.Princess Olga monuments. Lunch at a local café. Last stop is the important Mirozhsky Monastery (UNESCO) with its 12th century Byzantine frescos. Dinner at Prikaznye Palaty for dinner with a folklore group. Day 2 Tour to Izborsk Fortress, a medieval village, and Pechory Monastery from the 14th century still an active Russian Orthodox Monastery today. Visit the monastery's caves for a short tour. Lunch in Izborsk for a taste of "Blinnaya", Russian pan-cakes, with tea or coffee. Continue to Olgin HutorktiIn, a little private museum of Russian daily life and culture. In the afternoon you'll visit a typical Russian family summer house or "dacha" complete with a Russian BBQ and banya (sauna) with veniki (birch twigs). Enjoy this marvelous open-air rest in the Russian countryside at the end of your day with dinner. Overnight Pskov. Day 3 Depart for a tour of the villages of Mikhailovskoye, Trigorskoye and Petrovskoye in the Alexander Pushkin Museum-Reserve. Mikhalovskove is the location of the summer home of Russia's favorite poet Alexander Pushkin. The home was built in the 18th and 19th centuries in a bucolic setting of gardens and forest. Lunch in a local café. Continue to the Pushkin grave and cathedral from the 15th century. Dinner with a typical Russian family. In the summer we overnight in Pushkin Hills where you can better appreciate the beauty of this hidden jewel. Time to collect mushrooms in the surrounding forest with some of the local residents. Day 4 Morning departure for Staraya Russa (Old Russa) one of the oldest Slavic towns situated on the trade route "from the Vikings to the Greeks" founded in 10th century. The visit to Staraya Russa includes a visit to Spaso Preobrazhenskiy Monastery, Nikolskaya Church, and the Dostoevsky museum where he wrote the Brothers Karamazov. We will also visit a local mineral spa know for its healing mineral waters. Lunch at a local café and transfer to Novgorod for overnight. Day 5 Tour the magnificent Novgorod Kremlin, St Sophia Cathedral from the 11th century, and the huge Millennium Monument and Yaroslav's Courtyard. Visit the ancient Marketplace with architectural monuments of the 11th to 17th centuries. Visit to the Monasteries of Sts. Yuri and George and a final visit to Vitoslavlitsy the open air museum of wooden architecture. Dinner in the Kremlin restaurant "Detinets" with delicious Russian dishes. Continue to St. Petersburg for overnight. Day 6 In the morning we start exploration of St. Petersburg, Russia's "Window on The West." Our panoramic city sightseeing tour includes a visit to St.Isaac's Square and Cathedral, the Nevsky Prospect, Russia's "Fifth Avenue", the Neva river embankments and bridges, the Palace Square, and Kazan Cathedral. After lunch, visit Peter and Paul Fortress, the first building of St.Petersburg and burial place of the Romanov Czars, built in 1703. Overnight St. Petersburg. Day 7 Morning tour to the fabled Hermitage, one of the greatest museums and art galleries in the world founded in 1764 by Catherine the Great. View the unbelievable collection of works of Monet, Van Gogh, Leonardo Da Vinci, Rembrandts and more in one of the world's most beautiful palaces. After lunch cruise the rivers and canals of St.Petersburg. Or, visit the Yusupov Palace, were Rasputin was assassinated, poisoned, shot and drowned. Overnight in St. Petersburg. Day 8 Full day Petrodvorets, also know as Peterhoff, described as Peter the Great's "Russian Versailles". He built this unforgettable complex of beautiful palaces, gardens and world famous fountains including his own fabulous villa, Monplaisir overlooking the Gulf of Finland. Return to St. Petersburg for dinner and overnight. Day 9 Transfer to the airport for your flight home TOUR PRICE: Land Cost Per Person: (double occupancy)
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Other Tour Options/Extensions: We can arrange a variety of travel services: from simple airport transfer and hotel to extended villa rentals on the beach. Kutrubes Travel, the expert in the Balkans, offers other tour options/extensions throughout the Balkans including Montenegro, Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia, and Greece. Payment and Refund Policies If you have any questions or you'd like to book this trip, please contact us. Custom itineraries available to this or any of the destinations we travel to. <-- back to list of Tours to Russia and Eastern Europe |
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