vodka on ice - 9 days

Day 1: St Petersburg Welcome to Russia and the start of your holiday! Arrival transfer from St Petersburg Pulkovo Airport. Transfer to hotel and check-in. Tonight, our tip-filled Welcome Meeting takes place with an opportunity to meet your tour leader and fellow passengers on your tour. The remainder of the evening is free, maybe head to the bar for a few drinks or the hotel coffee lounge. Overnight - St Petersburg. Day 2: The Hermitage St Petersburg – breakfast. This stunning city founded by Peter the Great, is built around a series of bridge-connected canals and rivers. This morning we take a city tour driving through the museum and university district and along Nevsky Prospekt. Stops with be made at the Church on Spilled Blood and The Bronze Horseman. Later we take a guided tour of The Hermitage, crammed to the rafters with art and treasures, it’s one of the city’s prime attractions. Overnight - St Petersburg.

Want more Russia?     Go the max in St Petersburg and sign up for our pukka pass! Join the revolution evolution or head for outer space at the Star City Cosmonaut Centre! For more information, please click here.

Day 3: Free time to explore
Breakfast. Today there is time for you to independently explore the city or take in a little more culture and history with our optional Pukka Pass bolt-on. Our Pukka Pass includes guided sightseeing, transportation, entrance fees and lunch, with visits to Peter and Paul Fortress on the Petrogradskaya Side, St Isaac’s Cathedral, Catherine Palace at Tsarskoe Selo or one of the other of the summer palaces and lunch. Peter and Paul Fortress, built on the orders of Peter the Great, was at one time a gruesome prison. On the grounds is SS Peter and Paul Cathedral, housing tombs of the Romanov dynasty. St Isaac’s Cathedral is one of the world’s largest and the construction was a colossal engineering feat. Thousands of wood piles were sunk into the city’s marshy ground to support its weight of 300,000 tonnes! From the dome are panoramic views that sweep across the city. The lavish imperial palace at Tsarskoe Selo was designed for Tsarina Elizabeth, who named it Catherine Palace in honour of her mum, Catherine I. The Amber Room is a stunning drawcard.
Overnight – St Petersburg.

Day 4: St Pete’s your way
St Petersburg – Pskov – breakfast. Today, there is time to enjoy St Pete’s your way. Maybe, explore the Gostinny Dvor shopping area, have some delicious St Petersburg ice cream, take a hike along Nevsky or take a cultural and historical evolution by opting for our revolution evolution! bolt-on. Later, we travel by express train to Pskov. Late evening dinner upon arrival. Dinner and overnight – Pskov

Day 5: Pskov & Russian Sauna
Pskov - breakfast. Richly historical Pskov is built around the riverside Kremlin, with a beautiful cathedral. This morning, we’ll enjoy a tour of historical Pskov. Then, steamy windows at a local Russian banya (sauna), before later having a vodka and lunch. Tonight, we enjoy dinner at the hotel. Lunch, dinner and overnight - Pskov.

Day 6: Pechory Monastery
Pskov – Moscow - breakfast. Today, a short drive takes us to tranquil Pechory Monastery, founded in 1473. A sea of colours and architectural styles prevail in the grounds of this still-working cloister. If permitted on the day, we can explore the fascinating burial caves where some 10,000 souls rest. After lunch, we have some alpine fun - ice-skating on a frozen lake or cross-country skiing. *There are no mountains in the region, so a special type of ski is used for crosscountry. If the weather is inclement, then we may have to alter our itinerary and find some other activities to fill our afternoon. Vodka anyone? Tonight we travel by overnight sleeper train to Moscow. Overnight - sleeper train.

Day 7: Red Square
Moscow – breakfast. Here is the city that kept James Bond 007 busy. Today we ride the capital’s Stalinist designed Metro to Red Square and take a guided walk of the Kitay- Gorod and Lubyanka area and Red Square. At the bottom of the square feast your eyes on the wildly coloured, turban domed St Basil’s Cathedral - an enduring Russian symbol. Remains of day free. Moscow’s nightlife is bolshoi (big). Go the large. Overnight – Moscow.

Day 8: Moscow
Breakfast. Today, we return to Red Square where, if open, we can pay our respects to Lenin (the father of Communism) in his eerie mausoleum, followed by a guided tour of the Moscow Kremlin and surrounding grounds housing numerous government buildings, gold-domed cathedrals and the tsar bell. The remainder of the day is free, check out Izmailovsky souvenir market or Novy Arbat fleamarket. Great for purchasing Soviet Red Army memorabilia and Matryoshka, those little hand painted wooden dolls that stack one inside the other. Or head to Gorky Park with its winter ice rink where cheap skates can be hired and neighbouring Sculpture Park, home to redundant statues from Russia’s Communist era, is worth a visit. Alternatively, you’re free to enjoy Moscow your way. A tourist attraction in its own right, the chandelier bedecked and statue-clad Moscow Metro is the most efficient way to get around. Some of Moscow’s most salubrious Metro stations are located in the city’s heart. Enjoy Moscow your way. Overnight - Moscow.

Day 9: Moscow
Moscow – breakfast. Tour ends after breakfast and hotel check out at 12 noon.

Want a more time to relax?
Our Vodka on Ice tour is fast paced ideal for those with plenty of get up and go! If you’d prefer a holiday with a few more creature comforts, consider our 8 day Treasures of the Tsars - Moscow and St Petersburg with ancient Novgorod in between, offering a relaxed pace, plenty of free time, hotel upgrades and more.