Red October is proud to offer the trip to 3 CAPITALS OF RUSSIA MOSCOW, ST. PETERSBURG, NOVGOROD Dates: TBD 11 - DAYS VIP Historical Cultural - Jewish Heritage Tour $TBD. Land Price YOUR ITINERARY Day 1: Tuesday, Depart USA Your journey to Russia begins this evening as you check-in for your International Flight bound for Moscow. (R/T Air is optional). Day 2: Wednesday, Arrive Moscow, Russia Enjoy International flight as you crosses the international date line and Arrive Moscow. Welcome to Russia, the Land of Tsars. Morning arrival in Moscow, the breathtaking capital situated on the banks of the Moscow River. Arrival in Moscow. RO team will meet you at the airport. Transfer to the Hotel Cosmos****, check-in. Departure for sightseeing tour with photo stops at: the Red Square, Sophia Embankment, historical areas of Moscow, such as Prechistenka Street and Novodevichy Convent. Day 3: Thursday, Moscow Following breakfast embark on a tour introducing you to some of the highlights of this fascinating metropolis: including inside visit Tretyakov Picture Gallery for a guided tour. Visit to Great Choral Synagogue. Continue driving to King David Club Lunch is to be paid on your own. Enjoy the Jewish sights of Moscow including the Berl Lazar Shabbat Center in Marina Roscha. This wooden part of Moscow was the old Jewish area. This afternoon you are free to explore on your own. OPTIONAL: Ballet or Opera performance at Bolshoi Theater Price per ticket varies from USD 220 up to 250 USD, depending on the seats. YOUR TOUR INCLUDES: Transfers on arrival and departure Train tickets (1 st class 2 berth compartment) Moscow - St.Petersburg Assistance of English speaking guide on all tour Transportation by modern minivan or coach on all tour 2 nights at Cosmos **** hotel in Moscow 6 nights at Park Inn Pribaltiiskaya **** hotel in St. Petersburg Buffet Breakfast 9 days Lunch in Novgorod River-Canals Cruise/Farewell dinner All entrance fees to the museums as mentioned in the program VAT, VISA Support Letters
2 Day 4: Friday, Moscow A day to discover Russian vibrant and bustling capital. Following breakfast - Hotel check out. Place your Luggage into hotel s Hold room. Drive to the Kremlin. A guided tour will take you on a visit to the Kremlin, the former residence of Russian tsars. Lunch at a city restaurant is to be paid on your own. After lunch your bus will bring you to Tsaritsyno Museum and Nature Preserve. Located within 20 min drive from the city center this architectural ensemble was constructed in the 18 th century under the decree of Catherine the Great by the Russian Architect BAZHENOV in the neo-and pseudo-gothic style. 5 PM You will be brought by your bus to the city center. Time for your own activities and dinner on your own. 10 PM Meet your Guide at City Center. 10:30 PM Drive to the railway station. 11:55 PM Departure to St.Petersburg by the overnight train (1st class, 2 berth compartment). Day 5: Saturday, St. Petersburg. 08:00 Arrive in the gem of Europe, St. Petersburg for a relaxing 6- night stay. RO Guide will meet you at R/R station. Transfer to the city cafés (for example, Stolle or Elki-Palki) for buffet breakfast (to be paid on your own). 10:00 AM City sightseeing tour incl. major sights and inside visit to the Peter & Paul Fortress you ll see the most interesting architectural and historical sights and monuments. Photo stops at: The Hermitage, The Spit of Basil s Island, The Neva River embankments - University Embankment, Palace Embankment, Admiralty Embankment, the bridges across the Neva. Isaac s Square - St. Isaac s Cathedral, Mariinsky Palace, monument to Nicholas I. Decembrists Square - The monument to Peter the Great, Palace Square - the Winter Palace - former residence of Russian tsars, General Staff of Russian Army, Alexander Column- a monument to Russian victory over Napoleon in the War of 1812.The Square of Arts. Nevsky Prospect- the main street of St. Petersburg and a shopping center. The Field of Mars, the Summer Garden, the Marble Palace, Michael`s Castle, the Church of Our Savior on Spilled Blood, the cruiser Aurora (a revolutionary monument.),smolny Convent and Smolny Institute (the headquarters of the 1917 October Revolution). 01:00 PM Drive to the Hotel "Park Inn Pribaltiiskaya", check-in. 02:00-03:00 PM Lunch at hotel restaurant (to be paid on your own). 03:30 PM Departure to St Isaac's Cathedral (architect Montferrand), one of the finest architectural monuments of the XIX century, the former principal Cathedral of the Russian capital, the largest cathedral in town able to accommodate about 10,000 audience. The cathedral is beautifully decorated inside: marble of 13 colors, malachite, lapis-lazuli, paintings and mosaics made by the most famous Russian artists, impressive stained-glass image of Christ seen through the open doors of the magnificent Icon-Stand etc. 06:00 PM Return to the hotel.
3 Day 6: Sunday, St. Petersburg. Buffet breakfast at Hotel. 09:00 This morning we travel to Peterhof - another Russian Tsars exquisite sight. Visit to the Grand Palace. The Grand Palace built by Peter the Great between 1714 and 1725 was much more modest than imposing palace we see today. The palace was considerably enlarged by Rastrelli in 1747-52.The tour of the Palace usually begins in Peter the Great s Oak Study and continues with Crown Room, Blue Guest Room, Divan Room, Partridge Room, Portrait Hall, White Dinning Room and ends at the Throne Room.. 00:00 AM - 01:00 PM Lunch at the Restaurant "Gallery" located near the Palace On the way back to the city, short drive to Strelna for inside visit to The Transit Palace of Peter the Great. 04:30 PM Return to the hotel. Free time for own activities. Optional: Folklore Show If you are 20 people, USD 75 pp. Day 7: Monday, St. Petersburg. Buffet breakfast at Hotel. 08:30 This morning, travel along the scenic road to Pushkin (Tsarskoye Selo) and Pavlovsk Russian Tsars Residences located in the South outside St. Petersburg. Guided tour of the Catherine s Palace. 11:00 AM Drive to Pavlovsk for inside visit to the Summer Residence of Russian Tsar Paul. 00:30 AM - 01:30 PM Lunch at the Palace Restaurant (to be paid on your own) Before going back to St.Petersburg we make inside visit to the Alexander Palace. Drive back to St.Petersburg. 05:00 PM Back to the city center. Free time for own activities for those wishing to stay in the city center. 05:30 PM Return to the hotel.
4 Day 8: Tuesday, St. Petersburg Buffet breakfast at Hotel. 09:00 This morning we start our Jewish Heritage Tour Visit to the Preobrazhenskoye Jewish Cemetery An important 20th -century architectural monument of the St. Petersburg Jewish Community, the pre-burial house at the Preobrazhensky (Transfiguration) Jewish Cemetery. The Jewish cemetery is named for its location next to the Christian Preobrazhensky (Transfiguration) Cemetery. After the tsarist regime was overthrown, the Christian cemetery was renamed "in memory of the victims of January 9 (Bloody Sunday)". Only the Jewish section retains the original name. Oddly then, the Transfiguration cemetery is recognized by Leningrad residents as a Jewish cemetery. GUIDED TOUR AND A SMALL CONCERT AT THE GRAND CHORAL SYNAGOGUE St.Petersburg Synagogue stands discreetly just off the main thoroughfare, its corkscrew-ribbed cupola poking above the rooftops on the corner of Lermontovski prospect. Visitors are first taken to the gift shop to obtain a skullcap, and then into the red-brick Small Synagogue (Malaya synagogue), whose coffered prayer hall is used for everyday worship; Torah and Hebrew lessons occur in the adjacent Yeshiva, which also dispenses cheap meals to Jewish pensioners. Although the Great Synagogue (Bolshoi synagogue) is reserved for festivals, you can peer through the doors of its main hall, decorated in yellow and white, with a mass of stucco squelches and stalactite moldings; a combination of local color and Moorish motifs that characterizes synagogues throughout Eastern Europe. What makes Petersburg so different is that its Jewish community escaped Nazi genocide, so the synagogue lacks the haunting emptiness of its counterparts in say, Poland or Hungary. The Jewish community is currently estimated at between 6000 and 8000 people, but this says nothing about cultural affinities, many people being of mixed parentage, or else totally non-observant. Lunch at a Kosher restaurant "Le Chaim" (Payable directly to a restaurant) Le Chaim is a Kosher lemehadrin restaurant, where the food preparation process meets all the standards prescribed by Jewish religious law. All Kashrut issues are under the personal supervision of R. Menachem-Mendel Pewzner, Chief Rabbi of Saint-Petersburg. On offer is traditional Jewish, or, to be more precise, Ashkenazik cuisine. At the same time, as the restaurant s head-cook, Vlad Nadezhdin, has years of experience working in Israel, the restaurant menu also includes a number of Israeli dishes Visit to Beit Chabad Jewish Community Center 24, Souza Pechatnikov st. Visit to Kosher food products, books, souvenirs Lermontovsky av. 5:30 PM Back to Hotel or stay in the city center. Time for your own activities. Optional. Ballet at the Mariinsky Theatre. Price per ticket varies from USD 220 up to 350 USD, depending on the seats.
5 Day 9: Wednesday, Novgorod. Buffet Breakfast at hotel. 08:30 Departure for Novgorod for a full day tour (lunch is included). Three and a half hours drive through Leningrad and Novgorod regions. Pass by Luban (where you may stop at fancy decorated houses of local farmers). Arrival in Novgorod. A short coffee break at the Hotel BERESTA. Drive through Novgorod to Kremlin to view the Monument Millennium of Russia. We meet with the city s senior restaurateur and learn about the remarkable restoration projects underway in Novgorod. Including St. Sophia's Cathedral which was built between 1045-1050 inside the Detinets. It is one of the earliest stone structures of northern Russia, a senior contemporary of Notre Dame in Paris, and the cathedrals of Rheims, Amiens and Bamberg. Lunch at a city restaurant (included in price). After Lunch drive to the Yuriev Monastery and the Museum of wooden architecture to see Russian wooden churches and homes of the 12th -19th centuries. Short stop at the Hotel BERESTA. Departure from Novgorod to St. Petersburg. 08:30 PM Return to your hotel. Overnight at Hotel. Day 10: Thursday, St. Petersburg. Buffet Breakfast at hotel. 09:30 Depart from Hotel for a guided tour of the Hermitage Art Museum. 13:30 time for your own activities. Lunch in the city center on your own. 19:00 St. Petersburg from water - A private river-canal cruise/farewell dinner party completes the ST. Petersburg tour. (included in price) Overnight at Hotel. Duration: 09:30 AM - 09:30 PM Day 11: Return to USA Buffet Breakfast at hotel. 09: 30 Check out from hotel and transfer with assistance to St. Petersburg airport and board your return flight to the USA. Your magical journey to Russia ends as you arrive the USA later today. Depart St. Petersburg this afternoon for arrival to USA at the same evening.
6 Please Note: This Tour will run only with a Group of minimum 20 people. Single rooms are available at a supplement. Optional Air (per request) For more information and Reservations please call Mike Finn: (518)-557-1230 Red October USA