Russia Winter Tour | See the Northic Lights | Pyala Travel - Travel Program

Day 1 arrival Saint Petersburg

You will arrive in Saint Petersburg and will be transferred to your hotel. After meeting with guide you can rest of explore city on your own.

Day 2 Saint Petersburg / excursions

Today you will explore Saint Petersburg with a local guide.

Panoramic City tour
During the tour, you will be taken to the most precious monuments of the city’s rich history and original architecture carefully preserved as the world cultural heritage. You will be able to hear amazing stories and to take fine pictures of the main architectural and historical sites like Nevsky prospect, the Kazan Cathedral, the Winter Palace, Vasilievsky Island, St. Isaac Cathedral, Peter and Paul Fortress, the Senate Square and the Palace Square. The 3-hour sightseeing tour will allow you to get a brief but bright impression of Saint Petersburg.

Peter and Paul fortress
Today the Peter and Paul fortress is home to several museums, which exhibit to everyone the splendid history of Saint-Petersburg’s foundation and growth. Here you may visit main museums like the Peter and Paul cathedral – the tallest building in the city center and the burial place of members of the Imperial family – the Grand Ducan Mausoleum, the Boat house, the Artillery Armory, the Mint, Engineering OLTA Travel Russian DMC 191002, Saint-Petersburg, Russia, 5, Raziezzhaya street, office 240 +7 (812) 336 60 80 +7 (812) 710 81 66 101000, Moscow, Russia, 16/4, Mal. Lubyanka street, office 222 +7 (495) 648 68 67 +7 (495) 648 68 67 www.oltatravel.com @ sales@oltatravel.ru and Commandant's house, guardhouse and many others. The fortress also used to be a political prison as you may see during a visit to its casemates, in the XIX in became the main political prison of Russia.

Excursion to Hermitage Museum (Main Building and General Staff)
It is hard to imagine a trip to Saint-Petersburg without visiting one of the most famous museums worldwide – Hermitage and its General Staff. The collection of this unique museum contains over 3 million exhibits including the paintings of Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael and other famous artists; however the collections of the Egyptian, Oriental and Ancient Greek art should not be missed as well. The majestic yellow building across the Winter Palace used to be the head of several ministries of the Russian Empire, hence its name. After its recent renovation, the western wing was chosen to display the Russian and European decorative art, paintings and sculptures from the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as contemporary art of from the Hermitage collection.

Day 3 Saint Petersburg / excursion Pushkin and Pavlovsk

Today you will visit some of the most famous palaces outside Saint Petersburg.

Pushkin (palace and park)
The Summer Palace is the heart of Tsarskoe Selo (Tsar’s Village) – one of the most picturesque parks among the former residences of the Russian Emperors. Here you may feel the atmosphere of the Royal way of life in its entire magnificence. Nowadays the legendary Amber Room, where this precious resin covered the walls in a magnificent and shining style, as well as the radiant interiors have finally regained their former splendor after they suffered from severe damages during World War II.

Pavlovsk (palace and park)
The former residence of the Emperor Paul I and one of the largest English gardens in Europe is located within 3 km from Pushkin. Here you may visit the classical style Emperor’s palace built on the edge of 18 – 19 centuries, and walk over the beautiful parks. The whole ensemble is included in UNESCO World’s Heritage list. The park is divided by 7 different zones with carefully ornamented pavilions in every one of them. Together with Pavlovsk palace you may enjoy the visit to church of Peter and Paul and walk over the monument of Pavel the First, whose statue greets the visitors near the entrance to the ensemble.

Day 4 Saint Petersburg - Murmansk

You will be transferred to the airport for your flight to Murmansk. Here you will be transferred to your hotel. Rest of the day time on your own.

Day 5 Murmansk

Murmansk - the biggest city at the north of the Arctic Circle. Despite of its young age, it holds many attractions that can surprise every tourist. During our sightseeing tour we will visit the Icebreaker "Lenin" - the world's first surface ship with nuclear engine and one of the brightest symbols of the Soviet era. Here you will enjoy the view of the city from the captain's cabin, come down to the engine room and see a real nuclear reactor. Then we will move to the area of "5 corners", the central square of the city. We will continue our journey at the Memorial to the unknown soldier, popularly referred to as “the Monument Alyosha”, visit the monument "Waiting" and the Memorial to the sailors who died in peacetime.

End of the day you go for a northern light hunting, hoping to see the famous aurora borealis. We cannot guarantee of course, but it happens on many days in the winter.

Day 6 Murmansk - Moscow

You fly to Moscow, where you will meet your guide. 
Rest of the day you will enjoy the following excursions:

Izmailovo market
Located only five metro stations away from the center of Moscow, Izmailovo is an incredible place with amazing architecture and welcoming atmosphere of real Russian compound. Among the authentic buildings you will see the museums, studios, markets and a lot of possibilities for entertainment. It is the perfect place for tourist looking for souvenirs and authentic Russian objects like stamps, chapkas, traditionnal clothes, army surplus etc. The entrance of this flea market is free and the prices of matryoshkas and others souvenirs are lower than downtown.

Arbat Street Walk
Arbat Street is one of the oldest surviving street in Moscow. Originally the street was a part of an important trade route and was home to a large number of craftsmen. In the 18th century, Arbat became one of the most prestigious living areas in Moscow and then a place for the intelligentsia and artists to live. During the USSR, it was a place where young people held meetings and protests. The street nowadays reflects this eventful history as it features elegant buildings, a museum in the house of famous Russian poet Pushkin, a lot of nice shops, cafés and restaurants, an entire wall dedicated to the pioneers of Russian rock and the impressive building of the Foreign Affairs Ministry. You must absolutely have a walk in this one kilometer long bustling and vivid street in the very heart of Moscow.

Day 7 Moscow

Today you continue with exploration with a guide of Moscow.

Excursion to the Moscow Kremlin
Visit one of the most well-known sights of Moscow – the Kremlin, with its 19 towers and red brick walls. It was rebuilt several times after since its construction in 1156 byorder of Prince Yuri Dolgoruky as a wooden fortress. Today’s Kremlin was built during the 15th century by Italian architects after the seat of the Orthodox  Church had been moved to Moscow. The rebuilding of cathedrals and chapels of that time shaped the modern appearance of the Kremlin.

City tour
Moscow is the capital of the Russian Federation and represents a unique set of old architecture masterpieces and modern high-tech buildings. If you want to know more about the history of the Russian capital, you need to take this City tour! In only a few hours, you will have a glimpse of its main landmarks, such as the Red Square, the Kremlin, the Victory Park, the White House, the Arbat, Christ-the-Saviour Cathedral, the observation platform of Sparrow hills, Lomonossov University and much more! It is an interesting and efficient introduction to Europe’s biggest city.

Day 8 depart Moscow