► Tours  ► St Petersburg and Moscow tours ► The best of Russian Capitals tour

  On this private tour, we have selected for you the best sights in the most popular tourist destinations in Russia: Moscow and St Petersburg. In Moscow, you will see the most iconic places in the Russian capital: Red Square, St Basil’s Cathedral, the Kremlin, Sparrow Hills and Victory Park, as well as some of the most beautiful stations of the Moscow Metro. You will visit the main collection of Russian art in the country: the Tretyakov Gallery, and enjoy great views of the city from a cruise along the River Moscow. In addition to all this, you will also go to the VDNKh exhibition park, which will give you a taste of the Soviet Union with its many Soviet-era pavilions and spectacular monuments.

  You will get to St Petersburg via a high-speed train. In the Northern Capital, as St Petersburg is often called, you will visit the main sights in the city and two of the grandest imperial residences located just outside the city.  You will, of course, visit the famous Winter Palace where the tsars once resided and which now holds the State Hermitage Museum, and also see where most of the tsars were buried in the cathedral of the Peter and Paul Fortress. You will have a boat cruise around the city known as the Venice of the North due to its many canals and bridges and guided tours of two of the city’s cathedrals: the Saviour Cathedral on the Spilled Blood, which is wonderfully decorated with mosaics, and St Isaac’s Cathedral, one of the largest cathedrals in the world.

 From St Petersburg, you will have two trips. One to Pushkin (formerly Tsarkoe Selo) to visit the Catherine Palace and its famous Amber Rooms and the other to Peterhof to walk among the gardens of the estate, famous for its many fountains in various forms.

WHY YOU’LL LOVE THIS TOUR

  You’ll see all the main sights of Moscow and St Petersburg in one trip. We included guided tours in the most iconic places of the cities such as the Moscow Kremlin, the State Hermitage Museum, and the Peterhof and Catherine Palaces (including the famous Amber Room). You’ll get a sense of imperial, Soviet and modern Russia.

  Breakfast in the hotel.

  City tour of Moscow by a car - during this tour you will see the Russian capital’s main sights, including:

• Victory Park - a memorial complex dedicated to the Second World War.  The main obelisk here is 141.8 metres symbolising the 1418 days of the Soviet Union’s participation in the Great Patriotic War as WWII is called in Russia.

• Viewing Platform on Sparrow Hills - this is located opposite the main building of the Moscow State University - one of the buildings known as the Seven Sisters or Stalin’s Skyscrapers - and from here you can get a great view of central Moscow. 

• Ulitsa Tverskaya - this is the main street in Moscow and in Soviet times it was completely renovated (and renamed in honour of Gorky) meaning that many of the buildings here are in the empire architectural style preferred by Stalin.

• Novodevichy Convent - one of the oldest convents in Russia and it hasn’t changed much in terms of its architectural style over 500 years. It is protected by UNESCO.

• Krutitskoe Podvorye - this unique corner of Moscow is like a time capsule taking you back centuries.

 Guided tour of the Tretyakov Gallery – on this tour you will visit the world-famous gallery that holds many priceless works of art by famous Russian artists. In addition, the gallery also has a collection of ancient and revered icons.

 Boat trip along the River Moskva - the river after which Moscow is named. The route takes you through central Moscow and allows you to see Red Square, Sparrow Hills and Christ the Saviour Cathedral from a different angle.

 Duration: 7-8 hours |  Transportation: by car and by foot

 Night in Moscow.

3 DAY | RED SQUARE AND MOSCOW KREMLIN

  Breakfast in the hotel.

 Walking tour around Moscow’s historical centre - the highlights of the tour are:

• Aleksandrovsky Gardens – city gardens located next to the kremlin which have several interesting statues.
• Red Square – Russia’s most famous and most beautiful square where you will find St Basil’s Cathedral.
• GUM - the Russian equivalent of Paris’s Galeries Lafayette or London’s Harrods with a Soviet atmosphere and an interesting history.
• Lenin’s Mausoleum – the resting place of the founder of USSR.
• Bolshoi Theatre – one of the most famous theatres in the world.
• Zaryadye Park - from here you can enjoy stunning views of the Kremlin from an artificial hill while also walking through a birch forest, swamp and tundra.
• Christ the Saviour Cathedral – the main cathedral of the Russian Orthodox Church.
• Lubyanka Building – once the headquarters of the KGB, now home to the FSB.

  ​Guided tour of the Moscow Kremlin – the biggest fortress in Russia and Moscow’s main tourist sight. Today it also serves as the official residence of the Russian president. Located inside are the Tsar Bell and Tsar Cannon and several cathedrals and churches which act as the resting place for 47 pre-Peter the Great Russian rulers (including Ivan the Terrible and Dmitry Donskoy).

  Guided tour of St Basil Cathedral (1561) - one of the most recognisable symbols of Russia and one of the most famous churches in the world. In its history, the 16th-century cathedral has survived attempts by both Napoleon and Stalin to destroy it. Inside it consists of several small chapels connected by narrow stairwells.

 Duration: 7-8h |  Transportation: walking tour

 Night in Moscow.

 Afternoon transfer to the railway station.

High-Speed train to St Petersburg, which takes about four hours.

Upon arrival in St Petersburg - transfer to your hotel.

 Night in St Petersburg.

• Peter and Paul Fortress and Cathedral – the oldest part of St Petersburg. The fortress’s cathedral is now a shrine holding the tombs of almost all emperors and empresses of Russia.
• Nevsky Prospekt – St Petersburg’s main thoroughfare.
• Our Lady of Kazan Cathedral – Russia’s equivalent of St Peter’s Basilica in Rome, complete with a large colonnade.
• The Field of Mars – a memorial established after the Russian Revolution.
• Saviour on the Spilled Blood Cathedral (exterior) – a beautiful cathedral somewhat reminiscent of Moscow’s St Basil’s Cathedral, built on the site of the assassination of Emperor Alexander II.
• St Michael’s Castle (exterior) – a residence built for Emperor Paul, where he was subsequently assassinated.
• Anichkov Bridge – one of St Petersburg’s most beautiful bridges decorated with four statues of youths taming wild horses.
• Bronze Horseman – an equestrian statue of Peter the Great which has become a symbol of the city.
• St Isaac’s Cathedral – the largest cathedral in St Petersburg, the current version dates from 1818 and features a huge dome.

  Guided tour of the State Hermitage (Winter Palace) – a private tour around the world-famous art gallery which is located in the Winter Palace, the former residence of the Russian imperial family. Although the gallery houses an outstanding collection of European Art, often the interiors of the palace itself attract the most attention. Your guide will show you the highlights which may otherwise be missed if you are looking around the massive complex yourself.

 Duration: 8h |  Transportation: By private car and by metro

 Night in St Petersburg

 Breakfast in the hotel.

 Guided tour of the Catherine Palace – one of the architectural masterpieces of the style known as Russian baroque which was popular in the mid-18th century. It is one of the most stunning imperial palaces located outside St Petersburg (over 100kg of gold were used to decorate it). It is widely known for its Amber Room which is decorated entirely with amber, although the current version is a replica, since the original was lost in the Second World War.

 Duration: 5-6h |  Transportation: By private car  or by  boat

 Night in St Petersburg.

8 DAY | TOUR OF PETERHOF 

 Breakfast in the hotel.

 Day tour to Peterhof - the most visited imperial residence outside of St Petersburg is the Peterhof Estate which is often called the Russian Versailles. Peter the Great decided to decorate his new residence on the Gulf of Finland with many fountains ranging in size from the massive cascade outside the Grand Palace to small fountains in the form of trees to trick unsuspecting guest.

 Duration: 6-7h |  Transportation: By private car

 The fountains at Peterhof are on between May and October. From October to May, if you prefer, this trip can be replaced with an excursion to the Menshikov and Yusupov palaces in St Petersburg. 

 Night in St Petersburg. 

 Guided tour of the Saviour on the Spilled Blood Cathedral - the collection of mosaics of this cathedral is one of the largest in Europe. The mosaics cover the whole interior of the cathedral, and the production of these masterpieces delayed the completion of the cathedral by ten years! Famous Russian masters - Vasnetsov, Nesterov, Belyaev, Kharlamov, Zhuravlev, Ryabushkin - took part in the work. Even the iconostasis features mosaics.

 Guided tour of St Isaac's Cathedral - this is the largest cathedral in St Petersburg and one of the largest domed buildings in the world. Its construction was the most expensive in the world at the time, making use of 43 types of precious stone and minerals. It is 101.5m tall and can hold 12,000 people. However, its architect only calculated it could hold 7,000 people talking into consideration the large dresses of ladies at the time. During the war, the Nazis used this prominent building as an orienteer on bombing raids over Leningrad. From the top of the cathedral you can enjoy stunning views of the city.

 Boat trip along the Neva - St Petersburg is often called the Venice of the North due to its many canals and bridges. This means that one of the best ways to see the city is from a boat to get a whole different view of the historic centre.

 Duration: 6-7h |  Transportation: walking tour and by boat

 Night in St Petersburg.

• The tour is available the whole year round starting on any day, but please take into account that the museum’s working hours and days-off vary so we reserve the right to change the itinerary while trying to save the excursion programme.
• Optional excursions should be booked before the start of the tour to schedule the itinerary.
• Transportation in Moscow, where travel by metro is designated, can be changed to a car upon request, but please note that the transport situation in Moscow is not very good, so you could get stuck in a traffic jam.
• Tickets to museums cannot be sold without an excursion with a guide.
• During state holidays and celebrations, Red Square may be closed (either partially blocked off or completely closed).
• The price of the tour may be increased during the period of the White Nights (11JUN-10JUL) and when the International Economic Forum (end of May or beggining of June) is being held in St Petersburg. Please check the price when booking.
• All excursions/guided tours included in the itinerary are private which means private guides and private transport along the programme - unless otherwise stated.
• Best time to travel on this route: from the end of April to mid-October and from December to mid-March.

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