► Tours  ► St Petersburg and Moscow tours ► Two Capitals via the Small Golden Ring

 Total distance of the tour: 1161km  -  851km |  310km

1 DAY / MOSCOW

 Arrival in Moscow. Transfer to your hotel. Free time in the city, although if you arrive in the morning we can organise an excursion on this day.

 Night in Moscow.

2 DAY / MOSCOW - CITY TOUR - KREMLIN

• Red Square – one of the most famous squares in the world, famous for St Basil’s Cathedral which is one of the most recognisable symbols of Russia.
• Lenin’s Mausoleum – where the body of Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the World Proletariat, still lies, embalmed in a glass box.
• GUM – a famous shopping centre located on Red Square.
• Aleksandrovsky Gardens – gardens which run along the northern wall of the Kremlin.
• Lubyanka KGB Building – an impressive building once home to the KGB; it is now the headquarters of the Federal Security Bureau.
• Christ the Saviour Cathedral – the largest place of worship in Russia, it was rebuilt in the 1990s after the original was destroyed on the orders of Stalin.
• Ulitsa Arbat – a popular pedestrian street which has souvenir shops and many bars and restaurants.
• 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.

You will also have the following excursions around:

• Moscow Kremlin - you will go inside the famous fortress which is now home to the Russian president and will see the Tsar Canon, Tsar Bell and go inside the Kremlin’s cathedrals.
• Moscow Metro – you will see the most beautiful stations of the metro system which is often said to be the most beautiful in the world.

 Duration: about 6 hours | Transportation: by metro

 Night in Moscow.

3 DAY / FREE DAY IN MOSCOW

  Breakfast in the hotel.

 Free day in Moscow. You can spend this day either exploring Moscow by yourself or by ordering an additional excursion, including an excursion outside of Moscow.

 Night in Moscow.

4 DAY / SERGIEV POSAD - PERESLAVL 

 Morning transfer from your hotel to Sergiev Posad. The journey can take up to 2 hours depending on traffic.

 Distance: 75km

 Guided tour around the Troitse-Sergieva Lavra – this includes a visit to three of its churches:

• Trinity Cathedral (1422) – a masterpiece of Russian architecture and the oldest surviving building inside the monastery. It is here that the relics of St Sergius are held. The cathedral’s ancient iconostasis also holds icons which were painted by Andrey Rublev and his pupils.
• Dormition Cathedral (1559-1585) – built on the orders and using the donations of Ivan the Terrible taking the Moscow Kremlin’s Dormition Cathedral as an example.
• St Sergius’ Church and Refectory (1686-1692) - here you will see the stunning Moscow-baroque style interior which has one of the most beautiful carved iconostases in Russia.

 Duration: 1½h

 Transfer from Sergiev Posad to Pereslavl-Zalessky.

 Distance: 65km

 Arrival in Pereslavl and check-in at the hotel. Night in Pereslavl.

5 DAY / PERESLAVL-ZALESSKY - YURIEV-POLSKY - SUZDAL

  Breakfast in the hotel.

 Tour around Pereslavl-Zalessky - the highlights of the tour are:

• Uspensky Goritsky Monastery – the most beautiful monastery in the city which stands on a hill overlooking the city. Today it is the main museum-reserve in Pereslavl.
• Earthen Mounds – these 12th century mounds were once the base for defensive kremlin walls which marked the boundaries of the city. Located inside the mounds is Red Square which has several ancient cathedrals.
• Transfiguration Cathedral - this 12th century cathedral is one of the main sights of Pereslavl and the oldest surviving building in the city and indeed the oldest surviving example of ancient Vladimir-Suzdal architecture. It is one of the first stone monuments to be constructed in the mid-12th century after a long break in construction work following the death of Vladimir Monomakh.
• Nikitsky Monastery – this is the oldest monastery in Pereslavl and is believed to have been founded in the 12th century and named in honour of St Nicetas (Nikita) of Pereslavl. St Nicetas was a stylite, which meant he enclosed himself at the top of a pillar, and his reputation as a healer bought fame to the monastery. In the 15th century the monastery came under the patronage of Ivan the Terrible, who believed that prayers held at the monastery helped cure his son.
• Peter the Great’s Boat Museum-Estate – in 1692 a young Peter the Great came to Pereslavl to test out his toy flotilla which became the first naval flotilla in Russia. The boat Fortuna is the only surviving vessel from this toy flotilla which you can see preserved at this museum.

Duration:  3½ hours  |  Transportation: by a private car

 Transfer from Pereslavl-Zalessky to Yueiv-Polsky.

 Distance: 65km

 Upon arrival to Yuriev-Polsky, an excursion around the city - the highlights of the excursion:

• The Kremlin mounds and the Mikhailo-Arkhangelsky Monastery – this monastery, located within the earthen mounds which are all that remain of the city’s kremlin, has been destroyed and rebuilt several times over the centuries. The buildings of the surviving building date from the 17th and 18th centuries.
• St George’s Cathedral – the most famous sight in the city. It was originally built in 1234, becoming the last cathedral to be built in Rus before the Mongol-Tatar Invasion.  Stone carvings were a popular decoration on cathedrals in mediaeval Vladimir-Suzdal and they can be seen covering half of St Demetrius’s Cathedral in Vladimir and also feature on the Intercession Church on the Nerl in Bogolyubovo. However the art form reached its peak on St George’s Cathedral in Yuriev-Polsky as they cover the whole exterior of the building. They depict plants and animals, including, rather surprisingly for a 13th century Russian church, an elephant. Try and find it, and there is a prize awaiting for the first one to find it unaided!

Duration:  2 hours  |  Transportation: walking excursion

 Transfer from Yuriev-Polsky  to Suzdal.

 Distance: 60km

 Arrival in Suzdal and check-in at the hotel. Night in Suzdal.

6 DAY / SUZDAL 

  Breakfast in the hotel.

  City tour of Suzdal - Suzdal is perhaps the highlight of the Golden Ring, as the whole city is an open-air museum thanks to it being practically unspoiled by modernisation and industrialisation. On this excursion you will visit:

• Suzdal Kremlin - this is the oldest part and historical core of the city. Although the kremlin's walls no longer stand, parts of the earthen mound fortifications do remain. The buildings inside the kremlin are now used as museums.
• Nativity Cathedral (1222) – the kremlin’s cathedral is the Nativity Cathedral and the current version stands on the place of an 11th century version which was built on the orders of Vladimir Monomakh. The interior features stunning frescos as well as a necropolis where the sons of Yury Dolgoruky have been interred along with several members of various noble families from Suzdal.
• Spaso-Yefimiev Monastery (1352) (outside) – this is the largest monastery in Suzdal and with its large fortified walls it is often mistaken for being the Suzdal Kremlin. Today it is a museum with various exhibitions including its main cathedral with its amazing frescos.
• Museum of the Wooden Architecture and Peasant life – this collection of wooden buildings, including churches and windmills, from various parts of European Russia is one of the best of architectural museums in Russia. It now resembles a village in itself made up of beautiful examples of 17th - 19th century wooden buildings which have been brought here to protect them from fire or from being dismantled.
• Trading Rows (1812) – Suzdal’s set of trading rows are still used for their original purpose and a souvenir market is held outside where you can buy a whole range of souvenirs, including bottles of the mead for which Suzdal is famed.

 Duration: 3½ hours |  Transportation: by a private car

 Transfer from Suzdal to Vladimir. 

 Arrival in Vladimir and check-in at the hotel. Night in Vladimir.

8 DAY / VLADIMIR 

  Breakfast in the hotel.

Tour of Vladimir – Vladimir was once the mediaeval capital of the Russian state and so it is an important city in terms of Russian history. The highlights of this tour include:

• Dormition Cathedral - the main cathedral of the city. For over 200 years this cathedral held the revered Our Lady of Vladimir Icon, which Prince Andrey Bogolyubsky brought from Vyshgorod in Ukraine to Vladimir. The icon was later transferred to Moscow and can now be seen in the Tretyakov Gallery. According to legend, the icon was created by Luke the Evangelist.
• Golden Gates - a rare monument of Russian 12th century defensive architecture and all that remains of the walls which once surrounded Vladimir.
• St Demetrius’ Cathedral - one of the most remarkable monuments of mediaeval Rus. It was built in the 1190s as a palace temple of Grand Prince Vsevolod the Big Nest of Vladimir and is decorated on the outside with engravings of plants and animals, while the interior still retains fragments of frescos by Andrey Rublev.

 Duration: 2 hours |  Transportation: by car

 Evening transfer from the hotel to the railway station.

 Premium train to St Petersburg | Night in the train - Alternatively you can take a high-speed train to St Petersburg (Duration - 6h) - please contact us for details.

8 DAY / ST PETERSBURG - CITY TOUR - HERMITAGE

Arrival in St Petersburg - your train will arrive in the Northern Capital of Russia early in the morning.

 City tour of St Petersburg – this tour will take you to the main sights of St Petersburg including:

• Nevsky Prospekt – St Petersburg’s main thoroughfare.
• Our Lady of Kazan Cathedral – one of the city's most famous landmarks with its instantly recognisable semi-circular colonnade consisting of 96 columns.
• 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 – the most famous monument in St Petersburg and one of its most recognisable symbols. A gift from Catherine the Great to the city and later written about in Pushkin’s poem the Bronze Horseman.
• St Isaac’s Cathedral (exterior)– the largest cathedral in St Petersburg, the current version dates from 1818 and features a huge dome.

 The city tour also includes:

• Excursion around Peter and Paul Fortress – the original point of foundation of St Petersburg which later served as a prison for political prisoners. Its cathedral is the resting place for almost all Russian monarchs after Peter the Great. 

 Guided tour of the State Hermitage (Winter Palace) – after the city tour you will have an excursion around the State Hermitage – which is one of the most famous art galleries in the world and receives over 3.5 million visitors a year. It is located inside the Winter Palace and many of the palace's 1500 rooms are filled with sculptures and paintings of world-renowned artists of all ages, although quite often the interiors of the palace outshine even these masterpieces.

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

 Night in St Petersburg.

9 DAY / CATHERINE PALACE - SAVIOUR CATHEDRAL

  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 was 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. 

 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.

 Duration: 7-8 hours |  Transportation: by a private car

 Night in St Petersburg.

10 DAY / FREE DAY IN ST PETERSBURG 

 Breakfast in the hotel.

Free day in St Petersburg. You can spend this day either exploring St Petersburg by yourself or by ordering additional excursions, including excursions outside of St Petersburg.

 Night in St Petersburg.

11 DAY / DEPARTURE FROM ST PETERSBURG

 Breakfast in the hotel.

 Transfer from the hotel to the airport.

• 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.
• In cities of the Golden Ring where there are no 4 or 5 star hotels, the calculation includes hotels of 3 or 4 stars.
• 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.

• CANCELLATION POLICY •