'White Days' in St.Petersburg

 

(St.Petersburg, Novgorod)

 GROUP TOUR
8 Days / 7 Nights


 During 300 years that passed since its foundation Saint Petersburg has always been the centre of the cultural and social life of Russia. It was usually in the winter, when the weather is not suitable for outdoors happenings, that the best opera and ballet performances, indoors exhibitions and festivals where held. Since the old days of Imperial Russia this high standard of entertainment has never failed. In the Soviet period the authorities observed the development of the classical arts as the task of the state importance. In the modern time the brand name “White Days” for this season was coined as opposed to the famous summer White Nights of St.Petersburg. Once again the best opera and ballet performances, theatre and music festivals are performed at the season when the snow covers the branches of the trees and rivers and canals stand still, covered with the white armor of ice. All kinds of music from classical to jazz and rock are played in the city\'s venues and many of the famous performers and entertainers from around the world choose to come to St.Petersburg at this time of the year. And the museums open exciting extra exhibitions in order to attract the locals who usually avoid to visit them in the commotion of the high summer season.

 

 

 

 

The program of the tour:

Day.1   

Arrival in St.Petersburg, transfer to the hotel, traditional Russian “Bread & Salt” welcoming by a folklore group, accompanied with a complimentary glass of vodka. Check-in (fruits and mineral water in the rooms are supplied). Dinner.


Day 2

Breakfast. Sightseeing tour of the city (Nevsky prospect, the Palace Square, The Spit of the Basil’s Island, St. Isaac’s Square, Smolny Cathedral, etc.), including visit to the first city house of Peter the Great’s. Lunch in a restaurant. A night tour of St.Petersburg featuring beautifully illuminated public buildings and bridges.


 

Day 3

Breakfast, a walking tour of Nevsky prospect, visit to the downtown farmer’s market, trip in St.Petersburg\'s Metro, tour of the Russian State Museum, one of the best and the biggest collections of the Classical Russian art in the world from the acient time up to 20-century. Dinner with the Russian families in their homes. In the evening optional cultural event, such as ballet or music performance.


 

Day 4

Breakfast. In the morning we attend a ballet master class. Lunch in a downtown restaurant. Tour of the world famous Hermitage museum former royal palace housing West European and Oriental arts, the gala and private rooms of the Russian emperors etc. The tour includes the royal Golden Treasury.


 

Day 5

Breakfast, Whole day trip to Pushkin and Pavlovsk, the former royal residences. Breakfast. Trip to Pushkin, for the tour of the Catherine’s Palace, home to the famous Amber Room. The palace and surrounding park are among the best masterpieces of the Russian landscape design and architecture. Lunch and folklore show in the Podvorye Russian restaurant.  Proceed to Pavlovsk for the troika ride in the beautiful Palace Park of Pavlovsk. Lunch at the Podvorye Russian restaurant.


 

Day 6

Breakfast, all day trip to the ancient city of Novgorod, the very first capital of Russia and the centre of the Medieval Novgorodian republic, at that time one of the biggest and most important cities of Eastern Europe. Sightseeing tour of the city: the Novgorod Kremlin (citadel), the Cathedral of St.Sophia, one of the oldest in Russia, museum of icons, Yaroslavov Torg – the old trading center and merchant quarters of the city. Lunch in a Russian cuisine restaurant, afternoon trip to the ancient Yurievsky Monastery and Vitoslalitsy - the open air museum of the wooden architecture and folk traditions. Return to St.Petersburg.


 

Day 7

Breakfast. Tour of the literary St.Petersburg, including visits to the house-museums of Dostoevsky and Pushkin, tour of the Alexander Nevsky Monastery with its big necropolis of the famous Russian writers, composers and artists.  Farewell dinner in the city in one of the palaces.


 

Day 8

Breakfast, check-out, transfer to the airport, departure.


 

The tours are run from November to March.

 
The price of the tour is quoted by request.