Amazing Saint Petersburg

Overview

Recommended period: all the year round 
Main sights: sightseeing tour, the Hermitage (the main museum complex), the General Staff building, the Cathedral of the Apostles Peter and Paul in the Peter and Paul Fortress, the Lower Park in Peterhof (the Grand Palace 01.01-23.04.21 and 18.10-31.12.21), the Catherina palace and park in Tsarskoe Selo, the Yusupov palace with Rasputin room, the Faberge Museum
Accommodation: 4*+
Meals: breakfast, 1 traditional russian lunch in restaurant "Podvorye"
Transport: comfortable air-conditioner car/minivan/minibus

You will take an amazing journey into the past of former Russia, where tsars and emperors ruled, politics was carried out in magnificent palaces, aristocrats enjoyed the luxury of balls and masquerades, and canvases by old masters replenished private collections of eminent families ... You will hear stories about the fate of noble dynasties and the power of ancestral curses, about love and crimes, about the greatness and death of the whole world, which disappeared more than 100 years ago, but left material evidence of the bewitching beauty of its brilliant way. We will show you the brightest treasures of this world: boyar chambers and imperial residences, miracles of architecture and jewelry craftsmanship, masterpieces of painting and arts and crafts, royal regalia and legendary diamonds ... All this and much more in the most exquisite excursion program for true connoisseurs of luxurious life and high society secrets!

Itinerary
1 day
Welcome to St. Petersburg! Your personal guide will meet you at the arrival lobby. Your royal holidays have begun!
During a sightseeing tour of the city, you will find yourself in the center of the amazing Peter's era, which turned Russia into a hospitable secular state, with developed sciences, crafts and trade, with independent diplomacy and a strong fleet. You will recognize Saint-Petersburg as a sea city - you will see the Admiralty, in the place of which the first Russian ships once descended from the stocks. Admire the magnificent embankments of the beautiful Neva - the front facade of the city, along which the first palaces were built. You will see the Summer Garden - the predecessor of the brilliant Peterhof. You will drive along the famous Nevsky Prospect, where, in addition to mansions and old shops, churches of all Christian confessions are located - after all, Peter the Great opened the doors of the new capital for foreign guests, and first of all for talented architects. You will see the creations of European architects who later made St. Petersburg one of the most beautiful cities in the world: Palace Square with the General Staff Building and the Winter Palace, St. Isaac's Cathedral on St. Isaac Square, a monument to the founder of the city "The Bronze Horseman" on Senate Square, Spit of Vasilyevsky Island with the Old Stock Exchange building, where the first city port was located, Marble Palace, Mikhailovsky Castle, the Smolny Monastery ensemble.
Then you will have an excursion to the Peter and Paul Fortress - to the "heart" of the city, the place from which the history of Saint Petersburg began. You will walk through the territory of the fortress and hear the history of the construction of this structure, see the first triumphal gates and the only city gates overlooking the Neva, see ancient buildings, casemates and the most unusual monument to the founder of Saint Petersburg. You will visit the Cathedral of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul and see the burial place of the main representatives of the Romanov dynasty, from Peter I to Nicholas II and his family.
After the tour, the guide will help you to check-in at the hotel (check in - after 14.00). And you can rest and relax, as well as have lunch or dinner on your own in one of the nearby restaurants - your guide will be happy to tell you where to go.

2 day
Breakfast at the hotel restaurant.
After breakfast you will visit one of the most luxurious palaces in Russia - the Yusupov Palace on the Moika. You will admire the rich interior of the state halls of the 19th century, visit a resplendent miniature home theater that looks like a precious music box, touch the mystery of the fatal shots of the December night of 1916, and learn more about the death of the mysterious Grigory Rasputin by visiting the "Murder of Rasputin" exposition.
Afternoon you will visit the Hermitage - one of the largest museums in the world. The Hermitage was founded as a personal collection of Empress Catherine II, who, wishing to establish herself as an "enlightened empress", began collecting works of art. Painting experts, European scholars, collected and bought collections of paintings for the Russian empress, and soon Russia accumulated enormous wealth - a collection of works of Western European old masters. For a long time, the museum remained closed to the general public, and became public only in the middle of the 19th century. Now his collection numbers over 3.5 million items. Among them are paintings by Leonardo da Vinci, Rembrandt, Rubens, Van Dyck, Velazquez, Goya, Watteau, Poussin, Gainsborough, antique sculpture, Egyptian antiquities and much, much more. You will not only see the famous masterpieces, but also learn how the rulers of the Russian Empire lived in the 18th-19th centuries, because the main building of the Hermitage - the Winter Palace - until 1917 remained the main Winter residence of the royal family.
Then you will visit the General Staff building, where you can get acquainted with the works of the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists, as well as with the works of artists of various schools and trends. Personal exhibitions of legendary creators deserve special attention: Van Gogh, Renoir, Gauguin, Monet, Picasso, Kandinsky.

3 day
Breakfast at the hotel restaurant.
After breakfast at the hotel you will go on an excursion to the magnificent Peterhof - the favorite residence of Peter I. In terms of splendor and richness of decoration, Peterhof surpassed its prototype - French Versailles and became the most beautiful palace and park ensemble in Europe. It is not for nothing that Peterhof is called the "capital of fountains": the main decoration of the Lower Park, which you will visit, are fountains and cascades, there are more than 200 of them! Crystal fountains gushing into the sky, free wind from the bay, shine and radiance of gilded statues - this magnificent sight will captivate you at first sight! You will get acquainted with the history of the creation of this man-made miracle, learn the engineering secrets of its device, try to dodge the insidious "jokers" - hidden surprise fountains. You will see an incredible water extravaganza - the Grand Cascade with the famous golden fountain "Samson", the stream of which rises to the height of a seven-story building! You will hear about the fate of the crowned owners of the residence and will be able to independently walk along the alleys of the park and admire the panorama of the Gulf of Finland. The unforgettable impressions of this fantastically beautiful place will stay with you for life!
After the excursion to Peterhof, we invite you to enjoy exquisite Russian cuisine in the wooden interiors of the Podvorie restaurant. The menu includes a variety of meat and fish dishes, classic Russian soups and pickles. Various sorts of vodka - on birch buds, on the basis of horseradish, on rowan fruits. The exterior and interior are made in the style of Russian northern wooden architecture of the 16th-17th centuries.
After lunch you will go on a country excursion to Tsarskoe Selo with a visit to the Catherine Palace. Like Peterhof, Tsarskoe Selo was the favorite ceremonial summer residence of the Russian emperors. Laid down by the wife of Peter the Great, it reached its heyday during the reign of the next two sovereigns - Peter's daughter Elizabeth and the world-famous Empress Catherine II. The Catherine Palace is one of those places where the luxurious XVIIIth century still lives. Lush decoration, an abundance of gold, carvings and paintings, an endless golden enfilade of state rooms, spatial scope - this palace was born for the organization of grandiose holidays designed to emphasize the power of the Russian monarchy in the eyes of foreign ambassadors. And once inside, you, without a doubt, feel like a noble special era of Enlightened absolutism in Russia! It is in this palace that the famous Amber Room is located, which was recreated from oblivion by Saint-Petersburg for the 300th anniversary of Saint-Petersburg.

4 day
Breakfast at the hotel restaurant, check out.
You will start this day with a visit to the Faberge Museum in the Shuvalov Palace and get acquainted with the world's largest collection of works by the famous Faberge jeweler. You will admire the richly decorated interior of the palace and see an unparalleled collection of Russian jewelry and decorative and applied arts of the 19th and 20th centuries. The most valuable and famous items in the museum's collection are 9 imperial Easter eggs, created by the firm of Carl Gustav Faberge.
After excursion you will have time to stroll through the souvenir shops and shops of Nevsky Prospekt and buy gifts for friends and relatives.
Then the guide will take you to the airport or railway station.