Pride of Russian North

Meeting with guide at the airport.

Transfer from airport to the hotel.

Check in the hotel.

Optional: Dinner at the hotel.

Breakfast at the hotel.

Saint-Petersburg is a relatively young city, by both Russian and European standards, and was only founded in 1703 by Tsar Peter the Great. Despite its short life so far, Petersburg has a rich and exciting history. From the early days of Peter the Great’s “Venice of the North” to the modern events of the 1991 coup d’etat, the city has always bustled with life and intrigue, revolution and mystery. You will go down Nevsky Prospect, Saint-Petersburg's most famous and vibrant thoroughfare. There you will see some of the city's most interesting architectural monuments including the Kazan Cathedral (exterior) and the Winter Palace. You will see Anichkov Bridge, Catherine Square, Gostiny Dvor, Griboedov Canal, Moika River and other historical monuments. Time for lunch (not included).

Optional: Lunch at a local restaurant.

Hermitage tour.

With the possible exception of the Louvre, there is no museum in the world that rivals the Hermitage in size and quality. Its collection is so large that it would take years to view it in its entirety at last count, there were nearly three million works on exhibit. The museum is especially strong in Italian Renaissance, as well as possessing outstanding collections of works by Rembrandt, Picasso, and Matisse. Visitors should also take advantage of its excellent Greek and Roman antiquities collection and its exhibits of Siberian and Central Asian art. Not least among the attractions of the Hermitage is the museum itself, with its fine interior decoration and architectural.

Return to the hotel.

Optional: Dinner at the hotel.

Breakfast at the hotel.

Check out.

Transfer to Peterhof by hovercraft.

Tour of Peterhof with a visit to the Grand Palace and the Lower Park.

Peterhof is a complex of palace and park ensembles in the suburbs of Saint-Petersburg, created by Peter I as a suburban residence. Thinking of building an architectural structure, in its beauty not inferior to the French Versailles, Peter hardly imagined that Peterhof would be so striking in its scale and luxury. Today it includes several integrated palace and park areas, on the territory of which there are mansions, museums, sculptures, pavilions. The main pride of Peterhof - magnificent fountains, the number of which reaches one and a half hundred. You will visit the Grand Peterhof Palace and take a walk along the Lower Park of Peterhof.

Time for lunch (lunch is not included).

Optional: Lunch at a local restaurant.

Return to Saint-Petersburg.

Transfer to Ladozhsky railway station.

Departure to Petrozavodsk by speed train “Lastochka” (18:00 in 2020).

Arrival to Petrozavodsk (22:57 in 2020).

Transfer to the hotel, check-in.

Optional: Dinner at the hotel.

Breakfast at the hotel.

Petrozavodsk walking city tour.

Petrozavodsk is the capital of the Republic of Karelia, named after its founder, Peter I, the industrial and cultural center of the region, the City of military glory and one of the greenest cities in the north-west of Russia. In 1703, an arms factory was built here, a year later becoming the largest in Russia. You will get acquainted with the main attractions of Petrozavodsk, interesting facts from the history of the city and the republic. The highlight of the tour will be a visit to the embankment of Lake Onega, where there is a unique collection of modern avant-garde sculpture donated by twin cities.

Transfer to Kizhi island by speed boat.

Time for lunch (not included).

Optional: Lunch in a local cafe.

Walking tour of the Kizhi Museum Reserve.

Kizhi Museum-Reserve is one of the largest open-air museums in Russia. This is a unique historical, cultural and natural complex, which is a particularly valuable object of the cultural heritage of the peoples of Russia. The basis of the museum collection is the ensemble of the Kizhi Pogost included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. The most striking monument of wooden architecture are the many-headed temples of the Kizhi churchyard, in which the harsh power of the chopped walls is combined with the sophistication of the silhouette and the shadowy pattern of chapters covered with ploughshare. The 22-head Church of the Transfiguration was built in 1714, and almost the whole world followed the unique process of its restoration, which ended just recently!

Return to Petrozavodsk.

Optional: Dinner at the hotel.

Breakfast at the hotel.

Check-out.

Departure to Kem.

Lunch in the cafe on the road.

Visit to the White Sea petroglyphs.

Belomorsk Petroglyphs – a monumental monument of primitive art in the modern territory of the Republic of Karelia. This place is known for its well-preserved cave paintings, including whole plots created around the 4th–3rd millennium BCE ancestors of modern Baltic-Finnish peoples.

Arrival to Kem, check-in the hotel.

Optional: Dinner at the hotel.

Breakfast at the hotel.

Check out.

Departure to Solovetsky Islands by MS “Vasily Kosyakov”.

Arrival to Solovetsky Islands.

Sightseeing tour of the Solovetsky Kremlin.

The Solovetsky monastery is the real pearl of the Russian North, a majestic, vivid and remarkable facility. Its walls are built of granite boulders, polished by years-long impact of ice and sea water. Because of its nature this building material has not only excellent constructing and shock-proof characteristics but also forms a unique and absolutely specific view of the landmark. Boulders of different size, shape and colour create a specific impressiveness of the monastery architecture. The relief of the walls and towers is accomplished so high-skilled that they do not break the environment but fit harmoniously into the ensemble. With good reason the Solovetsky monastery may be called a real wonder of fortification.

Lunch at local cafe.

Check-in the hotel.

Free time. Explore Solovetsky Islands on your own.

Optional: Dinner at the hotel.

Breakfast at the hotel.

Excursion to the Sekirnaya Hill.

Sekirnaya Hill is one of the highest points of the Big Solovetsky Island from which top an unforgettable view to the Northern part of the Solovki and the White Sea opens up. The visitors will be told about the history of the functional St. Ascension skete and about the monastery buildings of the XIX century after the restoration: the boulder bath, the well, the unique Church of the Ascension with the lighthouse. During the prison camp period inside the church building there was a punishment cell for men with very harsh conditions.

Notice: The skete is functional and the visitors shall keep rules of the skete and shall be dressed in a proper way.

Check-out from the hotel.

Lunch at local cafe.

Departure to Kem by MS “Metel”.

Arrival to Kem, check-in the hotel.

Optional: Dinner at the hotel.

Breakfast-box at the hotel.

Early check-out.

Transfer to railway station.

Departure to Saint-Petersburg by regular train (06:52 in 2020).

Optional: Lunch in the train.

Arrival to Saint-Petersburg (22:16 in 2020).

Transfer to the hotel, check-in.

Optional: Dinner at the hotel.

Breakfast at the hotel. Check out.

Transfer to the airport / railway station.

End of the tour.