Pearls of Tatarstan region

Arrival at the airport in Kazan. Meeting with tour guide. Transfer to hotel. Check-in at a hotel. Leisure time.

Breakfast at hotel. Meeting at the hotel lobby. Departure for the sightseeing program.

Bus and walking sightseeing “Legends and Mysteries of the Millennium-old Kazan” by bus.

Enjoy the original beauty of Kazan, see the bright colors of its streets and squares with your own eyes, learn where teeming treasures of Khans of Kazan are kept and where water boiled in a cauldron with no fire by taking the sightseeing tour. The sites of the millennium-old city combine the culture of the West and traditions of the East: Old Tatar Settlement where Tatar residents lived from the 16th century, Textiles Settlement originating as a result of industrial reforms by Peter I, fountain squares, Kaban lake with its mysteries and legends, a simulated Tatar village Tugan Avylym (My Native Village), a new building of the Puppet Show, Kazan Federal University, Liberty Square as a cultural and administrative center of Kazan. During the sightseeing tour, you will see a variety of minarets and cupolas, crescents and crosses, which is a proof of a good neighborliness of the two native peoples — Tatars and Russians.

A walking tour “White-stone Fortress”.

The Kazan Kremlin is the main sight of the city; it is a UNESCO world heritage site. The Kremlin is an official residence of the President of the Republic of Tatarstan and a state museum-preserve attended by thousands of tourists every year. The white-stone Kremlin is the heart of the ancient city that incorporates the culture of the East and West. Minarets of the main mosque of the city — Qul Sharif — shoot up into the sky, and cupolas of the Annunciation Cathedral, oldest one in Kazan, shine with gold. Inside the fortress, there is one of the symbols of Kazan — the famous “leaning” tower of Tsarina Suyumbike.

National Museum of the Republic of Tatarstan.

The museum occupies the building of the former Gostiny Dvor, which is a monument of architecture and history of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Tatarstan. The museum's funds were formed throughout its more than 120-year history with the participation of scientists from Kazan University and the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tatarstan, Kazan collectors. The museum collection numbers more than 850 thousand exhibits and reflects the history, culture and traditions of the peoples of the Volga region and Russia, Western and reflects the history, culture and traditions of the peoples of the Volga region and Russia, Western and Eastern world cultures. The exhibits are presented in the expositions «The Ancient History of Tatarstan» and «Kazan Province in the XVIII Century».

Return to the hotel. Leisure time.

OPTIONAL

NIGHT CITY TOUR “THE LIGHTS OF KAZAN”

Do you know how streets of Kazan were lit before the electricity? You don’t? If you are still full of vigor after an extensive sightseeing program and want to see a different Kazan, to hear about a different Kazan, then you are invited to immerse yourselves into the fairy-tale-like image of the capital. Kazan will show itself to you quiet and peaceful, but still full of lights from back-lit historical and modern buildings. The tour will take place in the brightest sights of the night city.

Breakfast at hotel. Free day.

OPTIONAL

A WALKING SIGHTSEEING TOUR “MECCA OF THE NORTH” IN THE TOWN OF BOLGAR

More than 700 years ago, in the place of the present-day town of Bolgar, there was an ancient city, the capital of Volga Bulgaria — an early-feudal state located in the interfluve of Volga and Kama rivers. The historical and archeological site of Bolgar was included in the UNESCO List of World Heritage Sites. During the tour, one can walk along remains of white-stone walls of ancient buildings to imagine the life thriving there many centuries ago… See all the landmarks remaining in the territory of the ancient town site: Congregational Mosque, East and North Mausoleums, Khans’ Mausoleum, Minor Minaret, Black Chamber, White Chamber, Khans’ Bathing House, Khans’ Palace. Visit the Literacy Museum at the embankment of Volga, the Memorial Sign built to commemorate the official adoption of Islam by the ancient Bolgars, where the world-biggest printed Quran is kept. You can get acquainted with new sites in Bolgar. See one of the most significant structures added to the contemporary collections of the architectural heritage of Tatarstan — Ak Mechet (the White Mosque).

Breakfast at hotel, check out, Meeting at the hotel lobby. Check-Out.

Departure for the sightseeing program to Sviyazhsk. A walking tour “The Island Town of Sviyazhsk”.

Sviyazhsk is a historical and cultural gem of the Republic of Tatarstan. At present, the place where an ancient fortress used to be is surrounded with waters of Volga river. In the past, the fortress served as a military outpost in the Volga region and a place to prepare troops for an assault against an unassailable fortress of Kazan. In the course of time, as its value as a military facility diminished, Sviyazhsk became a spiritual center of the Middle Volga. The sightseeing tour in Sviyazhsk comprises unique monuments of history: the Cathedral of the Joy for All Who Grieve, one of the oldest wooden temples of Russia — the Holy Trinity Church, an operating Assumption Monastery featuring an architectural ensemble of the 16-17 centuries, Stable Yard, workshops.

Free time for a lunch (meal not included).

Departure for Cheboksary. Bus and walking sightseeing tour “The Capital of the Chuvash People”.

The city of Cheboksary, the capital of the Chuvash Republic, is located at the right bank of Volga river. A wooden log fortress was built on the shore of a Volga bay on the order of Ivan the Terrible in the 16th century. It got the name of Cheboksary. The tour through Cheboksary includes sightseeing in the old part of the city. You will see the embankment, which is one of the most beautiful on Volga, the bay of Cheboksary, a gem of the city, a monument to love — Taganait, a monument to Vasily Chapayev, a sculpture of Mother the Patroness, an even a monument to Ostap Bender and Kisa Vorobyaninov in Merchant Yefremov Boulevard. Participate in the program “Let the Soul Enjoy!”. It is an entertainment ethnographic program demonstrating rituals, customs and traditions of the Chuvash people. Taste a Chuvash national drink, which is beer (a replacement by juice is arranged for children travelers).

Check-in at a hotel. Leisure time.

Breakfast at hotel. Meeting at the hotel lobby.
Check-Out.

Departure for the sightseeing program to city of Yoshkar-Ola.

Bus and walking sightseeing tour “The Amazing Yoshkar-Ola”.

Yoshkar-Ola is the capital of the Republic of Mari El. Yoshkar-Ola underwent a sea change during the last decade: the downtown was virtually rebuilt anew. So, we are not going to Mari El for history covered with dust of centuries, but to see the present-day life of the main city of this region of Russia. One of the main sights is the Square of Obolensky-Nogotkov. There are several administrative buildings there, as well as the national fine arts gallery, where a replica of the Tsar Cannon is placed at the entrance, a monument to the founder of the city Prince Obolensky-Nogotkov, a monument to the Saint Martyr Leonid — Archbishop of Mari. Moreover, there are the “Mari Chimes” — a clock at the gallery building that demonstrates one of the symbols of the Christian faith. See a clock with moving figures of Saint Apostles — the eight minutes of the Evangelic miracle. Sit on bench next to the Cat of Yoshkar-Ola that brings luck to travelers that pat him. See a monument to Pushkin and Onegin — one of the Pushkin’s literary characters. Visit an open-air museum of fairy-tales.

Free time for a lunch (meal not included).

Departure for the airport of Kazan. Arrival to the airport of Kazan. End of the tour.