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WHAT YOU EXPERIENCE:
| Itinerary for Ships arriving on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday: | |
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City Tour Starting at the port your tour takes a route that orients first time visitors to the general relationship between the natural features of the Neva River delta and the city's different districts. Visits include Labor Square, Mariinsky Theater(of such world famous ballet dancers like Vaslav Nijinski, Rudolf Nurejev, Mikhail Barishnikov), the St Petersburg Conservatory, Monuments to famous Russian composers Glinka and Rimsky-Korsakov, St. Nicholas Cathedral, including a photo stop, Grand Choral Synagogue with a photo stop, the Neva and Moika Rivers, Yusupov Palace, St Isaac Square with photo stop, restroom stop at Pushkin souvenir store prior to departing on a 60 minute ride to Peterhof. On the way to Peterhof, you will pass through residential suburban districts. |
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Peterhof Fountains & Grounds – You will be exceptionally lucky since our tour enters the estate through the unbelievable Upper Park, which is very seldom visited by hurried tourists. Peter the Great drafted the layout for the 300-hundred acre park and supervised the design of the palace fountains. The Grand Cascade, the most famous fountain group, features gilded Samson prying open lion's jaws as water cascades down the terraced steps, and small spouting fountains anoint smaller sculptures. We shall stroll through the lower parks and gardens, and view and “experience” (be careful!) some of the Peters surprise creations among the many decorative fountains. |
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Lunch in Peterhof park. Restaurant Great Orangery is located inside the State Museum Reserve Peterhof Park territory. It is situated in the Lower Park in one story building – an architectural monument of the 18-th century. From the windows of the restaurant one can enjoy the beauty of the park and the Grand Palace. The contemporary Great Orangery restaurant is a cozy place for lunch. It has two halls – the red and green halls and an open terrace. |
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Metro (the city’s underground subway system) - On our return to the city we'll Visit the magnificent "palaces of the People" as the St. Petersburg Metro used to be called during the Soviet Union years. The construction was started after the II World War, and its expansion continues endlessly, new stations opening periodically. Since the entire St. Petersburg was built on marsh land, the tunnels had to be dug deep, deep until solid soil was found, and you shall descend to the platforms using fast efficient escalators. All the stations are unique in design and theme. Some are luxurious with art work, statues, sculptures, mosaic walls, and chandeliers, some are simpler looking. The trains run like clockwork, normally at 2 minutes apart. You will see several stations on your trip north to the city center were you will emerge in Vladimiskaya Square. |
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A visit to a historic neighborhood to see how local residents live and lived. Visit a historic indoor farmer's market; Kuznechny Food Market, view traditional cafes, and a beautifully restored Vladimirskaya Orthodox Church. This area of the city is also known as Dostoyevski's part of the city, since this famous Russian writer lived his last decade in a building across from Food Market. There is also a monument to Dostoyevski. |
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Drive along the city's and Russia's most famous street, Nevsky Prospect. Your tour will arrive at Art's Square and will include walking along Nevsky Prospect, visiting the beautiful Armenian Church, inside visit to the restored historic shopping center Passage, walk along Italian Street and the Griboedova Canal with photo opportunities of the unique architecture of the Singer Building and the Church on Spilled Blood, Russian Museum, the monument to Pushkin in Arts Square, the Philharmonic Hall, Grand Hotel Europe, and lovely park |
| Return to your ship by 5:30p.m. | |
| Day Two | |
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City Tour seeing other areas not seen the first day by starting on the University Embankment, visiting the Spit of Basil Island for one of the most spectacular vistas for photos in the city, Kronverk, Peter and Paul Fortress, Log cabin of Peter the Great, Souvenir store ""Basar", Trinity Bridge, Field of Mars, Photo stop at the stunning Church on Spilled Blood, open air Souvenir Fair, Palace Embankment, Admiralty Embankment, stop at St Isaac Cathedral, walk from St Isaac Cathedral to the Admiralty Pier though Alexander Park and the well known monument to the Bronze Horseman on Decembrists' Square and walk pass the the Russian Supreme Court. |
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St. Isaac's Cathedral and St Isaac Square- St. Isaac's Square - St. Isaac's Square - In the center of St. Isaac's Square there is a monument to Nikolai I. Opposite the Cathedral, on the bank of the Moika River, stands the Mariinski Palace, the former residential palace, which was built for Princess Maria, the daughter of Nicholas I. Today, the palace is the seat of the St. Petersburg Council of City's Deputies. To the right of the Cathedral stand the historical Hotel Astoria, where Hitler had scheduled a party with printed invitations to celebrate his victory after conquering the city, but out it turned out that his invitations were printed in vain. The most prominent site on the square is naturally the St. Isaac’s Cathedral, commissioned by Alexander I in 1818, and it took forty years to complete. The cathedral is surrounded on each side by huge red granite pillars, supporting the massive central dome, which is covered with 220 pounds of pure gold, and dominates the entire city skyline.. – A photo stop. |
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Canal Cruise - St. Petersburg is also called “the Venice of the North”, and that is why our tour also includes a cruise on the River Neva and along the picturesque downtown canals. A 60-minute journey by boat travels the Fontanka River, the Moika River and the Neva River. Peter the Great conceived the Neva as the main thoroughfare of the city, and from the beginning the river was considered a vital part of the whole architectural ensemble. During the journey you pass under numerous picturesque bridges, and admire the exteriors of the many old beautiful buildings in St Petersburg. Also to view the silhouette of the city from the wide Neva offers many unique photo opportunities. Your Welcome package includes a map so you can follow your route as you motor along. The destination at the end of the cruise is the University Embankment– 1-hour cruise duration. |
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Lunch at the Marriott Hotel, a short distance from the canal and river cruise pier. |
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Hermitage - The former residential palace of the Romanov rulers, called the Winter Palace, and four other buildings together house today one of the world's most prestigious museums, called The Hermitage and one of the premier art collections. Your guided tour includes both the Winter Palace and the Hermitage display rooms, which contain over three million art works, including paintings by Da Vinci, Rafael, Monet, Rembrandt, Renoir, Picasso, Van Gogh - to name a few. The Baroque style Winter Palace was designed by Italian architect Rastrelli, and boasts huge ceremonial reception rooms, throne rooms, private theatre, gold and marble, irreplaceable state gifts and collections, patterned parquet floors, ornate staircases, molded and decorated ceilings, and gilded appointments. If nothing else, this is the “must” place in St. Petersburg. – An inside visit. |
| Return to the ship at 4:30 p.m. | |
| Below is additional information and photos of some of the elements of this tour | |
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The Palace Square – This historical square was once the site of the Russian imperial power, having on one side the Winter Palace, and on the opposite side the huge curved building of General Headquarters, and across the street the Admiralty, Russian military navy headquarters. In the center of the square there stands a high granite obelisk, called the Alexander Column, depicting an angel leaning against a cross. During this centuries the square has witnessed many Russian historical events. In 1905 the Bloody Sunday, in the 1917 bolshevik revolution the storming of the Winter Palace, and most recently in 1992 the mass celebration for changing the city’s name from Leningrad back to the original St. Petersburg, and many, many others. Also during the Soviet Union years it was the site for the annual May Day military parades. – A photo stop. |
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The Monument for Peter the Great – Empress Catherine the Great ordered this magnificent equestrian statue for the honor of the founder of the city. The artist was Etienne Falconet and the monument was dedicated in 1782. It took a total of twelve years to design and sculpt and cast. Falconet wanted to have a natural stone pedestal for his work, and a suitable red granite bolder was found in Finland, just about 6-7 miles from the city , Because of its size and weight it took a full year with the primitive equipment of those days to transport the huge rock to its current location. Later the Russian national poet, Alexander Pushkin, wrote a poem about the monument calling it a Bronze Horseman, and that is now the name as all the Russians know and refer to it. – A photo opportunity pending on the traffic. |
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Kazan Cathedral on Nevsky Prospect which is influenced in design by St Peter's Cathedral in Rome. Built from 1801 to 1811 to house the miracle working icon Our Lady of Kazan. It features 96 columns and a dome 80 meters(240 feet) in height. |
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The at the left is the view from Anichkov Bridge on Nevsky Prospect overlooking the Fontanka River. This is the main street of St Petersburg and Russia's most well known street. Today Nevsky Prospect is a shopping and entertainment center as well as its traditional role as commercial and religious center of the city. A number of unique architecture styles, palaces, theaters and monuments still grace its route, now combined with restaurants, cafes, retail stores, hotels and movie theaters, all in the original designs of the early builders and architects. St Petersburg as a World Heritage Site on UNESCO's list, is recognized as one of the most original and preserved historic large cities. |
Shopping: IMPORTANT: The shops also serve as our emergency toilet stops. The shops are located all over the city, and when a group member announces a need to use a rest room, our guides normally make the emergency stop at the nearest souvenir shop. They are well equipped to receive tourist for that purpose. These stops are often misunderstood by our guests, and taken as an effort to make the group members to shop, but no person is required to step out from the bus, except the one who requested the restroom. The fewer people go inside the faster the tour shall continue again. |
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