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| Day 1 |
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DEPART U.S.
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Depart U.S. on your flight to St. Petersburg. |
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| Day 2 |
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ARRIVE MOSCOW
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Arrive in Moscow; meet your guide and transfer to your hotel. D
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| Day 3 |
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MOSCOW
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Sightseeing tour of Moscow including the Sofia Embankment and Victory Park. Visit historic Red Square, dominated by the Kremlin, and the colorful 16th c. St. Basil's Cathedral. Tour the Kremlin, including its gold-domed cathedrals and the Armory with its famous collection of gold, coronation robes and the fabulous Fabergé creations in precious metals and jewels. B/L |
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| Day 5 |
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MOSCOW - NOVGOROD
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Visit the 16th c. Novodevichy Convent* (New Maiden’s Convent) and the splendid white Smolensky Cathedral. Travel from Moscow to Novgorod passing village houses with folk art decorations. Upon arrival in Novgorod enjoy a traditional Russian welcome of vodka, bread, and salt. Because of its favorable geographic location, Novgorod* became a rich trading center in the 9th c. and reached its peak from the 11th to the 15th c. B/L
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| Day 6 |
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NOVGOROD
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Tour the historic center within the magnificent Kremlin; the spectacular gold-domed 11th c. Cathedral of St. Sophia; the Archbishop’s Court; Clock Tower; and Chamber of Facets. Explore the Yaroslav Trading Yard, the medieval marketplace. Visit the Museum of Novgorod Icons. B/L |
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| Day 7 |
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NOVGOROD
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Visit the Open Air Museum of Wooden Architecture in Vitoslavlitsy, with peasant huts and churches moved from area villages. See the traditional “stave” architecture of ancient Russia. Leisure time. Dinner with a folklore performance. B/D |
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| Day 8 |
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NOVGOROD - ST. PETERSBURG
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Journey to St. Petersburg*, built as Peter the Great’s “Window to the West.” Tour this city on the Neva River including Nevsky Prospect, Vasilevsky Island's splendid buildings, and the Rostralli Columns. See the cruiser Aurora, from which the opening shots of the Russian Revolution were fired in 1917. Visit the historic Cathedral of Saints Peter & Paul with its outstanding collection of icons and burial place for the Romanovs. B/L
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| Day 9 |
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ST. PETERSBURG
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A day in The Hermitage, one of the world’s greatest art museums with the Golden Treasury. Founded in 1764 it is housed in the former Winter Palace of the Russian Czars. Dinner with a Russian family. B/D |
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| Day 10 |
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ST. PETERSBURG
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A day at leisure to explore this fascinating city on your own. Suggestions: Russian Museum, Ethnographical Museum, Aurora Military Ship Museum, palaces, shopping etc. B |
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| Day 11 |
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ST. PETERSBURG - PETERHOF
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Walking tour along Nevsky Prospect (Russia's "Fifth Avenue"). Visit the gold-domed St. Isaac's Cathedral and the spectacular Church of the Savior on the Spilled Blood, built where Czar Alexander II was assassinated in 1881.Travel to the countryside to visit Peterhof (also known as Petrodvorets), the fabulous "Russian Versailles" built by Peter the Great as his summer palace. B/L |
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| Day 12 |
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ST. PETERSBURG - PUSHKIN
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Drive to Pushkin (Tsarskoe Selo) to visit Catherine Palace, designed by Rastrelli, who would later design St. Petersburg's Hermitage. Stop in the country town of Pavlovsk, and tour another Imperial Palace. Farewell dinner. B/L/D
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| Day 13 |
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DEPART ST. PETERSBURG
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Early morning departure for the airport. B
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