St.Petersburg

Flight to St Persburg from your departure city. Arrived in St. Petersburg, your driver awaits you in the arrivals hall. Transfer to the hotel. Relax. Free dinner. Night at the Domina Prestige hotel , 5 star hotel.

Founded in 1703 by Peter the Great , St Petersburg combines the fascinating heritage of Russia with a European look. Considered the cultural heart of modern Russia, St Petersburg has quickly earned its reputation as one of Europe’s great cities.

The town itself! It is a city of infinite charm, with its magnificent palaces, cathedrals and churches. Very beautiful parks, and countless bridges. A city of imperial proportions and romantic views. She has been a source of inspiration for many artists.

St Peter and St Paul’s Cathedral is the burial place of all the emperors of Russia from Peter the Great to the last of the Romanovs- Nicholas II.  

13:00 Guided tour of St. Isaac’s Cathedral.

During the city tour, you will visit St. Isaac’s Cathedral. The 4th largest dome in the world. The monolithic columns of red granite are 7 meters high and each weigh 114 tons. The walls are 5 meters thick and the cupola is covered with 100 KG of gold.

14:00-15:00 Russian lunch at the ballet restaurant

This modern and cozy restaurant offers a gourmet menu that will satisfy all gourmets. Return to the hotel on foot to relax before going to the theatre.

19:00 Ballet at the New Mariinsky Theater

The winter program will be announced in June

• Duration: around 3h30
• Return to the hotel. Overnight at the hotel.

11:00 Visit to the Palace and Catherine Park, located 25 KM from St Petersburg.

Originally called Tsarskoye Selo, the palace took the name of Peter the Great’s wife: Caherine I. Built as the summer residence of the Russian tsars, this palace was much loved by Elizabet I, Catherine the Great, Alexander I and especially Nicholas II , the last of the emperors of Russia.

The palace, a combination of blue, white and gold is magnificent. The enormous ballroom called the Throne Hall and the famous amber chamber leave unforgettable impressions.

A room with walls covered with elements sculpted in genuine amber was offered by the King of Prussia , Frederick William I ^, to the Tsar of Russia Peter the Great in 1716. For almost two centuries, it was installed in the Catherine Palace in Tsarskoye Selo near Saint Petersburg . Several times renovated, it had a surface of 55 square meters and contained more than six tons of amber. Stolen by the Germans in 1941, it is considered lost since the end of the Second World War. Completely restored in 2003. The park has bridges, fountains, terraces and small galleries.

13:00 Folk lunch in Podvoria

La Podvorie is a typical wooden restaurant resembling a fortress, located 10 minutes by car from Pushkin in the small village of Pavlovsk, an imperial residence.

Enjoy an excellent Russian meal with succulent starters and the famous “borsch” (beetroot soup). Your meal is accompanied by music and folk songs and of course also Russian vodka!!

15:00 Sightseeing of Pavlovsk.

After lunch, visit Paul’s Palace. Named by Paul I, Pavlovsk was founded in 1777 with the construction of a small palace built by Paul and his wife Maria Fedorovna.

This palace is often called a pearl of the classical style because many renowned architects took part in the design of the splendid interiors. these interiors are a synthesis of architecture, decorative painting and sculpture.

A magnificent park, the largest in Europe, surrounds the palace. Then, experience a troika ride through this magnificent park.

Return to the hotel.

Dinner at the restaurant “Terrassa” (optional)

TERRASSA is a restaurant with a very popular multi-national cuisine located on the roof of a modern building next to the Kazan Cathedral.

The menu is multi-national: French, Italian, Tai, Chinese, Japanese cuisine.

Return to the hotel on foot.

Guided tour of the famous Hermitage. the famous museum was the residence of the Russian emperors. It includes 5 palaces and it is one of the largest museums in the world. By special arrangement, you enter the Winter Palace 1 hour before the official opening. Enjoy this tour in private!

There are literally 1 trillion things to see at the Hermitage and it would take more than one visit to see it all. The exceptional richness of the museum is enhanced by the splendor of the buildings both inside and outside. Marble, wood, mosaic floors, figurines, everything to fascinate the mind and the eyes!

2:00 p.m. Lunch at the Hermitage cafe

A quick and popular lunch that offers a wide selection of sandwiches, soups, salads and pastas.

15:30 Guided tour of the General Staff of the Hermitage (2h00)

This neoclassical building is well known for its central arch, which leads pedestrians onto the palace square. It was finished in 1827. Before the revolution, it was the house of the officers but also of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Finance.

A superb collection of modern art on the 3rd floor also includes the largest collection of Picasso and Matisse. You can also admire paintings by Monet, Van Gogh, Renoir…

At 5:30 p.m., return to the hotel to relax before the show at the opera.

WINTER PROGRAM ANNOUNCED IN JUNE

Return to the hotel. Free dinner. Night at the hotel

The Resurrection Cathedral is one of the tallest buildings in the city. It is a fine example of late 19th century Russian architecture and decorative art. The church was built on the spot where Alexander II was wounded by a terrorist, a member of the revolution in 1881. This event gave the second more common name of: St Savior on the blood spilled.

Construction began in 1883 and lasted 24 years. The facades are decorated with more than 400 square meters of mosaics. The interior is dotted with semi-precious stones, gold and mosaics which cover an area of ​​almost 7000 square meters.

The richest of the non-imperial palaces, the Yusupov Palace was the home of the noble and wealthy Yusupov family, the family of the Tsars of Russia. The Yusupovs were great art lovers and collectors, and their collections were known outside Russia as well.
After the revolution, most of the collections were moved to the Hermitage. However, traces of this incredible wealth persist.

 The various salons, the chandeliers that adorn each corridor and each room, and the very beautiful theater of the palace testify to this. It is in this palace that the assassination of the scandalous Rasputin took place. The drama can be felt through the wax figures of the conspirators waiting in a small room on the ground floor. In the cellar where the drama takes place, there are two wax figures:

14:00 Russian lunch at SADKO

A delicious meal is served in SADKO style near the Yusupov Palace and very close to the Mariinsky Theater and Conservatory. This place considered part of the musical district of the city of St Petersburg. Return to the hotel. Free afternoon for a free exploration of the city.

21:00 Dinner at MANSARDA (optional)

The MANSARDA restaurant overlooks St Petersburg from the top floor of the Quattro Corti center, in a building that is 150 years old. Panoramic view from the windows over the rooftops of St. Petersburg and St Isaac’s Cathedral.

The interior is cozy made of oak wood.

Return and night at the hotel.

The museum was founded on April 13, 1895 ( April 25 , 1895 in the Gregorian calendar ) during the reign of Nicholas II as a tribute to his father Alexander III under the name “Russian Museum of SMI Alexander III”.The first collection consists of part of the works of art collected by Alexander in the Anichkov Palace to which are added works from the Hermitage Museum and the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts . After the Russian Revolution of 1917, many private collections of Russian nobility and bourgeois families were confiscated and entrusted to the Russian Museum, including the famous Black Square on a White Background by Kazimir Malevich . The Russian Museum aims to present Russian art from the origins of Russia to the present day. The museum’s collections therefore reflect this chronological evolution and present emblematic works from the history of Russian art.

12:30 Lunch at a local restaurant

15:00 Private tour of the new Fabergé Museum in the Shuvalov Palace (1h00)

The official opening ceremony of the first private museum in Russia, the Fabergé Museum , took place on November 19, 2013, in the Shuvalov Palace in St Petersburg.

In 2004, Voktor Vekselberg collected works from the Fabergé collection, collected by Malcolm Forbes. Since then, the foundation has collected works of Russian decorative art and has amassed over 4,000 pieces to date. The collection is without doubt one of the best in the world. Today, the restored palace is once again one of the finest palaces in St. Petersburg

Return to the hotel on foot.

20:00 Farewell dinner in the TSAR restaurant

The TSAR signature will open up some secrets of Russian gourmet cuisine. You will taste the traditional Borsch followed by the famous “pelmeni” (Russian ravioli)

Famous designers and decorators took two years to create the Tsar restaurant and revive the famous and unforgettable Russian tradition.

Return to the hotel on foot.

Price: from 1880€/p. flights included in half board