St. Petersburg is a city of palaces floating on a northern sea, and there is no better time to appreciate its beauty than in early summer on our walking tour. The palace parks are green and sylvan and the ornamented facades, both simple and elaborately baroque, are magnificently captured by the bright light. At this northerly latitude, the sun sets for only a few hours during May, June and July, leaving nights of enchanted twilight.
As befits the former capital of tsarist Russia, the city is a treasure trove of architecture and museums. Sometimes on foot, sometimes by private coach, we explore its most famous landmarks - the Hermitage Museum, the Peter and Paul Fortress - as well as lesser known, but often more revealing sites like the Menshikov Palace, the Smolny Convent and the Russian Museum. On the outskirts of the city lie the great country palaces of the Romanov royal family, with their incredible interiors, idyllic landscaped parks and outlying pavilions.
We stay for four nights in a fittingly grand five star hotel, once the town mansion of an 18C French spice trader, and attend a performance of ballet or opera in the Mariinsky (Kirov) Theatre.
HIGHLIGHTS of our St Petersburg walking tour include:
Guests’ comments on this trip:
‘Highly enjoyable; well thought through and organised. First class guide who was informative and engaging.’
‘Good food is one of the reasons we travel with Kudu. A very good holiday and we saw some wonderful palaces.’
DAY 1
D included
Arriving mid afternoon at St. Petersburg airport, we have a 45 minute drive into the city centre where we alight to stroll across the park to the great equestrian statue of the founder of the city, Peter the Great, which rears above the wide expanse of the Neva River. An introduction to Pushkin’s magnificent poem inspired by the statue, ‘The Bronze Horseman’, will set the scene for the city we are about to discover. Continuing to our hotel, we have time to settle in, and then enjoy a welcome glass of ice-cold vodka together before dinner in the hotel’s excellent restaurant.
DAY 2
B, L, D included
A day devoted to Peter the Great, founder of the city and historical giant, both literally and metaphorically. Travelling by private coach, the first stop of the day will be at the Strelka, the tip of Vasilievsky Island in the middle of the Neva River, with its mighty rostral columns and former Stock Exchange building. From here we survey the city and get our bearings. We then cross the river to the Peter and Paul Fortress and visit the Cathedral, burial place of the Romanovs, including the last Tsar and his family. Afterwards we visit the Menshikov Palace, from where Alexandr Menshikov, Peter the Great’s friend, ran Russia in the Tsar’s absence and after his death, until his own exile. Following a traditional lunch of cold and hot ‘zakuski’ we board the hydrofoil for the journey to Peterhof, Peter’s grand summer residence on the Gulf of Finland, with its riotous Great Cascade of fountains. Dinner in a Georgian restaurant back in St. Petersburg concludes the day.
DAY 3
B, L, D included
This morning is spent out in the country in Tsarskoye Selo, ‘the Tsar’s village’, where Empress Elizabeth bade her favourite architect Rastrelli to build her the magnificent Catherine Palace with its stunningly rich interiors (including the famous Amber Room). Catherine the Great added to the palace and oversaw the creation of the formal park. A lively contrast is provided by lunch, accompanied by folk songs, in the traditional Russian country restaurant, Podvorie. Back in the city we stop to admire the Smolny Cathedral and the Church on Spilt Blood, with its colourful striped onion domes, before visiting the Russian Museum in the Mikhail Palace with its outstanding collection of Russian art - from medieval icons to the 20C avant-garde. Dinner is in a nearby restaurant celebrated for its imperial style and traditions.
DAY 4
B, L, D included
Leaving our hotel on foot we walk to Palace Square, where the story of 18C and early 19C Russian architecture is laid out like a pattern book. We then enter the world-famous Hermitage Museum when it opens at 10.30. The first hour or so is devoted to a tour of the Winter Palace, the main residence of the Tsars, with its grandiloquent staterooms and more intimate private interiors. We then visit some of the many highlights of this exceptional collection, before a simple snack lunch within the museum. The afternoon is unstructured, allowing those who want to continue their exploration of the Hermitage to do so. Others might want to have time for shopping on St. Petersburg’s main thoroughfare, Nevsky Prospekt, or to take a private boat trip around the canals at the centre of the city. We attend a performance of either ballet or opera, as available, in the celebrated Mariinsky (Kirov) Theatre and dine afterwards in a well-known restaurant frequented by opera-goers & artists.
DAY 5
B, L included
Our private tour of the Yusupov Palace gives a fascinating insight into Rasputin’s murder in this palace in 1916. Indefatigable to the last, en route to the airport we stop by the extraordinary gothic Chesme Church and the Victory Monument, erected to commemorate both the victims and survivors of the 900 day siege of the city in the Second World War.
Per person sharing: TBC
TBC deposit per person
TBC double room for single use supplement
Please note that the double room for single use supplement is imposed by the hotel and not by Kudu Travel. If you are willing to share but no other suitable guest books on the trip, we regret that the supplement will be payable.
Price includes
Price does not include
VALUE FOR MONEY - SO MUCH IS INCLUDED
On Kudu trips you will only need money for postcards, presents to take home, the odd G & T or an irresistible ice cream. Festival and opera tickets, museum and gallery entrances, National Park fees, all meals (with a very few exceptions specified in individual itineraries), wine with lunch and dinner, access to specialist books carried by the guides, gratuities for porters and hotel and restaurant staff, boat rides, train trips, internal flights, wine tastings, 4WDs with drivers, the services of skilled local guides and trackers etc are ALL INCLUDED in the cost of your holiday.
We are confident that, like previous very satisfied guests, you will discover that our tours give you excellent value for money.
Visa and Health Requirements
Visitors from the EU, Australia, USA and Canada currently require a valid passport (valid for 6 months beyond your trip) and a visa for entry to Russia. On receipt of your deposit we will advise you on the tourist visa application procedure. Visa costs start at £78. Please allow plenty of time for processing the visa - a minimum of 3 weeks. If you are a national of any other country, please check visa regulations with your nearest Russian Embassy.
At present there are no specific and compulsory health requirements for entry to Russia if you are arriving from Europe, Australia or North America. You may wish to check the advice given to travellers by the Department of Health and the FCO.
Insurance
It is essential, and a condition of booking, that you protect yourself with a suitable travel insurance policy as soon as you book a trip. Follow this link for a quote for a policy available to UK residents.
If you are already insured, or a non-UK resident, please inform us of your policy at the time of booking.
Size of party
This trip will run with a minimum of 6 and a maximum of 14 guests.
