Preliminary Day by Day Itinerary

March 9 Depart New York
Saturday
Check in at FINNAIR at New York’s JFK no later than 2:45 PM, and meet your travel companions. Our journey starts today at 5:45 PM aboard FINNAIR flight AY006. Dinner and breakfast enroute.

March 10 Helsinki
Sunday Moscow
Arrive in Helsinki at 8:50 AM this morning and connect with the short flight to Moscow AY153 departing at 9:25 AM and arriving at 12:05 PM. Welcome to Russia! Our excellent guide Ludmila, is waiting to greet you. We are off to the newly renovated Cosmos Hotel for a short afternoon rest. After dinner at the hotel, we’ll have an optional visit by Metro for an impressive view of Red Square at night. Return to the hotel for a good night’s sleep. (D)

****Cosmos Hotel

March 11 Moscow
Monday
This is certainly a day to remember! Today we go inside the Kremlin. Its 64 acres enclose palaces, cathedrals and towers including the splendid Ivan the Great Tower and Belfry. Within the complex are the Grand Kremlin Palace, the Terem Palace, the Palace of Congress and historic Cathedral Square. Ringing the square are the historic Archangel, Annunciation and Assumption Cathedrals. We’ll go inside one of them. The Czar Bell and Czar Cannon make a good photo op. We’ll have a two hour guided tour of the Armory. There you’ll find the exquisite Fabergé Egg Collection and much more. Filled with exquisite icons and paintings, carriages and costumes, this is the most historic of the Kremlin’s monuments.

Then it’s time to relax over a special lunch at a downtown restaurant. Later, board the Metro to see the magnificent underground Museums. We’ll end at Arbat Street, Moscow’s colorful pedestrian precinct lined with boutiques, art galleries, theaters and cafes. (B-L)

****Cosmos Hotel

March 12 Moscow
Tuesday
After breakfast we have the opportunity to visit the headquarters of the Women’s Union of Russia.

After lunch, we’ll be introduced to some of Moscow’s famed sites. Red Square, center of Moscow since its founding some 800 years ago, continues to be the historic heart of the city. You’ll find this cobblestone square tingling with life. Lining one side of the square are the unmistakable red walls of the Kremlin while St. Basil’s Cathedral, the most easily identifiable of Moscow’s landmarks, stands on the other side. GUM department store stands on the east side of this open plaza with the History Museum on the north. The Lenin Mausoleum is the focus of the square. Then we are invited to a famous artist’s studio to enjoy a tea party. This will be your chance to see inside a Moscow home-studio and enjoy Russian hospitality (B-L)

****Cosmos Hotel

March 13 Moscow
Wednesday Vladimir-Suzdal
After breakfast we head to the Golden Ring. Ludmila will be full of information and folktales for you as your travel through the picturesque countryside. Vladimir is one of the oldest Medieval Russian towns. We have included lunch today while in Vladimir at a nice restaurant in Old Town, which has good Russian cuisine and cozy atmosphere. Continue with sightseeing in Vladimir before continuing to Suzdal. Here we check into the Goriachie Klyuchi. Dinner tonight is included along with a folkshow. (B-L-D)

***Goriachie Klyuchi

March 14 Suzdal-Palekh
Thursday
Depart northward for Palekh. It is said to have been founded by the people who fled there from the Tarter-Mongol raids. For centuries, Palekh has been the center of icon painting and is home to the Palekh Art School and Museum of Miniature Painting. Take advantage of this unique opportunity to purchase lacquered boxes from the original artists! Return to Suzdal and time permitting, see the Museum of Wooden Architecture today or tomorrow. Dinner and overnight in Suzdal. (B-L-D)

***Goriachie Klyuchi

Palekh Miniatures
The oldest center of icon painting. Subjects often include the troika (three horsed sled) with slender legs, manes of curlicues, romantic subjects, and elaborate borders.

March 15 Fedoskino
Friday Moscow
After breakfast we’ll make our way back to Moscow via Fedoskino; the most famous of the villages where the black lacquered hand painted paper maché boxes are crafted. We’ll stop in Kizhi Village for a bowl of Borshch. Arrive in Moscow to check in to the Holiday Inn Suschevsky and have dinner. (B-D)

****Holiday Inn Suschevsky

Fedoskino Miniatures
Subjects include village and peasant scenes, landscapes and portraits. The characters appear life-like full-bodied and real. The tea-party with shining samovar is a favorite. The top paintings often lack the decorative border, and gold foil highlights the painting. Mother of pearl inlays are a specialty. Fedoskino masters use oil paint rather than tempera.

March 16 Moscow
Saturday Butter Festival
This morning we will have an excursion for a guided tour of the superb Tretyakov Gallery with its fine collection of Russian art. After lunch we’ll visit a park for a troika (horse-pulled sleigh ride), weather permitting. During the Butter Festival – Maslenitsa, the Russian Mardi Gras or Carnival - many activities will be going on here. Enjoy pancakes at lunch, served with different things - sour cream, butter, caviar, honey, jam, etc. It will be fun to try them with vodka.

No trip to Moscow is complete without enjoying a performance of the Russian Circus, which we have included tonight. (B-L)

****Holiday Inn Suschevsky

March 17 Moscow
Sunday Sergiev Posad
Butter Festival
Today we have an excursion to Sergiev Posad, the medieval town that is the seat of Russian Orthodoxy. Enjoy lunch before returning to Moscow. The last two days of Maslenitsa, Saturday and Sunday, there may be folk shows and entertainment for public in some parks and squares. The Theatre is an option tonight. (B-L)

****Holiday Inn Suschevsky

March 18 Moscow
Monday St. Petersburg
After we check out of our hotel this morning, we’ll visit a local school. In the afternoon we board the Sapsan, the Peregrine Falcon, (fast train) to St. Petersburg about 11:30 AM. This evening we’ll catch our first glimpse of this enchanting city. Welcome to St. Petersburg, the cultural capital of Eastern Europe. Dinner is at our fine hotel. (B-D)

****Hotel Petro Palace

March 19 St. Petersburg
Tuesday
After breakfast, we’ll visit the Hermitage Museum. Located in a splendid ensemble of buildings in the Palace Square, the buildings were at one time royal residences and offices of the State. The principal building, the Winter Palace, itself an outstanding example of Russian Baroque, is today part of the Hermitage Museum Complex. Boasting over two million art and history exhibits, all displayed in halls and galleries that are themselves masterpieces, this is most definitely one of the world’s finest museums.

Next we visit to the exquisite Usipov (Yusupov) Palace with its beautiful recreated interiors. Once a residence of the wealthy and respected Usipov family, it saw one of Russian history’s moments of high drama - the murder of Grigory Rasputin. (B-D)

****Hotel Petro Palace

March 20 St. Petersburg
Wednesday Tsarskoe Selo
With its name changed back to St. Petersburg from Leningrad, this relatively young city was conceived and built by Peter the Great only 300 years ago. At every turn you’ll find the city’s grand neo-classical architecture mirrored in a network of canals and rivers. Travel along Nevsky Prospekt, the city’s most elegant boulevard lined with palaces, mansions, and churches, most of which are fine examples of Russian Classical and Baroque styles. The impressive Kazan Cathedral is here. The richly gilded St. Isaac’s Cathedral, and the famous “Bronze Horseman” statue of Peter the Great are located just off Nevsky Prospekt as are the well known Mariinsky Theater (Kirov) and Maly Theaters. We’ll make a visit inside the Peter and Paul Fortress that contains the Peter and Paul Cathedral where the Romanov czars lie buried. Other landmarks such as the Admiralty Building and the Smolny Convent will be pointed out to you.

Join Ludmila for an “Afternoon in the Countryside” excursion to Tsarskoe Selo (Pushkin) and visit the exquisite Catherine Palace. Set in 1,500 acres of beautifully landscaped parklands, the palace with its brilliant azure facade and gold moldings, is the main structure. We’ll see some of the best-known chambers in the restoration work still under way. Return to St. Petersburg. (B-L)

****Hotel Petro Palace

March 21 St. Petersburg
Thursday Helsinki
New York, U.S.A.
We’ll bid a fond farewell to Russia as we transfer to the airport for our 12:35 PM flight. Arrive Helsinki at 12:30 PM and connect with FINNAIR flight AY005 departing at 2:10 PM to New York arriving at 3:55 PM. We are sure you will have many happy anecdotes to share with relatives and friends. (B)

Better yet, stay on in St. Petersburg for three additional days.

Note: Flight schedules always subject to change.