Moscow – Tula – St. Petersburg: 9-Nights

Private transfer from the airport to the hotel “Pushkin” (early check-in is not included)

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Our driver will be waiting for you at arrivals with “ExploRussia” placard

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Day free---You can take a nice walk around the city center, enjoy a cocktail at one of Moscow’s bars or check out a live folk performance. All depends on your personal interests.

Our guide will meet you at hotel lobby after breakfast.

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Moscow metro and Stalin’s skyscrapers tour (3 h) Hide from the chill and dive into the famous Moscow metro. Stop at the most beautiful stations of the Red, Green and Ring lines ( usually 8 stations). During the tour you will also visit the most spectacular examples of Soviet architecture – famous Stalin’s skyscrapers, including Ministry of Foreign Affairs (outside), Leningradskaya Hotel and a building near Krasnie Vorota (Red Gates) (outside).

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After an intensive walk in the metro, enjoy tea with Russian pies in our favourite cafe.

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After a food break, your guide will guide you to the Tretyakov gallery.-- Tretyakov Gallery tour (1,5- 2h) Your guide is happy to show you the best of Tretyakov Art gallery. Nowadays it holds the largest collection of Russian fine art in the world along with brilliant masterpieces of iconography and it is open for your judgment and enjoyment. Started in the 1856 by merchant Pavel Tretyakov who had a noble goal of creating and preserving the best masterworks of Russian talents for future generations the art gallery now excites curious minds and is included in every tour of Moscow there is. During Tretyakov’s lifetime he managed to collect more than 2000 art works which are now available for everyone by his generous will. We will show you today something you have heard about all your life - Black Square by Kazimir Malevich, Girl with Peaches by Valentin Serov, Holy Trinity by Andrey Rublev and so much more.

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After the tour, the guide can take you to the hotel or guide you to a nice restaurant in city center.

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Optional and upon availability: ballet performance at Bolshoy theater or Kremlin Palace, or Nemirovicha-Danchenko theater.

Local food market tour (3hrs)- You will take a ride to the part of Moscow where tourists would hardly go. It’s not dangerous, it’s just further from the center. :) You will be able to see a building that we call a ship and a building in the form of flower. However, our reason to go there is food. Our degustation menu for the day will include sour, spicy, cheesy and sweet treats for your delectation. We hope you’re hungry! We’ll start with nature’s bounty: Russian honey served with herbs and berries. Next it’s on to appetisers and you’ll try the freshest cheeses and curd from the Caucasian region. Then it’s on to two proper Russian delicacies. First is smoked lard, which sounds a bit odd to the western palate, but trust us, it’s rich, fulfilling and delicious! Then, red caviar from the island of Sakhalin, an absolute must-eat while in Moscow.We’ll then head south to explore our favourite dishes from Uzbekistan and Dagestan, pilaf and chudu (scones) with cheese or pumpkin, finishing off with tea and pies. We recommend the sweet pie with poppy seeds. Yummy! Happy and full, you’ll be guided to the hotel or you can of course stay and shop for tasty souvenirs too!

Tula and Yasnaya Polyana tour- You will meet a guide early morning at the lobby, who’ll guide you to the Kurskiy train station and help to find the right train to Tula. The train will be in Tula in about 2 hours, on the way you’ll be able to sleep or enjoy beautiful landscapes. Your local Tula guide meets you when you get off the train. Together, we hop into a taxi towards Yasnaya Polyana. During our 40-minute taxi ride, your guide gives you an introduction to the area, discussing its history and regaling you with interesting facts and stories about the locals over the centuries. We also talk about Count Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy, better known as Leo, often cited as one of the world’s greatest authors. Tolstoy’s house has not been touched since the day he left in 1910, and because of this, it genuinely feels as though you have been transported through time. We spend some time exploring the house, hearing stories about the famous Tolstoy family. we take a walk through the city centre to the most ancient place in Tula — the Kremlin — to hear about its amazing history and to take some postcard-perfect pictures. As you admire the shiny gold domes above you, hear about the dramatic events that took place here. We check out nearby Lenin Square, too, where a statue of the former leader of the Bolshevik Revolution still stands. After soaking up all that captivating Russian history, there is time to enjoy some authentic souvenir shopping with the help of your local guide. If you’re still feeling peckish, we make one last stop for a coffee and a dessert at a popular café within the Kremlin walls.

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Then we take a local bus back towards the train station, where your tour guide leaves you once they have helped you locate your carriage. In the evening, you will be back in Moscow. You will need to go back to the hotel by yourself.

Private transfer to the train station

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Take a fast train “Sapsan” from Moscow to St Petersburg (the journey takes 4 hours, there are morning, day and evening trains). Meet our representative near your car carriage at the station. Private transfer to the hotel “Golden Triangle”.

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Leave or luggage at the hotel (or check-in if it’s after 2pm). No early check-in is included. Evening free to breath a fresh air of the city on the Neva river.