Moscow & St. Petersburg

Step into the city of fortified citadels, onion domed churches, historical squares and a checkered past. Begin your tour in the center of all Russia, the Red Square. Wander through this bustling Russian marketplace and stop to gaze up at the breathtakingly colorful onion domes of St. Basil’s Cathedral. Tour the Kremlin, a historic fortified complex with four palaces and four cathedrals, and see Ivan the Great Bell Tower and Cathedral Square.

Visit the oldest and richest museum in the Moscow Kremlin, the Armory Palace Museum. Wander around the expansive halls to gaze on the sparkling Imperial Crown of Russia, the impressive ivory throne of Ivan the Terrible and thousands of other priceless artifacts from Russia’s past.

One of Russia's former capitals, this city rivals Paris or Venice for its romantic image. Dating from the beginning of the 18th-century it was built to the exact specifications ordered by Peter the Great. The city is home to many museums, galleries, palaces, impressive squares and streets. Your sightseeing tour of this beautiful city shows you Nevsky Prospect, Palace Square, St. Isaacs Cathedral and the battle-cruiser Aurora. After lunch, tour the Hermitage museum, the former Palace of the Czars, which houses the royal art collection with over three million works of art. It is one of the largest and most impressive art museums in the world.

St Petersburg, Petrograd, Leningrad, while the name of this great city has changed over the years its importance in Russia has not. Walk down Nevsky Prospekt, the main street in St Petersburg, to get a true feel of this westernmost Russian city. With its relatively low cityscape, winding canals and well-preserved buildings, St Petersburg is a modern city with a medieval feel. See the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, founded in 1710 by Peter the Great, and home to relics of Alexander Nevsky patron-saint of the St Petersburg, and the Tikhvin Cemetery.