This is a Private Custom version of the most popular group tour in St Petersburg, the "Complete St. Petersburg"  2 day tour that features many destinations including the Peterhof Fountain Park,  Peter and Paul Fortress and Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral, Catherine Palace, Church on Spilled Blood, Hermitage, Canal/River Cruise, Nevsky Prospect, and more!

Welcome to St. Petersburg! As soon as you have reported to our DenRus representative, after having cleared the Russian Immigration inspection, you'll be introduced to your local guide and driver. Without any further delay you'll be on your way to the first scheduled attraction.

City Tour -  You'll either see, or  visit the major sites and historical  attractions of St. Petersburg old center, including statues, monuments, rivers and canals, beautiful bridges, cathedrals and palaces, memorial squares and parks. You shall also enjoy photo opportunities in selected locations.  

Drive through the southern residential area and to the suburban palace estates and rural countryside and parks

Catherine Palace- typical of Baroque style, was built for the wife of Peter The Great , Catherine I, in the village of Tsarskoe Selo, or today’s Pushkin, and it became known as the Catherine Palace. 
Tsarskoe Selo (in English: “the Czar’s Village”) is located about 27 kilometers (17 miles) south of St. Petersburg and it has a long history connected with generations of Romanov Czars. Catherine Palace exceeds all the other palaces with its gigantic size and unique decorations. The stunning façade of the palace extends for almost 300 meters (1000 feet), and gives the first impression what to expect inside. Our tour will visit all the major halls and rooms, including the Great Hall, the Blue Room, the Picture Gallery, many of the private studies and bed rooms. 
One of the many highlights will be the Amber Room with its walls decorated with real amber of different hues. The palace was practically destroyed during the Second World War, and all the amber from the walls of the Amber Room was taken away from the country by the invaders. After the tour you will also view parts of the surrounding park’s and gardens consisting of almost 600 hectares (1.500 acres) and filled with marble statues

The Imperial  Catherine Park consists of two parts, each with its own style – the French Park with geometric planning and statues and the English Park imitating nature. Several pavilions of the Palace are scattered all over the Park – Upper Bath, Charles Cameron Gallery, Grotto,  Admiralty.

Peterhof, one of  the  oldest  Imperial summer  residencies in the St. Petersburg  region, it perhaps the most exotic of all because of its seaside situation. It is named  for the first Emperor of Russia, Peter the Great    The palace grounds consist of a main palace, about 20 smaller palaces and pavilions and seven incredible, peaceful park areas. In addition to the parks the real pride and highlight of Peterhof are the 140 different fountains and water cascades of which the gilded, terraced fountains shooting water high up into the air, have gained worldwide fame and have become the symbol of the city. Perhaps the greatest technological achievement of Peterhof is that all of the fountains operate without the use of pumps. Water is supplied from natural springs and collects in reservoirs in the Upper Gardens. The elevation difference creates the pressure that drives most of the fountains of the Lower Gardens Several fountains are designed with the specific purpose of soaking visitors.

Metro ride: The St. Petersburg metro (underground train system) is the deepest in the world. The first line was opened in 1955 and since then it has been continuously expanding. From the beginning both the Moscow and the St. Petersburg metro obtained world wide reputation for being the most beautiful metro system ever built. If you have ever experienced metro stations in other metropolises of the world, you shall agree soon.

The laying of underground lines in such a city as St. Petersburg is fraught with many difficulties. The builders had to break through ancient Cambrian claystone seies formed almost 600,000,000 years ago. The work was also complicated by the Neva - the river had to be crossed three times. Due to the geological difficulties (swamp), 57 out of 63 stations were built very deep (30-100 m).
St. Petersburg's Metro has a total length of 110.2 km and 63 stations (average station distance 1900 m). Like in Moscow, older stations are elegantly decorated whereas newer stations show a more functional design. 

Return transfer to the Port: Our active program of the day is coming to an end, and now it is time to return to the Port and to your ship.  We hope you have enjoyed your special program and wish to thank you.

Return to City: It is time to return to the city and our driving time shall be about 45-50 minutes depending on the traffic.

City Tour -  You'll either see, or  visit the major sites and historical  attractions of St. Petersburg old center, including statues, monuments, rivers and canals, beautiful bridges, cathedrals and palaces, memorial squares and parks. You shall also enjoy photo opportunities in selected locations.  

Peter-and-Paul Fortress. The Fortress is the cradle of the city – it was built to defend the outlet to the Baltic sea. After loosing  its military importance the Fortress became a prison; here Peter’s the Great son Alexey was tortured to death. From the end of 18th century it was a prison for political offenders; Dostoyevsky was a prisoner in 1849.
In 1917 its arsenal was used to arm the revolutionaries. The dominant edifice is the Cathedral of Peter-and-Paul. Almost all the Russian tsars, from Peter the Great to the last Russian Emperor Nikolas II are buried here.

Cruise the Neva River and the network of canals that run through "Venice of the North" as St Petersburg is sometimes called. From its earliest days canal transportation was a primary method of moving people and goods around the city. Roads were less useful in the wet seasons so many buildings face the canal rather than the road. There are still many canals but some of the original waterways were filled in after the midy 1800s when the Neva River was finally encased with a flood controlling granite embankment.  The views on this pleasant water trip are as the city was intended to be seen and offers unique perspectives of not only the historic buidlings but also many of the city's unique bridges. There are approximately 600 bridges, all of different designs.

The Church of the Saviour on the Spilled Blood: This Church is unofficially often reffered to as the "Church on the Spilled Blood" or even more briefly "The Bloody Church". It was built in 1907 as a memorial church in honour of Russian Emperor Alexander II, just on the exact spot where a crucial terrorist attempt was made upon him in 1881.  A bomb was thrown at the carriage where this liberal and progressive ruler was riding. It exploded and he died soon after. The cathedral represents a sample of The Russian Revival Architectural Style, and combines traditional Russian as well as the XIX-XX centuries decorative motives, themes and style. The church is also often referred to as the Mosaic Church, because of its colorful mosaic type onion domes, as well as mosaic art on its walls covering about 8.000 square yards (7000 square meters).  They were created according to the plans and drawings of 30 most famous artists of that period. - The church is unquestionably one of the most photographed sites of St. Petersburg, framed attractively between the Griboedova Canal on one side, and the unbelievably beautiful and graceful wraught iron flower fence of the Mikhailovsky Garden (the Russian Museum) on the other side.

Souvenir Shopping at the Open-air Souvenir Market and a Photo Stop near the Cathedral of the Spilled Blood:  There will be time allocated for souvenir shopping in your program, and one of the best selection of typical Russian gifts and souvenirs can be found at the open-air Souvenir Fair, at the intersection of the Moika and Griboedova Canals. Here you shall find the wooden nesting Matryoshka dolls, which come in all shapes and sizes, to black laquer jewelry boxes, amber and silver jewelry, glass and chrystal items, chess sets, toys and dolls, art and paintings, handicraft  . . . . .all the way to the military and political memorabilia of the old days of the Soviet Union.

Next to the Souvenir Market is one of St. Petersburg's most famous and popular photo stops, the Church of the Saviour on the Spilled Blood. - Have your cameras ready, otherwise you'll regret it.

Lunch Time; Stop for a quick bite or a complete fine dining experience in one of the many quality cafes and restaurants of your choosing. As with other international cities almost any cuisine is available from Russian to Asian, European, and Latin American.

The State Hermitage Museum and the Winter Palace: The Hermitage Museum is one of the world’s leading and most respected museums today, and the real “must” place for every visitor in St. Petersburg. The State Hermitage museum is a complex of five buildings: The Winter Palace, the former official residence of Russian Tsars, the Small Hermitage, the Big Hermitage, the New Hermitage and the Hermitage Theatre.  The Winter Palace was the city residence of the ruling royal Romanov family until 1917 when the Russian revolution took place and ended the monarchy. 

The Winter Palace section is of no lesser interest than the rest of the Hermitage Museum. You will see the huge white marble ceremonial entrance stairway, the Saint George Hall, where the Czar’s throne still stands today,  the Malachite Room, the Armorial Hall which was the center stage of fashionable state receptions and balls. From the windows of the Winter Palace you will see the lonely angel of the Alexander’s Column standing in the center of  the immense historical Palace Square. The vastness of the Winter Palace alone includes 1,057 rooms, 117 staircases, 1.786 doorways and 1.945 windows.

 The Hermitage Museum  houses one of the world's greatest art collections, and the Hermitage Theatre, once a most private and exclusive royal family theatre, today is open for anybody wishing to purchase a ticket to its open performances. Works of classical artists like Leonardo da Vinci, Titian,  and Michelangelo, then El Greco, Velazquez, Goya, or of the more recent painters like Degas, Renoir, Monet, van Gogh, Matisse or Picasso and many other masters of the 19-20th century French art are all prominently represented. It should also be mentioned that the Hermitage displays one of the world’s largest and incomparable collection of Rembrandt’s work.  The Winter Palace was designed by the Italian architect Rastrelli in the 1700's. in Baroque style. The splendor of the interior and the room decorations, patterned parquet floors, molded and painted ceilings, period furniture, decorative objects of malachite, lapis lazuli, jasper and others simply dazzles the visitors' eyes. Other materials used in decoraions inclcude bronze, crystal, gold, valuable exotic woods and tapestries. It is said that to visit every one of its rooms would involve an excursion of not less than 13 miles or about 20 kilometres.

Return transfer to the Port: Our active program of the day is coming to an end, and now it is time to return to the Port and to your ship.  We hope you have enjoyed your special program and wish to thank you.