St. Petersburg's UNESCO World Heritage City listing indicates the historic and cultural importance of St Petersburg. It is one of the world's most awe-inspiring cities. Designed by Europe's greatest architects, it remains one of the most well preserved large cities anywhere. This tour gives an excellent overview of this magnificent city

Disembarkation and introductions to your guide and driver, orientation and setting off on the morning program.

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.

Court Carriages Exhibition The exhibition features various antique vehicles: carriages, phaetons, cabriolets, and sleighs which were used for formal appearances and the most lavish ceremonies held in the imperial court during 18th and 19th centuries: the coronation. A special place is occupied by the carriage in which on March 1, 1881, Emperor Alexander II was fatally wounded after terrorists threw a bomb at the carriage. The exhibition shows sleighs belonging to Emperor Paul I, and a ten-seat sleigh for transporting the ladies-in-waiting of Empress Catherine II. “The sleigh makes the man”, as one of Russian saying goes.

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 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.

Nevsky Prospect  This wide main street is the most well know street in Eastern Europe and it the social and shopping heart of the city. Your tour will travel on foot along Nevsky prospect with visits to the shops including English books shops, sidewalk cafes, grand historic shopping centers plazas, churches and parks.

The St. Isaac's Cathedral:  Designed by Auguste  de Monferrand in 1818 the church was named in tribute to Peter the great who was born on the day of St. Isaac of Dalmatia. The Cathedral is 101,5 m (333 ft) high and the dome (for  the making of which 100 kg (220,5 lb) of gold was used) is 26,5 m (87 ft) in diameter, making it one of the largest in the world after St. Peter 's Cathedral in Rome and St. Paul's Cathedral in London.
The interior is “a symphony of gold, marble, lapis lazuli, malachite and porphyry”. The walls and vaults are decorated with paintings and mosaics by the leading artists of the day, and the walls and floors are lined with marble from Russia, France and Italy. The columns of the iconostasis are faced with malachite and lapis. There are all together 112 columns of polished granite holding the building up, of which 24 support the dome.
The Cathedral can accommodate 14,000 people.

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.

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

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. 

The Grand Palace still has the exterior planned by the Empress Elizabeth I. After 1745 she had the initial building altered by the architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli, who, after enlarging Peter I's original palace, added to it a couple of single-floor galleries, each ending with a pavillion (a church on the east side and an amorial pavillion on the west side).You will walk through its different rooms and ceremonial halls (Chesme Hall, Throne Room, White Dinning Room, Chinese rooms etc.), marvel its beauty and luxury, admire the centuries old china, dishes, art, textiles and furniture, and wonder how luxuriously did the royal people live.

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.

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.

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.