The tour is devoted to the diverse activities of Peter I, the foundation of the new capital of the Russian Empire .You will visit Menshikov Palace where Peter I organized his lavish assemblies, held celebrations of Russian victories and received foreign embassies.

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.  

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

Vasilievsky Island is an island in Saint Petersburg, bordered by the rivers Bolshaya Neva and Malaya Neva (in the delta of Neva) from South and Northeast, and by the Gulf of Finland from the West. Situated just across the river from the Winter Palace, it constitutes a large portion of the city's historic center. The Exchange Bridge and Tuchkov Bridge across Malaya Neva connect it with Petrogradsky Island. The south and east of the island are old, with buildings mostly from the 19th century. The southern embankment has some of the oldest buildings in the city dated from 18th century. That part of the island is notable for its rectangular grid of streets (originally intended to be canals, like in Venice), with three prospects - Bolshoi (Big), Sredniy (Middle) and Maly (Small) - going roughly from east to west, and with 30 Liniya (Line) streets going perpendicularly from south to north. The easternmost tip of the island, called Strelka (Spit, literally Arrow), features a number of museums, including the Old Saint Petersburg Stock Exchange  as well as two Rostral columns, and is a popular tourist attraction. The edifices lining the Universitetskaya Embankment along the Bolshaya Neva include the Kunstkamera, Twelve Collegia, Menshikov Palace, Imperial Academy of Sciences, and St. Andrew's Cathedral - all dating from the 18th century.

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.