White Nights

Arrive in St Peterburg in the late afternoon and transfer to a hotel in the heart of St Petersburg.  Meet your guide who will take you on a walk through little streets typical of St Petersburg before reaching a Georgian restaurant for dinner.

Set out with your guide on an introductory walking tour of the historic city centre.  Among the highlights you will see The Church of Spilled Blood, Kazan Cathedral and Isaac’s Cathedral.
In the evening, transfer to the River Neva for a private boat tour with drinks and a light buffet dinner.

Today, travel by private car through the Russian countryside, towards the coast of Finland to Komorova, the most renowned dacha village of the old Russian intelligentsia.
Dachas are small wooden country houses to which Russians escape during the summer.  Walk round the architecturally contrasting woodland dachas and meet some of the real characters living there.
Return to St Petersburg where, in the evening you will attend a ballet at the famous Mariinsky Theatre.

Spend the morning at the impressive Catherine Palace, a vast rococo summer palace built for Catherine I who reigned as Empress for two years after her husband Peter The Great died in 1725. In the afternoon, continue with a tour of the neo-classical Pavlovsk Palace and Gardens.  This was gifted by Catherine The Great to her son Paul I.

After breakfast, board a hovercraft to Peterhof on the south side of the gulf, where your guide will take you on a walking tour of the gardens and fountains of this wonderful palace.
In the afternoon take a guided tour of Yusupov Palace.  This is one of the few remaining aristocratic homes to still contain much of its original features and decor.  The highlights will include the private chambers and the room where Rasputin was murdered in 1916.

This morning, visit the much anticipated Faberge Museum. Have an early lunch before transferring to the airport for the direct return flight to London Heathrow.