The Capitals and Golden Ring

Experience the grandeur of the tsaristic empire in Russia's cultural capital St. Petersburg. Visit the bustling city of Moscow, the political heart of the country with it's famous Kremlin, the Red Square, the iconic St. Basil's Basilic or a balet in the Bolshoi theater. Or travel around the ancient Russian cities such as Vladimir, Yaroslavl and Suzdal in the Golden Ring. The beauty of the monastries, orthodox churches and fortesses are delightful between the rustique landscape of forests, lakes and farmlands.

Our English speaking guide will introduce you to the cities, their history and culture. Russia's cities have a lot to offer. Of course you should visit the famous landmarks, but you can also choose to experience more of the culture, such as a culinary masterclass in preparing Russian food, a visit to the ballet, theator or folk music.

Caucasus Mountain Tours is mainly focussed on traveling in the Caucasus area. The North-Caucasus is however part of the Russian Federation and the Caucasus is since the 19th century under Russian influence. If you really want to understand the North-Caucasus cultures, sooner or later you will encounter the Russian culture as well. For this reason, we offer city tours to the Capitals Moscow and St. Petersburg and the Golden Ring. These tours are exeptionally suitable to do these tours before or after your tour to the Caucasus.

On this website we do some suggestions for tours, but basically you can design your own tour. Let us know what you want and we will realize your dream holiday that fits your budget. We are more than happy to give our suggestions to help you on this journey.

Sample itinery

Six Days St. Petersburg and Moscow.

During this tour you will visit the architectoral and cultural highlights of Moscow and St. Petersburg and will spend Two days in each of them. You can easily choose to shorten the trip and do only Moscow or St.Petersburg, or replace one of these cities for a tour to the Golden Ring cities.

Day 1: Arrival St. Petersburg

The fist day you will arrive in St Petersburg. You will get a transfer from the airport and check in into your hotel first. Depending on your arrivel time you might want to rest or explore the city.

Day 2: St. Petersburg and the Hermitage

Today you will have a guided tour to see the highlights of St. Petersburg. The Ressurection Cathedral, Nevskii Prospect, the Peter and Paul Fortress. Highlight of the day will be a guided tour to the Hermitage, which is located in the former Winterpalace of the Tsars. The grandeur of this palace intriques it's visitors and gives a real impression of the world of the stars. At the same time you get to know the highlights of the immense famous collection. Art from all over Europe is found here, such as Michelangelo, famous Dutch and Flemish painters such as Rembrandt, and of course a a large collection of all kind of Russian art.

If you visit it between the 11th of June and the 2nd of July, you can enjoy tonight the white nights of St. Petersburg. During these nights the sun will not set in St. Petersburg, which gives a unique atmosphere.

Day 3: Peterhof

The afternoon we will have a boat tour through the historical canals of St. Petersburg and you will have time for some shopping. In the evening you might want to join a concert or a theater production.

Later in the evening we will catch the night train to Moscow. You now experience the wondrous world of Russian nighttrains. For you it will be only one night, for your fellow passengers they might be there for anonther 4-6 days all the way to Vladivostok.

Day 4: The heart of Moscow

Early morning you will arrive in Moscow, get refreshed and go for breakfast. After this we will visit the heart of Moscow: The Red Square, St. Basil's cathedral, the Kremlin, the astonishing shopping center Gum and the Arbat street. You might want to visit one of the museums such as Tretyakov gallery, the historical museum. While traveling with the metro, you have the opportunity to see some of the most beautiful metro stations in the world. The inner circle metro stations were made as palaces for the people and are exemplaric for Sovjet art.

Day 5: Monastry and parks in Moscow

On your last day you will see a different part of Moscow. Away from the centre we will experience the pockets of rest in a bustling city. We will the Russian Orthodox monastries and experience the re. After this we will visit the Cosmonotic museum. The museum forms the entrance of the All Russia exibition park. This park shows some of the highlights of Sovjet art. It's worth spending some time in this park, have a wonder and see how the Moscovites enjoy park life. Make sure you buy your last souvenirs this afternoon. The evening you might want to explore the night life in Moscow or visit to the Bolshoy Theatre for a Russian ballet or opera. Some people say: to know Russian culture, one must have seen the Russian Ballet. And indeed, the music, dancing, the grandeur and perfection in performance gives a specific Russian cultural experience.

Day 6: Leaving

You will have a transfer to the airport and leave for home, or... you could continue to do one of our fantastic Caucasus tours.

Price

Prices given in this paragraph are for a booking in high season (June, July August). During other times of the year, the price might be lower. In the price is included:

• Overnight in a 3* hotel right in the centres of Moscow and St. Petersburg.
• Transport through the city by car and train from St. Petersburg to Moscow including transfer to the airport.
• Excursions with English speaking guides.
• Entree fees for excursions.
• Breakfast.

Not included:

• Tickets to a theatre or concert.
• Lunches and dinners (your guide can advice you about places to eat and introduce you to the Russian kitchen).
• Rooms are for 2 people to share, a single room is possible for an extra payment of £ 200,--.