Your Itinerary
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Discover the Baltics and Russia Your itinerary Start Location Visited Location Plane End Location Cruise Train Over night Ferry Day 1 Bohemian Quarter with its colourful wooden buildings. Arrive Warsaw (2 Nights) Included Meals - Breakfast Tucked away, but not forgotten, the Baltics stand at the edge of Europe revived and Day 9 reinvigorated after years of Nazi and Soviet occupation. Storybook capitals and stunning natural landscapes lie ahead, but first Poland's capital gets the nod as your Tallinn – St. Petersburg (4 Nights) launchpad to a region that has emerged vibrant despite its tragic history. Meet your Head east to the town of Narva, dominated by the mighty Hermannsburg Fortress, Travel Director and fellow travellers, then enjoy dinner together. where we cross the River Narva, which forms the Russian border. Then, it's on to St. Petersburg, founded by Peter the Great. This port city is Russia's cultural centre Holiday Inn Express Hub Hotel - and with its worldfamous opera, ballet and art museums, it offers a fascinating look into Russia's past. Included Meals - Dinner Day 2 Hotel - Park Inn by Radisson Pribaltiyskaya Warsaw sightseeing and free time Included Meals - Breakfast, Dinner A lesson in courage and perseverance awaits this morning as you join a Local Day 10 Specialist to visit Warsaw's Old Town. Its façades are more modern than medieval and a testament to the resilience of the Poles who have lovingly restored their St. Petersburg sightseeing and free time capital city after it was razed to the ground in retaliation for the 1944 Warsaw The tales of Romanov royalty come to life as you join a Local Specialist for an Uprising. See the site of the Warsaw Ghetto, immortalised in the poignant Roman exhilarating sightseeing tour of St. Petersburg's iconic sights. See the Tsar's Winter Polanski film The Pianist, then spend the rest of the day exploring the city your Palace, Nevsky Prospekt and St. Isaac's Cathedral. Learn how the enduring way. This afternoon, perhaps join an optional visit to the 17thcentury Baroque presence of The Bronze Horseman ensures the city will never yield to enemy forces, Wilanów Palace, once the summer home of King Jan Sobieski III, followed by an then explore the Peter and Paul Fortress, the final resting place of the tsars and optional evening of traditional music and dance. tsarinas whose magic touch can still be seen in the pastel façades of this glorious city. This afternoon, you could choose to embark on an Optional Experience to the Included Meals - Breakfast Hermitage to see one of the largest and most valuable collections of art in the world. Day 3 Warsaw – Vilnius (2 Nights) Included Meals - Breakfast Day 11 The journey north begins today, through pastoral landscapes and rural villages to Vilnius, Lithuania's elegant capital. There isn't a city in Northern Europe with a St. Petersburg free day medieval Old Town its size and you'll have an opportunity to explore every inch of its What could be better than a full day to marvel at the legacy left behind by a tsar who Baroque, Gothic and Renaissance splendour on your own and with a Local wanted to build a city to rival the great capitals of Europe? Spend your day exploring Specialist. Signs of the city's 50years of Soviet occupation can still be seen, but it the rise and fall of the Romanovs as you wander past the elegant mansions, wide is the city's beautiful architectural heritage, gritty street art and youthful spirit which boulevards and leafy canals that are all that remains of an uninhabitable swamp. take centre stage on your visit. Launch into a love affair with Lithuanian food this evening by joining an optional dinner and folklore show. Skanaus! Included Meals - Breakfast Hotel - Art City Inn Day 12 St. Petersburg free day Included Meals - Breakfast Don't resist the urge to walk in the footsteps of the tsars today and consider an Day 4 optional visit to the opulent summer residence of Peter the Great in Petrodvorets. Vilnius sightseeing and free time Peter wasn't afraid to think big and you'll see how the lavish, lush gardens of this sunkissed retreat were created to rival the opulence of Versailles. Today is your final All the iconic sights of Vilnius are revealed this morning as you join a Local day to explore this imperial city and surrounds on your terms. Specialist to see the 16thcentury Bishop's Palace and the University, the oldest in the Baltics. Explore the Baroque Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, built on the site Included Meals - Breakfast of a temple to the pagan goddess of love. Then walk to the Gates of Dawn, the Carmelite Church of St. Theresa and former Jewish Ghetto, passing the Cathedral, Day 13 new Royal Palace excavations and the former site of the synagogue, destroyed St. Petersburg – Novgorod (1 Night) during World War II. This afternoon, head back to the former communist era on an Leave St. Petersburg behind, bound for the 'Birthplace of Russia', the ancient city of Optional Experience to the KGB museum. Novgorod. Here you'll delve into the legacy of the Rurik dynasty which ruled Russia for over seven centuries. You'll view the Millennium Monument, St. Sophia Cathedral Included Meals - Breakfast, Dinner and the Kremlin whose fortified red façades overlook the Volkhov River. Tonight, Day 5 dinner is served at your hotel. Vilnius – Šiauliai – Riga (2 Nights) Hotel - Park Inn by Radisson Switch the new capital for the old capital on an Optional Experience to Trakai with its enchanting lakeside castle. Later, don't leave Vilnius without fueling up on some Included Meals - Breakfast, Dinner of the city's famous kibinai pasties. Savoury or sweet, take your pick, before you Day 14 leave the city bound for the Hill of Crosses at Šiauliai where millions of crosses jostle for their spot in a nonviolent protest against decades of Russian and Soviet Novgorod – Tver – Moscow (3 Nights) rule. Arrive in the ancient city of Riga later its Gothic skyline has witnessed Big and bold, Moscow towers unashamedly above other cities, claiming its rightful German, Scandinavian and Russian rule across eight centuries, and you'll get to spot as the deserving modernday capital of Russia. But first, enjoy a brief lunch visit hear all their tales of triumph and tragedy over the next day. in the Tver region. Arriving in Moscow, spend some time delving into the victories and tragedies that have shaped this magnificent city. You'll have an opportunity later to Tallink Hotel - embark on an Optional Experience to visit an illuminated Red Square and Moscow's grandiose Metro stations, themselves great works of art. Here style and substance Included Meals - Breakfast coexist effortlessly making Moscow's Metro the most beautiful subway system in Day 6 the world. Riga sightseeing and free time Hotel - Holiday Inn Express Paveletskaya Riga's UNESCOlisted Old Town reveals one of the world's finest collections of Art Nouveau buildings and a rich Hanseatic trade heritage that comes to life in the Included Meals - Breakfast, Lunch colourful stories shared by your Local Specialist this morning. Stroll through the Day 15 winding medieval streets keeping your camera at hand to capture St. Peter's Church, the Three Brothers and Riga Cathedral. The rest of the day is free to explore Moscow sightseeing and free time Riga on your terms. Admire the skyline from the comfort of a canal boat, indulge in Moscow oozes grandeur around every turn, from the colourful domes of St. Basil's the herbal flavours of the city's favourite Black Balsam at a traditional city tavern, or Cathedral to the imposing Red Square the site of grand celebrations, fierce fighting join an Optional Experience at the Bergi Open Air Museum, revealing Latvia's and the seat of Russian power for centuries. A Local Specialist will reveal some of cultural heritage. its iconic sights, past the spires of St. Basil's Cathedral and the Kremlin Walls. An Optional Experience to the heart of Moscow will take you behind the scenes of its Included Meals - Breakfast red walls to the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour and Ivan the Great's Bell Tower. Day 7 Admire great imperial riches during an optional visit to the Treasure Chamber of the Riga – Tallinn (2 Nights) Russian tsars, including priceless Fabergé eggs, resplendent Imperial carriages and Catherine the Great's diamonds. Follow the Gulf of Riga north into Estonia, travelling via Pärnu, a popular beach resort for Tallinn locals. Arriving in their fairytale hometown a little later, you'll Included Meals - Breakfast encounter a lively blend of Scandinavian and Russian flavours. It is the enchanting Day 16 and wellpreserved Old Town that will capture your heart however, as you take a step back in time and wander through cobbled streets lined with redroofed Hanseatic Moscow free day merchant houses and medieval churches. The city's strategic location has made it a Rub shoulders with the locals this morning, immersing yourself in Moscow's vibrant gateway to the Baltics and Russia for centuries and it has lost none of this oldworld kofe culture before a full day to explore the city your way. From catching a few rays ambience as you'll come to discover over the next day. in Gorky Park to shopping up a storm in GUM, one of the largest shopping centres in Europe, there's something to satisfy every interest in the Russian capital. You L'Ermitage Hotel - could choose instead to join an Optional Experience to the 14thcentury Sergiyev Posad, a place of pilgrimage and the largest religious and cultural centre in Russia.