VISA FREE STUDENT HOSTEL CRUISE TO ST PETERSBURG 15-18.5.2015 Price/student Price/adult From Helsinki €215 €225 Prices above are starting prices and subject to change. Exact price is confirmed when booking the trip online. You’ve chosen the great dates: there are special events in the city: Restaurant Day on the 16th of May, Tulip festival and Museum Night 16-17th of May. Enjoy your trip! Package price includes: Ferry ticket Helsinki-St Petersburg-Helsinki A bed in B-class cabin category A bed in a hostel dorm room Guided city tour by bus in English Guided tour of the State Hermitage Museum (for holders of valid student cards) Tour conductor services in St Petersburg Information package + city maps All mandatory fees (port fee, fuel surcharge, passport registration) For extra cost: o Guided activities, see itinerary on page 2 and program descriptions on page 3 o Departures from other cities, please see options Attention! Please read this brochure carefully, especially the information about required travel documents. You are required to have a valid PASSPORT (an ID-card is not a passport). Also, the passport has to be in good condition, valid at least 6 months after the trip, no damaged or torn apart pages, pictures falling etc. A damaged passport can cause a denial to pass the passport control in the destination harbor. After booking we will not send ferry tickets by post or e-mail – they are delivered only at the harbor check-in. All you have to do is to bring your passport and check-in at our service desk in the departure harbor. ITINERARY HOSTEL DAY 1 FRIDAY 15.05.2015 15:30 Meeting at Helsinki West Terminal (Länsisatama) Timetravels representatives hand out the programs, cabin cards. Boarding to be completed by 17:15! 18:00 M/S Princess Maria departs from Helsinki Services on boat: 8th deck Buffet restaurant, buffet dinner (cost 36 €) 1st sitting 18.30-20.00, 2nd sitting 20.30-22.00. A la carte restaurant, TAX FREE, Casino on the 7th deck, Cafeteria on the 4th floor. Sauna on the 2nd floor. EUROS are accepted. 21:30 Night club folk and variety show in the 7th floor “Columbus” bar (until 23.00) FREE ENTRANCE 22:30 Night club on the 7th floor. Crazy party until late! DAY 2 SATURDAY 16.05.2015 Note: there is no time difference between Helsinki and St.Petersburg. Restaurant Day! Museum Night! Ask your guide for information. 07:00 Breakfast on the 8th deck restaurant. Cost 10 €. Breakfast open until 09.00. 09:30 Arrival in St Petersburg. Debarking from the ship. Passport control. Please, leave the ferry straight after the arrival otherwise you’ll be late for the city tour! 11:00 Guided city tour – Peter and Paul fortress, The Spit of the St Basil Island etc. (estimated) We’ll have a lunch break during the city tour. To save time, please, change some money in Finland, cards are not accepted in many places 16:00 Check-in at the hostel, dorm room accommodation (estimated). 19:20 Meeting at the hostel, departure to the theatre. Ballet “Swan Lake” in The Officers House Theater. Tickets 35 €. Places in the 7th row, stalls. 21:30 End of the performance transportation to the hostel (estimated time). 23:00 Limousine tour with sparkling wine 25 €. Duration 1,5 hours. Afterparty in a night club. DAY 3 SUNDAY 17.05.2015 10:15 Departure to the Hermitage Museum. Guided tour of the State Hermitage Museum (FREE for students/ 20 € adults). Duration app. 2 hours. After the tour you may stay in the museum or return to the hostel. 13:30 Departure back to the hostel from the Hermitage (for those not attending the Cathedrals Tour) 14:30 Cathedrals of St Petersburg tour 25 €. Includes visit to the most beautiful cathedrals of St Petersburg – Nikol’skyj Cathedral, St Isaac’s Cathedral and Cathedral on the Spilled Blood. Overall duration of the program – 2,5 -3 hours. 21:00 Departure from the hostel to the cruise. The night cruise on Rivers and Canals – 15 €. Duration 1 hr. Afterwards return to the hostel. Possibility to stay in the city center for clubbing. DAY 4 MONDAY 18.05.2015 09:30 Check-out from the hostel. All luggage in the bus. Departure to Peterhof. A guided bus excursion to Peterhof. Includes visit to the Lower Park and one of the Palaces - 30€ stud./40€ adults. Location about 30 km from St. Petersburg. Guided tour and free time in the Park.. If you are not attending Peterhof tour you have to check out till 12:00! Luggage could be left in a luggage room. Free time in the city. 14:00 Departure from Peterhof back to the hostel. Arrival to the hostel 15:00-15:30. 16:30 Bus departure from the hostel to the harbor. 18:00 Passport control and boarding. 19:00 M/S Princess Maria departs to Helsinki. Same cruise program as on the 1st day. DAY 5 TUESDAY 19.05.2015 08:00 Arrival in Helsinki. Debarking, Finnish customs and passport control. End of the tour. Timetravels reserves the right to changes in the itinerary. HOSTELS IN ST.PETERSBURG On our student hostel trips we use hostels located in the historical city centre and provide good services and easy access to local sights. Due to difficult vacancy situation in the hostels, we confirm the name of the hostel usually 1-2 weeks prior to the departure. Here are samples of the hostels we used before for our trips: Hostel MIR Hostel LIFE Baby Lemonade Hostel Pilau Hostel Red House Hostel TOUR LEADERS’ CONTACTS Valeria + 7 952 387 44 27 Chief operations manager: Maria + 7 904 630 04 71 Timetravels hotline: +358 10 421 8991 GUIDED ACTIVITIES IN ST PETERSBURG ST PETERSBURG NIGHT FEVER! Price 25 €/person. Duration 1-1,5 hrs. Discover the St Petersburg by night with style and glamour! A limousine ride takes you around the most spectacular places of the city with some stops for taking pictures. Eventually the limo drops you at one the trendiest night club. (Price does not include the night club entrance). Limousines are loaded with sparkling wine. THE NIGHT CRUISE ON RIVERS AND CANALS! Available only on late April-October trips. Price 15 €/person. Duration 1,5 hrs. Definitely one of must-to-do’s in St Petersburg! “The Northern Venice” has 16 km of embankments, 48 canals and rivers and 800 bridges. Many of the beautiful palaces and mansions were designed to façade the riverside. With a river and canals cruise you make a time travel to the heart of the imperial city. Breathtaking views are accompanied by music and of course – the Soviet champagne (Russian sparkling wine)! THE STATE HERMITAGE MUSEUM Inclusive in the package for students (normally 10 €), 20 € for adults. Duration 2-3 hrs. The third biggest art museum in the world bases on the collections of the Russian royal families starting from the 18th century. The museum locates in formal imperial residences, housing millions of exhibits in hundreds of rooms. Take a tour to the most important exhibits and parts of the museum, learn the interesting backgrounds and get a guaranteed entrance without queuing! The tour is given in English by a professional local guide. THE PETERHOF TOUR Price 30/40€ . Duration about 5 hrs Peterhof is a magnificient summer palace on the Gulf of Finland, some 30 km from the city center. of St Petersburg. Founded by the order of Tsar Peter the Great in 1725, it was meant to beat Versailles in glory and splendor. The complex of verdant gardens, luxurious baroque residences, genuine fountains and cascades of marble and gold still remains as impressive as it was on the 18-19th century! Guided tour includes bus trip to Peterhof with admissions to one of the palaces (Grand Palace*, Marli, Monplaisir, Cottage, The Bath Block) and lower park with fountains and guidance. CATHEDRALS OF ST PETERSBURG 25 € Duration about 2-3 hours. This tour includes three cathedrals from three different centuries. We start with St Nicolaus cathedral- built in beautiful baroque style in 18th century. This cathedral was exceptionally working also during the Soviet Union and is still very popular. Second cathedral is St Isaac’s – one of the biggest dome cathedrals in the world and a true demonstration of ambitions of the Russian Empire during the second half of the 19th century. The last cathedral dates back to 1907, even though it reminds us the 16th century cathedral from Moscow. Cathedral on the Spilled Blood was built on the assassination site of beloved Tsar Alexander II and for this cathedral the artist applied the latest mosaic techniques and lot of precious materials. On the picture you can see also Izmailovsky Holy Trinity. Sometimes you’ll visit it instead of St. Nicolas Cathedral, depending on the traffic. OPERA OR BALLET IN THE MIKHAILOVSKY, MARIINSKY OR HERMITAGE THEATRE Price from 35 €/person. Duration 2-3 hours depending on the performance. St Petersburg is known as the cultural capital of Russia. There’s a possibility to attend a world famous ballet or opera performance. You can book tickets through us to the performance scheduled for your trip – check booking guidelines in the final itinerary, buy them on-line at theatre web pages or try your luck at a box office. Check the playbill at: www.mikhailovsky.ru and www.mariinsky.ru Optional programs might be cancelled due to the small amount of bookings. Payments for cancelled activities will be refunded. FERRY BOARDING CARDS DESCRIPTION: ARRIVAL CARD is taken by the customs when you arrive in Saint-Petersburg DEPARTURE CARD is taken away by Finish customs when you arrive back to Finland.