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AmoyTrip

December 3, 2013 7:47 pm

11 Nights/ 12 Days Russian Northern Express 2014 from $4636 (Moscow – Solovetski Islands – St. Petersburg )

Original article from AmoyTrip--Let's make travel easy!

North-Russia-Express Train-Tour

Day 1. Moscow.

After having arrived in Moscow, your tour guide welcomes you at the airport and accompanies you to your hotel. 

 Day 2. Moscow.

A full day city sightseeing tour next day shows you the magnificent Red Square and Kremlin grounds, Bolshoi Theater, Sparrow Hills and other highlights of Moscow.In the evening transfer to the railway station where your almost exiting journey to Solovetski Islands begins. The warm heartened Russian train crew welcomes you on board of your private rail car. Welcome dinner on the train.

 Day 3. Vologda

This morning your train will make the first stop in an old Russian town Vologda. The city and the administrative, cultural, and scientific center of Vologda Oblast, Russia, located on the Vologda River. The city serves as a major transport hub of the Northwest of Russia. Vologda has been classified by the Ministry of Culture of Russian Federation as a historical city, one of the forty-one in Russia and one of only three in Vologda Oblast. 224 buildings in Vologda have been officially recognized as cultural heritage monuments. Vologda is one of the best- preserved big cities of Russia combining traditional wooden architecture and stone monuments. In Vologda, 193 monuments of architecture and history are designated as cultural monuments of federal significance. The most known of them are: Vologda Kremlin (Bishop’s court-yard), Saint Sophia cathedral, Spaso-Prilutsky Monastery, ensemble of the Vladimir churches, Konstantin and Elena church, St. John the Baptist Church in Roshcheniye with its frescoes, Dmitry Prilutsky church, architectural ensembles of the Stone bridge and of the Revolyutsii Square.

The modern city is world famous because of its lace manufacture. During your visit to Vologda you will see best samples of the Vologda laces at the Museum of Vologda Lace.

 Day 4. Archangelsk

Next stop is the city in the North – Archangelsk – formerly known as Archangel in English, a city and the administrative centre of Archangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina River near its exit into the White Sea in the north of European Russia. The city spreads for over 40 kilometres (25 mi) along the banks of the river and numerous islands of its delta. Archangelsk was the chief seaport of medieval Russia, until 1703. After the city tour in Archangelsk you will be brought to the Open Air Museum of the Wooden Architecture– Malyie Korely (approximately 30 minutes by bus).

This museum basically is the largest collection of ancient wooden architecture in Russia. Marvelous houses and churches date back as far as to 16th century. They were carefully selected across the vast Arkhangelsk region and moved to the museum, placed in clusters representing the traditional setups of various districts of the province. Thanks to the reasonably large territory of the museum and diverse landscapes, there was a lucky opportunity to place most of the buildings in the

scenery which suited it best to resemble the authentic location. Such clusters, or ensembles, illustrate vividly how smart were our ancestors in adapting to diverse climates and landscapes. More to that, many of the buildings house rather interesting exhibitions of local folk art and ancient household, while the administration of the museum makes an effort to revive the old traditions and demonstrate them to the public. They even grow rye and oath at the site, making flour at an old windmill and baking bread just as peasants were doing hundreds years ago. Sophisticated art of ringing the church bells is also well alive, impressing not only foreigners, but the locals as well.

 Days 5 – 6. Solovki Islands

After the night in the train you will arrive to Kem – a small town from where you will make a short cruise to Solovetski Islands. Solovetski Islands, archipelago, c.150 sq mi (390 sq km), N European Russia, in the White Sea at the entrance of Onega Bay. A monastery, built in the first half of the 15th cent., is on the largest island. It was used as a military fortress against Sweden in the 16th and 17th cent., and the early settlement and economic development of the Karelo – Murmansk area was from there. From the reign of Ivan IV until 1956 the islands were a dreaded place of exile for criminals and for political and religious prisoners; during Soviet rule, some 40,000 prisoners died (1923–39) there. Solovetski forced-labor

camps produced lumber, peat, and building stone. The islands were declared a natural and historical preserve in 1974. You will spend an overnight at the local hotel and enjoy your time on the world famous Islands.

 Day 7. Murmansk

After arrival to Murmansk you will start a familiarization with the city during the city tour. Murmansk serves as a seaport and is located in the extreme northwest part of Russia, on the Kola Bay, 12 kilometers  (7.5 mi) from the Barents Sea on the northern shore of the Kola Peninsula, not far from Russia’s borders with Norway and Finland. Despite its rapidly declining population, Murmansk remains the largest city north of the Arctic Circle. Murmansk was the last city founded in the

Russian Empire. During the Cold War Murmansk was a center of Soviet submarine and icebreaker activity and, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the nearby city and naval base of Severomorsk remains the headquarters of the Russian Northern Fleet. You will have the opportunity to visit unique place Saami village “Sam’ Syit”. 

The ethnographic complex is located in the Lovozero district and is a recreated village Saami. Here you can plunge into the world of the Saami culture and feel the flavor of Lovozero tundra. You can get acquainted with the customs and traditions of

the Lapps, see and feed the deer, ride in a reindeer harness, show strength and dexterity in Saami games. On the territory of the complex there are the real plague where you will be offered hot lunch with national Saami dishes.

Day 8-9. Petrozavodsk

On September 11, 1703, Prince Mention founded the settlement of Petrovskaya Sloboda (“Petrine Slobodan”). He did so at the behest of Tsar Peter the Great, who needed a new iron foundry to manufacture cannons and anchors for the Baltic Fleet at the time of the Great Northern War (1700–1721). At first the foundry used the name Shuysky zavod (literally, “factory at the Shuya River”), but a decade later it became Petrovsky zavod (“Petrine factory”), after the name of the reigning monarch. From this form the present name of the city derives. Petrozavodsk is famous now as a capital of Karelia region. The city is distinguished among other towns of North Russia by its Neoclassical architectural heritage, which includes the Round Square (1775, reconstructed in 1789 and 1839) and the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral (consecrated in 1832). Among the town’s landmarks are the outdoor statues of Peter I (bronze and granite, Ippolit Monighetti, 1873), Gavrila Derzhavin (a Russian poet who was the governor of Olonets in the 18th century), and Alexander Nevsky (erected outside Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in 2010).

 The city has a fine frontage on the Gulf of Petrozavodsk. The modern embankment, inaugurated in 1994, displays an assortment of Karelian granites and marbles. It is lined with extravagant postmodernist sculptures presented by sister cities of Petrozavodsk from around the world. There is also a birch copse, where the first church of Petrozavodsk was built in 1703.

Days 10 –12 St. Petersburg.

Your timeless journey ends in the great city of St. Petersburg. You will be accommodated at 4* hotel and enjoy the wondrous sights of this historic, yet modern city. This magnificent city, created by Peter the Great, is one of the loveliest and most interesting in the world.During the city tour you will see Nevsky Prospect, Palace Square and Winter Palace, Spit of the Vassilievsky Island, University Embankment, Main Building of the State St.Petersburg University, Admiralty, Senat Square, Monument to Peter the Great (Bronze Horseman), St.Isaak’s Cathedral and St.Isaak’s Square, Field of Mars and Summer Gardens, Cruiser Aurora, Smolny Cathedral.

 

 Departure Dates

Dates	Number of Nights /Days
23/05 – 03/06/14	11/12
20/06 – 01/07/14	11/12
18/07 – 29/07/14	11/12
22/08 – 02/09/14	11/12

 

 Tour prices

First class sleeping car:      From only $4636 per person

 Single supplement:        From only $1518 per person

Note: the itineraries are subject to change because of the weather conditions.

Assistance of guide along the trip: $3588.

Price includes:

! 4 nights accommodation on board the Russian regular rail cars (First Class compartment for 2 people)

! 1 night accommodation at **** hotel, Moscow (Aerostar or similar)

! 1 night accommodation at **** hotel, Arkhangelsk (Pur Navolok or similar)

 ! 1 night accommodation at **** hotel, Solovetski Islands (Solovetski Hotel)

! 2 nights accommodation at **** hotel, Petrozavodsk (Onezhsky Samok or similar)

! 2 nights accommodation at **** hotel, St. Petersburg (Park Inn Pribaltiyskaya)

! Full board throughout the tour, starting with dinner on the first day and terminating with breakfast on the last day

! Daily shower opportunities in hotels 

! Transfers airport – hotel v.v. in Moscow and St. Petersburg on day 1 and day 12 

! Sightseeing and excursions in accordance with the program

! Folklore concert in Petrozavodsk

! English, German speaking local tour guide (other languages on request)

! Train tickets, domestic flight tickets

Price excludes:

!  Assistance of a guide along the trip

!  All additional excursions by itinerary

!  Insurance

!  Tips

 

CONDITIONS OF PAYMENT

 On request for booking:      30% non-refundable deposit is required

 On confirmation:        Balance 70% of payment is required 

 

CANCELLATION FEES

Prior to 91 days plus from start date:       Loss of deposit

90 days or less and no show:          No refund

After departure from Australia/Other countries:    No refund

 We will organise any other additional services such as transfers, hotel accommodation, transport and tours if required. Please Note: Prices are subject to change at time of booking and are subject to currency fluctuations. Conditions apply.