European Luxury Escorted Tours

Tauck World Discovery

St. Petersburg, Moscow and Baltics

From Peter the Great’s palace to Joseph Stalin’s bunker, Tauck’s Russia tour presents the intriguing stories behind some of history’s great halls of power. Get an insider’s view of the Kremlin, Red Square, and Peter and Paul Fortress. On this culturally rich tour, visit the Hermitage Museum, see Russian icons and treasures of the Tsars, and attend the Russian Ballet. Also tour Helsinki, and take in the well-preserved Old World cities of Riga, Latvia; Vilnius, Lithuania; and Tallinn, Estonia, with castles, medieval lanes, and incredible architecture. See UNESCO World Heritage Sites on this journey that travels by high-speed ferry, train, and coach.
 

St. Petersburg, Moscow and the Baltics

From Peter the Great’s palace to Joseph Stalin’s bunker, Tauck’s Russia tour presents the intriguing stories behind some of history’s great halls of power. Get an insider’s view of the Kremlin, Red Square, and Peter and Paul Fortress. On this culturally rich tour, visit the Hermitage Museum, see Russian icons and treasures of the Tsars, and attend the Russian Ballet. Also tour Helsinki, and take in the well-preserved Old World cities of Riga, Latvia; Vilnius, Lithuania; and Tallinn, Estonia, with castles, medieval lanes, and incredible architecture. See UNESCO World Heritage Sites on this journey that travels by high-speed ferry, train, and coach.
 

Day-by-Day Itinerary

Day 1: Hello Helsinki
Tour begins at 6 p.m. at your hotel in Helsinki, Finland. Your transfer is included from Helsinki-Vantaa Airport to the hotel. Meet your Tauck Director and travel companions at the welcome reception and dinner.
Meals: Dinner
Lodging: Hotel Kämp, Helsinki, Finland

Day 2: Helsinki highlights
Explore Helsinki, a mix of parks, waterways, and architectural styles. See the Neo-Classical Senate Square, and the green cupolas and white columns of Helsinki Cathedral. Enjoy the colorful Market Square. Explore on your own in the afternoon.
Meals: Breakfast
Lodging: Hotel Kämp, Helsinki, Finland

Day 3: Cruise to Tallinn
Cross the Baltic Sea to Estonia aboard a high-speed ferry. Arrive in the walled city of Tallinn, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site as an outstanding and well-preserved example of a medieval Northern European trading city. Take a guided walking tour along narrow, cobblestone streets. See the 13th-century Toompea Castle, which houses the Estonian Parliament. Enjoy some free time and dinner at a local restaurant.
Meals: Breakfast, dinner
Lodging: Domina City Hotel, Tallinn, Estonia

Day 4: Travel to Latvia
Stop in Parnu for an Estonian beachfront barbecue. Continue to Latvia, arriving in the town of Riga, an important trading center for Central and Eastern Europe from the 13th to the 15th centuries. Your hotel is located in the heart of the old city.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Lodging: Hotel Grand Palace, Riga, Latvia

Day 5: Discover historic Riga
Take a walking tour on the cobbled streets of Old Town Riga, passing buildings dating back 800 years. Check out the Art Nouveau architecture in the city, considered the best in Europe. The combination of period architecture gave the Old Town UNESCO World Heritage Site designation. For those who wish, join us to explore some of the somber reminders of the tragic years of the Holocaust.
Meals: Breakfast
Lodging: Hotel Grand Palace, Riga, Latvia

Day 6: Architecture in Vilnius
Travel to Vilnius, Lithuania. The historic center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to the mix of Renaissance, Gothic, Baroque, and classical architectural styles.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Lodging: Radisson SAS Astorija Hotel, Vilnius, Lithuania

Day 7: Old Town & Trakai
Take a walking tour of Old Town Vilnius. See Cathedral Square and the Renaissance-style Gates of Dawn, built in the 16th century as part of the town’s fortifications. Enjoy lunch in Trakai, a picturesque town with a castle dating to the Middle Ages. Then fly to Moscow, the center of power in Russia.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Lodging: Hotel Baltschug Kempinski, Moscow, Russia

Day 8: Insider’s tour of the Kremlin
Meet a Kremlin insider to learn about Moscow’s past, and how the city has adjusted to the 21st century. Get a guided tour inside the 64-acre Kremlin, a UNESCO World Heritage Site together with Red Square. Visit Cathedral Square, and the Armory Chambers to see the treasures of the Tsars, a Russia tour highlight.
Meals: Breakfast
Lodging: Hotel Baltschug Kempinski, Moscow, Russia

Day 9: Russian art & icons
Visit the State Tretyakov Gallery/National Museum of Russian Fine Art, featuring 11th- to 20th-century paintings and sculptures by Russian artists. Check out the Icon Gallery showcasing a collection of Russian icons that are not allowed to travel outside of the country. Explore the city on your own in the afternoon.
Meals: Breakfast, dinner
Lodging: Hotel Baltschug Kempinski, Moscow, Russia

Day 10: Red Square & Stalin’s Bunker
Take a walking tour of Red Square. Enjoy an exclusive visit to Joseph Stalin’s hidden bunker, which was closed to the public for decades. Your Tauck group has been granted access by special permission. Check out the central command room, and Stalin’s personal effects in his private office, then contemplate your experience over lunch and a wine tasting. Travel by train in the evening to St. Petersburg, Russia’s cultural capital.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Lodging: Hotel Astoria, St. Petersburg, Russia

Day 11: Explore St. Petersburg
Take a guided tour of key landmarks in St. Petersburg; the historic center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Visit the imposing Peter and Paul Fortress built in 1703. Inside the fortress, Peter and Paul Cathedral with a tall golden spire contains the tombs of the Russian tsars, including Peter the Great. Follow your own Russia tour in the afternoon.
Meals: Breakfast, dinner
Lodging: Hotel Astoria, St. Petersburg, Russia

Day 12: A great palace & Russian ballet
Journey to the opulent Palace of Peter the Great, located in Petrodvoretz on the Gulf of Finland. Enjoy the Summer Garden and fountain displays. Return to St. Petersburg by hydrofoil, and pursue your own interests in the open afternoon. In the evening, attend a performance of the world-famous Russian Ballet. Note: schedule times and performances vary.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch
Lodging: Hotel Astoria, St. Petersburg, Russia

Day 13: The State Hermitage Museum
Enjoy an early morning visit to The State Hermitage Museum by special arrangement for your Tauck group. The museum boasts one of the largest collections of art and artifacts in the world. Displays include prehistoric cultures, classical antiquities, Western European art, and golden treasures. Spend the rest of the afternoon at your leisure. Share tour highlights at the farewell dinner.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Lodging: Hotel Astoria, St. Petersburg, Russia

Day 14: Journey home
Tour ends in St. Petersburg, Russia. Your transfer is included from the hotel to St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo International Airport.
Meals: Breakfast

 

Prices
14 Days from $5,690 plus airfare
 

28 meals included.

International Air is Additional – Tauck can book your international air, for travel originating in the United States, subject to availability; ask upon booking for special airfares that may be available.

Please ask at time of booking about additional hotel nights before your tour begins and about our comprehensive Guest Protection Plan.
 

Need to Know
 

Inclusive Prices

Tour prices are per person in U.S. dollars. All accommodations, entertainment, special dinners, motor coach, rail transportation, luggage handling, admissions, services of Tauck Directors, train crew and drivers are included.

Hotel Accommodations – Tauck’s price includes all hotel accommodations with private baths. The Tauck standard is to provide the best available hotels without sacrificing value. Although the quality of accommodations may differ from place to place, this standard remains uncompromised. Two-bedded rooms are reserved in most hotels. Triples are two-bedded rooms plus a rollaway cot and are not recommended for comfort.

Single Hotel Accommodations – Since hotel rates are per room, the tour price for rooms occupied by one person is higher than those where two or more persons share the cost of a room. In Europe, most single rooms are smaller than double rooms and have only one bed.

Meals – Meals are included as specified in the itinerary. Meal codes are: B=Breakfast, L=Lunch, D=Dinner.

Tauck Director – Each Baltics and Russia tour is conducted by a Tauck Director who remains with the group throughout the duration. Your Tauck Director is a professional, fully trained employee of Tauck.

Gratuities for luggage handling, bellmen, doormen, dining room servers, housekeepers, local guides, ship and train crew are included.

No Options Sold – Tauck’s price includes special dinners, entertainment, sightseeing and most activities. Tauck Directors sometimes assist with information on free-time activities, based on honest opinion and guidance, but will not sell you anything. This means better value and a more relaxed, pleasant experience for you.

 

Not Included

Airfare to the tour departure point and from the tour ending point is not included.
Airfare may be purchased from Tauck for travel originating in the United States.

Hotel Rooms Before & After Tours – Due to time schedules and the possibility of flight delays, many guests prefer to make hotel arrangements for the night preceding their Baltics and Russia tour. As a service, Tauck will make reservations before or after your Baltics and Russia tour. Rooms are reserved on a space-available basis and must be booked through Tauck to qualify for Tauck’s special rates. Hotel room charges will be added to the tour cost. Note: In most cases, airport transfers are not included for these bookings. To arrange additional nights in St. Petersburg, Russia, after the Baltics and Russia tour, please discuss at the time of booking.

Tauck Director and Driver Gratuities – The customary gratuity to the Tauck Director and driver is not included. Such gratuities should be extended on a voluntary, individual basis and not as a group.

Personal Expenses such as phone calls, room service, alcoholic and bar beverages, laundry, airline excess luggage charges, visa fees and other optional incidental extras are not included and may be significant.

Luggage Responsibility – Although every effort is made to handle guests’ luggage carefully, we cannot be responsible, assume liability or accept claims for loss or damage to luggage and personal effects due to breakage, theft, or fair wear and tear through hotel, airline and group carrier handling. It is important that you have adequate insurance. Refer to Tauck’s “Guest Protection.”
 

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