ITINERARY : TOUR IHC01: St Petersburg
Join only 200 guests from around the world for a once-in-a-lifetime experience…
The Tsar’s Imperial New Year's Eve Ball takes you back to 19th century Russia into the great ballroom of Catherine Palace… It’s magical! It’s midnight! Welcome to the New Year!
Join Imperial Holidays for a week in St Petersburg…
Experience the extraordinary history and culture of this great city in style and comfort; excite the taste buds in world class restaurants; explore The Hermitage and some of the 100 museums without the summer crowds; visit some of the world’s greatest baroque and classical palaces – Pavlovsk, Yussupov, and Catherine Palace; enjoy a folkloric performance in the Nikoloevsky Palace and an evening at the Kirov Ballet; AND be among the world’s lucky few at the Imperial New Year's Eve Ball!
We will meet in St Petersburg for a Welcome Dinner on December 28.
DAY 1: December 28: Arrival in St Petersburg early afternoon. Meet and
greet at Pulkovo Airport and transfer to your central city five star hotel.
The afternoon is free. Evening: A special welcome dinner. Meals: Dinner
DAY 2: December 29: A “get acquainted” tour of Peter the Great’s “Venice of the North”, visiting the Bronze Horseman; Smolny Cathedral; Nevsky Monastery complex and its necropolis of the Russian artists (Dostoevsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Tchaikovsky, etc); St Isaac’s Cathedral and stop at the Peter & Paul Fortress containing the tombs of the Russian Tsars including those of Nicholas & Alexandra. There will be a quick light lunch before our afternoon visit to the Yussupov Palace on the banks of the frozen Moika Canal, where we will hear the story of Rasputin’s gruesome murder and inspect the crime scene. Evening: Dinner and folkloric performance at the Nikoloevsky Palace.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.
DAY 3: December 30: Today we will transfer to the snow-covered Russian countryside to visit Pavlovsk Palace now totally restored to its former glory after its near complete destruction in World War II. Weather permitting, the next feature is a troika ride through the magnificent Pavlovsk Gardens Lunch today is a very special Russian experience at the Podvorie restaurant with Folk singers and genuine Russian food in a traditional Russian log building. Evening: Tonight we will attend a ballet performance either in The Hermitage Theatre or the Marriinsky Theatre.
Meals: Breakfast and Lunch
DAY 4: December 31: Today, after a later start we have a half-day guided
tour of The Hermitage and The Winter Palace, including a visit to the Royal
Apartment. There is a small café inside the building where you will be
able to purchase a light snack. The afternnon is free for you to stay on
at the Hermitage or just relax and get ready for tonight! Evening: Transfer
to the Catherine Palace at Tsareskoe Selo for the New Year Ball and the
most memorable night of your life. In the early morning of the New Year
you will be transferred back to the hotel at a time of your choice.
Meals:
Breakfast and Dinner
DAY 5: 01 January: A late brunch will be available. Today is a full day of rest to enjoy the hotel’s facilities.
Meals: Breakfast
DAY 6: 02 January: Some of the group may be departing today and will transfer to the airport after breakfast.
Those staying on will visit the Gatchina Palace in the morning.
There will be time after lunch
to make two short visits to firstly St Isaac’s Cathedral and then the extraordinary
Cathedral on Spilled Blood, built almost entirely of mosaics and semi precious
stones. Evening is free.
Meals: Breakfast
DAY 7: 03 January: Breakfast is served at the hotel. Then transfer to the Pulkovo Airport for your onward flight.
Meals: Breakfast
Prices: Deluxe Tour as Advertised above: from: $8,650 per person twin share (6 nights)
Single: from $10, 573
Commencing in St Petersburg on December 28
Standard Tour: 4 nights accommodation and daily breakfasts – 4-star hotel
Arrival and departure transfers by private car
City Tour with Spilt Blood Hermitage Museum tour without transfers
Traditional Russian Folklore Performance Services of a local representative
Tickets and transfers to Tsar’s Imperial New Year’s Eve Ball as per itinerary
from: $3,350 per person twin share (4 nights)
Single: from: $3,947
Commencing in St Petersburg on December 28
Sample Musical Entertainment
Dinner accompanied by the Classical Orchestra of Russian Folklore Instruments
AND State Symphony
Orchestra of St Petersburg
Extracts from famous ballets:
The Swan by Saint-Saens, Swan Lake by Tchaikovsky, Don Quixote by Minkus, Le Corsaire by Adam,
The
Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky
Arias from famous Operas:
La Traviata, Don Giovanni, The Barber of Seville,
Don Carlos,
Carmen and
Turandot.
Bell concert
Strauss Waltzes
Cossack Group
Dancing Jazz Band
Sample Programme :
TSAR’S BALL ON NEW YEAR’S EVE
Catherine’s Palace, Tsarskoe Selo
Departure
Hostesses and guides meet guests in the lobby of Grand Hotel Europe or Astoria
Transfers by coach to Tsarskoe Selo
Police escort leads the way
Arrival
Welcome by Military Band at
the Catherine Palace
Guests approach the illuminated palace
walking on a royal blue carpet met by
Royal Hussars with torches
Pre-Dinner Cocktails
Guests walk through the suite of beautiful baroque rooms including the famous amber room and
reach the Throne Hall where dinner is served
Dinner
A seven course dinner is served, serenaded by a Symphony Orchestra
and Classical Balalaika Orchestra
During dinner, guests will enjoy ballet and opera sequences by soloists from
well-known Opera and Ballet Houses of St Petersburg
in combination with other entertainment,
creating the atmosphere of days of the Tsars
Midnight
Fireworks in the park
After Midnight
String Orchestra plays waltzes by Strauss.
Russian Cossack show.
Dancing Jazz orchestra will continue the Ball
to the early hours of the morning.
