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Fly to Moscow and transfer by coach to your hotel, your base for the next three nights. Rest and relax after the journey, and enjoy your first evening in the city.

This morning our included coach tour will introduce Moscow's historic and geographic heart, where the Kremlin stands beside Red Square. See onion-domed St Basil's Cathedral, Lenin's eerie Mausoleum and the GUM (the former State Department Store and now a thriving shopping mall) all if which look out over the vast space. Other highlights may include Revolution Square, the newly rebuilt Cathedral of Christ the Saviour (one of the city’s most striking landmarks), the Bolshoi Theatre and the infamous Lubyanka the former headquarters of the KGB.

This afternoon, an optional guided walking tour will reveal some of the secrets of the Kremlin, as you pass through the turreted walls and enter a fascinating enclave of imposing buildings like the Senate House and the Presidium, the vast State Kremlin Palace concert hall and the cathedrals of the Assumption, the Annunciation and the Archangel - the last containing the Tombs of the Tsars - on Sobornaya Square, which is also the site of the magnificent Ivan the Great Belltower, the Kremlin’s tallest structure.

This evening, why not round off a wonderful day with dinner in the city?

Today you're free to enjoy the city under your own steam or join our optional, full-day Highlights of Moscow tour, and head to Victory Park, where the Museum of the Great Patriotic War commemorates the Soviet Union’s sacrifices in World War Two. You'll also enjoy a visit to one of Moscow’s landmark Metro stations and to the Kremlin’s Armoury Palace, where the treasures of Russia's medieval rulers are displayed. Enjoy free time for shopping, and the chance to have dinner and spend a final evening in Moscow.

Transfer to Leningrad Station, say "do svidaniya" to your Moscow guide and board the train to St Petersburg. On arrival at St Petersburg's Station you'll meet your tour manager and transfer to your hotel for the next three nights.

After breakfast, enjoy a fascinating introductory tour of St Petersburg. The city is known as the "Venice of the North", but even with its canals and innumerable bridges, it's more like Paris or Madrid thanks to the grand sweep of its squares and the opulence of its great palaces and civic buildings.

Founded by Peter the Great in 1703, the city grew, under the stewardship of his daughter Elizabeth and the legendary empress Catherine the Great, to become a match for the finest European cities. Palace Square is home to the Winter Palace, a Baroque masterpiece that houses part of the extraordinary Hermitage Museum, and is towered over by the Alexander Column. The exquisite Admiralty building is crowned by a gilded spire and topped in turn by a weather vane in the shape of a frigate, the city’s most enduring symbol. Close by, majestic St Isaac’s Cathedral dominates the skyline, while elsewhere other highlights include the Mariinsky Palace – home of the Kirov Ballet, the onion-domed Church of Our Saviour on Spilled Blood, and wondrous Smolny Cathedral. Across the Neva River lies the Peter and Paul Fortress, where the city began, and Peter and Paul Cathedral, the burial place of the Romanov Tsars.

This afternoon, you’ll step through the gilded portals of the Hermitage museum to enjoy a guided tour of some of its phenomenal collection. (Entrance fees to the buildings are not included in the morning, but entry to the Hermitage is included in the afternoon).

Join today’s optional excursion to the Imperial Palace at Pushkin (entry fee included) and stunning gardens at Peterhof, both lovingly reconstructed since World War Two, and reflecting the grandeur of Imperial Court life under Catherine the Great and the Romanovs.

This evening, why not join our optional excursion to the famous folklore show at the historic Nikolaevskiy Palace and immerse yourself in the traditions of Cossack dancing and folk songs over dinner?

Our last optional excursion includes entrances to, and a guided tour of, the Peter and Paul Fortress, and a visit to sumptuous, intimate Yusupov Palace, arguably the city’s finest Imperial residence, and scene of the murder of the "mad monk", Rasputin.

This afternoon, transfer to the airport to check in for your flight home.