Moscow to St Petersburg holiday in Russia
Highlights
Moscow | Red Square | tour of the Kremlin grounds and Armoury Museum | Novgorod | Pushkin | Catherine Palace and gardens | St Petersburg | Hermitage museumDescription of Moscow to St Petersburg holiday in Russia
This small group trip takes you to Russia’s three most fascinating cities, from the austere grandeur of Moscow to the opulence of St Petersburg, and includes entrances to the key monuments of this fascinating country. There is a lot to see in a week, but there is plenty of time each day for exploring at your own pace without the tour leader. You can also use the free time in the itinerary for optional visits, such as to the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, or taking a hydrofoil ride to the stunning Peterhof Palace in St Petersburg. A short stop in Novgorod, the birthplace of Russia, completes this cultural experience and offers a peaceful break in a busy itinerary.As well as sightseeing this week, get to know Russia through its food. Today, it’s a mix of cuisines from neighbouring countries and former Soviet republics: Georgia, Armenia, Ukraine and Central Asian countries. Try delicious khachapuri (a traditional Georgian pie with homemade cheese), Caucas kebabs and Uzbekistani plov (a rice dish with meat and vegetables). In Restaurant Chekhov in St Petersburg and Cafe Chekhov in Moscow you can try real Russian cuisine, including fish soups, borsch, mushrooms, aspics and jellies. Spend six nights at comfortable three-star hotels and one night on a sleeper train, as travelling between Moscow and Novgorod.
Travel Team
If you'd like to chat about this holiday or need help finding one we're very happy to help. The Travel Team.
01273 823 700 Calling from outside the UK? rosy@responsibletravel.comCheck dates, prices & availability
Responsible tourism
As the pioneers of responsible tourism, we screen every trip so you can travel knowing your holiday will help support conservation and local people.

It all starts at home so we have first worked at reducing our carbon footprint in our UK Offices. Through energy conservation measures and recycling policies, we are proud to be actively reducing the waste produced and our impact on the environment. We support various projects all over the world to try and give something back to the places we visit.
Group Size:
This small group tour has a maximum of 16 participants, meaning that we have a low impact on the environments and communities we visit and are able to ensure that we do not disrupt or lead to the displacement of local people. The small number also allows us to stay in unique, family-run hotels that cannot benefit from coach tours and other mass tourism due to their limited sizes.
The Impacts of this Trip
Charity:
Our local partners support various local associations including Nochlezhka NGO, who provide a night bus service to offer mobile care for the homeless people of St Petersburg. They provide tea, coffee, food, blankets, health care, warm clothing and links to social services. Should you wish to bring any old clothes to be distributed, your group leader will ensure they are donated to the charity once you reach St Petersburg. Support is also offered to Upsalla Circus, who train children from disadvantaged backgrounds with circus skills and should you wish to see a performance, this could be arranged.
A Fair Deal:
All of our staff and suppliers are locally employed from Russia, meaning all income generated remains in the country and benefits the economy. Our local guides are trained in responsible tourism issues, which come across in briefings to clients on environment and community. Our optional tours, bike hire and boat rides, all bring business to local companies.
Local Crafts and Cultures:
We offer a full variety of cultural excursions on this trip. At Moscow we visit Red Square, Lenin’s Tomb, the Kremlin grounds and Armoury. At Novgorod there is St. Sofia’s Cathedral and Yaroslav’s Court; whilst in St. Petersburg we can visit the Peter and Paul Fortress, the Church of the Spilt Blood and the Hermitage Museum inside the Winter Palace. By paying for entrance, guided tours or souvenirs here, we are really contributing to the longevity of these places. Many of the churches on our itinerary also offer charity boxes for contribution to upkeep and restoration of architecture. Through local market visits, clients can become accustomed with traditional Russian handicrafts, like embroidered clothing and hand painted Matryoshka dolls.
Accommodation and Meals:
We will spend six nights in comfortable hotels and one overnight on a sleeper train. All of our accommodations use local staff as much as possible, which has a positive effect on local employment levels and economy. Where meals are provided, ingredients will be sourced locally as much as possible. Free lunches and dinners are a wonderful opportunity to support local market vendors, cafes and restaurants by trying some of the authentic and varied cuisine available in Russia. Thanks to recent sanctions on importing goods, there has been a growing interest in typically Russian food, although there is a real mixture of food from neighbouring countries and former Soviet Republics.


It all starts at home so we have first worked at reducing our carbon footprint in our UK Offices. Through energy conservation measures and recycling policies, we are proud to be actively reducing the waste produced and our impact on the environment. We support various projects all over the world to try and give something back to the places we visit.
Group Size:
This small group tour has a maximum of 16 participants, meaning that we have a low impact on the environments and communities we visit and are able to ensure that we do not disrupt or lead to the displacement of local people. The small number also allows us to stay in unique, family-run hotels that cannot benefit from coach tours and other mass tourism due to their limited sizes.

The Impacts of this Trip
Charity:
Our local partners support various local associations including Nochlezhka NGO, who provide a night bus service to offer mobile care for the homeless people of St Petersburg. They provide tea, coffee, food, blankets, health care, warm clothing and links to social services. Should you wish to bring any old clothes to be distributed, your group leader will ensure they are donated to the charity once you reach St Petersburg. Support is also offered to Upsalla Circus, who train children from disadvantaged backgrounds with circus skills and should you wish to see a performance, this could be arranged.
A Fair Deal:
All of our staff and suppliers are locally employed from Russia, meaning all income generated remains in the country and benefits the economy. Our local guides are trained in responsible tourism issues, which come across in briefings to clients on environment and community. Our optional tours, bike hire and boat rides, all bring business to local companies.
Local Crafts and Cultures:
We offer a full variety of cultural excursions on this trip. At Moscow we visit Red Square, Lenin’s Tomb, the Kremlin grounds and Armoury. At Novgorod there is St. Sofia’s Cathedral and Yaroslav’s Court; whilst in St. Petersburg we can visit the Peter and Paul Fortress, the Church of the Spilt Blood and the Hermitage Museum inside the Winter Palace. By paying for entrance, guided tours or souvenirs here, we are really contributing to the longevity of these places. Many of the churches on our itinerary also offer charity boxes for contribution to upkeep and restoration of architecture. Through local market visits, clients can become accustomed with traditional Russian handicrafts, like embroidered clothing and hand painted Matryoshka dolls.
Accommodation and Meals:
We will spend six nights in comfortable hotels and one overnight on a sleeper train. All of our accommodations use local staff as much as possible, which has a positive effect on local employment levels and economy. Where meals are provided, ingredients will be sourced locally as much as possible. Free lunches and dinners are a wonderful opportunity to support local market vendors, cafes and restaurants by trying some of the authentic and varied cuisine available in Russia. Thanks to recent sanctions on importing goods, there has been a growing interest in typically Russian food, although there is a real mixture of food from neighbouring countries and former Soviet Republics.

3 Reviews of Moscow to St Petersburg holiday in Russia
Reviewed on 23 Oct 2019 by Bernadette Walsh
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
Catherine Palace, Hermitage Museum, the Metro tour and the Russian folk concert.
(all was wonderful, it's difficult to pick one thing.)
2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
Try to learn a little Russian or even few useful words and phrases.
Moscow is quite expensive, bring extra spending money if possible.
Take comfortable walking shoes.
Respect your fellow travellers and tour leader by being punctual at all times.
3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?
I think local people were happy we were there, not sure they benefited in any particular way.
Sometimes it was difficult to converse because most of us did not speak Russian.
4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?
It was wonderful in every respect.
Reviewed on 11 Aug 2019 by Carol McNeill
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
Russia was an amazing country to visit - it exceeded all my expectations. The Armoury at the Kremlin, Catherine's Palace and the Hermitage to name but a few are all must see, must do.
2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
The best thing you have done is to book this holiday.
3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?
Yes it supported the local community, yes it reduced the environmental impact (we walked a great deal or used local transport) and yes it supported conservation.
4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?
Wonderful experience.
Reviewed on 08 Sep 2019 by Norman Hall
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
We particularly liked Pushkin and St Petersburg
2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
We were disappointed with Novgorod and the Monastry that was visited (by public bus). Both had a 'run down' feel
3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?
Yes because we did much freelance shopping at each location
4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?
Very satisfactory
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