Cox & Kings Europe 2013 Brochure - Travel Club Elite

ussia TAILOR-MADE TRAVEL
RUSSIa
TaIlOR-MaDE
St Petersburg
Moscow
Magadan
Kamchatka
Peninsula
Volgograd
Novosibirsk
Lake
Baikal
Tynda
Cox & Kings offers fully tailor-made tours to Russia that allow you to create your ideal holiday, travelling
at your own pace and spending more time exploring the sites and cities that appeal to you. British Airways
operates daily flights into Moscow and St Petersburg while Aeroflot has a network of regular internal
flights that link all the major cities. Please contact Cox & Kings to discuss further ideas with one of our
European experts, or refer to our website, coxandkings.co.uk, for full itineraries and hotel details.
St Basil’s Cathedral
Moscow
• The Kremlin, St Basil’s Cathedral
& Red Square
• Bolshoi Theatre
Moscow is a city of contrasts where ancient
monasteries, Soviet era tower blocks and
ultra-modern skyscrapers stand side by side,
epitomising the changes that have swept
through Russia. The city’s origins as a symbol
of Russian spiritual and political power go back
850 years, and the city remains such today. The
Kremlin is at the heart of Moscow in every
way – symbolically, historically and strategically.
Next to it, Red Square is home to the magical
St Basil’s Cathedral and Lenin’s tomb. Moscow’s
famous metro survives in all its constructivist
glory, with chandeliers, marble and opulent
design, meaning 44 of its stations have been
designated as architectural landmarks. The city
has some excellent hotel accommodation with
many of the major chain hotels represented.
Vistors staying in Moscow over a weekend
benefit from room rates that are considerably
cheaper than midweek.
St Petersburg
• The Summer & Winter Palaces
• Peterhof
Peterhof, St Petersburg
Created 300 years ago by Peter the Great as
his ‘window on the west’, St Petersburg is a
city unlike any other in Europe and certainly in
Russia. Its grand beauty, architectural splendour,
wealth of cultural treasures and the intrigue
of its rich history make it unforgettable.
Dubbed the ‘Venice of the north’ for its
palace-lined waterways, St Petersburg escaped
the architectural incursions of Stalinism, and
its grandiose relics of tsarist days are virtually
intact. The waterside walkways and elegant
streetscapes are best seen on foot. Located
close to the city are the three imperial palaces
of Pavlovsk, Pushkin and Peterhof, which all
have their own unique characteristics. Pavlovsk
has fine landscaped gardens, Pushkin, the
renowned Amber room, and Peterhof has its
ornate fountain cascades. St Petersburg has a
number of excellent 4- and 5-star properties
with perhaps the most well regarded being the
Grand Hotel Europe or the Astoria Hotel.
The Golden Ring
• Rural Russia
• Monasteries & kremlins
• River cruises
Yaroslavl
Located to the north-east of Moscow, these
towns were fundamental in the creation of the
Russian Orthodox Church between the 12th
and 16th centuries and once represented the
political and cultural heart of the country.
These towns are now referred to as openair
museums and are some of the most
picturesque in Russia. There are 18 villages and
towns in total that comprise the Golden Ring,
with the cities of Sergiev Prosad, Yaroslavl and
Kostroma being the largest and most visited.
As transportation is quite limited in the region,
most travellers use Yaroslavl as a central point
and then take day trips to the other cities, such
as Kostroma and Perslavl-Zalesskiy, or travel
on a river cruise between Moscow and St
Petersburg, which frequently stops at Yaroslavl,
Uglich and Suzdal.