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GROUP ITINERARIES TO THE BALTIC STATES
For detailed information about the offers, please click on the links above.
GROUP ITINERARIES TO RUSSIA
For detailed information about the offers, please click on the links above.
LITHUANIAN JERUSALEM
Vilnius - Kaunas - Riga
6 days/5 nights
The history of Jews in Vilnius goes back to the 14th century. Due to its tolerance for many nationalities and religions, the city became known as an international centre of Jewish culture and learning, referred to as the "Jerusalem of Lithuania". However, during WWII the Nazis nearly annihilated Vilnius Jews. Today the memory of this tragedy is preserved in the Vilnius Jewish State Museum, at the monument in Paneriai, and at the Ninth Fort Museum in Kaunas. The tour also includeds a short visit to Riga, with its major historical sites and memorials.
Group minimum:
15 paying passengers
To inquire about customized pricing click here
| City |
Superior class hotels |
Standard class hotels |
| Vilnius |
Radisson SAS Astorija |
City Park |
| Kaunas |
Kaunas |
Best Western Santaka |
| Riga |
Radisson SAS Daugava |
Reval Hotel Latvija |
Price Includes:
- 5 nights accommodation
- Breakfast daily
- Transportation by motor coach
- Guide services as per the itinerary
- Admission fees as per the itinerary
ITINERARY
Day 1
Arrival to Vilnius. Transfer to your hotel. Afternoon visit to the Vilna Gaon Jewish State Museum to absorb the tragic story of the Jewish community. The museum name means "Vilnius genius," the title given to Rabbi Eliyahu who led orthodox Jews of Vilnius in the in the 18th century.
Optional: A Jewish music ensemble concert.
Day 2
In the morning, begin a Vilnius city tour, including all major architectural and historic monuments of this capital city. These include the former sites of the Ghetto and the Great Synagogue, and the Jewish Street that goes through Old Town. An afternoon tour includes Paneriai, southeast of Vilnius, a place of mass extermination of Jews by the Nazis.
Day 3
Enjoy a pleasant morning drive to Trakai, the ancient capital of Lithuania, with the 15th century Trakai Castle amid the lakes. On returning to Vilnius, stop at the Jewish Cemetery where Vilna Gaon is buried.
Day 4
Morning visit to the Jewish Cultural Center and/or the Jewish School. Mid-day departure to Kaunas. Afternoon tour of Kaunas including architectural and historic monuments in the Old Town, Slobodka area and a visit to the Ninth Fort Museum, a former WWII death site of thousands of Jewish nationals.
Optional: Meeting with a Jewish community in Kaunas.
Day 5
After breakfast departure from Kaunas to Riga. En route stop in Kedainiai (55 km from Kaunas) one of the oldest towns in Lithuania and a busy 18th-century Jewish center with its shops, synagogues, and Rabbi schools. The tour of Kedainiai includes a walk in the Old Town with restored former synagogues, the childhood house where Vilna Gaon studied the Talmun, an old Jewish cemetery, and the Centre of Cultures. After chek-in at your hotel in Riga, take an afternoon tour fo Riga featuring places related to the Jewish history. The tour includes the former Zeilen Shul - now an office building, the site of the former Big Choral Synagogue, (both synagogues were set on fire trapping Jews and refugees inside>, the current synagogue, and teh Jewish Museum.
Day 6
A morning visit to Salaspils (18 km southeast of Riga), shows the area remembered as the site of the Nazi concentration camp Kurtenhof. The Salaspils Memorial honors those 100,000 Jewish men, women and children who were put to death there. Transfer to the airport for your flight home.
One full day may be added for "root" tours to visit towns and villages, where your forefathers came from. Car transfers and guide services are available at an additional cost - contact us for pricing.
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RUSSIAN DELIGHT
St. Petersburg - Novgorod - Moscow
8 days/7 nights
Group minimum:
15 paying passengers
To inquire about customized pricing click here
Land package includes:
- 3 nights at Pulkovskaya Hotel or similar in St. Petersburg
- 1 night at Volkhov Hotel or similar in Novgorod
- 2 nights at Cosmos Club Hotel or similar in Moscow
- Buffet breakfast on days 1-4 & 6-8, continental breakfast on day 5
- Transportation by motor coach
- English speaking guide
- Entrance fees as per program
- Meals as per the program
- Overnight train Moscow – St.Petersbrg, 1st class ticket
- 1 tour leader is free in single room
- Tax & service charges
ITINERARY
Day 1: St. Petersburg
After arrive in St. Petersburg, transfer to your hotel with an English-speaking guide’s assistance. Dinner at or en route to your hotel
Day 2: St. Petersburg
After breakfast at your hotel, take a 3-hour guided tour of the city.
Enjoy lunch at a local restaurant with an opportunity to participate in a master class in cooking the Russian traditional soup “Borsch”. After lunch visit Peter & Paul’s Fortress and Cathedral. The Peter and Paul Fortress (Petropavlovskaya Krepost) was founded by Peter the Great in 1703 to protect the city from the Swedish navy. It lost military significance before it was completed, so it was used as a prison for two centuries. There were plenty of famous prisoners like Alexei (son of Peter the Great) and Dostoevsky (author of "Crime and Punishment"). Nowadays the fortress cannon fires at noon, midnight and when a flood is coming. The fortress itself is interesting, housing Sts Peter and Paul Cathedrals (where Peter the Great and other Russian emperors are buried), Trubetskoy bastion( a former prison), and the Museum of Gas-Dynamic Laboratories(home to personal items of the cosmonauts and other space related items). Dinner at your hotel.
Day 3: St. Petersburg
After breakfast, tour the Hermitage. The State Hermitage occupies six magnificent buildings situated along the bank of the River Neva, right in the heart of St Petersburg. The leading role in this unique architectural ensemble is played by the Winter Palace, the residence of the Russian tsars built to the design of Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli in 1754-62. This ensemble is extended by the eastern wing of the General Staff building, the Menshikov Palace and the recently constructed Repository. Put together throughout two and a half centuries, the Hermitage collections of works of art (over 3,000,000 items) present the development of world culture and art from the Stone Age to the 20th century. Enjoy lunch at a local restaurant in the center of the city. After lunch, walk along Nevskij Prospect and shop with an English-speaking guide’s assistance. Dinner at a local restaurant with a folklore show and a master class in Russian dances.
Day 4: St. Petersburg - Novgorod
After breakfast you will check-out of the hotel. The itinerary continues with a Pushkin tour including a visit to Catherine’s Palace with the Amber room and Park. The palace and park ensemble of Tsarskoe Selo- a former suburban residence of the Russian emperors – is a fascinating monument to the architecture and gardening arts of the 18th and 19th centuries.
Lunch at the local restaurant “Russian House”. Continue on to Novgorod (180 km, about 3 hours drive). Check-in to the “Volkhov” Hotel, located in the center of Novgorod, just opposite the Kremlevski Park. 10-minute walk to the railway station and 7-minute walk to Kremlin. Dinner at your hotel restaurant.
Day 5: Novgorod - Moscow
After breakfast, enjoy a Novgorod sightseeing tour including the Kremlin, and the famous St. Sophia Cathedral inside the Detinets - the main church of northern Russia. It is a symbol of the town and is one of the oldest stone buildings in Russia. Local architects built it in the 1050, and it is over 38 meters high. An iron dove sits on the cross of the cathedral. There is a myth that if the dove ever happens to fly away, it will mark the last day of Novgorod. St. Sofia used to be the place where the treasury of Novgorod was kept - there were special hiding places for gold on the second floor.
Daily church services take part in St. Sofia at 7pm. Dress code for services includes long pants and long-sleeved shirts for men and head coverings for women. Lunch at “Detinetz” Restaurant inside Novgorod Kremlin wall. Located inside the Kremlin, in Pokrovskaya tower, this restaurant serves the very best Russian food. After lunch, take an excursion to Yuriev Monastery including a visit to St.George Cathedral and
the Museum of Wooden Art. You can see here typical wooden buildings from the middle centuries. The churches, houses, and warehouses were brought here from all over the area of Novgorod and the new small town was set up.
After dinner at your hotel, check-out of the hotel and transfer to the railway station for your departure to Moscow by overnight train (1st class).
Day 6: Moscow
5:10am arrival in Moscow from Novgorod. Transfer to the hotel with an English-speaking guide. Early check-in and additional breakfast at your hotel. Time to relax before 11:30am city sightseeing tour. Visitors to Moscow are often pleasantly surprised by the wealth and variety of architecture the city has to offer. Even though the Kremlin is one of the most famous sights, there are also many smaller churches and chapels, imposing Neo-Classical mansions and some beautiful municipal buildings. A stark contrast to this older architecture is provided by early 20th-century Constructivist building and Communist landmarks such as Stalinist-Gothic skyscrapers. Lunch at a local restaurant. Arbat shopping with guide. Dinner at a local restaurant. Evening circus performance.
Day 7: Moscow
After breakfast, see the Citadel of the Tsars, headquarters of the Soviet Union and now the residence of the Russian president - for centuries the Kremlin has been a symbol of the power of the State. The design of the Cathedral of the Assumptions and the Faceted Palace is a fascinating fusion of Early Russian and imported Renaissance styles. The Kremlin did not escape the architectural vandalism of the 1930s, when it was closed and several of its churches and palaces were destroyed on Stalin’s orders. Only in 1955, two years after his death, was the Kremlin partially reopened to the public. The State Armory was designed by Konstantin Ton to compliment the Great Kremlin Palace. Constructed in 1844-51, this building is now a museum housing the stunning imperial collection of decorative and applied art and the priceless State Diamond Fund.
After lunch at a local restaurant, spend the time at your leisure. In the evening enjoy a Gala dinner at the local restaurant “Boris Godunov”.
Day 8: Moscow
After breakfast, transfer to the airport with an English-speaking guide's assistance for your return flight home.
This itienrary can be modified to meet the needs of your group.
Great airfare available - contact us for rates
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