Day 1

Arrive in St Petersburg, meet your local guide, transfer to the city centre.

Start your St Petersburg city tour - you will see the city’s main sights and places linked with the events of 1917. The highlights of the tour include:

Petropavlovsky Fortress - this marks the site of the city’s foundation. In 1703, the foundations of the first building were laid here on Zaichy Island.

Saint Peter and Paul’s Cathedral - The Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul, situated in the Peter and Paul Fortress, was the first stone church in St Petersburg. Built between 1712 and 1733, the church is where the tombs of most of Russia’s czars are found, starting with Peter the Great. On 18 July 1998, the bodies of Nicholas II, Alexandra, three of their daughters, and four loyal companions were finally buried in the cathedral.

Bronze Horseman - this is the most famous statue of Peter the Great. It was unveiled in 1782 on Senatskaya Ploschad on the order of Catherine the Great.

Avrora Cruiser (outside) - another key site of the revolution, as the Avrora gave the signal to storm the Winter Palace.

Nevsky Prospekt - this is the main street of St Petersburg and runs for 4.5km.

Time for lunch.

In the afternoon, continue with The Hermitage. The Winter Palace, part of the Hermitage ensemble, was built in 1754-62 by Elizabeth I as the principal home of the czars. The museum, originally a small private palace gallery begun by Catherine the Great with the purchase of 255 paintings from Berlin, today houses one of the largest and finest museum collections in the world. After Nicholas II abdicated his throne in the spring of 1917, the Provisional Government set up shop in the Winter Palace. Later that year, in October, the Cruiser Avrora, anchored outside on the Neva, fired the shot that signalled the storming of the Winter Palace and the beginning of the Bolshevik Revolution.

Transfer to the hotel.

Free time at leisure.

Day 2

Breakfast at the hotel.

Start of your excursion to the St Petersburg suburb known as Pushkin. During the reign of Nicholas II, this town was called Tsarkoe Selo and served as the summer residence of Russian tsars and the first place of exile of Nicholas II and his family.

First of all, we will visit the Catherine Palace. A royal residence, Catherine’s Palace was originally built in 1717 by Catherine I, wife of Peter the Great. In 1752, during the reign of Elizabeth I, the famous architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli enlarged and embellished the palace, extending the facade to its current grandeur. Inside, you’ll find the fully restored Amber Room. The wall coverings of amber panels, created in the time of Peter the Great, were taken by the Nazis during the Second World War and never recovered.

Return back to the city.

Free time at leisure.

 

* Kindly ask you to pay attention that during high season (May - September) actual timing for your tour might differ from your initial itinerary. Timing will be finalized within 14-9 days prior to visit to Catherine palace

 

Day 3

Breakfast at the hotel.

Today, we head to the Yusupov Palace. This palace belonged to one of the richest families in pre-revolutionary Russia - the Yusupovs - and is one of the most beautiful palace estates in the city. It became famous as the scene of the infamous murder of Grigory Rasputin, a Siberian peasant who rose to become the unconventional spiritual adviser to Nicholas II and his wife. Felix Yusupov, the young heir to the Yusupov fortune, and several of his friends invited Rasputin to an evening party at the Yusupov Palace on 30 December 1916, and after serving him wine in the basement room, shot him three times. They drove the body to the Petrovsky Bridge and threw it over. Rasputin is said to have predicted his own death and added that if he was killed by a Russian peasant, the czar need not worry and the House of Romanov would continue for another century or more. However, if he was killed by a relation of the czar, then the czar would also die within two years, nobles would flee Russia and brothers would kill brothers, which is precisely what happened.

Later on, we continue with an excursion to the Shuvalov Palace-Fabergé Museum – the history of Russia at the turn of the 19th/20th century through the history of the jewellery art of Fabergé. Imperial and grand-ducal gifts are housed in this palace, which include: presentation snuffboxes and cigar cases with the portraits of Emperor Nicholas II, Grand Duke Sergey Alexandrovich, a cigar case with the lettering “Elisabeth” (a gift to Sergey Alexandrovich from his spouse), a pennant with the portrait of Elisabeth Fyodorovna, her eye-glass and others; as well as a unique collection of 9 imperial Easter surprise-eggs by Fabergé with decorations themed on major events from the last emperorship.

Time for lunch.

We end our programme with the Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood. This iconic church, with its blue and green patterned domes, was built on the spot where Czar Alexander II was mortally wounded by a bomb in 1881. The interior walls and cupolas are covered in fine mosaics of Biblical scenes, and four jasper columns mark the spot where the czar fell.

Transfer to your hotel.

Day 4

Early check-out from the hotel.

Transfer to the railway station, take the train to Pskov at 06.55.

Pskov region is an important part of the last Emperor’s route to Ekaterinburg. Here we find Dno station, which is famous for an event that took place in the early morning of 2 March 1917, when the imperial train arrived there. Many historians believe that, after a long stay at this station, emperor Nicholas II finally decided to sign his demise as czar.

10.25 arrive in Pskov. Start of your excursion which follows in the footsteps of the Imperial family in Pskov: Kremlin and monuments inside the walls of Okolny town. With more than 1500 years of history, the town’s architecture and its connection with Russian history was studied by Alexander II’s sons Pavel and Sergey in 1878. Like the young grand dukes, along with Konstantin Konstantinovich, who decided to join them, you can explore Pskov’s walls and towers which proved so impenetrable in ancient times to their enemies, and visit old church-fortresses with their metre-thick walls. Then there’s the building of the former parochial secondary school, where during the First World War the St Eugenia Community of Sisters of Charity Hospital was located, among whose staff was Maria Pavlovna. You’ll visit the railway station building and Christ Resurrection Chapel (also named “Imperial”) in memory of Nicholas II’s demise, for a reconstruction of this event. Also visit the “Golden Room” and Railway Museum.

Time for lunch.

Your tour continues with the Yeleazarov Convent (28 km from Pskov). It is a small convent founded as a monastery by the Venerable Ephrosin in 1447 to the north of Pskov, along the road leading to Gdov, by a local peasant named Eleazar. In the mid-16th century, the monastery was heavily fortified and attained a position of great importance and celebrity, owing to its learned hegumen, Philotheus of Pskov, who is credited with authoring the Legend of the White Cowl and the Third Rome prophecy. It was during his hegumenship that the monastery became known for its school of icon-painters and its still-standing cathedral was built. Some scholars believe that the only known copy of the Lay of Igor's Campaign was created by one of the local monks at the behest of Philotheus. The main monastery relic is Three Great Saints (Basil the Great, Gregory of Nazianzus, John Chrysostom) built in the 16th century and a magnificent example of medieval Pskov architecture. This church is where they keep the miraculous Virgin Mary icon, transferred from Constantinople Patriarch Gennady II to the Venerable Ephrosin.

Return back to Pskov. Proceed to check in at the hotel. Free time.

Day 5

Breakfast at the hotel. Check out.

Drive to Izborsk and Pechory. First, we visit the Izborsk Fortress and see the Truvor Cross. “Iron town” Izborsk is one of the ancient Rusich settlements with its ancient fortress and Duke Truvor’s tomb, which always attracted the Romanov family’s attention. On 10 July 1878, Grand Dukes Sergey Alexandrovich and Pavel Alexandrovich, Konstantin Konstantinovich and Dmitry Konstantinovich visited it.

Afterwards, drive to Pechory.

Time for lunch.

Next, visit the Holy Dormition Pskovo-Pechersky Monastery. Here, Nicholas II prayed in 1903, and in early 1911, princess Elisabeth Fyodorovna prayed in the same place. Since ancient times, this Monastery was widely known all over Ancient Rus. The Pskovo-Pechersky Monastery became a place of pilgrimage for heads of state at different time and in different centuries. Visit the Museum of Pechora History and the Holy Dormition Pskovo-Pechersky Monastery exhibition halls.

17.00 Transfer back to Pskov railway station.

19.30 Train departs for Moscow. Overnight on the train.

Day 6

06.14 Arrive in our capital – Moscow.

Transfer to a local restaurant for breakfast.

Now begins your city tour of Moscow. Although Moscow was not the capital at the time, like the emperors before him, Nicholas II’s coronation took place in the Moscow Kremlin. The coronation was overshadowed, though, by tragic events in the city, as more than 1350 people were crushed to death in a stampede at a poorly organised celebration of the coronation. The highlights of your tour include:

Red Square - Russia’s main square and the historical centre of Moscow. The annual Victory Day Parade is held here.

GUM - GUM stands for the State Department Store, and here you will find lots of modern shops and cafes, while the whole complex still retains a Soviet feel.

Lenin Mausoleum - the body of the leader of the October Revolution and the man who gave the order to execute the last czar and his family still remains embalmed and displayed in this mausoleum on Red Square.

Aleksandrovsky Gardens - these are some of the oldest gardens in Moscow and are situated next to the Kremlin. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is also located here.

Zaryadye Park - Moscow’s newest park, created following the demolition of the Soviet-era Rossia Hotel. Here, several areas have been created to demonstrate the various natural zones found in Russia.   

Arrive at your hotel, check in and overnight stay.

Day 7

Breakfast at the hotel.

Guided Tour of the Moscow Kremlin - this is Moscow’s main sight and the political centre of the country. The architectural ensemble of the Kremlin has taken centuries to put together, and each era has left its mark. On 14 May 1896, Nicholas II and his wife were crowned emperor and empress of Russia in the Kremlin’s Dormition Cathedral.

Continue with the Kremlin Armoury Museum, which houses Russia’s national treasures, among them the bejewelled Fabergé egg created for the Romanovs’ 300th anniversary in 1913. The egg is decorated with miniature ivory portraits of 18 Romanov emperors and empresses, and the “surprise” inside is a rotating globe showing the extent of the empire under the Romanovs.

Time for lunch.

Later on, visit the Romanov Boyar House Museum, which was restored in 1913 to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the Romanov Dynasty. Located on Varvarka Street not far from the Kremlin, and built in the style of the 15th century, this was where Mikhail Romanov, the first Romanov czar, was born. The thick-walled two-storey house has a dimly lit public area and men’s rooms on the first floor, while the more intimate women’s quarters upstairs are lined with tall windows so the women of the family could see to do their handwork. Entering this house, you can easily visualise the life of a medieval Russian noble family.

Transfer to Yaroslavsky railway station.

20.05 Departure of the overnight train to Kirov.

Day 8

Arrive in Kirov at 08.30, meet the local guide outside your compartment. Transfer to the hotel for breakfast.

11.00 Start of the Kirov city tour (3hr).

The city tour will show you the city’s past, with plenty of mysterious and sometimes mystic stories. You will learn why the city was moved from Kikimor Mount to its new location, who founded the city and how old it is, about underpasses and caves, the church and lake located under the surface, learn how to cross the Vyatka River without getting your feet wet, about its outstanding citizens and their masterpieces, and gorgeous churches preserved in their original condition. You can walk through the city’s most picturesque and romantic spots, touch its present and its past, and open up aesthetic ancient sights to your heart and soul.

The main sights are: the city’s main square – Teatralnaya; the former Governor’s house; the steamship-owning Bulichev mansion, Philharmonic Hall, Board and care facility; the Seraphim Church; the location of the city’s foundation close to the eternal flame on the panoramic viewpoint, from where you can observe the fascinating opposite bank of the Vyatka River; the Tryphonov Monastery and its holy spring and Alexander Garden; Grin’s embankment and post office; the recreation park in honour of Kirov, and many others.

Your city tour route includes the main streets of the city and quiet Old Vyatka hideaways, a trip to Grin’s embankment and a walk around the Alexander Garden.

During these excursions, you will hear about little-known facts, telling of strong centuries-old spiritual connections between the Romanov dynasty and Vyatka. Then there are the Saint Tryphon Vyatsky and Prokopy Vyatsky icons – local saints who accompanied the royal family on their last journey. In spring 1918, they were sent to Vyatka and kept there for a month under house arrest, before being taken to Petrograd: among them were Grand Duke Sergey Mikhailovich (nephew of Emperor Alexander II), Imperial Blood Duke John, Konstantin and Igor Konstantinovich (sons of Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich), Duke Vladimir Paley, as well as the Serbian king’s daughter Dutchess Elena Petrovna – spouse of Imperial Blood Duke John Konstantinovich. The house where they lived still preserves the memory of the Grand Dukes’ stay there.

14.00-15.00 Time for lunch

15.00-18.00 You can join several optional excursions at an additional charge, or explore the city on your own:

• Cosmonaut Centre and Aviation Museum in honour of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky;

• Vyatka Natural History Museum;

• Military Glory Museum;

• House-Museum of A.S. Grin and House-Museum of M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin;

• Chocolate and Ice Cream Museums;

• Local Lore Museum;

• Art Museum in honour of the Vasnetsov brothers or the house-museum of the artist N.N. Khokhryakov;

• Museum of Vyatka folk arts and crafts and master class in painting or modelling Dymkovo toys;

18.00-19.00 Dinner.

Then transfer to the hotel for overnight stay.

Day 9

Breakfast at the hotel.

10.40 Transfer to the railway station.

11.48 Take your train to Perm.

22.01 Arrive at Perm railway station, meet your local guide outside your compartment. Transfer to the hotel for check-in and overnight.

Day 10

Breakfast at the hotel.

City tour of the main Perm sights, connected with the Romanov imperial dynasty visit: Rotunda in the city park named after Gorky and Siberian outpost obelisk, built in 1824 for the arrival of Emperor Alexander I; Alexander Hospital, built at the direction of Alexander I and named after him; the bishop's house on Cathedral Square, where the emperor met Perm’s ruler; the Church of All Saints, opened in 1834 in memory of the visit of Emperor Alexander I; Perm Alekseevsky Real School, opened by Grand Duke Alexey Alexandrovich in 1873 (Shvetsov Aviation Technical School); Mariinsky Women's High School, opened by Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolayevich in June 1887 with a church inside the building in honour of St Nicholas the Wonderworker and Tsarina Alexandra in memory of the marriage of the Emperor Nicholas II with Grand Duchess Alexandra Fyodorovna (Perm State Agricultural Academy, D.N. Pryanishnikov); the Saviour Transfiguration Cathedral (Perm Art Gallery) and the Assumption Cathedral of the Convent (Church of the Kazan Icon of the Virgin Mary), where Grand Duchess Elizaveta Romanova prayed on the way to the Belogorsk Monastery; the Korolyovskie Rooms Hotel, which is the last refuge of Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich Romanov.

Visit to the Bishop’s House

The Bishop’s House is part of the Saviour Transfiguration Cathedral ensemble. The building was constructed in 1793 – 1798, and is the most prominent representative of the classicism style among the Perm buildings of the 18th century. The facade of the Bishop's House faced two sides: Cathedral Square (Kungur Street) and Monastery Street (Embankment). Monastery Street received its name because of the Saviour Transfiguration Monastery. In 1851, the Bishop’s House was connected to the Cathedral by a passage.

12:00 Excursion to Perm Art Gallery.

Today, the art gallery occupies the building of the Transfiguration Cathedral, which itself is an architectural monument of the 19th century. In the gallery's collection, there are almost 50 000 exhibits.

There are several expositions constantly on display at the gallery. This covers Russian art of the 18th - early 20th centuries, which includes works from the classics - F. Rokotov, I. Angunov, K. Bryullov and others. Marine pieces are also represented here, which were especially popular in the 19th century. Russian Peredvizhnik artworks are also represented here.

One of the exhibitions is devoted to ancient wooden sculpture and has about 400 exhibits. Among them are samples that are about 400 years old. Part of the gallery's halls contains a unique collection of Russian icons of the 16th – 17th centuries. The exhibition of Western European art of the 15th – 18th centuries is also interesting. Here, you’ll find the works of painting schools in Holland, Italy and France.

13:30 Time for lunch

14.30-17.00 Transfer to the Ordzhonikidze District, Chapaevsky village to the supposed place of execution of Grand Duke Michael Romanov and his secretary Nickolas Johnson.

On the way, you’ll hear about the fate of Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich Romanov (the youngest son of Emperor Alexander III), the last legitimate heir to the Russian throne who, according to the manifesto of renunciation of 15 March 1917, was handed to him by Emperor Nicholas II.

Arrest by revolutionary authorities, exile to Perm, execution on 12 June 1918.

Memorial at the supposed site of execution of Mikhail Romanov and his secretary Johnson: a cross (installed in 1996) and a church-chapel in honour of the holy blessed Prince Mikhail of Tver - heavenly patron of Mikhail Alexandrovich Romanov (founded in 1998) - forms part of the Holy Trinity Stephanov Monastery.

17.30 Grand Duke Michael Romanov walking tour.

19.00 Time for dinner.

Walk back to the hotel, overnight.

Day 11

Breakfast at the hotel.

09.00 Depart for an excursion of Perm–Kalinino–White Mountain (110 km).

This programme is based on the route taken by Grand Dutchess Elisabeth Fyodorovna in 1914 during her pilgrimage to Belogorsky Monastery.

Elisabeth Fyodorovna Romanova – elder sister of Russian Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna, wife of the fifth son of Emperor Alexander II, Grand Duke Sergey Alexandrovich Romanov – fell victim to terrorist Kalyaev in 1905. The founder of the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent in Moscow, the Head of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society, canonised by the Bishops' Council of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad in Brussels and in Russia.

The route begins on the Kama river embankment, where on 11 July 1914, the steamship “Mezhen”, accompanied by the hum of church bells, moored at the pier of the provincial city of Perm.

The Belogorsky St Nicholas Orthodox Monastery is one of the most attractive sights of Prikamye, called the "Ural Athos" for its greatness and beauty – its tragic past and modern rebirth. Grand Duchess Elisabeth Fyodorovna Romanova made a pilgrimage to the Belogorsky Monastery in 1914 – the tragic pages of the fate of the Grand Duchess.

11.30 Depart for Kungur.

12.30 Journey of “Merchant Kungur”.

Tour of the architectural monuments of the ancient city of Kungur - stone churches executed in the style of the Ural Baroque. Old merchant estates, stone churches (Assumption, Transfiguration, St Nicholas and Tikhvin Temples), Gostiny Dvor and shopping areas give a complete picture of the life of Russian provincial cities in the 19th century.

Visit to the first Russian Museum of History of the Merchants, telling about the former glory of Kungur merchants who sold tea throughout Russia. Located on the most profitable trade routes of the 18th-19th centuries, Kungur became a major commercial and industrial centre of the Urals, grain and leather industry.

14.00 Time for lunch.

15.30 Visit Kungur Ice Cave – the eighth miracle of Russia. Stalagmites, stalactites, underground lakes, whimsical grottoes with artificial illumination and heaps of stones all carry us to the fantastic world of an ancient cave dating back 10-12 000 years. Kungur Cave is one of the few in the world that is specially equipped for tourists, who walk the 1.5 km route accompanied by experienced guides.

17.00 Workshop with Ural selenite.

18.00 Departure back to Perm.

On arrival, time for dinner and overnight at the hotel.

Day 12

Breakfast at the hotel, check-out.

09.00 Depart for Iliinsky village.

10.30 Excursion to the Stroganov’s ancestral lands

The motto “Earthly wealth - to the Fatherland, the name - to ourselves” inscribed on the Stroganovs’ emblem, turned out to be prophetic. Generations of the Stroganovs — merchants, industrialists, statesmen for more than 500 years – augmented the wealth of the Russian Empire. In the northern regions and the Perm region, the Stroganovs began the economic, industrial and social development of the region.

12.30 Depart for Speshilov’s farmhouse, lunch on the bank of the Kama River.

The farmhouse of the Speshilov family is located in the village of Tupitsa, not far from the village of Iliinsky. Now there are only a few houses in the village, unlike in the 17th-19th centuries, when life here was in full swing. Nearby is the village of Sludka, the “home of the captains”, which supplied trained personnel to the Kama shipping company.

16.00 Depart for the Khokhlovka open-air architectural and ethnographic museum (an amazing place to travel back to the end of the 19th century), including unique monuments of Urals wooden architecture between 100 and 200 years old and built without a single nail.

17.00 Interactive programme “Immersion in the peasant world", with a peasant meal.

20.00 Set off back to Perm. Transfer to the railway station.

22.21 Take your train to Tyumen. Overnight on the train.

Day 13

08.11 Arrive in Tyumen, meet your local guide outside your compartment. Transfer to the hotel for breakfast.

10.30 City tour “Tyumen – Gates of Siberia”. Tyumen region – one of the country’s most interesting regions with a rich historical heritage and very progressive present. The region is called the “Gates of Siberia”, through which opens the largest part of our country - mysterious, immense, amazing. Nowadays, Tyumen is a business centre of Tyumen region, the first European city in Siberia, which for three years in a row has been voted the most comfortable Russian city to live in with a high “happiness index”. With its rich history, merchant spirit and warm hospitality, Siberia will leave you with unforgettable memories. During the tour, you will walk through the historic part of the city, see unique monuments of wooden art, volumetric carving and incredibly beautiful window surrounds, learn the history of Tyumen’s foundation as the oil capital of Siberia, and also visit the Siberian cats public garden, Lovers’ Bridge and the one and only four-level embankment in Russia.

12.30 Time for lunch.

13.30 Excursion “Romanovs’ history in Tyumen”. Siberia, the region where everywhere you can see shadows of the past – starting with Ermak, conqueror of this land, and ending with Romanov family representatives, who came here several times. You can also touch the history and visit places where the Emperor’s family attended: the “Kolokolnikov’s Estate” Museum, visited by Crown prince Alexander, and the “Imperial Pier” Museum – a memorable place where the family of the last Russian Emperor walked several metres across shaky wooden footbridges, transferring from the train to the ship "Rus", heading off to Tobolsk in exile.

16.00 Transfer to the hotel. Check-in.

Free time. You can walk around Tyumen, visit its thermal springs (the water in the pools has a health-promoting effect and positive impact on the physical and emotional state of visitors, with the water temperature maintained at +38°С all year round).

Day 14

Breakfast at the hotel, check-out.

09.00 Visit the “Kazansky” History and Cultural Centre with its exhibition dedicated to its famous native resident, Grigory Rasputin, and Pokrovskoe village – another spot on the “Imperial Route”. It’s a mysterious sight. This is the birthplace of Grigory Rasputin, whose prophecy came true in full: “Whether they like it or not, they will come to Tobolsk and, before they die, they will see my native village”. Brilliant visionary or false prophet? The shroud of secrecy will open slightly only for those who visit this place themselves. The museum exhibition is based on the items related to Rasputin and members of the royal family, authentic photographs, medals and newspapers from 1917.

11.00 Drive to Abalak village.

14.00 Time for lunch.

15.00 Visit to the Abalaksky Monastery of the Holy Sign, which is located in the village of Abalak, on the right bank of the Irtish, 20 km away from Tobolsk. The monastery is a unique historical and architectural complex, formed by the middle of the 18th century in the Baroque style. During a visit to the monastery, you will learn the history of its foundation and why the miraculous icon of the Mother of God was painted here, a copy of which was presented to Nicholas II during his period of exile in Tobolsk. Not far from here is the “Abalak” tourist complex, which is a reconstruction of a Siberian prison from the time of the kazaks of Ermak Timofeevich, conqueror of Siberia.

16.00 Transfer to the city of Tobolsk, located on the high Trinity Cape, at the confluence of the Tobol and Irtysh rivers. It used to be called “The Gate of Asia”, “The Father of Siberian Cities”. Tobolsk was the birthplace of outstanding people famous all over Russia. Among them are the Siberian encyclopaedist, cartographer and architect S.U. Remezov, composer A.A. Alyabyev and chemist D.I. Mendeleev. The history of Tobolsk includes events closely related to the Imperial family. Your stay in Tobolsk begins with a visit to the Governor’s House Museum, where from August 1917 to April 1918 the imperial family lived.

A walk through the territory of the Tobolsk Kremlin, which has become a special symbol of state power in Russia, the spiritual and administrative centre of a vast and distant land, and can be justly considered the Pearl of Siberia. All imperial guests started their visit to Tobolsk with a walk through the Kremlin’s territory, visiting the ancient church of Siberia – the Sofia-Assumption Cathedral. Visit the West Siberian Museum – the first museum building in Siberia, which Crown Prince Nicholas visited in 1891 and took under his majesty’s patronage.

19.00 Free time. Visit souvenir shops.

20.00 Time for dinner.

21.00 Transfer to the railway station of Tobolsk city.

22.47 Train departs for Yekaterinburg city.

Day 15

09.36 Arrive in Yekaterinburg city, meet your local guide outside your compartment. Transfer to a cafe for breakfast.

11.00 A city tour of Yekaterinburg will familiarise you with its historic centre: the surface water gathering pond dam of the Iset River “gave birth” to the Ekaterinburg plant in the 18th century, the monuments to the city founders Tatischev and Gennin, Saint Catherine’s Chapel  – patroness of the city, and the first stone building of Ekaterinburg – Mining Office (now Conservatory); the merchants’ manors of the 19th century adorning the city pond. As part of the tour, you will see the central squares of the city - the Square of 1905 and October Square with the buildings of the City Duma and Regional Government; visit Ascension Hill, decorated with the most beautiful building from the beginning of the 19th century in the city - the Rastroguyevs-Kharitonovs Palace of Merchants, the Memorial Church on the Blood erected on the site of the infamous house of engineer Ipatiev, where the last Russian Emperor Nicholas II and members of his family spent the last days of their lives.

13.00 Drive to the Museum of History and Archaeology of the Urals, excursion to the Romanovs Memorial Hall, whose exhibition tells the story of the Romanov dynasty on the Russian throne, Russia in the era of the reign of Nicholas II and the tragic events of 17 July 1918. This hall has unique exhibits of undoubted interest: an icon depicting the first Czar of the Dynasty; Kasli casting cast-iron fireplace and window lattice from the "execution room", and other items from the interior and decoration of engineer Ipatiev’s house; Mauser system pistols belonging to one of the Romanov murderers,  P.Z. Ermakov; a portrait of Princess Hesse-Kassel Louise, great-grandmother of Nicholas II from the office of Alexander III in the Anichkov Palace.

14.00 Time for lunch.

15.00 Departure for the “Ganina Yama” area. The remains of the last Russian Emperor and his family were brought here. After the Russian Orthodox Church canonised Nicholas II as a Saint in 2000, it was decided to establish a monastery on Ganina Yama in honour of the Holy Royal Martyrs. The monastery consists of seven temples reflecting the number of members of the imperial family. Ganina Yama is one of the most visited pilgrimage sites, where pilgrims and tourists from all over the world come throughout the year. Return back to the city, free time.

17.00 transfer to Ekaterinburg’s Koltsovo international airport. Take your transfer flight to London via Moscow.