Art Lovers' Tour
A robust once-in-a-lifetime program of the art and culture,
A unique intimate experience that you will not get with a large travel company.
Slowly walk through amazing museums, enjoying lectures on the cultural, political and historical significance of the work.
Relax at trendy restaurants with delightful food and ambience.
Small Group: 4-12
Length: 11 Days
Meals: Breakfast & Lunch
2019 Itinerary
Day 1: Arrive in St. Petersburg
Transportation from Pulkovo Airport (LED) to hotel in a private car
Day 2: Hermitage Museum – Winter Palace
Lectures: Art Collection & Gala Rooms
Day 3: Russian Museum
Lectures: Russian art of 18-20th centuries
Day 4: Faberge & Palaces
Faberge Museum, Catherine’s Summer Palace
& Peterhof Gardens
Day 5: Hermitage Museum – General Staff Building
– Lecture: 20th century collection
Day 6: Travel to Moscow
High Speed Saptrain
Group Dinner
Day 7: Tretyakov Gallery
Tour Metro: Revolutionary Tunnel
Tour Tretyakov Gallery’s main building
Lectures: Russian art of 18-20th centuries
Tour Marfo-Mariinsky Convent
Day 8: Kremlin Territories
Tour Red Square, St. Basils, GUM,
Kremlin territory, Diamond Fund and
Armory
Day 9: Cathedral,Pushkin Museum,
Artist/Gallery Visit, Bolshoi
Cathedral of Christ the Savior
Pushkin Museum European Building
Artist studio or gallery visit
Group Dinner
Bolshoi Theater
Day 10: Institute of Russian Realist Art
Docent Tour at IRRA
Lunch at Café Chekov
Day 11: Depart from Moscow
Transfer from hotel to a Moscow airport in a private car
The Tretyakov Gallery contains one of the greatest collection of Russian art in the world. Russian art movements we will see and discuss include: sentimentalism, romanticism, critical realism, Wanderers, realism, lyrical landscape, Russian Impressionism, World of Art (Mir Iskusstva), Russian Symbolism, and pronto avant-garde.
Schedule
- Tour Revolutionary Subway Tunnel
- Tretyakov Gallery
- Marfo-Mariinsky Convent
Day 3 | Kremlin Territories
Sign up early – Space is limited!
A visit to Moscow is not complete without seeing the Kremlin Territories. Inside the Kremlin are the Russian government buildings as well as the former czar’s palace and cathedrals. You will also see the Armory Museum, a treasure-house of gifts of gold and silverware by Russian, European and Eastern masters. We will visit the Diamond Fund, on display is the world-famous Orlov diamond, bought by Count Grigory Orlov who presented it to Catherine the Great.
Schedule
- Kremlin Territories
- Red Square
- St. Basil's Cathedral
- Opportunity to attend the Bolshoi Theater
Day 4 | Institute of Russian Realist Art
A rather modest museum that contains one of the best collections of the Russian realist school of painting of the twentieth century. The museum is known as the Institute of Russian Realist Art (IRRA) contains approximately five-hundred works of Russian and Soviet art.
Schedule
- Morning Free Time
- Institute of Russian Realist Art
Day 5 Cathedral, Pushkin Museum, New Tretyakov Gallery
Schedule
- Cathedral of Christ the Savior
- Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts European Building
- New Tretyakov Gallery
Pushkin Museum of Fine Art
We will tour the European building, where you will see the world-famous collection includes major works by Impressionist and Post-Impressionist.
The New Tretyakov Gallery
The New Tretyakov Gallery houses the only permanent exhibition of twentieth century Russian art in Russia. It displays works by Russian avant-garde masters from the 1900s-1920s, Socialist Realism, Severe Style and the "second wave" of Russian avant-garde.
Day 7 | Hermitage Museum
The State Hermitage Museum first opened to the public in 1852. The initial collection was owned by Catherine the Great, who defined the trends in collecting and set high standards that have been impossible to ignore ever since. We will spend the majority of the day discussing artwork in the Winter Palace, which includes these art movements: Renaissance, mannerism, baroque and gothic.
Schedule
- Hermitage Museum's Winter Palace
Day 8 | Hermitage Museum
In 2014 the Hermitage Museum opened a new wing in the General Staff Building directly across from the Winter Palace. This new wing consists of eight-hundred rooms all dedicated to the art from the nineteenth to twenty-first centuries. In this building includes Russia's huge collection of impressionist and post-impressionist work; as well as exemplary examples of neo-classical, romanticism, Barizon School and an extensive collection of German art.
Schedule
- Hermitage Museum – General Staff Building
Day 9 | Sites and the Russian Museum Tour
Schedule
- Kazan Cathedral
- Church on the Spilled Blood tour
- Russian Museum
The State Russian Museum is the largest museum of Russian art in the world, housing works by the crème de la crème of master works by Russian artists, ranging from historic to contemporary times.
Day 10 | Repin Academy, Faberge Museum and Mariinsky Theater
Schedule
- Repin Institute Museum
- Faberge Museum
- Opportunity to attend Mariinsky Theater
Repin Institute
Established in 1789 by Catherine the Great, the Repin Institute of Arts contains a small museum of graduate paintings by many of its well-known graduates.
Day 11 | Catherine's Summer Palace and Peterhof Garden Tour
- Catherine’s Summer Palace Tour
- Peterhof Park tour
Day 12 | City Tour, Hermitage Museum, Cathedrals
- Hermitage Museum
– Russian Guide gives a tour of the gala rooms and private quarters - City Sight Seeing Tour by boat
- Tour of St. Isaac’s Cathedral
Day 13 | Return Home
Transportation from hotel to St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo Airport (LED) in a private car.
Tour Package
• Three star hotel includes VAT:
Five nights in Moscow
Seven nights in St. Petersburg
• Breakfast and lunch
• Transfers to and from the airport in a private car
• Train transportation from Moscow to St. Petersburg
• Entry into all museums and sights
• Lectures as outlined in the itinerary
• Russian tourist visa support letter
• All transportation during the tour per itinerary
• English/Russian speaking guide per itinerary
• Ticket to the theaters must be purchased separately
Tour Pricing
October 17-28
These tours are run by our Moscow office
Early Bird Sign-Up by May 30
Fee: $5,250.00 USD
Single Supplement: $1,100.00 USD
Late Bird Sign-Up by August 15
Fee: $5,550.00 USD
Single Supplement: $1,250.00 USD
Request More Information
Cathy's Blog Posts about this Trip
See the artwork and learn about the artists that you will see on this tour on Cathy Locke's blog – Musings on Art.
Contemporary Art in Russia 1954-1990
Institute of Russian Realist Art
Hermitage Museum Collection: 1700s
Hermitage Museum Collection: 1800s
Hermitage Museum Collection: 1900s
Mir Iskusstva (The World of Art)
Moscow: Magic Dogs to Artistic Gems
Russian Impressionism: 1875–1895
Russian Revolutionary Impressionism
St. Petersburg: The Venice of the North
Small Group Tour
This tour is a small group tour, made up of four to twelve people. This will give you the opportunity to spend more time on the things you want to see and discuss. A rare opportunity to spend your days with a university expert allowing you to ask questions and have meaningful conversations.