Discover, Plan & Go!

Itinerary

Day 1: Hello Helsinki

Your Baltics and Russia tour begins at 6 p.m. at your hotel in Helsinki, Finland. Your transfer is included from Helsinki-Vantaa Airport to the hotel. Meet your Tauck Director and travel companions at the welcome reception and dinner.

Meals: Dinner

Lodging: Hotel Kämp, Helsinki, Finland

Day 2: Helsinki highlights

Explore Helsinki, a mix of parks, waterways, and architectural styles. See the Neo-Classical Senate Square, and the green cupolas and white columns of Helsinki Cathedral. Enjoy the colorful Market Square. Explore on your own in the afternoon.

Meals: Breakfast

Lodging: Hotel Kämp, Helsinki, Finland

Day 3: Cruise to Tallinn

Cross the Baltic Sea to Estonia aboard a high-speed ferry. Arrive in the walled city of Tallinn, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site as an outstanding and well-preserved example of a medieval Northern European trading city. Take a guided walking tour along narrow, cobblestone streets. See the 13th-century Toompea Castle, which houses the Estonian Parliament. Enjoy some free time and dinner at a local restaurant.

Meals: Breakfast, dinner

Lodging: Domina City Hotel, Tallinn, Estonia

Day 4: Travel to Latvia

Stop in Parnu for an Estonian beachfront barbecue. Continue to Latvia, arriving in the town of Riga, an important trading center for Central and Eastern Europe from the 13th to the 15th centuries. Your hotel is located in the heart of the old city.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner

Lodging: Grand Palace Hotel, Riga, Latvia

Day 5: Discover historic Riga

Take a walking tour on the cobbled streets of Old Town Riga, passing buildings dating back 800 years. Check out the Art Nouveau architecture in the city, considered the best in Europe. The combination of period architecture gave the Old Town UNESCO World Heritage Site designation. For those who wish, join us to explore some of the somber reminders of the tragic years of the Holocaust.

Meals: Breakfast

Lodging: Grand Palace Hotel, Riga, Latvia

Day 6: Architecture in Vilnius

Travel to Vilnius, Lithuania, as your Baltics and Russia tour continues. The historic center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to the mix of Renaissance, Gothic, Baroque, and classical architectural styles.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner

Lodging: Radisson SAS Astorija Hotel, Vilnius, Lithuania

Day 7: Old Town & Trakai

Take a walking tour of Old Town Vilnius. See Cathedral Square and the Renaissance-style Gates of Dawn, built in the 16th century as part of the town’s fortifications. Enjoy lunch in Trakai, a picturesque town with a castle dating to the Middle Ages. Then fly to Moscow, the center of power in Russia.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch

Lodging: Hotel Baltschug Kempinski Moscow, Russia

Day 8: Insider’s tour of the Kremlin

Meet a Kremlin insider to learn about Moscow’s past, and how the city has adjusted to the 21st century. Get a guided tour inside the 64-acre Kremlin, a UNESCO World Heritage Site together with Red Square. Visit Cathedral Square, and the Armory Chambers to see the treasures of the Czars, a Russia tour highlight.

Meals: Breakfast, dinner

Lodging: Hotel Baltschug Kempinski Moscow, Russia

Day 9: Russian art & icons

Tour the Moscow Metro today; with stations built of wood, bronze, copper and marble and decorated with sculptures, reliefs and mosaics, it's as much underground art gallery as transportation system. Visit the State Tretyakov Gallery/National Museum of Russian Fine Art, featuring 11th- to 20th-century paintings and sculptures by Russian artists. Check out the Icon Gallery showcasing a collection of Russian icons that are not allowed to travel outside of the country. Explore the city on your own in the afternoon.

Meals: Breakfast

Lodging: Hotel Baltschug Kempinski Moscow, Russia

Day 10: Red Square & Stalin’s Bunker

Drive to Sparrow Hill and enjoy panoramic views of Moscow prior to an exclusive visit to Joseph Stalin’s hidden bunker, which was closed to the public for decades. Your Tauck group has been granted access by special permission. Check out the central command room, and Stalin’s personal effects in his private office, then contemplate your experience over lunch. Travel by train in the evening to St. Petersburg, Russia’s cultural capital.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner

Lodging: Grand Hotel Europe, St. Petersburg, Russia

Day 11: Explore St. Petersburg

Take a guided tour of key landmarks in St. Petersburg; the historic center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Visit the imposing Peter and Paul Fortress built in 1703. Inside the fortress, Peter and Paul Cathedral with a tall golden spire contains the tombs of the Russian czars, including Peter the Great. Take a cruise along the canals of St. Petersburg before continuing your own Russia tour at leisure in the afternoon.

Meals: Breakfast, dinner

Lodging: Grand Hotel Europe, St. Petersburg, Russia

Day 12: A great palace & Russian ballet

Journey to the opulent Palace of Peter the Great, located in Petrodvoretz on the Gulf of Finland. Enjoy the Summer Garden and fountain displays. Return to St. Petersburg by hydrofoil to visit the Grand Choral Synagogue and then pursue your own interests in the afternoon. In the evening, attend a performance of the world-famous Russian Ballet. Note: schedule times and performances vary.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch

Lodging: Grand Hotel Europe, St. Petersburg, Russia

Day 13: The State Hermitage Museum

Enjoy an early morning visit to The State Hermitage Museum by special arrangement for your Tauck group. The museum boasts one of the largest collections of art and artifacts in the world. Displays include prehistoric cultures, classical antiquities, Western European art; view celebrated ancient gold treasures on a special visit to the Gold Room. Spend the rest of the afternoon at your leisure. Share highlights of your Baltics and Russia tour at the farewell dinner this evening.

Meals: Breakfast, dinner

Lodging: Grand Hotel Europe, St. Petersburg, Russia

Day 14: Journey home

Your Baltics and Russia tour ends in St. Petersburg, Russia. Your transfer is included from the hotel to St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo International Airport.

Meals: Breakfast