Moscow to St Petersburg by Train: Russia's Iconic Cities

Moscow is a complex city that's full of contradictions, a microcosm of Russia as a whole. It's a city of multi-coloured orthodox churches, Stalinist architecture, futuristic Moskva-City buildings and trendy shops and restaurants highly rated by the young and wealthy. You can go to the Kremlin nearby and visit the stunning collection of Decorative Art in the Armoury Museum. Go to the Tretyakov Gallery, where Russian painting reveals its universal masterpieces. In VDNKh Park, an open-air museum of Soviet architecture, you can see 'Worker and Kolkhoz Woman', an iconic duo sculpted by Vera Mukhina for the 1937 World Expo. Behind Kursk Station, a dozen prestigious art galleries have taken over a former wine warehouse: Vinzavod is now an important artistic hub. If you need to do some shopping, then head to GUM on Red Square. Founded in 1893, the Moscow equivalent of John Lewis is on a large scale: more than 200 major brands share a mile and a half of the shopping centre. On your way out, you can stroll through the square, including Lenin's mausoleum and St Basil's Cathedral. And you can easily find restaurants and pretty cafes.
Included in the itinerary - A private tour of Moscow's must-sees. You'll visit Pashkov House, the Pushkin Museum, the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, the private hotels of the Moscow nobility, the Great Boulevards, the Church of the Great Resurrection, the Gorki Museum, Arbat Street and Morozov House, Tverskaya Street, Kalinin Avenue, and Lomonosov University from where you can enjoy a beautiful panorama of the whole city.
Optional - A private tour of the Kremlin and the Armoury Chamber (the Kremlin Museum of Applied Arts) - Star City, the cosmonaut training centre - your tickets to a performance at the Bolshoi Theatre.

Included in the itinerary - A meeting with a local guide for a more personal and confidential approach to the capital. An improvised walk to suit your wishes, and the opportunity to talk about everyday life in Russia.
At the end of the day, a private transfer to the station and first-class boarding of the overnight train to St Petersburg. The Red Arrow is the first branded train in Russia, and the first also to introduce the high-comfort sleeper car. It has been travelling between Moscow and St Petersburg since the 1930s (eight hours). The train has a restaurant car and first and second class carriages. You will travel first class: the compartments have two low bunks and are equipped with air conditioning, heating, a table, an electrical socket and a complete set of toiletries.

Arrival in the early morning (breakfast on board the train). Private transfer and accommodation again for three nights in an iconic hotel, located on one of St Petersburg's most beautiful avenues.
Included in the itinerary - An afternoon with a private guide. The city of the Tsars contains three centuries of heritage: the Hermitage Museum, the fortress of Peter and Paul, sumptuous palaces and buildings... and many other jewels including St Isaac's Cathedral (19th century). Everything about St Isaac's is enormous: 40 years of construction by some 400,000 workers - it's built on 24,000 pilings driven into the underlying fenland and has 350 statues and reliefs on its facade. The interior decoration required 880lb of gold, 1,000 tonnes of bronze, 16 tonnes of malachite and more than 110 square feet of lazurite.

At the foot of the hotel is Nevsky Prospekt, and within walking distance there is Palace Square and the Hermitage. Large historic sites, a lattice of lakes, parks and shopping areas are also within walking distance. You can go out to Tsarskoye Selo, a resort of the Tsars, just 15 miles away. Or admire the wonders of decorative art and jewellery at the Karl Faberge Museum at Shuvalov Palace. You can also visit the Peterhof Palace, built to surpass Versailles, and visit Hare Island, where the Peter and Paul fortress stands - this is where the Romanovs have been buried since Peter I.
Included in the itinerary - a private visit to the Hermitage Museum. A symbol of the city, it is a huge temple dedicated to art, a suite of sumptuous palaces and a collection of historic buildings, housing nearly three million works. Its collection of jewellery, the Tsars' private collection, has no equal in Russia, either in its diversity or in its breadth. It was started by Peter I and was added to by his successors. Today it features an extraordinary collection of jewels, goldsmiths' works and timepieces by the greatest Russian and Western masters. Exclusively for you: your ticket gives you access to the museum one hour before it opens to the general public, for a visit with privileged access (subject to authorisation being obtained from the museum management, one week before the visit).
Optional - Tickets for a performance at the Mariinsky Theatre, the city's largest opera and ballet theatre - a private tour of Catherine Palace.