DAY
1 DEPARTURE FROM NORTH AMERICA
Enjoy a full meal service on your wide bodied flight to Stockholm.
DAY
2 ARRIVE STOCKHOLM (3 NIGHTS)
We will be met at the airport by our Tour manager/guide, where
we will board our own private coach and take an introductory
City Tour to see the sights of Sweden's capital.
We will visit the famous City Hall, with
its elegant Golden Hall, site of
the Nobel Prize Banquet. Next we take a stroll through the
Old Town with its cobble-stone streets and
medieval buildings and the 13th-century Cathedral. We continue
past the Royal Palace and the Stock
Exchange, before rejoining the coach to go to
the Southern Island to enjoy the splendid view over the city
and the harbor. The afternoon is free to explore this beautiful
city on your own. You might want to browse through some of
the excellent shops. The NK Department Store is Stockholm's
finest department store. It has a superb collection of international
and Swedish products, chosen for the highly selective.
DAY
3 HALF DAY TRIP TO MANIFRED - CONCERT
PERFORMANCE
After breakfast, we travel to the picturesque town
of Mariefred to visit the magnificent Gripsholm Castle.
This Royal mansion dates back to 1383, and today houses the
National Portrait Gallery. This afternoon
we take the ferry to Drottingholm where our first stop will
be Drottningholm Palace, the present residence
of the Royal Family. This palace, dating from the mid-17th
century, has magnificent interiors, art and Gobelin tapestries,
and beautiful French and English gardens. We continue on to
the unique Royal Court Theater, which is
still in use during the summer season for baroque opera and
ballets. We will also see the the Chinese Pavilion,
where King Gustav III and his court spent their summer days.
This beautiful palace was originally a royal birthday present.
• Your first concert performance will be
today
DAY
4 STOCKHOLM - (O/N CRUISE)
This morning we have free time to shop and explore
Stockholm. Your afternoon tour takes you to Djurgarden and
the fascinating Vasa Ship Museum. This elaborate
warship was built in 1628 and sank in Stockholm harbor on
its maiden voyage. She was raised in 1961 with a wealth of
stores, guns, furnishings, and sculptures - all now restored
to give a remarkably complete view of naval life in the early
17th century. The tour ends at the Silja Line pier,
where you board your ship for an overnight cruise to Helsinki.
The ship casts off at 6pm. This luxurious ship has everything
to make your journey a pleasant one; restaurants, snack bars
and pubs, several duty-free shops, live entertainment, casino,
a recreation center, with water slides, upstream pools, bubble
baths, regular pool, saunas and roman steam bath and massage.
DAY
5 HELSINKI - ST. PETERSBURG (3 NIGHTS)
We arrive in Helsinki this morning and begin our
travel through the Finnish and Russian countryside. We stop
for lunch along the way, and arrive in St. Petersburg this
evening. St. Petersburg is one of the most beautiful cities
in the world. The stately architecture of the city’s
buildings harmonize with the precise layout of its streets
and spacious squares, gardens, rivers and canals, beautiful
embankments, bridges and monuments. A relatively "new"
city, it was founded by Peter the Great in 1703. He engaged
the finest scholars, architects and sculptors, and the city
was the home of the Czars until 1917.
DAY
6 ST. PETERSBURG - CONCERT PERFORMANCE
Our morning begins with a Guided City Tour.
We will see the Smolny Institute
and the famous Bronze Horseman statue,
drive down the broad Nevsky Prospect shopping street, pass
the Admiralty, and see many other important historical sights.
This afternoon we visit the Hermitage Museum, housing
incomparable collections of art treasures. It was Catherine
the Great who began collecting art on a large scale. Originally,
the Hermitage served as the Winter Palace of the Czars and
was not opened to the public until 1852. Aside from the huge
collection of Western masters, it contains objects of Russian
culture and oriental art. The museum benefited from the private
collections of Stroganov and Yusupov families and others who
commissioned such artists as Bonnet, Cezanne, Picasso and
Matisse; thus the Hermitage possesses one of the richest collections
of impressionist paintings.
• Your second concert performance will
be today
DAY
7 DAY TRIP TO PUSHKIN
This morning we proceed to the town of Pushkin, the home of
the Imperial family from the days of Peter the Great right
up to the time of the last Czar. The Pushkin Palace
is world-famous for 18-19th century masterpieces of architecture,
landscaped gardens and parkland. The palace is a baroque masterpiece,
with a façade almost 304 meters long. The building
is still being restored after extensive damages from World
War II. Most of the rooms are now open to the public. The
town was the home of the great poet Alexander Pushkin. During
World War II, his statue was used for target practice by the
German soldiers. We will spend the afternoon at leisure in
Pushkin before returning to St Petersburg.
DAY
8 ST. PETERSBURG - TALLINN (2 NIGHTS)
This morning we leave St. Petersburg by motor coach and drive
towards the Estonian border to the River Narva, the boundary
between Estonia and the Russian Republic. This old fortress
town of Narva was founded in the twelfth
century and the first fortress was built by Danes. In the
16th- and 17th-centuries the town changed hands repeatedly
between the Russians and Swedes. In the winter of 1700, when
Peter the Great's forces were besieging the town, Sweden's
King Charles suddenly attacked their camp and, although heavily
outnumbered, inflicted a shattering defeat. Four years later,
Peter was back and this time Narva remained a Russian fortress
until 1918. After meeting with an Estonian guide at the border,
we stop at the Narva Castle and the
Herman Tower built in 1535 before continuing to Tallinn.
DAY
9 TALLINN - CONCERT PERFORMANCE
This morning’s City Tour will introduce
you to the capital of Estonia. “A small town resembling
a great fortress” is how Tallinn was described in 1154,
when it first appeared on the map of the known world. The
tour includes the Toompea Castle and the
magnificent Dom Church in the upper part
of the city. In the lower part of Tallinn is the 14th century
Town Hall, on whose spire can be seen the figure of Old Toomas
the Guard, the “patron saint” of the city. The
sightseeing tour also includes the High Hermann Tower, Lower
Town with its narrow cobble-stoned streets, and Raekoja (Town
Hall) Square.
• Your third and final
concert performance will be today
DAY
10 TALLINN - HELSINKI (2 NIGHTS)
This morning we board the ferry for a cruise across
the Gulf of Finland. On arrival Helsinki, your motorcoach
and local guide will meet you for a City Tour.
The sights include the Neo-Classical Senate Square,
the colorful Market Square at the edge of the Baltic, the
Sibelius Memorial, the University, the Lutheran
Cathedral from the 1840's, and Finlandia
Hall. We continue on to the Temppeliaukio Rock
Church, which is carved out of solid rock and topped with
a copper dome. Next we will drive along the coastal road with
its delightful view of the archipelago to Tapiola Garden City.
The city has been characterized as the most handsome planned
community in Europe, complete with superb architecture and
a lovely natural setting. We will also see the Student Village
at Otaniemi before returning to Helsinki. The afternoon is
free in this charming city with its unique blend of Eastern
and Western European culture. The beautiful streets and boulevards
create an air of spaciousness, and the white façades
of its buildings have earned it the name of the "White
City of the North".
DAY
11 HELSINKI
This morning is yours to spend at leisure. Your
tour manager will be pleased to help you arrange activities.
You may wish to take a stroll along the Esplanade with its
beautiful boutiques, such as Aarikka wooden design and Annikki
Karvinen handwoven apparel. The Design Forum features a year-round
exhibit of Finnish-designed crafts, industrial art and design,
interior decorations, and commercial art. Stop for coffee
at Cafe Engel, overlooking the 18th century Senate Square.
Take the ferry from Market Square to see Suomenlinna Fortress,
board one of the sightseeing boats buzzing around Helsinki
harbor, shop, or just relax. Ateneum, near the main railroad
station, is Finland’s most notable art museum. Upstairs
is the Museum of Contemporary Art. At the Arabia Museum you
can shop for their renowned stoneware.
DAY
12 DEPARTURE FROM HELSINKI
Your rewarding and enjoyable experience will come
to an end as your tour manager/guide escorts you to the airport.
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