Tours of Russia

Russia, Belarus and the Baltics

Tour Map of Russia, Belarus and the Baltics

This is the perfect trip to introduce you to the legendary cities of the old Soviet Union. You'll visit 5 fascinating countries and stay in 6 historic cities. Whilst in the Baltics you'll have the chance to marvel at Tallinn's Old Town, Riga's Freedom Monument and Vilnius University. In Minsk you can stroll down Independence Avenue. Then in Moscow you'll ride the metro to the Red Square and visit the Hermitage in St. Petersburg and Catherine's Palace at Pushkin. This trip is a must for anyone looking to soak up the history and culture of Eastern Europe.

Get beyond the tourist façade of the countries you visit. Focus on the local culture, past and present, and discover the lifeblood of any country – its people. Discovery and culture tours uncover different ways of life, and offer the opportunity to meet and sometimes stay with local people or tribal groups. Our discovery tours explore cultural sites – both ancient and modern – and help you learn about the people and their culture. Visit the remote tribes of Ethiopia’s Rift Valley, live the nomad life in desert camps or meet the local people of the high Andean altiplano in Peru. There’s no better way to get to the true heart of a country than through its people.

Treasures Of The Tsars

Tour Map of Treasures Of The Tsars

We begin this tour in the megacity Moscow and travel by train to discover Russia's 'Golden Ring': the historic cities of Sergiev Posad, Vladimir and Suzdal. We also explore the Red Square and Kremlin in Moscow and visit the majestic Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg.

Get beyond the tourist façade of the countries you visit. Focus on the local culture, past and present, and discover the lifeblood of any country – its people. Discovery and culture tours uncover different ways of life, and offer the opportunity to meet and sometimes stay with local people or tribal groups. Our discovery tours explore cultural sites – both ancient and modern – and help you learn about the people and their culture. Visit the remote tribes of Ethiopia’s Rift Valley, live the nomad life in desert camps or meet the local people of the high Andean altiplano in Peru. There’s no better way to get to the true heart of a country than through its people.

Moscow and St Petersburg

Tour Map of Moscow and St Petersburg

On this short tour we explore in-depth Russia's two most important cities. In Moscow we visit the Kremlin, the 16th century St Basil's Cathedral and Lenin's embalmed body in its Red Square mausoleum. Later we discover the contrasting architecture of St Petersburg, whose vast and flamboyant palaces were once home to the Tsars.

Chechnya, Dagestan and Russia's Deep South

Chechnya, Grozny and Dagestan are names synonymous with the destruction and terror that followed their attempted breakaway from the Russia motherland following the break up of the soviet union. Yet the Caucasus is a place of great natural beauty with fascinating cultures set in the shadow of the mountains that mark the border between Europe and Asia. This trip offers a view into an region that remains almost unexplored by western visitors. We will visit four of Russia's least visited republics to get an insight in to life in Russia's restless underbelly. Starting in Vladikavkaz, North Ossetia's fading yet elegant capital, we'll travel to Beslan and the sobering memorials to the Beslan school massacre before passing through Ingushetia to Chechnya. There we will have time to see how the world's most destroyed city has been rebuilt into a gleaming capital complete with visible personality cult to the new Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. A truer insight into traditional Chechen life will be found in nearby Itum Kale where some of the regions best preserved traditional watch towers still are found. From there we'll pass through turbulent Dagestan staying in Makhachkala before heading down to the UNESCO world heritage town of Derbent. Derbent means “closed gate” in Persian and the town boasts the world's only surviving Sassanid fortress which used to be part of a 40km stretch of wall that kept the Persian empire safe from the barbarians to the north. A truly ground breaking trip into a much misunderstood region.

Kaliningrad Short Break

Tour Map of Kaliningrad Short Break

On this short break we explore the little known Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. From Gdansk we will travel to Kaliningrad city before heading out to learn more about amber mining in the beautiful Baltic coastal resort of Svetlogorsk. A full day in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Curonian Spit National Park is our last excursion within the Russian borders before we return to Gdansk via the largest castle in the world, Malbork.