Round trip transportation from your St. Petersburg cruise ship terminal! Air conditioned, fully licensed and insured transportation! Bilingual English speaking professional private St. Petersburg shore excursion guide! Other languages speaking guides available, please check notes! Admission fees to all the sites visited! Services of a licensed local driver! All port fees, local taxes and the cost
of blanket Russia tourism excursion visa included! Guests will visit: The Hermitage Museum including Winter Palace, Small Hermitage, Old Hermitage and New Hermitage! Petersburg excursion with your private English-speaking guide and transportation, that will allow you to experience the best of The Hermitage while you leave behind the overcrowded cruise line shore excursions! Please note: We offer the same blanket visa for this excursion that the cruise ships do; there is no extra cost. No need to deal with the crowds since this is a private St. Petersburg cruise shore excursion. If you've heard that only cruise ships can offer excursions off the ship, well, that is not true. Also included will be step-by-step instructions on how to clear immigration outside of your cruise ship in St. Petersburg and exactly where to meet your official private St. Petersburg cruise excursion guide. Your guide will be with you every step of the way during your excursion. You will meet with your private guide and climb aboard your transportation to The Hermitage Museum. The Hermitage was founded in 1764 as the private museum of Catherine the Great. Once you arrive, you will enjoy a private, informational visit of Russia's largest art museum, which is home to an astounding collection of about three million pieces of art. The collection occupies four buildings; the Winter Palace, the Small Hermitage, the Old Hermitage and the New Hermitage. Although you will only get to see a fraction of the contents, the works you will see are astounding. You will enter the Winter Palace via the stunning Jordan Staircase, which is so called because on the Feast of the Epiphany the Tsar descended this imperial staircase instated for the ceremony of the "Blessing of the Waters, a celebration of Christ's Baptism in the Jordan River. At the upper landing, take a guided walk through the superb staterooms of the Winter Palace. Next, proceed to the Small Hermitage for a visit to the Pavilion Hall, which features slender marble columns, an elegant gallery, and 28 lovely cut-glass chandeliers. A visit is then made to other buildings and galleries en route to the Old Hermitage, which features a collection of 13th to 18th-century Italian art. On display are works by Leonardo Da Vinci, Rafael, Michelangelo, Giorgione, and Titian just to name some of the artists whose work you will see. Then, when you arrive at the New Hermitage, you can view a collection of Spanish art by El Greco, Murillo, Zurbaran, Velasquez, and Goya, among others. The Hermitage is also home to a vast Rembrandt collection, over 40 works by Rubens. The Impressionist and post-impressionists Collection including paintings of Monet, Renoir, Cezanne, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Matisse, and Picasso was moved to the newly renovated building of the General Head Quarter located on the Palace Square. You will continue around the New Hermitage after leaving the Hermitage Complex, cross the Palace Square and enter the General Head Quarter building through the door located inside of the arch looking to the Nevsky Avenue. Once your private guided shore excursion at the Hermitage comes to an end you will board your transportation for a return trip to your St. Petersburg cruise ship pier. Your blanket visa only covers you during your excursion. Please note that the transportation used will depend on your group size ranging from a luxury car to a minivan to a deluxe motor coach. The Hermitage is closed on Mondays. Guests must book a minimum of 72 hours before their excursion date. At the end of your booking, after you make the payment, you will be redirected to another page to fill out all the necessary passport information about each guest. Your booking cannot be started until we receive the complete information.
