FD St Petersburg tour featuring the Hermitage and Peterhof
Programme Overview
Duration: 1 day
Please note, clients who pre-book this shore excursion with us will not need a Visa.
An 8-hour shore excursion to St Petersburg, including the Hermitage and Peterhof.
Highlights: Hermitage Museum, Winter Palace, Peterhof
Meet your guide this morning and transfer to the Hermitage Museum in the lavishly decorated Winter Palace.
The Hermitage occupies six magnificent buildings and houses 3 million pieces of artwork from the Stone Age through to modern times. The main building and largest part of the museum is the rococo-style Winter Palace, residence of the Czars from 1762 to 1917. The museum was commissioned by Catherine the Great and she and her successors built the Hermitage collection in large part with purchases of the private collections of the Western European aristocracy and monarchy. By the time Nicholas II ascended the throne in 1894, he was heir to the greatest collection of art in Europe. The whole museum complex was bombarded during the siege of Leningrad in WWII but re-opened to the public in 1945.
After some free time for lunch at leisure continue by hydrofoil to Peterhof - the great summer estate and artistic gem of Peter the Great, nestled on the shore of the Gulf of Finland (part of the Baltic Sea). After his victory over the Swedes at Poltava in 1709, Peter decided to build a palace “befitting to the very highest of monarchs” and a visit to Versailles in 1717 furthered these ambitions. Over 5000 laborers, serfs and soldiers were employed in the creation of this magnificent estate that was officially opened in 1723.
Return back to the ship.