Russian river cruises
Cruises along the Russian rivers are beautiful voyages, which will be remembered for a long time. There are different landscapes along the routes: lakes, rivers, reservoirs and man-made canals.
The routes also go through old towns, in which churches and monasteries of ancient Russia have been preserved with all their folklore and crafts. Such a cruise is a chance to relax on board the ship and have fun.
Every year there is a huge number of cruises on the travel market. How should you choose the right one?
Let’s start from the destination. If your starting point is St.Petersburg you can take a cruise around the Northwest region or to Moscow
There are short cruises from the Neva river to Lake Ladoga and then Lake Onega, and sometimes to the White Sea, too. The cruise ship visits the Valaam island and its famous monastery in Lake Ladoga, and in Lake Onega it visits a monument of wooden architecture included in the list of the world heritage, Kizhi. The White Sea is known for the Solovetsky archipelago where the most northern Russian monastery has been located since the ancient times, it also used to be a labor camp for political prisoners, and the local Orthodox monastery is being revived. The trip to the northwest can be short: from one to seven days.
From St. Petersburg you can go on a cruise to Moscow and back. It takes 12 days and passes through Lake Ladoga, Lake Onega, some small rivers, Rybinsk Reservoir, the Volga River and the Canal named after Moscow.
If you arrived in Moscow your cruise destinations are St. Petersburg or towns on the Volga river.
You can get to St.Petersburg and come back in 12 days. If 12 days are an unaffordable luxury and you do not want to leave Russia without visiting the Volga river, then short 5-7 day cruises from Moscow visiting such old towns as Uglich, Kostroma and Yaroslavl are at your service.
You can see the whole Volga river only on a 9-10 day cruise to Astrakhan. Then you will visit such cities as Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Volgograd. You will have to return to Moscow by plane or train. If you want to return by water, the cruise will take 18-20 days.
Now about the terms. There are international and Russian cruises. Cruises designed specifically for foreign tourists have multi-language staff, mainly featuring excursions around towns in European languages, multi-language entertainments on board. The cabins are divided between the travel agencies in advance, from half a year to a full year before the cruise. The cruise price is very high.
If you choose the cruise in Russian, the price will be 2 times cheaper despite the fact that the route will be the same.
Service on board will be in Russian. Perhaps, someone from the administration of the ship will speak English. For a small surcharge, you can book excursions in English in the towns you visit. If you are ina group with a local guide who speaks Russian and your native language, or an English speaking tour guide, there will be no problems at all.
Cruise ships operate on an all-inclusive system. The cruise price always includes meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner), a program on board (discos, concerts, amateur competitions, master-classes), excursions. You will have to pay only for souvenirs.
All the cruise ships are comfortable; the cabins are equipped with a toilet, shower and air conditioning. The price of the cabin depends on the deck and the location in relation to the bow or stern. See the description of the ships in the attached files. You can see the programs of cruises, but for your dates and requests the cruise will be chosen specifically and it can be slightly different.
Such a trip is always unique, and we will try to make it as interesting and economical as possible.
St.Petersburg cruise
4 days/3 nights
Day 1. St. PETERSBURG
Transfer to the River port. Check-in on board the ship.
20:00 Departure. Dinner on board. Night entertainment (disco on board)
Day 2. MANDROGI
Breakfast on board. Arrival to Mandrogi village.
11:30-15:30 Open air barbeque, excursion around the village with visiting Vodka museum and degustation. Dinner on board.
Day 3. VALAAM
Breakfast on board. Excursion around Valaam island and the Central Manor Holy-Transfiguration Valaam Monastery. Lunch
Excursion “Skets of Valaam”. Departure. Dinner on board.
Day 4. St. PETERSBURG
Morning tea/coffee 08:00 Arrival to St.Petersburg. Transfer to the hotel or airport
Moscow – St.Petersburg – Moscow
Cruise 12 days/11 nights
Day 1. MOSCOW
Transfer to the Northern River Port. 14:00 Check-in the ship.
16:00 Departure from Moscow.
Day on board. Dinner
Day 2. UGLICH
Breakfast. Arrival to Uglich at 15:00 The city was founded in 10-12 century. It has monuments of old Russian architecture.15:00-17:30 s walking city tour with visiting Kremlin with it’s Savior-Transfiguration cathedral, visiting the Epiphany Monastery.
18:00 Departure.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner on board
Day 3. GORITSI
Breakfast. 13:30 arrival to a small village. 13:30-16:30 Bus city tour to Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery
16:30 Lunch and dinner on board
Day 4. RIVER
Day on board. Breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Day 5. VALAAM
Breakfast on board.
16:00 – 20:30 Excursion around Valaam island and the Central Manor Holy-Transfiguration Valaam Monastery. Lunch
Departure. Dinner on board.
Day 6. ST.PETERSBURG
Breakfast. 09:00 Arrival to St.Petersburg. 09:00-13:00 City tour with visiting Peter and Paul Fortress. Free time
19:00 Departure
Lunch and dinner.
Day 7. LODEYNOYE POLE
Breakfast Arrival to Lodeynoye pole.
09:45 -12:45 Guided tour to one of the monasteries VvedenoOyatsky or Alexandra Svirsky
Lunch and dinner on board
Day 8. KIZHI
07:00-09:00 visit the a unique museum-reserve of wooden architecture and ethnography of Karelia — «Kizhi» on the island in Onega lake. While the tour tourists get acquainted with the museum’s exhibits in the center of the island, visit architectural pearls of Kizhi — the 22nd chapter of the Transfiguration Church erected in 1714, and the 10th chapter of the Intercession Church, built in 1764. Around the churches there are various wooden buildings that are of interest to the traveler — manors, mills, smithies, baths.
Lunch and dinner on board
Day 9. KUZINO
Breakfast.12:00-13:30 Visiting historical- ethnographic complex “Sugorye” and participating in the program. On the territory of the complex, located on the picturesque bank of the Sheksna River, a medieval northern settlement of the 11th-13th centuries was reconstructed.
The Old Russian estate «Knyazhy Dvor» shows the mysterious and beautiful era of Ancient Rus.
Lunch and dinner on board
Day 10. YAROSLAVL
13:30 Departure. 17:30 Arrival to Yaroslavl. Yaroslavl was founded in 1010 by the prince Yaroslav the Wise. No other city in Russia except Yaroslavl can boast such a wealth of the 17th century architecture.
17:45-20:45 Bus city tour with visiting St John the Baptist Church and Savior-Transfiguration cathedral
21:00 Departure.
Day 11. KALYAZIN
Kalyazin is one of the oldest towns on Volga. 2/3 of the city of Kalyazin and four dozen settlements of the Kalyazinsky district was absorbed by reservoir, made in 1939. Today, several streets, three churches, monastery islands and the belfry of St. Nicholas Cathedral remained from the former city. Now the stone bell tower of the Nicholas Cathedral is a monument of magnificent architecture, the main attraction of Kalyazin.
10:30-12:30 Walking tour in the city area and boat tour to a bell tower.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner on board
Day 12. MOSCOW
Breakfast on board. 11:00 arrival to Moscow Northern River port.
Check-out. Transfer to the hotel or airport
Moscow Cruise
5 days/4 nights
Day1. MOSCOW
Transfer to the Northern River Port. 10:30 Check-in the ship.
12:30 Departure from Moscow.
Day on board. Lunch & Dinner
Day 2. UGLICH & MISHKIN
Breakfast. Arrival to Uglich at 12:30 The city was founded in 10-12 century. It has monuments of old Russian architecture.
12:30-14:30 s walking city tour with visiting Kremlin with it’s Savior-Transfiguration cathedral, visiting the Epiphany Monastery.
15:30 Departure.
17:30 Arrival to Mishkin It is a trade city from the 18 century.
17:30 -20:00 Walking city tour with visiting Assumption Cathedral, museum “Russian valenki” (winter boots), “Crafts house”, old mill.
Breakfast, lunch & dinner on board
Day 3. KOSTROMA & YAROSLAVL
10:30 Arrival to Kostroma. Here in 1613 Mikhail Romanov was called to take the Russian throne. Kostroma is justly considered to be the home of the Romanov royal family.
10:30-13:30 Bus city tour with visiting the Epiphany Monastery, market, crafts shop, local cheese shops, jewelry shops, textile and linen shops.
13:30 Departure. 17:30 Arrival to Yaroslavl. Yaroslavl was founded in 1010 by the prince Yaroslavl the Wise. No other city in Russia except Yaroslavl can boast such a wealth of the 17th century architecture.
17:45-20:45 Bus city tour with visiting St John the Baptist Church and Savior-Transfiguration cathedral
21:00 Departure.
Breakfast, lunch & dinner on board
Day 4. DUBNA
Day on board. Arrival to Dubna at 17:45. Dubna is a science city in the north of the Moscow region (121 km from Moscow), the largest in Russian center for research in nuclear physics.
17:45 -19:30 walking tour around the institute part of the city, a story about nuclear physicists, interactive mini-program «On a visit to Dmitry Azotovich.»
Breakfast, lunch & dinner on board
Day 5. MOSCOW
Breakfast on board.
11:00 arrival to Moscow Northern River port. Check-out.
Transfer to the hotel or airport
Moscow – Volga cruise to Astrakhan
Day 1. MOSCOW
Transfer to the River Port. 07:00 Check in the cruise. 10:00 Departure. Lunch & dinner on board
Day 2. MISHKIN
Breakfast. 11:00 Arrival to Mishkin.Walking city tour with visiting the merchant Chistov’s estate, home chapel, exposition “Merchants’ shops”. You will see local private houses from outside, the nobles Stepanov’s estate with the garden and art gallery.
Lunch & dinner on board
19:00 Departure
Day 3. YAROSLAVL
Breakfast. 08:00Arrival to Yaroslavl.
Bus city tour with visiting Assumption Cathedral, Savior-Transfiguration monastery and Metropolitan Chambers. There is an option to see St Ilya Church.
16:00 Departure. Lunch & dinner on board
Day 4. GORODETS & NIZHNY NOVGOROD
Breakfast. 09:00 Arrival to Gorodets. 09:00 -10:00 short tour around the city. Lunch
15:00-18:00 Arrival to Nizhny Novgorod. The city was founded in 1221. It was big trade and cultural center of Russia. Bus city tour with visiting Kremlin
Dinner.
Day 5. KAZAN
Breakfast. Kazan is a capital of Tatarstan republic. 1000 anniversary of the city was celebrated in 2005. Kazan Kremlin is included in UNESCO world heritage list.
14:30-18:30 Bus city tour with visiting Kremlin.
Lunch & dinner on board
Day 6. TOLYATTI
Breakfast. 10:30-13:30 Bus city tour with visiting AvtoVaz cars museum
Lunch & dinner on board
Day 7. RIVER
Day on board. Breakfast, lunch & dinner.
Day 8. VOLGOGRAD
Breakfast. 11:30 Arrival to Volgograd
11:30 -15:00 Guided city tour with the main highlights, including visiting of historical- memorial complex to “The Heroes of Stalingrad battle” on Mamayev hill. The group can lay the flowers in honor of defenders.
15:00 Departure. Lunch & dinner on board
Day 9. ASTRAKHAN
Breakfast & lunch 14:00 Arrival to Astrakhan. Check-out with baggage.
The history of the city starts from the period of the Golden Horde and khan Batiy (13th century). The tourists will see the main highlights: Swan Lake, Lenin square, will enter the Kremlin and visit the Assumption Cathedral built in 1710, will see old St. Nikolas church on the old main gates, falling bell tower. The tour includes visiting the fish market.
Transfer to the airport. Flight to Moscow
