In 2010 the world is celebrating 150^th birthday of Anton Chekhov, who is considered to be one of the greatest short-story writers of all times. He was also a talented playwright. Still most of his life he kept working as a physician believing it to be the main occupation of his life. Chekhov started writing stories to earn some extra money, but then he developed his unique style, introducing to the world literature some modern techniques.

He was one of the first writers to use in his short stories the stream-of-consciousness, which was later adopted by some other modern writers, including Joyce.

Anton Chekhov was born on 29 January 1860, in the southern Russian town Taganrog, a port on the Sea of Azov. His father was a grocery store owner. Later Chekhov's family went bankrupt and as a young man he had to endure some hardships. To support his family and to pay for his education he started to write for the newspapers. His humorous literary sketches and pictures of contemporary Russian life earned Chekhov a reputation of satirical chronicler.

In 1884, Chekhov graduated as a physician, which he considered his principal profession though he made little money from it threatening mostly the poor. In 1886 he was invited to write for one of the most popular papers in St. Petersburg, Novoye Vremya, owned and edited by the millionaire magnate Alexey Suvorin.

In 1890, Chekhov undertook an arduous journey by train, horse-drawn carriage, and river steamer to the far east of Russia to a penal colony, on Sakhalin Island, north of Japan, where he spent three months interviewing thousands of convicts and settlers for a census. His revelations about harsh life of the prisoners were published in 1893 and 1894 as Ostrov Sakhalin (The Island of Sakhalin).

In 1892, Chekhov bought the small country estate of Melikhovo, about forty miles south of Moscow, where he lived until 1899 with his family. In 1894 Chekhov began writing his play The Seagull. The first night of The Seagull on 17 October 1896 at the Alexandrinsky Theatre in Petersburg was a fiasco but later it pecome one of his most famous theatre works.

After his father's death in 1898, Chekhov bought a plot of land on the outskirts of Yalta, a popular resort in Crimea, and built a villa there, where he moved with his mother and sister the following year. In Yalta he completed two more plays for the Art Theatre, those where Three Sisters and The Cherry Orchard. Also in Yalta, Chekhov wrote one of his most famous stories, The Lady with the Dog. Crimea in general and Yalta particularly has always been among the most popular resorts, a kind of Russian Riviera. The region enjoys benign Mediterranean climate and produces large quantities of wine.

Chekhov died in 1904 in the German spa town of Badenweiler. His short stories and plays earned him an outstanding place in the history of world literature.

During this special tour you'll stay at Golden Apple boutique hotel***** which was opened in 2004 in one of the historical buildings in the very center of 'old' Moscow. The best deluxe room of the hotel is called 'Chekhov suite' because Anton Pavlovich Chekhov lived in this house in 1899.

The program of the tour: 9 Days/ 8 Nights

Day 1	Arrival to Moscow, meeting with your guide at the airport, transfer to the hotel, welcome cocktail and small tour around the hotel.
Day 2	Buffet breakfast, city tour including visits of the Red Square, Sparrow Hills, Christ the Savior Cathedral (entrance) and Novodevichij Monastery with cemetery where A.P. Chekhov was buried in 1904. In the afternoon you'll visit a House-Museum of Chekhov where the famous Russian writer and his family lived 1886-1890 y. There you'll see the living rooms of the family and the unique collection of books.
Day 3	Buffet breakfast, full day tour to Melikhovo - summer estate of Chekhov family where he wrote most of his books. You'll see the main house of the estate, the small 'fligel Chajka' where Chekhov wrote his famous novel, large apple garden. Than you'll have a chance to taste special Russian tea with herbs and honey with 'baranki'. After short rest you'll visit a small village Talezh not far from Melikhovo which is famous for it's never-frozen Saint Spring with small church. Overnight in Moscow
Day 4	Check out after the breakfast. Transfer to the airport. Flight to Simferopol (Crimea). After the arrival transfer to Yalta via Gurzuf. In Gurzuf we can see the dacha (summer house) of Checkov. Arrival to Yalta. Yalta has been one of the most popular resorts for the Russians for over a century and many famous people visited it or lived there including Chekhov. Check in the hotel.
Day 5	Breakfast, following the Chekhov's trail we visit to the former summer residence of the last Russian Emperor Nicholas II. The Livadia Palace was built in the Italian renaissance style in 1911. Further we proceed to Alupka to visit the palace of Count Vorontsov (built in 1840) and the fantastic picturesque park surrounding it. The Palace was designed by Edward Blore, court architect for King William IV and Queen Victoria of England. This 19th century masterpiece incorporates the styles of medieval castles with some oriental influences. The palace is also associated with a historic summit of three anti-Hitler coalition member states: the USSR, the USA and Great Britain in 1945. The group can visit the wine cellars founded for the Royal Court of Nicholas II to learn about the history of the Crimean wines, and to taste various brands of the noble wines. Alternatively upon returning to Yalta the group can go for wine testing to a famous winery of Massandra, in close vicinity of the city.
Day 6	After the breakfast the group checks out and travels to Sebastopol. The city is famous for its two historical sieges: one in the time of the Crimean war and another one which happened at WWII. City tour including the places of Crimean war and other famous sites like the Basilica of St. Catherine. In the afternoon trip to to Bakhchisarai ('The Garden Palace'), the former capital of the Crimean Tatars Khanate. Visit to the museum, the former Palace of the Crimean Khan ( a gem of the Islamic architecture in Crimea), and of the Assumption Cave Monastery in the St. Maria's valley. Overnight in Sebastopol.
Day 7	Check out. Transfer to Simferopol. Flight back to Moscow. In the evening optional concert.
Day 8	Breakfast, Kremlin tour where you can see the world-famous Tsar Bell and Tsar Cannon, Kremlin grounds and cathedrals. In the afternoon walking tour along Chekhov places of Moscow, along Arbat street and visit to Moscow Metro. In the evening you'll have a farewell dinner at restaurant 'Korsh's theatre' where you will taste traditional Moscow cuisine of the times of A.P. Chekhov. At the end of XIX-th century there was a famous Korsh's theatre in this building and the first night of Chekhov's play 'Ivanov' happened there in 1898. Overnight in Moscow.
Day 9	Breakfast. Departure.

The price of the tour is quoted by request.