( St.Petersburg / Novgorod)

GROUP TOUR  6 Days / 5 Nights

Each country is distinguished by its distinctive traditional cuisine. Such a big country as Russia is not an exception. The Russian art of cooking also adopted culinary experience of many peoples that contributed to the creation of Russian civilization: Tatars, Finno-Ugrians, people of Caucasus and Middle Asia. The imperial age brought to the Russians excellence in the skill of the high cuisine, developed to the level of state of art.

While visiting Russian restaurants the guests will have chance to taste borsch (beet roots soup), shchi (cabbage soup), okroshka, which is a favorite Russian summer dish made of vegetables and kvas (bread and yeast fermented liquid), pancakes served with a number of different fillings, pelmeni (meatdumplings) and many others. Collections of the Russian chinaware exhibited in the Winter Palace and former summer residences of the Russian Tsars give an idea of how the tables were laid out when the Royal families welcomed noble guests. The trip to Novgorod, which is one of the oldest Russian cities, allows visitors to enjoy not only the highlights of the ancient city, but a traditional Russian lunch accompanied by balalaika music as well.

The tour includes visiting the most popular of the city’s dining places, as well as a special course of the Russian culinary art by famous local chefs. At the end of the tour each guest will be presented a menu with recipes, articles of a Russian chef’s uniform, and an album of photos to commemorate their trip. (The menus of all the meals included in the program will be given to the guests in advance).

 

 

The program of the tour:

Day.1	Arrival in St.Petersburg. Check-in.
Day 2	Breakfast. General sightseeing tour of the city. Visit to a farmers’ market. Lunch at the hotel including chef’s presentation of dishes and specialities. Afternoon at leisure. Dinner at the Yusupov restaurant (the menu includes fish delicacies).
Day 3	Breakfast. Tour of the Hermitage Museum including visiting the Golden Treasury. Lecture by a Hermitage expert on the art of table lay-out and Russian traditions of serving meals. Lunch (arranged at the culinary school). Taking a practical course. Dinner at the Taleon restaurant. Evening theatre performance.
Day 4	Breakfast. Trip to Pushkin and Pavlovsk for the tours of the Catherine’s and Paul’s Palaces. Lunch at the Podvorye restaurant including visit to the restaurant’s kitchen to watch cooking of pelmeni, kasha (Russian for gruel) à la Guryev, and pirozhki. Dinner provided by Russian families at their homes (5 to 6 guests per family).
Day 5	Breakfast. Trip to Novgorod. Sightseeing tours. Lunch (tasting pokhlyobka, bliny, sbiten, kvas, etc.). Return to St.Petersburg. Farewell dinner at the Dvoryanskoye Gnezdo restaurant.
Day 6	Transfer to the airport. Departure.

 
The price of the tour is quoted by request.