Tour Details.

Your tour-guide:

Judy Armstrong, MA PhD, immersed herself in the rich language and culture of this huge country—fascinating, brooding, complex Russia, half European, half oriental, innately itself—while teaching at the University of Melbourne. Fluent in Russian, she has made many visits to Moscow and St Petersburg, studying and taking sabbatical leaves at the Moscow State University. Her expertise has also involved her in several group tours to Russia.

A world specialist on Tolstoy, the author of The Unsaid Anna Karenina (on which she was asked to post an article on Oprah Winfrey’s website), she is thrilled to share her knowledge and enthusiasm (the historic architecture, the music of Tchaikovsky or Shostakovich, politics from communism to capitalism, and of course a world-famous literature that, amazingly, only got going after Shakespeare was two centuries in his grave (Puskhkin, War and Peace, Chekhov, Dr Zhivago – and the rest).

Russia is definitely different, but that’s the attraction. Judy Armstrong will help you feel the depth of this difference, bringing to life the evolution of a country marked by a borrowed  alphabet and an imposed religion, serfdom, illiteracy, a series of despotic tsars, a crippling censorship, the tyranny of distance, a love-hate relationship with the West, the shifting of the capital from Moscow to St Petersburg, a revolution that shook the world, and seventy years of a totalitarian regime.

And Russia now? Is she reverting to an anti-democratic autocracy? If so, why? What are her relations with the EU, the USA, Asia?  And why is St Petersburg so vastly different from Moscow? In the future, will we be hugged or crushed by the Russian bear? Come and find out, stirred as you’ve never been before by this winter wonderland.

Accommodation:
Four star hotels in Moscow and St Petersburg. Local charcter hotel in Suzdal. Based on twin rooms. Single suppliment is available.

Meals:
Breakfast is generally at the hotel, and lunch and dinner will be at a variety of hotel and local restaurants when included.

Transport:
All our transport arrangements are made with licensed and reliable operators.

Price:
The all inclusive land only cost of this tour is AU$5,765 per person based on twin share. Single room supplement available at AU$1383. Based on echange rates as of January 2010.
Airfare inclusive is also available for those that would like us to organise their flights.
We will offer to introduce single travellers to other single travellers who wish to share accommodation.

Sightseeing and Entrance Fees:
Where sightseeing is specified the entrance fee is included. Some sights can only be viewed from the 'outside' ie The White House. Where a special evening meal is mentioned this is included. Where a theatre visit is mentioned the ticket cost is included. The 'actual' performance and artist(s) will not be known until nearer the date.

Climate:
The itinerary is scheduled for the end of September to enjoy the Autumn period and its colours. Temperatures will range from 09-16oC in September and and 04o-09oC in October. These are official low to high ranges.

Group Size:
Maximum group size is 18 people and the minimum will be 12. Should the minimum not be reached the tour will be offered as described, but using local Russian guides. Those that did not want to do this would receive a refund.

Options:
Your airfare construction could allow extensions to other areas of Europe in addtion to stopovers in Asia on the outbound, or return journey.