Catherine Palace tour

During this driving tour, just outside of the city, we visit the legendary Catherine Palace in Tsarskoe selo (Pushkin) and its Amber Room. Visit to the Pavlovsk Palace is optional.
Duration: 5 hours + options
Available: daily 9.00 a.m. – 2 p.m.*
Day off is Tuesday
Transportation: bus / minivan
Activity level: moderate
Optional visit:
  • Pavlovsk Palace
Optional:
  • lunch
  • Evening Program
* The timing of the tour is flexible and can be adjusted upon your request.

TOUR COST CALCULATOR

PRICE INCLUDES:
personal guide
personal driver
admission tickets
hotel pick-up and drop-off
all taxes
No hidden costs!
photo/video permit at Catherine Palace
headsets for groups of 5+


EXTRA SERVICE:
INFO ABOUT TOURSISTS:
TOTAL COST:
280
Number of people in the group 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Price in USD p/p 280 170 130 115 100 95 90 85 85 80 80 75 75 75 70 70
Children under 7 у.о. will be included for free. Children (7 - 17 y.o.)/students get 5 USD off the tour price. Students must have an ISIC card, otherwise the discount is not available.

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  • Hotel pick-up

    Our guide will come to your hotel (lobby area) or any other indicated address to begin the tour from there. There also will be a driver waiting at your hotel entrance. The tour is done by car/minivan. We use licensed drivers with cars (up to 3 people) or minivans (4 - 15 people).

  • © Alex Florstein Fedorov, Wikimedia Commons

    Catherine Palace

    In 1744 Ekaterininsky Palace was declared to be the gala royal residence. Thus, Empress Elizabeth ordered intense works to be started in Tsarskoye Selo (the architect M.Zemtsov, A.Kvasov, S.Chevakinskiy). In 1752 the architect F.B.Rastrelli was invited to take part in the building. He added one more floor to the palace and built church, its gilded domes rose above the palace's roof.
    Day off is Tuesday.

  • © A.Savin, Wikimedia Commons

    Interiors of the Catherine Palace

    The chain of connected halls decorated with gold is one of the most remarkable parts of the Palace. The length of the Enfilade fits the whole length of the palace. The gorgeous Grand Hall with over 800 sq.m of floor space was particularly splendid: the walls were decorated with golden lace curtains and the interior of the dome was richly painted.

  • © Presidential Press and Information Office, Wikimedia Commons www.kremlin.ru/events/photos/2003/05/46482.shtml

    Amber Room in Catherine Palace

    The Amber Room is famous all over the world. In 1716 a few mosaic amber panels were presented to Peter I by Prussian King Frederick William I. The great decorator and architect Rastrelli arranged the made by Prussian craftsmen panels and the gold ornaments added to them, candelabrums and mirrors of Russian manufacture, in such an order that all this collection of rare things seemed to be a pure masterpiece of world arts and crafts.

  • © Alex Florstein Fedorov, Wikimedia Commons

    Catherine Park in Tsarskoe selo.

    Dutch master gardeners arranged the Garden in the 1720s on three terraces in front of the imperial palace initially. Later on, Catherine II extended the territory and decorated the park with other splendid building and fine monuments to show Europe the greatness of her reign.

  • © Alex Florstein Fedorov, Wikimedia Commons

    Catherine Park in Tsarskoe selo.

    The fashion on landscape parks spread all over Europe including Russia from England, where the parks was appeared in the middle of the 18th century. The principal idea of such parks is to maximize naturalness. On Catherine II command the artificial Grand Pond, having before the strict octagonal form, was altered according to new fashion in "natural lake".

  • © Alex Florstein Fedorov, Wikimedia Commons

    Grot pavilion in Tsarskoe Selo.

    A Grot pavilion decorated inside with seashells and tufa (porous limestone) was an invariably feature in Western European regular parks of the eighteenth century. The project for the construction of the Grotto on the bank of the Great Pond in the Catherine Park was drawn up by the architect Rastrelli. Most of the work to construct it was carried out in 1755–1756 under Empress Elizabeth, but it was completed in the 1760s under Catherine II.

  • © Alex Florstein Fedorov, Wikimedia Commons

    Pushkin monument in Tsarskoe Selo.

    The Lyceum Garden was made specially for the pupils of Lyceum, to give them a little rest after diligent studies. In the garden there is one of the best monuments to Alexander Pushkin (1900, sculptor R.Bah), depicting the young poet in his Lyceum uniform sitting, deep in thought, on a bench near Catherine Park.

  • © Alex Florstein Fedorov, Wikimedia Commons

    The Golden Gates.

    In 1752 the architect F.B.Rastrelli was invited to take part in the building. He added one more floor to the palace and built church, its gilded domes rose above the palace's roof. Over 300 m of the palace's facade are decorated with columns, figures of giants and lacy balcony gratings. Magnificent gate of the forged fencing of a palace are also worthy of attention. 100 kg of pure gold were used on the exterior and interior decorations.

  • © Alex Florstein Fedorov, Wikimedia Commons

    Visit to the Pavlovsk Palace
    [optional].

    The construction of the palace was started in 1782. The main architectural plan belonged to Ch.Cameron. The idea was to combine a typical Italian villa made in classicism style with a typical Russian country house to form a main building with separate outer buildings.
    Day off is Friday.

  • Hotel drop-off

    At the end of the tour we will take you back to your hotel or any other place you would prefer.

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