Russian City Breaks are becoming an increasingly popular way to spend your time off. With fantastic destinations such as Moscow and St Petersburg becoming ever more accessible to the public we decided to combine these two Russian greats and embark on a splendid two centre holiday.

Intourist offer the holiday of a lifetime with their ‘Real Russia’ tour. Starting off in Moscow this tour took us round the cities greatest sights as we visited the breathtaking Kremlin Grounds and the famous Armoury. Travelling with a tour guide and group made us feel right at home, so much so that we really didn’t want to leave! Before going to Moscow my friend and I always knew that there was so much to be discovered, boy did we underestimate this magnificent capital! A city tour threw us straight into the heart of the action on our second day as we toured round the splendid domes and architecture that remain dominant characteristics of Moscow. Keeping us entertained was easy as we transferred to the Tretiakov Art which contains over 100,000 works of art. From here we visited the Moscow State Circus. Before travelling to Russia I had never been to the circus and truly didn’t know what to expect, in the end I was blown away! The performers were so talented and varied and it made for such an enjoyable night! After the second day we already knew that we would be returning for another one of Intourist’s great Russian City Breaks!

The third day could be described as the ultimate in Russian City Breaks as we had the opportunity to tour the almighty Kremlin grounds and on top of this a visit to the Armoury as well. Both my friend and I were astounded by the amount of beautiful artefacts and precious paintings that were on display to the public. It was so thrilling to see the Moscow Kremlin so close up as it is one of many iconic images synonyms with Russia architecture. After doing this we had some free time on our hands and decided to explore Moscow independently, this gave us the chance to have a thorough look around Moscow’s famous Red Square where the buildings seemed to burst through the sky! On our final day in Moscow we visited some of Moscow’s famous Metro Stations that are known for their intricate architecture, half of the time it was hard to believe that we were actually in a metro station as opposed to a museum! After spending some time shopping in the Arbat district we then moved onto St Petersburg and travelled by overnight train.

St Petersburg is so unique from Moscow and it was hard to accept that we were still in the same country! When you think of St Petersburg you should think of stunning architecture, beautiful waterways and sheer elegance, because that is what this city embodies. After transferring to our Hotel Moskva and enjoying a well needed rest during breakfast our travels began again as we embarked on a city sightseeing tour. This is the perfect way to get to grips with life in St Petersburg and lets you see all of the most famous sights in one afternoon! This was enough to satisfy us for one day and we returned to the hotel for a rest, so that we were ready to take on our next day in this wonderful city.

On day six of our Classic Russia tour the Hermitage Collection was on the itinerary. This colossal museum holds over three million exhibits from all around the world. From here we were also blown away by the Peter and Paul Fortress which was once used to defend St Petersburg, the history behind this attraction is truly overwhelming and has been everything from a fortress to a prison and is now a tourist attraction!

Our penultimate day in St Petersburg took us to the pretty Pushkin Palace which has the most magnificent gardens, fountains and architecture; all of which are truly breathtaking. It was named in honour of Catherine the First and is also often referred to as Tsarskoe Selo and has been the subject of a thousand iconic images of Russia. This was our final excursion in Russia for this trip, but that is certainly not to say that it was our last trip to Moscow! After this excursion we chose to do some more sightseeing and had a tasty meal in one of the many local restaurants, the greatest Russian Blini I ever had! We gladly retired to our hotel to rest for our travels home the next day.

I just want to say a quick thanks to Intourist for all of the help they gave me when organising one of the best Russian City Breaks of my life! It has encouraged me to be more adventurous in my travels and my friend and I are currently considering going to Ukraine, another fantastic trip that we will be sure to book with Intourist! As anyone who has travelled to Russia in recent years will know, Russian visa application forms are not the easiest to complete and we both received all of the help that we needed from the helpful travel consultants at Intourist.

Thank you very much Intourist!