It's for eight and a half centuries that Moscow has been living. The small settlement that dwelt among woods and rivers has grown into the capital city of a huge country. The first chronicle record related to Moscow dates from 1147 and this date is counting point for the city's anniversaries.

In the XIV-XV centuries after a keen rivalry with Tver city, Moscow became a core of Russia's consolidation and an organizer of actions for the liberation from the Tatar burden. In 1380 here all-Russia troops were formed that defeated the Tatars enemies in Kulikovo Pole battle.

In XV century Moscow became a metropolis with large population, merchants and craftsmen.

In 1712 Peter I, Russian emperor, chose as new capital city Saint Petersburg. Moscow remained however a valuable political, religious, economical and cultural centre.

Moscow became again a capital in March 11, 1918, after Russian November Revolution. The city played great role in USSR development.

After war Moscow grew as a financial, cultural and tourist centre of Russia.

Our discovery trip of this Great Russian city will start with a boat trip on the river flowing through the capital city’s centre. We will have the opportunity to see different parts of Moscow. The ships will pass under the Kremlin, giving a great view of its 2.235 meter wall, we will see 3 of the "7 sisters" of Moscow, Hotel Ukraine, Moscow University, House at Kotelnicheskaya; the Kremlin; the Stadium Luzhniki, Novodevichij convent and many many other sightseeing places.

Tonight we will have dinner in the Old Arbat Street. It is Moscow’s most famous pedestrian street. We will enjoy the street concerts and hang around the many shops selling Russian souvenirs.

(Hotel, D)

2^nd day

We will start our day with the visit of Christ the Saviour Cathedral.

When the last of Napoleon's soldiers left Moscow, Tsar Alexander I signed a manifesto, December 25, 1812, declaring his intention to build a Cathedral in honour of Christ the Saviour "to signify Our gratitude to Divine Providence for saving Russia from the doom that overshadowed “Her” and as a memorial to the sacrifices of the Russian people.

In 1837 a site was chosen by the Tsar. A convent and church on the site had to be relocated, so that the cornerstone was not laid until 1839. The Cathedral took years to build and didn't emerge from its scaffolding until 1860; elaborate frescos continued in the interior for another twenty years. The Cathedral was consecrated at the very day Alexander III was crowned, May 26, 1883.

After the Revolution, the prominent site of the Cathedral called out for redevelopment by the Soviets, who planned to replace this monument to Tsarist religion and 'outdated' religious sentiment with a new monument, a megalomaniac Palace of the Soviets that would rise in modernistic buttressed tiers to support a gigantic sculpture of Lenin, arm raised in blessing, perched atop a dome. On December 5, 1931, in the depths of the worldwide economic depression, the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour was dynamited and reduced to rubble.

Funds for the largest building in the world remained unavailable, however. A foundation hole gaped on the site until under Nikita Khrushchev it was transformed into a huge public swimming pool.

With the end of the Soviet regime, the Russian Orthodox Church lost no time in requesting permission to rebuild the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, in February 1990, foundations began to be poured in the fall of 1994. The lower church (Church of the Transfiguration was consecrated in 1996, and the completed Cathedral of Christ the Saviour was consecrated August 19, 2000.

In the afternoon we will visit the Red Square and the buildings around it.

If you've heard of Moscow, you've probably heard of Red Square, smack-dab in the city centre adjacent to the Kremlin. The word "red" doesn't refer to the colour of the bricks or to Communism. In Russian, the square is called Krasnaya Ploschad. The word krasnaya means both "red" and "beautiful," and the latter, referring to St. Basil's Cathedral at the southern end of the square.

The Red Square is composed of several iconic structures, giving the visitor many different perspectives of the same place. You will have the unique chance to see St. Basil`s, Lenin`s Mausoleum, the History Museum, the Lenin Museum, the Kremlin, and Kazan Cathedral.

We will enter the Red Square coming from Manezh Square, passing through the Squares Gates. Getting into the square this way, you will capture and savour the moment. The sight of St. Basil`s growing gradually bigger as you approach the gate, locals wandering in and out – just magic!

These gates were torn down in the 1930's because they obstructed the flow of soldiers and tanks during military parades, and re-build in the mid-90s.

When visiting St Basil Cathedral, keep an eye on where you are going and where you’ve been - it really is a maze and you’ll find yourself backtracking otherwise. Even so, that’s not a bad thing. It’s fascinating in the interior of the domes and you might want a second look anyway.

Whenever one pictures the Red Square, it's impossible to see it without the beautiful architectural monument of the 16th century - the Cathedral of the Intercession (the Pokrovsky Cathedral ), better known as the Cathedral of St. Basil the Blessed. The second name was given almost fifty years after the Cathedral was completed when a god's fool ascribed to be St. Basil the Blessed was buried there in its walls. The St. Basil's Cathedral was erected in 1555-1557 to commemorate the Russian military glory; it is a memorial to all heroes had fallen in the age-old struggle against Tartar oppression, during the smashing of the Kazan Khanate. The Cathedral was created by remarkable Russian architects Barma and Postnik, which were far ahead of their time and surprisingly anticipated the features of the 17th century architecture.

The St. Basil's Cathedral is the architectural masterpiece and the splendid example of column like marquee stone Russian folk architecture. Its eight towers are placed on a high ground floor and have very nice colourful, ridged onion-shaped cupolas. They surround the ninth central octagonal tower topped by a high pyramidal tent roof with a small cupola. The Cathedral is decorated by numerous folk architectural elements: figured niches, "kokoshniki" ornaments, rusticated columns, pilasters, windows and portals.

The other cathedral we will visit is the Kazan Cathedral.

The original Kazan Cathedral was built in 1636 in honor of the Kazanskaya Icon and to commemorate Tsar Mikhail Romanov's victory over the Poles and Lithuanians in 1612. The Kazanskaya Icon is one of the city's most precious icons and was discovered by a 9-year-old girl, to whom legend has it the Virgin Mary appeared three times in dreams to tell her of the miracle-working icon's location. During the Time of Troubles Kuzma Minin and Prince Dmitry Pozharin carried the icon from Yaroslavl on a liberation march to Moscow, which was occupied by Polish troops. After a 5-day siege of the Kitai Gorod area of the city, the Poles were defeated and Russia spared, just as it had been promised by Saint Sergei Radonezhsky in a dream to the Greek Archbishop Arseny, who was sheltering in the Kremlin during the battle.

The Kremlin is surrounded by a wall of 2.235 meters and has 19 towers loaded on this wall. It is home to more than 15 different buildings, from The Church of Our Lady’s Nativity, the oldest of the buildings to the State Kremlin Palace, the most recently build building. For more information about the Kremlin, please have a look at the following web page: www.kreml.ru

"Kremlin" (actually kreml) is the Russian word for citadel, and that's exactly what the Moscow Kremlin was: a medieval walled city on a hill above the Moscow River. Long ago, of course, the city grew far beyond the walls, but the citadel remained the seat of government. Inside the Kremlin walls is a mix of buildings, ranging from somewhat drab Soviet-era government offices to antique churches, along with the buildings are monuments (including a large Lenin statue) and the Tsar Cannon, the largest cannon ever built, and the Tsar Bell, the world's largest bell. Despite the abundance of buildings, the southeast part of the Kremlin interior is a large garden, almost a small forest, with carefully maintained walkways. The most famous of the Kremlin's towers is the Spasskaya (Savior) clock tower, also visible from Red Square, but there are eighteen others.

To end the day we will have a walk in the GUM, State Department Store. GUM boasts an elegant turn-of-the-century interior, comprising three parallel arcades centred on a fountain and overlooked by galleries. Light floods in through the building's glass roof and souvenir stands, foreign stores and designer boutiques fill the arcades.

The ornate Neo-Russian facade of GUM, Moscow's "State Department Store", takes up almost the entire eastern side of Red Square. Built between 1890 and 1893 by Alexander Pomerantsev, the building features an interesting combination of elements of Russian medieval ecclesiastical architecture and an elegant steel framework and glass roof, reminiscent of the great turn of the century train stations of Paris and London. This modern 3-story arcade is the largest shop in Moscow and was built to replace the old hall of the Upper Trading Rows, which existed earlier on the same site but burnt down in 1825. The original hall contained some 1,200 separate shops and stalls and was one of Moscow's liveliest markets.

After the 1917 Revolution the arcade was nationalized and renamed GUM. Commercial activity continued there until 1928 when the committee in charge of Stalin's First Five-Year Plan took over the building to use as office space. The GUM building was used again in 1932 to display the body of Stalin's wife, Nadezhda, after she committed suicide and was used to assemble the various banners, photographs and Soviet propaganda materials used during parades on Red square.

Anther the political changes of the 90this, it became again a shopping centre.

During our stay we will of course also visit the Moscow Subway.

The subway is an art museum in it's own right! The walls of many stations, particularly those in the Metro Ring, are graced with many original artistic pieces. The ceilings of many halls are adorned with elaborate chandeliers.

The Novoslobodskaya station is one of the most distinctive in Moscow Subway System because of numerous and colourful stained glass windows. A real must see, which is easily proved by the crowds of tourists there.

In the evening we will be transferred to Yaroslavski train station for departure at 23:34 on the Trans-Mongolian train.

(Train, No meals on Board but cheap, B)

3^rd to 7^th day

It will take us 4 nights to reach Beijing.

Take some books to read in the train. But you’ll also be busy talking to other people from different countries taking the same train as you.

(Train, No meals on Board but cheap)

8^th day

On Friday at 14:30 we will arrive in Beijing. We will be transferred to our hotel and have free time in the Chinese Capital.

(Hotel, D)

9^th day

Today we will drive to the Great Wall.

The Great Wall of China, just like a gigantic dragon, winds up and down across deserts, grasslands, mountains and plateaus stretching approximately 6.700 kilometres from east to west of China. With a history of more than 2000 years, some of the section of the great wall are now in ruins or even entirely disappeared. However, it is still one of the most appealing attractions all around the world owing to its architectural grandeur and historical significance.

We will visit the wall at Juyongguan Pass. It is located in an 18 kilometre-long valley named "Guangou" which is inside Changping County more than 50 kilometres from Beijing City. It is one of the three greatest passes of Great Wall of China.

Back from the Great Wall Expedition, we will see the Ti’anmen square and the Forbidden City.

Lying at the centre of Beijing, the Forbidden City, called Gu Gong, in Chinese, was the imperial palace during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Now known as the Palace Museum, it is to the north of Tiananmen Square. Rectangular in shape, it is the world's largest palace complex and covers 74 hectares. Surrounded by a six meter deep moat and a ten meter high wall. The wall has a gate on each side.

(Hotel, B, L)

10^th day

After breakfast, transfer to the airport for departure

!Book Now!

Russia - Mongolia - China - Tibet

Video & Pictures of Mongolia - GPS Points of Mongolia - Chez Bernard Café - Guesthouse - Buy a Ger - Invest in Mongolia - Charity - Travel To Asia

The Trans-Siberian Train

De Moscou à Pékin en Train

1st day

2nd day

3rd to 7th day

8th day

9th day

10th day

2^nd day

3^rd to 7^th day

8^th day

9^th day

10^th day