With the Cold War long gone, there’s no better time than the present to finally visit Mother Russia. Travel to the original “Evil Empire,” now one of the United States’ top allies, has never been so inexpensive.
Eastern Tours Consolidated, a New York-based Russian tour operator, is offering its annual package deals to St. Petersburg and Moscow. The aptly titled “The Land of the Tzars” trip is available for the low price of $1,399 for travel until Sept 15, 2004. The deal gets even sweeter at $1,099 if you travel from September 16, 2004 to September 30, 2004. For you polar bears looking to experience the true Russia and brave the dead of the winter, finding warmth only in swigs of Vodka and those huge fur hats, prices drop in the colder months to $999 from October 1, 2004 to October 30, 2004 and then even lower to the truly unbelievable price of $799 from November 1, 2004 to March 15, 2005. The only cheaper way to get to Russia may be on a diplomatic trip or by watching a cheesy ’80s spy movie.
The 8-day air-land deal starts with a quick stopover in Helsinki, Finland before moving on to nearby St. Petersburg. An Eastern Tours guide greets you at the airport so you don’t have to worry about trying to learn a few phrases or read that beautiful script of the Cyrillic alphabet. The trip begins with four days in St. Petersburg. The Window to the West and the former base of Russia’s great Tzars, St. Pete is home to magnificent palaces, large thoroughfares, and nasty underground basement drinking holes where Stolichnaya comes in blocks of ice so cold you can’t even taste it.
From enchanting St. Petersburg, the tour moves by overnight train to Moscow. The Kremlin, Red Square, Lenin’s Tomb, and St. Basil’s Cathedral are all on the docket. Cultural events include a ballet and night of Russian folk dancing.
Accommodations for the “Land of the Tzars” are mostly in three-star hotels. Upgrades to four and five-star establishments are available and can be booked by an Eastern Tours agent. The package includes airfare, hotels, breakfast, daily sightseeing tours, train transportation from St. Petersburg to Moscow and an evening performance in each city.
When we searched for similarly priced deals, none came up. AffordableTours.com offers a seven-day trip titled “Little Tour of Russia” beginning at $1,098 dollars without airfare. Wintertime trips with air start at $1199.00. For the exotic traveler looking to experience Russia Cossack style (that’s Russian for voluntary soldier) on the back of the horse, St. Petersburg Travel, Inc. dreamed up a seven-day equestrian tour of picturesque St. Petersburg. For $1,599 not including airfare, travelers can gallop across the green fields, parks and trails of St. Pete. Lessons are available on the first day of the trip for the horse-riding novice.
If packaged deals or group tours aren’t your thing, Eastern Tours offers roundtrip travel to St. Petersburg and Moscow from New York’s JFK for only $339. With most other airlines such as Delta, American and Russia’s Aeroflot averaging over $600 dollars for round trip travel, the Eastern Tours deal on Finnair is great.
For complete details on the Eastern Tours package or the low round trip fares, visit www.traveltorussia.com or call 800/339-6967. Additional taxes for the “Land of the Tzars” and air travel to Russia include a departure tax of $149 and Russian Visa Fees of $125 as well as a September 11th Security Fee of $2.50. Security Fees applies per flight segment will run you a maximum charge per trip of $5 each way.
Also, check out this thread on our popular Message Boards to read a review posted by a traveler who took the Eastern Tours trip two years back.