To wander the old streets of TALLINN is to feel oneself transported back into the 14th and 15th Centuries. The picturesque and atmospheric old town has thick city walls and turrets, churches with spires and onion domes, cathedrals and narrow winding streets, perfect for leisurely strolling.

There are a host of museums including the fascinating City Museum housed in a beautiful 14th Century house. Other sights include the Parliament building, National Library, St Charles Church, 45 metre Kiek in de Kok (peep in the kitchen) and 50 metre Pikk Hermann towers that offer superb city views.

Our tour also takes us outside the city to Lahemaa, Estonia’s largest National Park stretching for 40km along the Baltic coast, with a variety of scenery and wildlife including herds of elk. There are also many fine manor houses, some of which are being restored to their former grace and style.

You will stay in the Savoy Boutique Hotel****, a superior first-class hotel, excellently located 5 minutes walk from Tallinn Old Town. (See itinerary for details).

HELSINKI has redefined its image from a sleepy northern outpost to a 21st Century, world class, sophisticated, modern capital city. Our hotel here is the new,stylish, HOTEL GLO****. (See itinerary for details).

One of the focal points is Heureka, an interactive exhibition in the Finnish Science Centre. Impressive architectural galleries such as the Museum of Modern Art sit alongside a host of stylish bars and restaurants. Other highlights include the Parliament buildings, Finlandia Hall, Opera House, Olympic Stadium, the Church in the Rock, Sonata Square, Sibelius Monument and the harbour.

For over 200 years ST PETERSBURG was the Russian Empire’s political and cultural centre, before this was moved to Moscow following the Russian Revolution of 1917. Today the city centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

In terms of sheer grandeur, the southern waterfront in St. Petersburg has few peers. Dominated by the golden dome of ISAAC’S CATHEDRAL, the quay stretches for more than a mile along the River Neva from the Senate Building to the Summer Palace. The Neva River itself, together with its many canals and their granite embankments and bridges, gives the city a unique and striking ambience, hence the city being known as the ‘Venice of the North’.

There are superb public buildings on Valislevsky Island, the Peter and Paul Fortress and Cathedral, Russian Museum, colourful Church of Spilled Blood, built on the spot where Tsar Alexander II was murdered in 1881. Also, not to be missed, the famous NEVSKY PROSPEKT immortalised in Dostoyevsky’s ‘Crime and Punishment’ and the renowned MARINSKY THEATRE.

St. Petersburg has been known as the city of palaces. One of the earliest of these is the SUMMER PALACE, a modest house built for Peter I in the Summer Garden. Much more impressive are the baroque residences of his associates such as the KIKIN HALL and MENSHIKOV PALACE on the Neva embankment.

Probably the most illustrious of imperial palaces is the baroque WINTER PALACE (1754-1762), a huge building with dazzlingly luxurious interiors. The palace is also home to the incomparable HERMITAGE MUSEUM, arguably the greatest art gallery in the world, housing a vast and comprehensive collection. We also visit the Peterhof Palace.

Your stay for four nights in St. Petersburg is at the Ambassador Hotel****, located just a couple of minutes walk from Nevsky Prospekt in the city centre. (See itinerary for details).