The Great Novgorod is an old Russian town about 200 km south from St. Petersburg, the former capital of the northern Rus’. It is over a 1000 years old, it has an old fortress, numerous churches and cathedrals, monasteries, beautiful nature, a fascinating history museum, an open-air wooden architecture museum, and an unbelievable history: it was a Russian member city of the Hansa League and a medieval republic with a high percentage of literate population, including women and children!

Many people interested in old Russian history know that Kiev was called the Mother of all Russian cities, so Novgorod well deserves to be the Farther.  The ancient city of Veliki (Great) Novgorod offers a trip back in time and a taste of medieval Russian culture and cuisine just a few hours away from St. Petersburg. Some of our students (and teachers) come back for more and every time they find something delightful, be it the outdoor museum of Russian culture and crafts or delicious honey drink served in the heart of the Kremlin.

Novgorod is one of the oldest Russian cities and part of UNESCO heritage. It was first mentioned in year 859. It’s proud of its history as an early republic where “veche,” or the gathering, ruled on important issues by voting as early as in 11^th century.  In the fifteenth century Novgorod and the lands under its ownership were annexed by Moscow in the process of its expansion and unification of all lands under a single authority.

You will see the amazing Kremlin with its ancient Russian Orthodox cathedral. Nearby there is the monument to Russia’s 1000-Year Anniversary. The monument depicting key characters in the country’s history is a fantastic visual guide to travel through the ages.

Vitoslavlitsi outdoor museum features historic wooden buildings, ranging from ordinary homes to beautiful churches, all made out of wood and many without a single nail. It’s a perfect place to step back in time  to enjoy and learn what Russian country life was like, complete with traditional outfits, songs and crafts.

Discover Miracles of Russian history with your special guide – the famous Russian language teacher Stanislav Chernyshov who tells all his amazing stories from old Russian history in simple Russian, so that all students can   understand and enjoy them.

Students who come to learn Russian want also to explore Russian culture, and cuisine makes an important part of it.

Students enjoy cooking (and then naturally eating) Russian dishes, and learn how to cook them to surprise friends and relatives when they are back home.

There are many various sorts of parks in St. Petersburg: the famous Summer Garden, the home of Peter the Great, the forest-like Sosnovka, 300 anniversary park by the Gulf of Finland, but locals’ favourite park must be the one on Elagin island in the delta of the Neva, a great place to walk, take a boat or enjoy roller skating.

Student excursions to The Russian Museum, the largest collection of Russian art, by a professional Russian language teacher and a qualified guide. Students enjoy the most famous Russian paintings from medieval icons to avant-garde, and their Russian comprehension skills by listening to interesting stories and explanations in simple Russian at a moderate speed.

May through October students enjoy excursions on boats along rivers and canals of the Northern Venice, while we tell them stories about famous people and buildings (and they are many!) of St. Petersburg

Everybody knows matryoshka, just some people believe it’s called “babushka” or something else : )

All souvenir stores are full of them, and no tourist leaves Russia without one.

But it’s much more fun to paint your own unique matryoshka with our experienced crafts instructor!

A master class on painting matryoshka dolls is one of the most fun and memorable experiences for our students. Some of them at first say that they don’t find it very fascinating, but practice shows that this is a unique and interactive process (we always hear bursts of laughter and see happy smiles of participants in the master class).

So, for a perfectly affordable price, that’s what you get: communication and conversational experience with a real Russian grandmother (babushka, this time!) Valentina, who will tell you the whole history of Russian nesting dolls – matryoshkas. Under her guidance, you will easily paint several pieces of nesting dolls, from large to tiny. And voila! – your own set of hand-made souvenirs is ready 🙂

Despite the standard name, this is one of the most unique and exclusive activities in our program:

Stanislav Chernyshov, the worldwide famous Russian teacher who has lived his entire life in St. Petersburg, takes students on a walk around the city centre and tells the most fascinating stories and legends of the former capital of the Russian Empire. Unlike a typical excursion full of boring facts and numbers, this is a collection of the most amazing facts and stories about Russian tsars, writers, architects and composers. And all this in simple Russian that every student can understand! Don’t miss this opportunity to practice your listening comprehension, fall in love with St. Petersburg and take great photos!

Peterhof with its marvellous fountains is a must see palace-park ensemble in St. Petersburg, at least once in life. Peterhof is built in the image and likeness of Versailles, as well as many palaces of that time throughout Europe. And we humbly believe that this is the case when the copy turned out to be many times better than the prototype.

In Peterhof, we managed to use a unique local landscape, providing a difference in altitude between the Upper and Lower Parks. Water is fed into the fountains by gravity, and there is enough water in St. Petersburg. Even the local children at school discuss the topic of communicating vessels on the example of the device of the fountains of the Lower Park of Peterhof.

We will go in the most convenient way – on a meteor ship directly from the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg. This is how the Russian tsars went to their dachas to their dachas. Also the views, oh, the views…

During a walk through the magnificent park, which harmoniously moves from regular gardens to English-style parks, you will learn all the most interesting details of the history of this palace and park ensemble.

Statues, canals, pavilions and pavilions and, of course, luxurious cascades at the Great Palace of Peterhof – your memories will be unforgettable, and photos will save them for a long time – #selfiewithsamson

During the tour you will certainly visit the main attractions of the Lower Park – the famous joke fountains. Anyone who wants to run under the streams of water and a little refreshment on a fine summer day – welcome!