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13 | Day Jewish Tour of the Baltics & St. Petersburg

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Highlights
  
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Tour Highlights

  • As per itinerary


 

Trip Includes


  • Eleven nights' accommodation in 5-star hotels:
    • Radisson Blu Astorija in Vilnius
    • Daugirdas Hotel in Kaunas
    • Radisson Blu Ridzene in Riga
    • Radisson Blu in Tallinn
    • Corinthia Nevsky in St. Petersburg
  • Breakfast daily and 4 Dinners
  • Taxes, service charges and baggage handling
  • Da'at Encounters
  • Tour escorted by Da'at Tour Educator
  • One-way train from Tallinn to St. Petersburg
  • Extensive sightseeing as per the itinerary, including entrance fees where applicable
  • Deluxe motor coach
  • Comprehensive tour educational kit

DAY ONE: Sunday
DEPART

  • Depart the U.S.A. for Vilnius.

Overnight:  Flight

DAY TWO: Monday
WELCOME TO LITHUANIA
  • Arrive at the Vilnius Airport.
  • Welcome by our representative and assistance with arrival formalities.
  • Transfer to the hotel for check-in. (only for the group flight)
  • Relax, unpack and settle in.
  • Welcome dinner at the Medininikiai Restaurant and orientation to the program along with your tour escort.

Overnight: Radisson Blu Astorija, Vilnius

DAY THREE: Tuesday
HISTORICAL VILNIUS
  • Breakfast at the hotel.
  • Begin your trip to the Baltics with a panoramic introductory tour of Vilnius, Lithuania's largest city and capital and whose Old Town was listed as a UNESCO Heritage site in 1994.
    The tour of the Old Town will including stops at:
    • The Vilnius Castle Complex, a group of defensive, cultural and religious buildings which evolved between the 10th and 18th centuries, including the Lower and Upper Castle and the remaining Gediminas Tower, the traditional symbol of Vilnius, and the Cathedral.
    • The Old University, founded in 1579 by the Jesuits, is Lithuania's largest university and one of the largest in Eastern Europe; its fleet of buildings exhibit various architectural styles, from Gothic and Renaissance to Rococo.
    • Hill of Three Crosses, originally constructed in 1916 by Polish sculptor Antoni Wiwulski, was torn down by the Soviets in 1950 and reconstructed in 1989 by Henrikas Šilgalis.
    • St. Anna's Church, originally erected in 1394 and has been continually expanded throughout the centuries, using various art and architectural styles.
    • The Chapel of the Gates of Dawn, the only surviving of the ten original gates in the town wall, which houses the  famous icon, The Blessed Virgin Mary Mother of Mercy - dating from the early 17th century.
  • Lunch on own, en route.
  • Continue with a guided visit through the Medieval Jewish Quarter and what was traditionally known throughout the Jewish world as Vilna, Yerushalayim de Lita (the "Jerusalem of Lithuania").  Vilna was one of the most significant pre-Holocaust European communities with a community of over 100,000, a world center for the study of Torah and the home of Rabbi Eliyahu Kremer, also known as the Vilna Gaon (the Genius from Vilna).
    The tour will include visits to:
    • The Vilnius Choral Synagogue built in 1903.
    • The Vilna Gaon Jewish State Museum dedicated to the history of Lithuanian Jewish life, including an Exposition on the Holocaust and a contemporary Tolerance Center.
    • The Judenrat (Vilna Ghetto Council).
  • Da'at Encounter:Meet with representatives of the present-day Jewish community.
  • Return to the hotel.
  • Dinner on own and evening at leisure.

Overnight: Radisson Blu Astorija, Vilnius

DAY FOUR: Wednesday
VILNIUS -TRAKAI-KAUNAS
  • Breakfast at the hotel.
  • Check out of the hotel.
  • Visit the Jewish Cemetery of Vilna.
  • Visit Ponar forest - holocaust memorial in honor of 100,000 people, 70% of who were Lithuanian Jews.
  • Depart for Trakai, one of Lithuania's most charming towns located on a peninsula between two lakes.  Trakai has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage City.
  • Visit to the Trakai Castle, followed by a stop at the Karaite Synagogue.
  • Lunch on your own in Trakai.
  • Drive to Kaunas, Lithuania's second largest city and once its temporary capital.  Until 1940 Kaunas, also known as Kovno, boasted a Jewish population of 35,000-40,000, one fourth of the city's entire population.
  • Panoramic tour of the Old Town to view the Kaunus Cathedral, Old Town Hall and Square and Kaunas Castle, as well as:
    • Zamenhoff & Mapu Streets, named in honor of Eliezer Zamenhoff, inventor of the international Esperanto language, and Abraham Mapu, a native of Slobodka-native Hebrew novelist of the Haskalah movement, considered the creater of the Hebrew novel.
    • The home of Leah Goldberg, one of Israel's most well known pre-State poets and authors, many of whose poems in Hebrew, such as "Snow on My Town" talk of her longing for her birthplace.
    • The Ohel Yakov Synagogue and Children's Memorial which is located in its courtyard.
  • Check into the hotel.
  • Dinner on own and evening at leisure.

Overnight: Daugirdas Hotel, Kaunas

DAY FIVE: Thursday
KAUNAS - RIGA
  • Breakfast at the hotel.
  • Check out of the hotel.
  • Morning tour of Jewish Kaunus, or Kovno, including:
    • Slobodka Jewish Ghetto, home of the famous Slabodka Yeshiva, considered the "mother of yeshivas" and the forerunner of the Hebron Yeshiva.
    • 9 FORT Holocaust Museum and Memorial.
  • Lunch on own, en route.
  • Depart for Sauliai, Lithuania's fourth largest city, for a short city tour.
  • Stop en route at the Hill of Crosses, or Kryziu Kalnas, a Lithuanian national pilgrimage spot where hundreds of thousands of crosses of all sizes and styles stand to represent Christian devotion and a memorial to Lithuanian national identity.
  • Cross into Latvia and arrive in Riga where Jewish presence dates back to the 13th century.
  • Check into the hotel.
  • Dinner on own and evening at leisure.

Overnight: Radisson Blu Ridzene, Riga

DAY SIX: Friday
RIGA
  • Breakfast at the hotel.
  • Tour of Riga's Old Jewish Quarter, which at its peak, prior to the Holocaust, was home to almost 44,000 Jewish inhabitants. Visit the Memorial of the Burnt Synagogue, site of the Great Choral Synagogue destroyed by the Nazis in July, 1941.
  • Visit Rumbula Memorial where many Jews of Riga and Germany perished.
  • Visit Salaspils Concentration Camp monument complex in remembrance of the Soviet victims of the Nazis.
  • Continue to the Riga Market, the biggest indoor market in the Baltic States.
  • Time to walk through Riga's Art Nouveau district; the Art Nouveau Movement was the architectural and artistic answer to the literary modernist movement that began in the late 19th century. Riga has one of the largest centers of Art Nouveau in Europe.
  • Da'at EncounterVisit the Jewish Museum and meet with representatives of the Jewish community.
  • Check into the hotel with time to relax.
  • Private Shabbat dinner at the hotel.

Overnight: Radisson Blu Ridzene, Riga

DAY SEVEN: Saturday
RIGA 
  • Breakfast at the hotel.
  • Shabbat services at the Peitav Synagogue, built in 1905, it is Riga's sole surviving synagogue.
  • Lunch on own.
  • Tour of Riga's Old Town, including visits to: 
    • The Riga Castle.
    • St. Mary's Dome Cathedral, the largest cathedral in the Baltics.
    • The Large Guild, home to the Riga Orchestra and the Small Guild, a Crafts Corporation House.
    • The Freedom Monument, a 138-foot high granite, travertine and copper monument honoring soldiers killed during the 1918-1920 Latvian War of Independence.
    • The House of Blackheads, originally mentioned in the 14th century as an important center of public life for unmarried merchants - the Brotherhood of Blackheads, was later destroyed during WWII and reconstructed at the beginning of this century.
    • The Town Hall square and an old Town Hall devastated during WWII and rebuilt in 2002.
    • St. Peter's Church, first built in the 13th century and expanded upon since.
  • Dinner on own and evening at leisure.

Overnight: Radisson Blu Ridzene, Riga

DAY EIGHT: Sunday
RIGA-TALLINN
  • Breakfast at the hotel.
  • Check out of the hotel.
  • Visit the Holocaust Memorial and burial spot of 40,000 people from all over Europe who were murdered in the Bikernieki Forest.
  • Drive to Sigulda, the “Switzerland of Latvia”, on the riverside of the Gauja River with its medieval castles and caves.
  • Visit the Turaida Castle Museum.
  • Lunch on your own, en route.
  • Drive via Paernu, Estonia's main summer resort, and continue to Tallinn, Estonia's capital and largest city, situated on the Gulf of Finland.
  • Arrive in Tallinn and check into the hotel.
  • Dinner on own and evening at leisure.

Overnight: Radisson, Tallinn

DAY NINE: Monday
TALLINN
  • Breakfast at the hotel.
  • Visit the Klooga Holocaust Memorial, located at the site of an Estonian forced labor camp set up by the Nazis during WWII and the Jewish cemetery in Rahumae, including the Jewish Chapel and Levinovitschi Mausoleum.
  • Da'at Encounter: Visit to the Tallinn Jewish Center, School and Museum as well as the Beit Bella Synagogue, inaugurated in 2007 and the first synagogue to be built in Tallinn since 1944. The original synagogue was destroyed by a Soviet Air bombing on the Nazi-occupied city.
  • Lunch at leisure on your own.
  • Tour of Tallinn's Old Town to include visits to:
    • Town Hall Square
    • Alexander Nevsky Cathedral
    • Niguliste Church
    • Dome Cathedral
    • Toompea Castle
    • Old Pharmacy House
  • Return to the hotel with time to freshen-up.
  • Enjoy a farewell folklore dinner at the Kaval-Antsu Talu Restaurant.

Overnight: Radisson, Tallinn

DAY TEN: Tuesday
TALLINN - ST. PETERSBURG
  • Breakfast at the hotel.
  • Check out and depart the hotel.
  • Transfer by train via scenic Estonian and Russian landscapes, stopping briefly in Narva to see the large fortress and continuing to the White City of St. Petersburg, built as a modern city in the 18th century.
  • Evening arrival and check into the hotel.
  • Dinner on own and evening at leisure.

Overnight: Corinthia Nevsky Palace, St. Petersburg

DAY ELEVEN: Wednesday
ST. PETERSBURG
  • Breakfast at the hotel.
  • Visit the Peter-Paul Fortress, built by Peter the Great in 1706; the Peter-Paul Cathedral, enclosed in the compound, is the burial place of all of Russia's Czars from Peter I till Alexander III.
  • Sightseeing tour of the city to view Palace Square with the Winter Palace, the Admiralty, Nesky Prospect, St. Isaac's Square and St. Isaac's Cathedral.
  • Da'at EncounterVisit the Main Choral Synagogue, followed by a visit to the Preobrazhensky Cemetery.
  • Lunch on your own, en route.
  • Visit the Hermitage Art Museum which boasts the most extensive art exhibits after the Louvre.
  • Dinner on own at one of St. Petersburg's excellent restaurants, and evening at leisure.

Overnight: Corinthia Nevsky Palace, St. Petersburg

DAY TWELVE: Thursday
ST. PETERSBURG
  • Breakfast at the hotel.
  • Morning excursion to one of St. Petersburg's most famous and popular visitor attractions, the palace and park at Peterhof (also known as Petrodvorets), often referred to as "the Russian Versailles".  Visit the Tsar's Monplaisir Palace and wander through the splendid gardens which boast a famous system of fountains, including a truly spectacular Grand Cascade.
  • Lunch on own, en route.
  • Da'at EncounterReturn to St. Petersburg and meet with Rabbi Stas Wojciechowicz of Shaarei Shalom Progressive Jewish Community of St. Petersburg.
  • Rest of the afternoon at leisure.
  • Farewell dinner at the Dostojewsky Restaurant.

Overnight: Corinthia Nevsky Palace, St. Petersburg

DAY THIRTEEN: Friday
DEPARTURE
  • Breakfast at the hotel.
  • Transfer to the airport for your departure flight to the U.S.A. (only for the group flight)
 

Need to Know

  • Tour prices are per person in U.S. dollars based on minimum 15 full paying participants.
  • All hotel accommodations, motor coach transportation, special dinners, sightseeing, admissions, luggage handling and the services of local guides, drivers, and the Expedition Educator are included.
  • Hotel Accommodations: The tour price includes all hotel accommodations, in hotel rooms with private baths. Our standard is to provide the best available hotels while considering value. Although the level of the accommodations may differ slightly from hotel to hotel, we are committed to your comfort. Two-bed rooms are reserved in most hotels. Triples are two-bed rooms with a rollaway cot where available and are not recommended when considering the comfort of those in the room. King-size beds are not available in most hotels; what is considered king-size usually consists of two single beds pushed together and made up separately, but with one headboard. Some two-bed rooms may have two twin - not full- or queen-size - beds.
  • Meals are included as specified in the itinerary.
  • Expedition Educator: All trips are conducted by our Expedition Educators or local guides who remain with the group throughout the tour.
  • Gratuities Included: All gratuities for restaurant and hotel staff.
  • Luggage Responsibility: All tour packages allow one piece of luggage per person and one carry-on bag. Excess luggage will be subject to charge of up to $100 per piece. The Travel Agent and/or Tour Operator shall not be held responsible for any damage to or loss of luggage/personal items. All damage/loss must be reported at time of incident and documented in writing by local authorities for submission to your insurance company.


Not Included


  • Airfare to the tour departure point and from the tour ending point is not included. Airfare may be purchased from us for travel originating in the United States. Please see Flights tab in the right-side toolbar.
  • Personal Expenses: All personal expenses such as: laundry, valet service, cables, telephone calls and postage are not included.
  • Guide and Driver Gratuities:
    • 10-19 passengers: Da'at tour escort $6, local guide $3, driver $3 - per participant per day


       

Additional Information


  • Airline Security Measures: In the U.S., you must provide identification in the form of a passport at the time of airport check-in for travel to international destinations. Your passport name must match the name on your tour reservation and airline ticket or you may be denied boarding.
  • If you are traveling from an airport outside the jurisdiction of the U.S, you will need to determine what travel documentation and identification is required for that particular airport.
  • Due to heightened security regulations, certain items such as a metal nail file, pocketknife, cigarette lighter or tweezers, and some liquid, gel, or aerosol items may not be permitted in your carry-on luggage. Please call your airline prior to departure to obtain current information on non-permissible carry-on items and recommended airport check-in times. You may also wish to visit the Transportation Security Administration website atwww.tsa.govto obtain more information on acceptable identity documentation and prohibited luggage items.
  • Holidays and Museum Closures - Museum visits and personal shopping time may be disrupted due to unforeseen circumstances or the many religious, state and local holidays locally observed in the destinations being visited.
  • Photography During Tours: We will occasionally use photographs taken by fellow guests or your trip director for promotional purposes. If you prefer that your photo not be used in any marketing activities, please notify us at the start of your tour.
 
13 - Day Jewish Tour of the Baltics & St. Petersburg
2014Land OnlyStatus 
Jul 13$3240On Sale
 
  
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