At The Ultimate Travel Company we can not only take you there, but in the company of a direct descent of author Leon Tolstoy.

Next month, departing on February 11th, we still have a handful of places on an escorted 5 day tour to the winter splendour of the city led by Tania Illingworth whose maiden name is Tolstoy. Tania is three-quarters Russian, her grandparents having fled the city in 1918, and has a degree in Russian Language and Literature, with Byzantine Art.

The tour will explore the unique and unsurpassed architectural and artistic legacy of the Tsars and Tsarinas. Guests will visit the beautifully preserved palaces of Pavlovsk, Yussupov and the Winter Palace, the extraordinary treasures of the Hermitage, explore either the Russian Museum or Faberge Collection and enjoy the Kirov ballet at the fabled Mariinsky Theatre.

The tour costs £2,295 including flights. If you can't make this year's tour, all is not lost. Tania will be leading a very similar tour in February 2017.

For more details of any of these destinations, contact The Ultimate Travel Company (020 7386 4646; www.theultimatretravelcompany.co.uk).

For press information please contact Gloria Ward (020 7386 4646: e-mail gloria@theultimatetravelcompany.co.uk)