Travel route by car along the Golden Ring

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The concept of the “Golden Ring” appeared in the distant 70s of the last century, when mass trade union tourism began to develop in the USSR. Then a circular bus route was developed, starting and ending in Moscow, about 800 km long. The classic “Golden Ring” includes Sergiev Posad, Pereslavl-Zalessky, Rostov Veliky, Yaroslavl, Plyos, and Vladimir. Later, Uglich, Myshkin, Tutaev, and Gus-Khrustalny were added to them.

Gold ring. Route

At the end of May, a customer approached me who wanted to travel along the Golden Ring and hire me as a guide. He wanted to do it in 4 days. After consultations, the travel route took the following form:
Day 1: Moscow – Sergiev Posad – Pereslavl-Zalessky – Rostov the Great (overnight at the Pleshanov Estate hotel)
Day 2: Rostov Veliky – Uglich – Myshkin – Yaroslavl (overnight at the hotel “St. George”)
Day 3: Yaroslavl – Kostroma – Plyos – Ivanovo (overnight at the Shaddock Hotel)
Day 4: Ivanovo – Kideksha – Vladimir – Bogolyubovo – Moscow. Looking ahead, I will say that Bogolyubovo had to be excluded due to bad weather and the 2014 World Cup football match - the customer turned out to be a passionate football fan.

I had nothing to do with drawing up the route and choosing hotels - the clients turned out to be experienced travelers who had visited 46 countries and applied their considerable experience to this short trip.
It should be taken into account that in some cities and museums of the Golden Ring, excursions are conducted only by local accredited guides. Therefore, I ordered excursion services to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, the Rostov Kremlin, Myshkin and the Vladimir-Suzdal Museum-Reserve. This cost my clients 9,850 rubles.

Gold ring. Sergiev Posad

The classic “Golden Ring” begins with the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. Excursions to the monastery are conducted by the pilgrimage center, which attracts, in addition to regular employees, students of the Theological Seminary and Academy. A young monk, a student at the Academy, worked with my customers. The cost of a tour of the monastery with visits to temples was 1200 rubles.

The monastery is actively preparing for the 700th anniversary of the Nativity of St. Sergius of Radonezh. Most of the temples have already been restored and repainted.

View of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra from Krasnogorskaya Square. On the left is the Assumption Cathedral (XVI century), on the right is the Lavra Bell Tower 88 m high (XVIII century). In the center is a monument to Sergius of Radonezh (late 20th century).

I am glad that during the restoration they paid attention not only to churches, but also to civil buildings. For example, they restored the appearance of the Red Rows of the early twentieth century. An Orthodox grocery store was opened there and a pilgrimage center was moved there.

Gold ring. Pereslavl-Zalessky

From Sergiev Posad we went to Pereslavl-Zalessky, where we visited the museum-estate “Boat of Peter I”. Then we had lunch at the country tavern “Popov Meadow”, located on the farm. The tavern is built of wood, stylized as a “Russian hut”. The food is tasty and not very expensive. The bill for 3 turned out to be within 3 thousand rubles.

Next to the tavern, sheep graze in the meadow, and there is also a “Labaz”, selling fresh meat, milk, cottage cheese and other products. The customer's wife lamented that they did not take the refrigerator with them.

Tavern “Popov Meadow”. On the right is the wing of the restaurant, in the center are summer gazebos, on the left in the back is a “storage store” selling natural products.

After lunch we visited three active monasteries of Pereslavl-Zalessky: Trinity-Danilov, Nikolsky and Nikitsky. We had to go to the Nikitsky Monastery along a bypass road. .

Gold ring. Rostov Veliky

In the evening we arrived in Rostov Veliky. We saw the Spaso-Yakovlevsky Monastery, the Church of Isidore the Blessed and Cathedral Square with a unique.

A visit to the Rostov Kremlin and the Museum of Church Antiquities was planned for the next morning. We spent the night at the Pleshanova Estate hotel. My clients liked the hotel, but I didn’t really like it.

“Pleshanova Estate” is considered a 3*** hotel, but the shower doors in my room were broken and it was not possible to close them. When I was taking a shower, the hot water suddenly turned off and I had to frantically douse myself with cold water. And the room itself is too small.

Although all this applies to room 16 in the second building of the hotel. There were no problems noted in the main building. The price includes parking and breakfast. Breakfast seemed rather meager to me: only one type of cheese and one type of boiled smoked sausage, sausages, scrambled eggs, porridge. I'm not a fan of muesli, but there was none, just as there was no yoghurt. However, the prices at the Pleshanov Estate are quite reasonable. My double room costs 2,000 rubles at a discount, and the suite, which my clients preferred, costs 3,050 rubles.

We devoted the morning of the second day to getting to know the Rostov Kremlin. An individual tour there is expensive. The price for a group of 10 people is 4,000 rubles, with a smaller number of people you have to pay the same amount. However, my customers were very pleased with the inspection of the passages, the churches of the Resurrection of the Lord, St. John the Evangelist and the Savior in the Entrance and the so-called White Chamber.

Rostov Kremlin. Church of the Resurrection of the Lord (right), Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (left).

Gold ring. Uglich

From Rostov we went to Uglich through the village of Borisoglebsky. The condition of the road is quite decent - a solid “4” on a five-point scale. In Uglich we visited the Transfiguration Cathedral and the Church of Tsarevich Dimitri “on the Blood,” located in the Kremlin. The Church of the Transfiguration formerly belonged to the museum, now it is the city cathedral. However, unique paintings and a six-tiered iconostasis are available for inspection. It is not forbidden to even tell stories inside the temple. The Church of Tsarevich Dimitri is still used as a museum object.

We had lunch at the “Old Town” restaurant. At the Usadba restaurant they turned us down, citing the service of reserved groups. In the “Old Town” everything turned out to be excellent, only the bill exceeded 3,500 rubles.

In addition to the Kremlin, there are three monastic ensembles in Uglich: Epiphany, Alekseevsky and Resurrection monasteries.

Resurrection Monastery, consisting of the Resurrection Cathedral, belfry and refectory with the Church of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God.

The Church of the Nativity of John the Baptist is very good, reminiscent of the temple of Tsarevich Demetrius, “on the blood.” The church was built by merchant Nikifor Chepolosov in memory of his murdered son Ivan. He was kidnapped and killed out of envy by Chepolosov's clerk, nicknamed Rudak. Uglich was generally “lucky” with innocently killed youths.

Gold ring. Myshkin

From Uglich we moved along the hydroelectric dam to the Volga region and went to Myshkin. Myshkin is a wonderful town on the banks of the Volga. There are no famous architectural ensembles, ancient temples and monasteries.

But amazing people live in Myshkin, who have turned a godforsaken place into a unique tourist center. In the first years of Soviet power, the commissars ruined the city and demoted it to a collective farm, closing enterprises, abolishing the theater and gymnasium, and flooding a third of the city with the waters of the Rybinsk Reservoir. In Soviet times, the letter “o” was added to the name, relegating Myshkin to the village level. Its residents fought for a long time to restore the historical name, and during perestroika, the status of the city.

Finally, in the 90s of the last century, justice triumphed. In modern Myshkin there are many museums and interactive exhibitions. We didn't see everything. Our program included the Opochinsky Library,

Valenok Museum, Miller's House, House of Crafts and a war memorial. In addition to them, in the city there is a Mouse Museum (the only one in the world! 🙂), a collection of vintage cars and motorcycles, a museum of vodka maker Pyotr Smirnov, Mouse Chambers with theatrical interactive programs - you can’t count them all.

Life in the town revolves around mice...

and... cats. Well, what about cats without mice and vice versa?

One of the city restaurants is called “Mousetrap”. It promises free cheese. The restaurant is located right behind the Assumption Cathedral.

Gold ring. Ferry Myshkin – Yaroslavl

The clouds moving around Myshkin eventually fell on the city with torrential rain. Below it we waited for about half an hour for the ferry carrying cars and people across the Volga. The ferry shortens the journey to Yaroslavl by a good hundred km. Through the crossing it is 91 km to the regional center, and through the dam of the Uglich hydroelectric station and Rostov - more than 200.

We are second in line for the ferry in Myshkin.

The ferry crosses the Volga every hour. More often than not it doesn’t work out – loading and unloading takes quite a lot of time. The ferry is free for pedestrians, but you have to pay for a car. The price depends on the weight of the car. For the Audi Q7 they charged us 260 rubles.

A fully loaded ferry goes to Myshkin. In 10 minutes he will land on our side. Don't blame me for the photo - it was taken with a point-and-shoot camera in the rain at maximum zoom.

Gold ring. Yaroslavl. Hotel “St. George”

In Yaroslavl we stayed at the hotel “St. George” 4****.

The hotel is located almost in the center. Almost, because the center is located on the other bank of the Kotorosl River. It takes at least 15 minutes to walk to the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery. From the window of my room I had a view of the Kotorosl floodplain and numerous Yaroslavl churches.

St. George is a modern, fashionable hotel with fairly reasonable prices. A double business class costs 3,800 rubles, and a standard single occupancy class costs 2,500 rubles with a discount. On the ground floor of the hotel there is a spacious atrium with a restaurant and a lobby bar. The doors of the rooms open onto the internal galleries. But for some reason the elevators only reach the 4th floor. You have to climb the stairs to the last 5th floor.

Breakfast (for a fee of 350 rubles) is served as a buffet in the restaurant area. The assortment is very good: scrambled eggs, sausages, porridge, casserole, omelet, hot vegetables, cold cuts, pastries, fruits. There was only no orange juice - we had to settle for apple juice. I liked the number too. A large room furnished with wooden furniture, a refrigerator in the table cabinet, central air conditioning, a spacious (and serviceable 🙂) shower. Only there was no hairdryer.

Gold ring. Yaroslavl

The third day included getting to know Yaroslavl, Kostroma and Plyos. In Yaroslavl we saw all the main churches of the “golden 17th century”, including John the Baptist in Tolchkovo, St. Nicholas the Mokroy, Epiphany, St. Nicholas Nadein, Elijah the Prophet (with an inspection of the interiors), walked along the arrow to the new Assumption Cathedral and visited the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery.

The excursion around Yaroslavl was entirely on my conscience, so I took almost no photographs.

Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery. On the right is the oldest temple in Yaroslavl - the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of the Savior from the early 16th century. On the left is the Church of the Yaroslavl Wonderworkers of the first half of the 19th century.

Gold ring. Kostroma

From Yaroslavl we went to Kostroma, having lunch at Azimut at the entrance to the city. The bill was for the already familiar 3 thousand rubles. We watched according to the usual program: the Ipatiev Monastery, the Epiphany-Anastassin Monastery with the Theodore Icon of the Mother of God, the administrative and shopping ensembles of the city center. My clients refused to view the Lenin monument.

Gold ring. Ivanovo. Hotel Shaddock

In the evening we stopped briefly at Plyos, which didn’t seem to impress them very much. The last hotel booked was in . It turned out to be “Shaddock” - a strange name for a Russian textile center. And its architecture is unusual.

“Shaddock” turned out to be the most expensive of the three hotels booked on the Golden Ring. The cost of a standard double room for single occupancy is 3,400 rubles, and a double “Comfort” room is 6,200. The building is located on the outskirts of the city, almost at the entrance from Kostroma.

In the evening, the hotel restaurant was not open, breakfast was served from 8 am, and the customers wanted to check out at 7:30 am. So I can't say anything about the quality of the breakfast. The room turned out to be quite comfortable, but somehow soulless.

I liked the spacious custom shower. There was a hairdryer this time, but it wasn’t useful :)

Gold ring. Suzdal and Vladimir

The last day of our trip included getting to know Vladimir in the pouring rain. We visited the Museum of Wooden Architecture, the Spaso-Evfimiev Monastery and the Nativity of the Mother of God Cathedral in the Kremlin. In Vladimir we had to limit ourselves to the Assumption and Demetrius Cathedrals of the 12th century. The customers decided to refuse the trip to Bogolyubovo.

Gold ring. Vladimir - Moscow. Detour

The last day of the trip fell on Sunday with an inevitable traffic jam at the Kolokshansky Bridge. It was decided to go around it through Sobinka. The detour route looks like this: from the center of Vladimir we leave along Erofeevsky Descent Street to the bridge over the Klyazma.

After the bridge, after about 2 kilometers, you need to turn right at the first intersection from the bridge, following the sign “Konyaevo”. Then, without turning anywhere, we drive to Konyaevo, drive through it and move towards the village of Raduzhny. There is a checkpoint at the entrance to Raduzhny. In front of it, turn right following the sign “Sobinka”.

Then the road winds for about 20 km and eventually comes out to Sobinka. At the entrance to Sobinka “the asphalt ends” :) Another very bad section of the road will be further down the street. Lenin. In Sobinka on the square you need to turn right (there are no signs, but it’s difficult to make a mistake there). After this, the road leaves the city, crosses Klyazma over a bridge, then railway tracks and comes to a T-shaped intersection with a traffic light.

This is already M-7. At the intersection there are signs: “Moscow” to the left, “Vladimir” or “Nizhny Novgorod” - to the right. We turn left and find ourselves in Lakinsk. The detour is almost twice as long as the direct road from Vladimir to Lakinsk - 60 km versus 35. Another thing is that this distance is quite surmountable in 40-50 minutes, while you can stand in a traffic jam for 2 hours.

Scheme for avoiding traffic jams near the Kolokshansky Bridge:
A. Vladimir
B. Konyaevo
C. Sobinka
D. Lakinsk.

The detour scheme is no longer relevant. The repair of the bridge over Koloksha is almost complete.

To summarize, I will say that the clients were satisfied with both the trip and my work. Perhaps someone will find our experience of a study tour around the Golden Ring useful.

Report on a trip by car along the Golden Ring of Russia. A trip to ancient Russian cities: monasteries, Kremlins, fortresses, the Volga River and photographs.

Preface

Our trip, planned for July 19, had to be postponed at the last minute due to a completely un-July weather forecast. As it turned out, not in vain. During these peak days of summer, not a single Moscow airport accepted planes, sending them to Nizhny Novgorod. The storm did not last long, after a few days the weather improved, and on July 26 we started along the planned route along the Golden Ring of Russia. There is comprehensive background information, but we will share our own experience, reviews and, of course, photographs.

Start: Aprelevka.
Alexandrov: 175 km, 2.5 hours.
Yuryev-Polsky: 261 km, 1 hour.
Bogolyubovo: 347 km, 1 hour.
Suzdal: 396 km, 0.5 hours.
Ivanovo: 469 km, 1 hour.
Plyos: 552 km, 1 hour.
Ferry Krasnoe-on-Volga: 591 km, 1 hour.
Kostroma: 630 km, 0.5 hours.
Yaroslavl: 703 km, 1 hour.
Tutaev: 760 km, 1.5 hours.
Novoe village (round trip): 20 km.
Myshkin: 891 km, 1.5 hours.
Uglich: 932 km, 0.5 hours.
Borisoglebsk: 1003 km, 1 hour.
Rostov: 1021 km, 20 minutes.
Moscow: 1244 km. Finish.

Alexandrovsk

The first day.

Early Sunday morning we left Aprelevka. Heading towards Yaroslavskoye Highway. But bad luck - we forgot paper maps (it’s still unusual without them) and other little things, so it was decided to make a short technical stop at a Moscow apartment. This didn’t delay us too much, and at 8:00 we started off fully equipped.

Yaroslavka on the way out of Moscow was pretty dug up, and even on Sunday morning we weren’t driving fast. The construction is encouraging - in a couple of years it will probably be good. Polya’s sleep-deprived daughter quietly mutters that “again they are taking us somewhere, and our route is unclear...”. I had to take a break from contemplating the surroundings and tell them that the route was still clear, and the first point was the city of Alexandrov, the temporary capital of Tsar Ivan the Terrible.

I heard about the Terrible Field, saw Repin’s picture, watched a film about Ivan Vasilyevich, so I stopped appearing and got ready to listen. In the stories, the rest of the journey flew by quickly, and at 9:50 we parked near the Alexander Kremlin.

The museum (and therefore the ticket office) of Alexandrovskaya Sloboda opened at 10:00, and we decided to go to the Church of the Holy Trinity, where the Sunday service was just ending.

At the beginning of 11 o'clock we set off on a journey through the museum complex of Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda, which consists of several diverse museums on the territory of the Kremlin.

And the first of them is the dungeons of Ivan the Terrible. The best way exploring a dungeon when traveling with a child is a search for treasure, and in this case, the famous library of Ivan the Terrible, which, according to one legend, is hidden precisely in the settlement. Inspired by our search, we look into each place. They didn’t find the library, but they cheered up and became interested in exploring.

The next museum of everyday life. We quickly scan the exhibition and invite the child to find griffins, a lyre and two cylinders, after which we leisurely explore the museum. From time to time Polya reports on another find - a kind of quest. Next, the peasant hut - very relevant - Polya and I recently discussed the structure of a peasant hut: a red corner, a children's corner, a woman's kut, and so on. In conclusion, there are the king’s chambers with a dungeon, a refectory, a torture chamber and other necessary attributes of the life of a ruler.

At 12:00, after eating ice cream, we start towards Yuryev-Polsky. It’s not a long drive, and within an hour, having admired the surrounding hills and fields, we’ll stop by Yuryev-Polsky.

The city is not as well-groomed as Alexandrov. After a short lunch we set off to explore the Kremlin and Zemlyanoy Val.

There are very few people, walking around the Kremlin is a pleasure. Using a narrow staircase you can climb to the bell tower, and then to Zemlyanoy Val.

Bogolyubovo

At 15:00 we leave towards Vladimir. The city of Vladimir itself is not included in our plans - we were there not so long ago, but we have never been to Bogolyubovo. At 16:00 we were at the monastery.

The monastery is active, the evening service is in full swing in the church. Well, we are going to the place of death of Andrei Bogolyubsky and to the museum.

We are the only visitors here. Out of the kindness of her heart, a museum employee shows us the exhibition and tells us ancient legends. Another item on the program for today is the Church of the Intercession on the Nerl. There is no access by car; you need to walk through Bogolyubovsky Meadow for about 2 km.

It's getting dark, the heat is slowly giving way to coolness. A half-hour walk along a paved path through a water meadow, and we are near the confluence of the Klyazma and Nerl, where a wonderful church stands like a white candle.

After looking into the temple and taking a few photos, we go back and go look for an overnight stay. We cross the railway tracks near the village of Lemeshevo and further into the fields. We pass a long wide sandy beach.

Another 100 meters, and here it is, an excellent place, right on the banks of the Klyazma (parking coordinates N56.11.553, E040.34.192).

The time is almost 19:00, the sun has not yet set. First thing is a swim, and then a well-deserved dinner and rest.

Second day.

I woke up at 7:00 am completely sleepy. It’s a beautiful morning, and swimming gave me energy and Have a good mood. We have breakfast, get ready and leave at 9:20. Heading to Suzdal.

Half an hour later we are already parking near the shopping arcades.

It’s still sunny, but ominous black clouds are already roaming along the horizon. So we decide to first walk along the earthen rampart towards the Kamenka River.

Then we’ll see the open-air museum of wooden architecture, and then it’s your luck.

Along the way we taste mead - delicious! The Museum of Wooden Architecture is reminiscent of Kostroma and Novgorod; they are probably all designed in the same way. Peasant huts from the poor to the wealthy, a merchant's house, windmills, wooden churches - everywhere you can look in and take a closer look.

I was pleased with the exposition of cereal fields, useful for a city dweller - plots sown with wheat, oats, rye and other crops. Everything is signed for those who are not in the know.

Meanwhile, the clouds on the horizon thickened, the wind blew, and it began to rumble. We realized that it was time to go somewhere under a roof. They took their legs in their hands and ran towards the Suzdal Kremlin. And just in time. As soon as we managed to reach the museum, a real hurricane broke out: thunder, lightning, rain like buckets. But we are already warm and cozy, or rather, in a museum.

This time we bought along with the tickets children's quest around the museum. In each hall of the Kremlin, according to the guidebook, you need to discover something interesting, guess, solve puzzles, find differences with the picture. At the end there is a crossword puzzle. An hour and a half flew by unnoticed, and then the rain stopped. Having completed our visit to the Kremlin with a hearty lunch, we moved along the shopping arcades to the red walls of the Spaso-Efimovsky Monastery.

We walked around it, from the high bank we admired the Kamenka River and the white stone monastery on the opposite bank.

Ivanovo

At 15:30 we left towards Ivanovo - an hour’s journey and we entered the city of brides. There was no plan to stop here, so we admire the city from the car window and move on. Today Plyos on the Volga awaits us, it’s still an hour away.

Having checked into the hotel at 18:00, we set off to wander around the evening Ples. We walk along the Volga embankment, take pictures with Sofia Kuvshinnikova (Levitan’s friend, immortalized in bronze), buy smoked fish and ice cream and climb first one hill, and then the second, to the church that served as the prototype for the painting “Above Eternal Peace.”

A tightly built wooden staircase with railings, arches and benches leads to Levitan Hill. At the top we are greeted by the bronze Levitan, thoughtfully looking at the sunset blazing over the Volga. The setting sun, breaking out of the clouds, turns everything around red. What a beauty!

We don’t want to leave, but our daughter quickly brings us back to reality - it’s time to go home. We arrived at the hotel without legs. For dinner we eat smoked fish, washed down with Suzdal mead, and go to bed!...

Plyos

Day three.

We got up at 8:00. A hearty breakfast at the hotel and off you go. On the way, we stopped by an art shop and supported local Levitans by purchasing a small picture. Here they also found a bronze cat sitting on a stone and looking at the Volga. They say that there really was a cat who sat on this stone every evening and watched the sun go by, and her owner immortalized her image.

In general, there are a lot of sculptures in Ples, almost in every second courtyard - whatever you say, artists clearly feel at home here. But no matter how good it is in Plyos, it’s time for us to go. 20 km from this city, on the opposite bank of the Volga, lies a town with the beautiful name Krasnoe-on-Volge. We decide to go there - the name is beautiful, and how can we not take a ferry ride across the Volga.

We arrive at the ferry at 10:45 and are 15 minutes late. It's almost an hour until the next ferry. I have to walk and rinse my feet in the Volga. Time flies quickly, and now we are already sailing along the great Russian river.

Among the attractions in Krasnoe, on the Volga, is a tented church, one of the few preserved in Russia, and silver production.

We visited both, were very pleased and went towards Kostroma.

Half an hour later we were there. We spent the whole day in Kostroma 2 years ago, so we decide to limit ourselves to lunch and a short walk around the city center.

Over the past two years, Kostroma has changed for the better, it has become more well-groomed or something, there are a lot of people and children on the streets

At 15:30 we leave towards Yaroslavl-Rybinsk, discussing where it is better to spend the night in Rybinsk. But our plans are not destined to come true - on the ring road of Yaroslavl we get stuck in traffic jams. When we finally break out of the tenacious embrace of Yaroslavl, we understand that it no longer makes sense for us to go to Rybinsk. We decide to spend the night near Tutaev, and at the same time once again visit the wonderful Tutaevsky Church of the Resurrection.

I think this is one of the most beautiful temples I have ever visited.

The ferry to the Romanovskaya side of Tutaev leaves at 18:30.

10 minutes, and we are on the Romanovskaya side, starting for the night two years ago near the village of Novoe - a pine forest on the banks of the Volga and sandy beaches. At the beginning of eight we are there. We swim in the Volga, have dinner and admire the barges and white steamers sailing past.

Myshkin, Uglich, Rostov Veliky

Day four.

Porcini mushrooms were discovered near our campsite, so dad Andrey got up early the next day and went mushroom hunting. While he was busy in the tent, my sleep disappeared. After tossing and turning for about half an hour, I got up, especially since we were going to catch the 9-hour ferry to the Borisoglebskaya side of Tutaev.

After a quick swim and breakfast, we set off. Time 8:30. Later they discovered that they had forgotten Polina’s sandals in the parking lot. So, we'll be back... We boarded the ferry 5 minutes before departure. Today luck is on our side.

10 minutes of crossing, and we start towards Myshkin. There is one short stop along the way - boys to the left, girls to the right. We return with handfuls of mushrooms and continue our journey to the Myshkinsky ferry. Our experience of ferry crossings says that the ferry should be at 10:30 - we speed up. Luck is with us again - we board the ferry a minute before departure. At 10:40 we are already in Myshkin.

First to visit the mice, then to the museum of antiquities. Having walked around the pond, we get stuck in the weaving room. My daughter couldn’t be torn away from the loom and the sweet weaver, who happily showed and told all the intricacies of the weaving craft. At the end we took a walk along the embankment, bought a mouse and smoked fish, and at half past twelve we left for Uglich.

Half an hour later we were there. We set off to explore the Church of St. Dmitry on the Spilled Blood, the princely chambers and, out of the corner of our eye, the Cathedral of the Epiphany.

Polya, a lover of sentimental stories, listened with her mouth open and happily took a photo with the bronze prince. After a short lunch we leave Uglich. We set course for Rostov the Great.

The time is 15:00, it’s a decent drive, and the Kremlin, as it seemed to us, is open until 17:00. Therefore, when at 16:00 the majestic walls of the Boris and Gleb Monastery appeared before our eyes, we decided to make a stop.

The walls are magnificent, but restoration is in full swing inside. So we crossed the monastery from the western gate to the eastern one, returned to the car along the outer walls and drove to Rostov.

In 15 minutes we park near the Rostov Kremlin - well, at least we’ll go to the church. And again luck: the Kremlin is open until 18:00, they are allowed in until 17:00, we made it in time.

And we still have a whole hour to walk. The field became lively, because it was here that a wonderful film about Ivan Vasilyevich was filmed.

And most importantly, we are no longer in a hurry - we only have the road home ahead of us.

So we sat by the pond, went up to the gallery, walked around the monastery garden and even tried monastery apples from a special basket.

At 18:00 we moved to Moscow. In 4 days we traveled 1244 km, visited 12 cities, rode ferries across the Volga 4 times, ate a mountain of ice cream, swam in the Volga and Klyazma, spent the night in a tent twice and once in a hotel, visited churches, monasteries and museums for a year forward.

Which cities of the Golden Ring of Russia are on the classic travel route? What is worth visiting and seeing? How to travel - by car, boat or bus? Prices for tours, cruises, cost of accommodation.

The phrase “Golden Ring” arose in the 70s of the last century - under this name the literary works of Yuri Bychkov about ancient Russian cities were first published. Later the name was given to the most popular tourist route in the country.

Routes along the Golden Ring of Russia

Initially, the Union of Cities that formed the classic route of the Golden Ring included eight settlements: Vladimir, Suzdal, Ivanovo, Kostroma, Yaroslavl, Rostov Veliky, Pereslavl-Zalessky and Sergiev Posad. Later Kasimov and Kaluga joined. Gradually the list of attractions expanded. Other route options have been developed, including Uglich, Myshkin, Rybinsk, Tutaev, Ples, Yuryev-Polsky, Alexandrov, Kaluga, Shuya, Murom and Moscow.

Prices for tours along the Golden Ring of Russia - 2019

Travel can be either along the Golden Ring of Russia or radial, lasting 2-3 days or 7-14 days. Prices for tours in 2019 depend on the excursion program and duration of the trip. Weekend programs start from 7 thousand rubles. The cost of a classic bus tour for two for 4-6 days with meals and accommodation (half or full board) - from 25 thousand rubles.

Weekly cruises along the Golden Ring on a motor ship cost from 10 thousand rubles. per person. Prices depend on the ship, cabin, chosen route and duration of the trip.

What to see? Classic route

Sergiev Posad. It is more convenient for Moscow residents to start their journey along the Golden Ring of Russia from this city - it is closest to the capital. The asphalt surface is excellent, and the entire journey will take no more than an hour. The most visited sites: Trinity-Sergius Lavra, Hermitage of the Holy Spirit, Chernigov Temple and Cave Church. On weekends and holidays there are always a lot of people here - pilgrims flock to the holy places.

Pereslavl-Zalessky- the next point of travel along the Golden Ring of Russia. This ancient city was founded by Yuri Dolgoruky. It is located on the shore of Lake Pleshcheevo. The city has several Orthodox churches, a museum-estate where a boat made by Peter the Great is kept, and the sacred Blue Stone - an object of worship for pagans and followers of unconventional teachings. Children and adults will love Berendey's colorful house. They sell there wooden toys and amulets, arrange various master classes and excursions, and on holidays they hold noisy folk festivals.

Rostov the Great. Here tourists will find panoramas of the Rostov Kremlin, well recognizable thanks to the famous comedy directed by Gaidai, the Sarskoe ancient settlement and the Life-Giving Cross in the village of Godenovo. Romantic couples should take a ride along the ancient Lake Nero (price from 300 to 550 rubles). If you get hungry, try Russian dishes and drinks: sbiten and mead will perfectly warm you up in the cold season, and kvass and fruit drink will cool you down in the heat.

Yaroslavl. On your trip along the Golden Ring of Russia, pay attention to this city Special attention. Yaroslavl stands on the steep bank of the Volga and is famous for its Orthodox churches (there are more than 30 of them) and its magnificent historical center. Tourists are especially impressed by the merchant rows and ancient mansions. The art museum exhibits works by Russian painters: Kramskoy, Bryullov, Repin, Perov, Kustodiev. Be sure to try the old fish soup, try on the weapons of Russian heroes at Alyosha’s courtyard and buy some Poshekhon cheese for your trip.

Kostroma. This quiet and cozy city will appeal to lovers of Russian antiquity. Just look at the Ipatiev Monastery of the 14th century, the local ethnographic museum and the fabulous mansion of the white-faced Snow Maiden!

Suzdal. Take a walk along the streets lined with wooden houses, visit the Suzdal Kremlin and the Golden Pantry, and take a closer look at the life of our ancestors in the Museum of Wooden Architecture. And what kind of cucumbers are sold here - you don’t want it, but you buy it, that’s how the locals know how to praise their product.

Ivanovo. The Weavers' Abode, with its colorful calicoes and new buildings, will seem too young and not so significant, but you can buy excellent souvenirs here.

Vladimir. This is the final point of the journey along the Golden Ring of Russia. The city is famous for its Golden Gate. It's a good sign to get into the city through them. Popular among tourists are the Assumption Cathedral with works by Andrei Rublev himself, the Nativity Monastery, Trading Rows, Kozlov Val and Cathedral Square. Excellent panoramic photos can be taken from the observation deck.

What to go with?

By car

Independent travelers can go on a trip around the Golden Ring of Russia in their own car. The road surface is good in most areas, and you can spend the night anywhere. The cost of hotel rooms for two people ranges from 900 rubles. up to 2.5 thousand rubles. per day. It is better to book in advance, especially if the trip is planned during the holidays.

By bus

Of all the options offered, the most popular are traveling around the Golden Ring of Russia by bus. The distance between the two nearest cities of the classical ring is no more than 100 km, and most of the travelers will be looking at the sights rather than being on the road.

On a boat

In summer, traveling along the Golden Ring of Russia by boat is in demand. Cruises travel on navigable rivers, so they cannot cover all the cities and key points of the ring. By water you can visit Ples, Kostroma, Yaroslavl, Uglich, Myshkin, Tutaev, Rybinsk and Ryazan.

By train

It is convenient to travel by train only to certain large cities - for example, Vladimir or Yaroslavl.

Gold ring Russia is a series of tourist routes through the oldest Russian cities in the central part of the country. They preserve the oldest monuments of architecture, culture and life of Rus'.

gold ring of Russia

The Golden Ring includes several dozen settlements belonging to six regions - Vladimir, Yaroslavl, Moscow, Ivanovo, Kostroma and Tver.

The Small Golden Ring includes 8 cities - Yaroslavl, Kostroma, Sergiev Posad, Pereslavl-Zalessky, Rostov Veliky, Ivanovo and. However, another dozen or two cities that are not officially included in the Golden Ring are no less historically significant and are also worth visiting!

The term “Golden Ring” appeared in the 60s of the last century, and the total length of the route is a little more than 1000 kilometers, and looking at the geographical location of the cities, it becomes clear why this name was given. The cities form a “Ring” located in the northeast of Moscow and, as it were, trying to take us away from the long-tired bustle of megacities into the world of antiquity, peace and beauty!

Initially, the Golden Ring route was developed for foreign tourists. He told foreign citizens about the greatness of Russian antiquity and, of course, brought many flows of foreign currency into the treasury.

To this day, thousands of tourists go to the cities of the Golden Ring of Russia every day. Bus tours, boat trips, and private car trips promise unforgettable impressions of what you see! The Golden Ring of Russia is a superbly preserved history of past centuries in the culture, architecture and life of amazing and ancient Russian cities.

Here is the originality of the local population, the uniqueness of the works of ancient architects and, of course, celebrations with a broad Russian soul! For many, many centuries these places have been storing their storerooms for you! So that you can feel your roots.

Skillful lace, amazing bone carvings, architecture of many centuries (these are ancient white-stone churches of the 12-13th centuries and tented buildings of the 16th century, as well as architectural objects of the 17th century), works of painting schools of Rostov, Yaroslavl and Kostroma! All these creations conceal the cities of the great Golden Ring of Russia!

When and how is the best time to go?

When traveling around the Golden Ring, try to choose looser tours, so that you have two days for each city. Then you will be best able to explore all the historical corners and storerooms. After all, who knows if you will have a chance to visit there again? If this is not possible, then tours of usual duration will do, but keep in mind that there will be a “gallop across Europe”. But they will bring you, settle you, feed you, show you, tell you, and take you back.

In this case, a route laid out by a personal car would be freer, but less insured against all kinds of surprises. Traveling by train is more suitable for visiting and seeing a single city, since not all cities are located near railways and you still have to get to them with luggage on transfer bars. Also, to make it easier to travel to the opposite side of the “Ring,” you can use an airplane.

For example, you can fly from Moscow to Domodedovo Airport twice a week. At the same time, you will spend only one hour and twenty minutes on the flight.

When choosing the time and season of your trip, try to focus on summer or winter; May and September are also perfect for such an entertaining trip. In summer it’s warm and comfortable, but a large number of tourists, and in winter you can enjoy beautiful views of cities under the snow.

Try to avoid tours in the off-season, during the spring-autumn thaw, otherwise it can spoil your impressions of what you saw.

What routes are there?

There are a lot of route options for a tourist trip. You can choose a standard route through the “eight” cities, or you can choose an extended excursion with a visit to the cities of the Yaroslavl region - these are Uglich, Tutaev, Myshkin and Rybinsk.

You can travel for 2-3 days (these are so-called “weekend tours”), or for a longer period – 2-9 days. By choosing a short-term route, you will most likely visit 4-5 cities, with an overview of their main attractions.

By choosing a long route, you visit all the cities of the small Golden Ring and some additional cities (depending on the tour you choose). However, as statistics show, excursion routes lasting up to 5 days are the most popular.

You can travel around the Golden Ring not in a circle, but by crossing it radially. Getting respectively to the opposite cities of the “Ring”.

What to see first?

When choosing a tourist route, you must first of all not get confused and determine which attractions you definitely want to visit. From this you should choose a tour. This is extremely individual and depends only on your desire.

Here are some of the places that are rightfully considered the main attractions of the Golden Ring.

Trinity-Sergius Lavra in Sergiev Posad. Sergiev Posad is considered the capital of Russian Orthodoxy.

The Kremlin in Pereslavl-Zalessky and the Cathedral of the Transfiguration, the Church of Metropolitan Peter, the Vladimir Cathedral and the Church of Alexander Nevsky, as well as the Goritsky, Nikolsky, Nikitinsky and Trinity-Danilov monasteries. Also, three kilometers from Pereslavl-Zalessky, Peter the Great organized the “Amusement Flotilla” on the shore of Lake Pleshcheevo in the 18th century.
In Rostov the Great: the Rostov Kremlin museum-reserve, the enamel museum and the Church of the Savior on the Sands, the Spaso-Yakovlevsky Monastery. Church of the Tolga Mother of God and the Ascension of the Lord, Abrahamievo-Epiphany and Borisoglebsky monasteries.

Historical and architectural museum-reserve on the territory of the Transfiguration Monastery in Yaroslavl. The Church of Elijah the Prophet, the Church of John the Baptist in Tolchkovskaya Sloboda is one of the main attractions of the city, depicted on the thousand-ruble banknote. Also, the Volzhskaya embankment in Yaroslavl is considered the most beautiful embankment among all the cities on the Volga.

In –, and of course the cathedrals, . Here it is also worth making a small detour to the nearby one in order to see. It’s worth spending more time on this city.

, which includes . , is an excellent example of pre-Petrine stone architecture and