Star City, Sergiev Posad, Borodino and several other interesting inexpensive destinations for a one-day trip with a child.
Moscow region
Tank Museum in Kubinka
Photo: vk.com/tankmuseum
A military museum where you can see armored vehicles from all over the world. Visitors can take tours of numerous exhibitions: foreign armored vehicles of Great Britain, Canada and the USA, Soviet and Russian armored weapons, tanks of the Second World War and much more. On excursions to the Battle of Moscow, Tanks of the Battle of Stalingrad and Tanks of Victory, children will be told about the technology thanks to which the USSR won the Great Patriotic War. The excursions are detailed and very interesting; they will be interesting not only for boys, but also for their dads.
Museum website: mbtvt.ru
Price: children 200 rub.
adults 400 rub.
The museum is located in a separate village; there are several cafes on the territory of the museum.
Star City
Cosmonaut Training Center
Space fascinates each of us. And for a child, looking at a real rocket, putting on a spacesuit and trying food from a tube will be an unforgettable adventure. Star City is located just an hour’s drive from Moscow. Today, Russian cosmonauts are trained here for space flights and work on the ISS. Star City is divided into 2 parts: a cosmonaut training center and a residential village. An excursion is possible to certain parts of the Cosmonautics Center and to the Cosmonautics Museum at the Cosmonautics Center. The entire Star City and the CPC is a restricted area: to get on an excursion, you need to contact one of the intermediary companies in advance that organizes trips for everyone.
Most excursions include a visit to the research and laboratory training flight base – the cosmonaut training center. On its territory you will see analogues of Soviet and Russian-made spaceships, a hydro laboratory where complex scientific research takes place and instructions for cosmonauts on working in outer space are carried out. You will also see a centrifuge – this is a working simulator used to select astronauts.
Sites: gctc.ru, zvezdniygorodok.ru
Price: from 400 rub.
There are not many public catering establishments in Star City. Just in case, take a snack from home with you. After the tour, you can have lunch at the Cosmos art cafe.
Address: Zvezdny Gorodok, no. 23
Sergiev Posad
Moscow — Sergiev Posad: from 407 rub.
Historical and Art Museum-Reserve
Photo: @thesergievposadmuseum/Instagram.com
Sergiev Posad is an open-air museum where many cultural monuments have been preserved from ancient times. The historical and art museum-reserve is located near the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. The museum presents exhibitions related to the culture and life of the Russian people: the history of the nesting doll, the life of the Russian village, decorative arts and others.
Price: from 100 rub.
The current cost of visiting and opening hours can be found on the official website.
Toy Museum
The Toy Museum contains children’s entertainment from the last centuries. The museum is located in an old mansion that resembles a fortress. Here you can not only look at ancient toys, but also make your own rag doll or whistle at a master class.
The current cost of visiting and opening hours can be found on the official website.
Monastery refectory
The most delicious pastries in Sergiev Posad are from the monastery. Therefore, for tea and buns, go to the monastery refectories, of which there are several on the territory of the Sergius Lavra. All children, without exception, will be delighted with the local gingerbread, pies and pastries. A bonus for those who observe fasting is that almost all the cuisine, including baked goods, in the monastery is fast all year round.
Read here how to find refectories.
Mozhaisk and Borodino
Museum-reserve “Borodino Field”, Borodino
Photo: vk.com/borodinomuzeum
The Borodino Field Museum-Reserve is located a 2-hour drive from Moscow. The museum was created on the site of the same Borodino battle of 1812. The museum, obelisks, battlefield, temples and burial places of the heroes of the Battle of Borodino – including P.I. Bagration – all this is a living history that will definitely interest schoolchildren. The territory of the reserve is huge, there are monasteries and monuments on it – you can walk all day.
Detailed information here.
Mozhaisk
Not far from Borodin is Mozhaisk – an interesting city with beautiful cultural monuments. You should definitely visit the Luzhetsky Monastery, the Mozhaisk Kremlin, the House-Museum of the artist S.V. Gerasimov, the Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya Memorial Museum (located in the village of Petrishchevo near Mozhaisk). Mozhaisk is one of the most picturesque cities in the Moscow region, which is definitely worth a visit.
Moscow – Mozhaisk: from 300 rub.
Pskov and Pushkinsky Nature Reserve
Pushkin Nature Reserve
Photo: vk.com/pushkin_zapovednik
The poetic birthplace of Pushkin is the village of Mikhailovskoye, Pskov region. This is the family estate of the poet’s mother, where he was in exile from 1824 to 1826. In Mikhailovsky, Pushkin created about a hundred works of the poet, including “Boris Godunov”, the central chapters of the novel “Eugene Onegin”, the famous poems “Village”, “Prophet” and others.
The Pushkin Nature Reserve includes the estates of Mikhailovskoye, Petrovskoye, Trigorskoye and the Svyatogorsky Monastery – Pushkin is buried in the monastery. The reserve is located among the most beautiful Russian nature, which inspired the poet. In the Pushkinsky Nature Reserve you will immerse yourself in an atmosphere of calm, serenity and antiquity, and in the Pushkin House-Museum in Mikhailovsky you can easily imagine Arina Rodionovna telling fairy tales to the great poet.
Details and prices here.
You can explore the Pushkinsky Nature Reserve in 1 day, spend the night in Pskov, and take a walk in the city the next day.
Pskov
Pskov is one of the oldest cities in Russia, founded in the 10th century. The most interesting things in the city are the ancient cathedrals, the Pskov Kremlin and very beautiful parks. The Pskov Kremlin is an example of the defense construction of Rus’, which children will be interested in seeing in person, and not in textbook pictures. Alexander Nevsky prayed in the Trinity Cathedral of the Kremlin before the Battle of the Ice. The city also has a railway museum and the “Two Captains” museum, which contains exhibits dedicated to the work of the Pskov writer Veniamin Kaverin.
You can try real Russian cuisine in the “Pie Chambers” cafe (3A Nekrasova St.) and the “Trapeznye Palata” restaurant (1B Nekrasova St.),
and have lunch at the restaurants Hansa (M. Gorkogo St., 6a) and KINZA (Rizhsky Prospekt, 54).
Hotel: from 1490 rub. per person for 1 night
Moscow – Pskov: from 1444 rub. for one
Ethnoworld
Photo: vk.com/ethnomirru
Ethnomir is a large ethnographic park-museum near Naro-Fominsk. Children can be fascinated here for the whole day with attractions, master classes, quests and communication with animals in the zoo and nursery. “Ethnomir” has nurseries for huskies, horses, snakes and poultry, and attractions include a dinosaur park, a rope park and a forest labyrinth. In workshops and master classes, children will be taught how to make soap, bake bread, make dishes from clay, mint coins and sew toys. The museums of the park will captivate any child: there is a museum of dolls of the peoples of the world, irons, a Russian stove and a thematic open-air museum of the peoples of Siberia and the Far East.
While the children are having fun, adults can relax in the spa or bathhouse, and also take a walk through the vast territory of the park. The park has restaurants serving Indian, Chinese and Russian cuisine and several cafes.
Price for visiting the park: from 250 rubles
You can buy tickets here.
Leningrad region
Peterhof
Photo: @belimovgushchin/@peterhof_museum/Instagram.com
Peterhof is a huge museum complex that can be interesting for children too! The museum offers interactive excursions especially for little researchers. There are many programs: “In the footsteps of the Bremen Town Musicians”, “Noble Education in the 19th Century”, “Visiting the Imperial Family” and others. The guides, dressed in ancient costumes and dresses, delight the kids. During the excursion, children examine and touch antiques (not from the exhibition, but equivalent to them),
solve riddles and take part in competitions.
View all available prices and tickets here.
Follow the official website for news to get to the most interesting events of the museum.
In Peterhof you can have lunch at the Linea cafe (46 St. Petersburg Avenue),
Samson (44A St. Petersburg Avenue),
Alex House (44 St. Petersburg Ave.) and Family (7/1 Razvodnaya St.).
Adventure Park Naughty Squirrels
Here children will find fun for every taste: climbing in rabbit holes, riding inside an inflatable reel, a school for little builders, an elven village where you can climb ropes among the trees, trampolines and an observation deck at a height of 7 meters. For the most dexterous – a tank track and darts, children’s cars and velomobiles. The park’s farm is home to adorable alpacas, goats, peacocks and ducks that you can cuddle and play with. On the territory of the park there are houses that are convenient to rent if you come with a group, as well as 2 cafes where you can refresh yourself after a whole day on your feet.
Details and prices here.
Ruskeala Park and surrounding area
Ruskeala Park is located in Karelia, 400 kilometers from St. Petersburg – that’s 6 hours by car. Along the way you can stop by several more interesting locations – it will be a whole weekend adventure!
Ruskeala
Photo: ruskeala.info
The finishing point of the trip is the Ruskeala mountain park. The black and white rocks here seem to have stepped out of the pages of ancient fairy tales. Ruskeala is a real pearl of Karelia: waterfalls, a marble quarry and the mirror-like surface of the water will not leave anyone indifferent. You can also stay longer in Ruskeala: there are hotels and recreation centers.
Full details about the park can be found here.
Priozersk
The first stop after St. Petersburg is a small settlement on Vuoksa Priozersk. Look into the ruins of the Korela fortress, see the Lutheran church and go to the monument to Mowgli – this is the only monument to the character of Rudyard Kipling in Russia.
Sortavala
A small border town with the Museum of the Northern Ladoga Region, which contains thousands of household items of indigenous Karelians. Near Sortavala, you can comfortably stay at the park-hotel Dacha Wintera to enjoy the beauty and silence of the north and watch the incredible sunset over the lake.
Helsinki
SeaLife Aquarium
Photo: © VisitSealife.com
The underwater world is no less fascinating than outer space. The SeaLife Aquarium in Helsinki is home to hundreds of marine life – sharks, rays, large and small fish of hundreds of different species and bizarre underwater plants. Every hour in the aquarium there are demonstration feedings, which are watched with delight by both adults and children.
Prices and tickets here.
Eureka Science Center
Eureka is a real paradise for children of all ages. Absolutely anything is possible here! Operate a crane, conduct chemical experiments, sit in the cockpit, make a sheet of paper, and also run, touch, twist and throw. In general, be a real tester! In the center there is a planetarium where they show exciting 3D films about space – a child can feel like an astronaut and a pioneer.
Prices and tickets here.
Waterpark Serena
Here you will find a swimming pool with an artificial wave, a dozen steep slides, water attractions, as well as a jacuzzi and sauna. You can easily spend the whole day in the water park, relaxing on the sun loungers between swims.
Prices and tickets here.
Helsinki Natural Science Museum
In this museum, children will be able to see real dinosaurs! The huge skeletons of ancient animals amaze the imagination. At the museum, children will learn a lot about the world of wildlife on excursions “Nature of Finland” and “History of Life”.
Prices and tickets here.
Hotels in Helsinki: from 4125 rub. for one
St. Petersburg – Helsinki: from 2270 rub.
Tallinn
There is a Tallin Card loyalty card in Tallinn: with it you can enjoy discounted visits to more than 100 attractions, travel free on public transport, and also receive discounts in many stores. The card can be issued for 1, 2 or 3 days here or directly in the city.
Seaplane harbor of the Estonian Maritime Museum
Photo: Erlend Staub/http://meremuuseum.ee
Here you will get to the real Lembit submarine and see other life-size military exhibits. Children will be able to shoot at air targets and take part in a torpedo attack – an exciting activity! And adults should definitely try to fly in a flight simulator over Tallinn or go on a virtual circumnavigation of the world in a submarine.
Details here.
Miia Malla Manda Children’s Museum
Miia-Milla-Manda is a thematic exhibition for children under 11 years old. You can touch all the exhibits with your hands, you can play with everything. The exhibition is divided into zones: in the nature zone there is a whole clearing with mushrooms and apple trees. Various insects live in the grass, and stars shine in the sky. There are zones for various professions: the child will learn how a sewing workshop works, what is in a photo studio, what products can be bought in a store.
Zoo
In warm weather, all animals walk in enclosures, so you can see them up close. The zoo has a lot of greenery, picnic areas and children’s playgrounds. For younger visitors, strollers can be rented. There are kiosks selling snacks and drinks on site. Directly opposite the zoo is one of the largest shopping complexes in Estonia – Rocca al Mare, where you can have lunch and relax.
Details here.
Marzipan Gallery
Paradise for all those with a sweet tooth. Here you can watch how marzipan is made and mold and paint your own delicious figurine.
Details here.
Hotels in Tallinn: from 2327 rub.
St. Petersburg – Tallinn: from 1496 rub.
Convenient hotel room booking with OneTwoTrip.
Preview photo: Ben Konfrst/Unsplash.com
