This year the official holidays will last four days. In the context of the epidemiological situation, an individual car trip is the safest travel option. If you don’t have a personal car, you can rent one: renting a car in Moscow on OneTwoTrip costs about 2,300 rubles* per day. Be careful, from October 28 to November 7, many sites have additional visiting conditions, in particular, you may need a QR code.
Route along Mozhaisk and Minsk highways
This section can be covered in two days with an overnight stay in Mozhaisk. For example, a room in the Dvorik on Yamskaya hotel will cost from 2,400 rubles* per night per person, and in the Akter-Ruza park hotel (neighboring Ruza district) from 2,700 rubles* per night.
House-Museum of K.I. Chukovsky in Peredelkino
Photo: volkova natalia/shutterstock.com
The first point on the route is half an hour’s drive from the Moscow Ring Road along the Minsk Highway in Peredelkino. The memorial house-museum of the famous children’s author Korney Chukovsky is located in the building of the writer’s former dacha. During the restoration, by 1994, the interior of his lifetime was completely restored, filled with the writer’s belongings. Even the jug that inspired the writer to create “Moidodyr” has been preserved.
Time for inspection: hour. To visit, you must first call the museum’s information center. Login via QR code.
Estate “Vasilievskoye” (“Maryino”)
Photo: ai-ivanov/shutterstock.com
Having returned from Peredelkino to the Minskoe highway, after 76 km we turn right towards Tuchkovo, stopping in the village of the sanatorium named after. Herzen. In addition to the English-style castle, which we talked about in this article, on the territory of the former Vasilyevskoye estate (aka Maryino) there are tall pines, fluffy spruce trees, steep river cliffs and a long suspension bridge. And on the other bank there is a church and the remains of the house in which the Russian writer A. I. Herzen spent his childhood.
Walking time: two hours.
Luzhetsky Monastery in Mozhaisk
Photo: Natalia Sidorova/shutterstock.com
And again we return to the Minskoye Highway, so that next time we turn 6.5 km towards Mozhaisk. The white-stone monastery with a hipped bell tower and golden domes was founded on this site back in the 15th century. Near the monastery, in the village of Isavitsa, there is a holy spring.
Equestrian tourist base “Outpost”
The equestrian club is located right behind the monastery. In the autumn and winter periods, the territory turns into a Russian farmstead. Even those who have never sat in the saddle can ride horseback in the field here. True, only from the age of 16. A park with animals is open for horseback riding participants. Be sure to book a horse ride in advance by calling the ranch website.
Walk time: two hours.
Museum-reserve “Borodino Field”
We leave Mozhaisk towards the region on the highway of the same name and after 20 minutes we find ourselves near the building of the Borodino Field museum-reserve. On its territory of 110 sq. km there are several hundred obelisks that mark key sites of the 1812 battle. Closest to the road are the monument to the grave of Prince Bagration and monuments to French and Russian soldiers. By the way, you can drive the route through the field by car yourself. During public holidays, places on the tour are limited, pre-registration is required, and a QR code may be required for entry.
Visiting time: from three hours.
Route along Novoryazanskoye Highway
A one-day trip can be divided into two days by visiting the village of Konstantinovo in the neighboring Ryazan region. For example, in the Gostishka guest house in Kolomna the cost of a room is 2100 rubles per person, and in the Ryazan hotel “Old Town” – 3200 rubles.
Big Dzerzhinsky Quarry
3.5 km after the Moscow Ring Road along Novoryazanskoye Highway, turn right and follow the signs to the quarries. It’s worth visiting here for a short time to admire the austere and cold sandy cliffs, the blue lake and slender trees along the edge of the shores.
Kolomna
Photo: FotograFFF/shutterstock.com
We return to the Novoryazanskoe highway and after 100 km we arrive in Kolomna, one of the oldest cities in the Moscow region. The cozy “Chekhovian” two-story city center turned out to be inside the remains of the walls of the historical and cultural museum-reserve “Kolomna Kremlin”.
Tourists love Kolomna for its local delicacy – apple marshmallow. The Museum of Delicacies is included in the obligatory program of a walk around the city. In addition to numerous elegant churches and monasteries, new points of attraction appear in Kolomna: museums and shops. For example, there are gramophone, tram or photography museums.
Time for a walk: from 2.5 hours.
Zaraisk
From Kolomna we move towards the region to Lukhovitsy, and then turn off the Novoryazanskoe highway towards Zaraysk. The local Kremlin is the only one in Russia where the fortress wall has been completely preserved. On November holidays the museum is open for free visits, but all excursions are cancelled.
Walk time: 30 minutes.
Konstantinovo
The Konstantinovo State Museum-Reserve, an hour’s drive from Zaraysk, preserves the inspiration of Sergei Yesenin. Blue distances, expanses of golden fields, birches, the aching lyricism of villages – all this is in the places where the poet was born and spent his childhood. During the November holidays, walking around the territory is not limited, but you can visit the house and tea room only using QR codes.
Time for a walk: two hours.
Route along the Yaroslavl highway
We recommend adding an overnight stay to your one-day trip to visit the huge Lake Pleshcheyevo and the city of Pereslavl-Zalessky. For example, in Sergiev Posad at the Aristocrat hotel, room rates start from 2300 rubles* per night per person.
Muranovo
The estate of the poet F.I. Tyutchev, restored after a fire, is located an hour’s drive from Moscow. From Yaroslavskoye Highway you need to turn towards Sofrino. There is a main house and a small park with outbuildings. The estate was preserved during the Soviet years thanks to the poet’s descendants, who set up a center for studying the works of Tyutchev and Baratynsky here. Entry strictly using QR codes.
Time for a walk with the house: hours.
Radonezh
From Muranovo to Radonezh, where Sergius of Radonezh was born, it takes about 30 minutes by car. The main place for pilgrims and tourists is the holy spring, above which there are wooden platforms in the shape of a cross and a water wheel.
Visiting time: 30 minutes.
Ethnopark “Nomad”
Near Radonezh there is a camel farm and a petting zoo with deer, donkeys, dogs and other nomadic riding animals. In yurts they talk about the life and traditions of the nomadic peoples of Russia.
Visiting time: hours
Abramtsevo Museum-Reserve
From “Kochevnik” to “Abramtsevo” – about 20 minutes. In the middle of the 19th century, the estate was owned by the writer S. T. Aksakov, and after that by the famous philanthropist S. I. Mamontov. The fashion for neo-Russian style and high interest in Russian folklore were reflected in the buildings of the estate. Among the spreading fir trees hide a hut on chicken legs and wooden idols. N. Gogol, I. Turgenev, F. Tyutchev stayed here, Vasnetsov, Repin, Levitan, Vrubel and other artists worked for a long time. Some of them even left their mark on the design of the estate. On November holidays, admission to the park is free, and to the exhibition only with a QR code and pre-purchased tickets.
Visiting time: one and a half hours.
Sergiev Posad
The spiritual capital of Russia is located half an hour’s drive from Abramtsevo. This is the only city in the Moscow region included in the Golden Ring. The Trinity-Sergius Lavra is protected by UNESCO and is the largest monastery of the Russian Orthodox Church. Another interesting object in the city is the Toy Museum, where attributes of children’s entertainment from different centuries are exhibited. The main exhibits are toys, sleighs and strollers of the royal family.
Walk time with the museum: from three hours.
Gethsemane Chernigov Skete
Five kilometers from the Lavra is another interesting object of Orthodox culture. It is famous for its underground caves, in which the relics of elders and monks rest. Visiting underground temples is possible strictly by appointment.
Pereslavl-Zalessky
We drive another 80 km and find ourselves in the Yaroslavl region. This city is known as the place where Peter I began to learn shipping. Indeed, the endless expanse of Lake Pleshcheevo is mesmerizing in any weather. Those interested in the more ancient stage of our history will be interested in the Sin-stone, a ritual object of pagan Rus’, as well as the Transfiguration Cathedral and ramparts dating back to the 12th century.
*Prices valid at time of publication
