Once upon a time, the route between the two capitals was called the Sovereign Road, and traveling along it was not easy. On the way, wanderers were forced to make many stops in cities and villages. Now most of these settlements are located on the comfortable M-10 highway. Including “Mr. Veliky Novgorod” – today a small city with a rich history. Silent witnesses of bygone times have survived to this day: the Kremlin, shopping arcades and other attractions described in this material. And the route includes places where you should stop on the way from Moscow.
Day one
From Moscow to Torzhok it is approximately 230 km, but along the way there will be many pleasant reasons to linger. To see all the points on the route, rent a car on OneTwoTrip, rental cost per day is from 2900 rubles*.
Moscow region
In the Moscow region there is the romantic Serednikovo, where the poet Mikhail Lermontov spent time in his youth, the cozy Shakhmatovo, where the family of Alexander Blok lived, and the chamber house-museum of the composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky in Klin. And next to Serednikovo there are still the scenery of the film city Piligrim Porto. You can read more about these locations at the link.
In total, this part of the route will take three to four hours.
Tver
From Klin to Tver is approximately 80 km. The road here is narrow, with speed limits, but you can drive around on a toll section.
Tver is a small city on the banks of the Volga. There are several sculptures on the picturesque embankment: young Alexander Pushkin leaning on the parapet and a nameless successful fisherman whose fishing rod is sometimes stolen. On the other side of the river one can see the Assumption Cathedral and a monument to Afanasy Nikitin, who decisively steps on the richly decorated bow of the boat. From the embankment we go out onto Cathedral Square and find ourselves in front of the Imperial Travel Palace of the 18th century. An elegant yellow building, built in the classicism and baroque styles, is occupied by an art gallery. Not far from the entrance you can find an unusual bust of Karl Marx. Without a neck, he looks like an ancient Greek god. We end our walk around the city on Radishcheva Boulevard, sitting next to the monument to Mikhail Krug, the legendary chansonnier of the 1990s, whose name is closely connected with the history of Tver.
Walk: hour.
Torzhok
From Tver to Torzhok – about 65 km. The road will lead to the provincial town closer to night.
Where to stay:
Torzhok Hotel – from 2500 rubles* per night per person;
Hotel and Spa “Staroyamskaya” – from 2500 rubles* per night per person.
Day two
Torzhok
Torzhok was once an important and wealthy settlement. The name suggests that merchants brought goods here from the southern regions, and they did not leave empty-handed. And today, several buildings of a small historical center are occupied by the All-Russian Historical and Ethnographic Museum, whose employees study and preserve Russian life, folklore, traditions, as well as the historical memory of Torzhok. Reenactors work in the restored Novotorzhsky Kremlin and conduct interactive tours. The best view of the surrounding area opens from the bell tower of the Boris and Gleb Monastery. In the local history museum you can see birch bark letters – unique everyday notes from the Middle Ages. There is also a gold embroidery factory in the city, which has a museum and a store where you can buy modern linen clothes with skillful embroidery.
Walk with a visit to the factory: two hours.
Vasilevo
From Torzhok to Vasilevo it’s about 15 km, it’s just important not to miss the unexpected turn on the highway towards Moscow, otherwise you’ll have to make a big detour.
In Vasilevo, Tver architect Nikolai Lvov realized his bold ideas. The pearl of the estate has been preserved – a boulder bridge, the monumental arch of which does not correspond to the scale of the reservoir over which it is thrown. The fact is that this crossing was built not so much for transport purposes, but for the sake of conducting an architectural experiment. The architect proposed a unique technology: the stones from which the bridge is assembled are fixed in grooves and held under their own weight without a fastening mortar. By the way, you might have noticed such an unusual location in the movie “Night Watch”. An open-air museum has been organized on the territory of Vasilevo, where objects of wooden architecture brought from remote corners are collected. There is also a sign: you need to find a giant linden tree near the exit from the estate, climb into the hollow and make a wish.
Walk around the estate and museum: from two to three hours.
And you can spend another half hour to go to the churchyard nearby and visit the grave of Anna Kern, the “genius of pure beauty” and muse of Alexander Pushkin.
Valdai
We return to the highway and after 50 km we arrive in Valdai. The Valdai Bell brand is known to many. At the Museum of Bells they talk about how they are made and give master classes on bell-ringing.
Valdai is located almost in the middle between Moscow and St. Petersburg. Therefore, not far from the post office there is a comic sign in the form of a sidewalk stone. One part of it with the inscription “curb” is directed towards St. Petersburg, and the other with the inscription “curb” is directed towards Moscow.
The next point is the Iversky Monastery, founded in the 17th century by Patriarch Nikon in the waters of Lake Valdai. Its high walls offer magnificent views of the lake.
Selvitsky Island, on which the monastery stands, is part of the Valdai National Park. Be sure to stop by the visitor center, pick up a map and a ticket for one of the routes to breathe in the pine forest, wander along the winding paths and go down to the spring, where even at the end of May there is still snow. The park is well maintained, along the routes there are information boards and maps.
Walk: three hours.
Veliky Novgorod
After 140 km we arrive in Veliky Novgorod and stay overnight.
Where to stay:
Hotel Welcome inn – from 2200 rubles* per night per person;
Hotel History – from 2500 rubles* per night per person.
Day three
The first half of the day will be spent sightseeing in Veliky Novgorod, which is described in more detail in the article at the link.
And then you can go to one of the largest museums of wooden architecture in Russia, “Vitoslavlitsy”, 10 km from the city. There are ancient churches, huts, towers and even a mill there. It is open until 16:00 seven days a week. The inspection will take about an hour.
Then you need to drive 100 km to Staraya Russa. You can get into the city’s past by visiting the reconstruction museum “Estate of the Medieval Rushanin”. There is also a house-museum of F. M. Dostoevsky, as well as a building depicted in the writer’s works as Grushenka’s house. There is an observation deck in the water tower of the early 20th century.
You can return to Veliky Novgorod along the road around Lake Ilmen.
Day four
If you managed to leave for Moscow very early, then on the road near Kresttsy you can turn off to Borovichi and drive 100 km to see a unique wooden station, and another 30 km to the museum-reserve of the great Russian commander Alexander Suvorov. True, we must take into account that the road towards Borovichi is bumpy, and this long journey will have to be made back to the highway. On the way to Moscow, you can make a stop at an Italian cheese farm in the village of Mednoye, Tver Region. She is kept by an Italian who fell in love with a Russian girl and remained in Russia to produce cheese.
*Prices valid at time of publication
You can find and book hotels on OneTwoTrip. The service offers more than two million accommodation properties worldwide.
