From Moscow to Nizhny Novgorod: Hidden gems beyond Golden Ring

Your first day in Moscow will start with a city tour. Today we will discover the main sights of the Russian capital: Red Square and the Kremlin, Christ the Savior’s Cathedral, Poklonnaya Gora, and Victory Park, the observation platform in Sparrow Hills, followed by a visit to the Novodevichy Convent – a World Heritage Site of the 16th century.

After an independent lunch, you will be able to take a closer look at the Kremlin cathedrals and visit the Red Square with St Basil’s Cathedral and Lenin’s Mausoleum. In the evening you will have free time to have a rest.

After breakfast be ready for a short ride and discover the town of Sergiev Posad. It is around 70 km from Moscow. Originated in the 15th century, it embraces one of the largest monasteries in Russia: the Holy Trinity Lavra, which is an important historical landmark as well as a place of pilgrimage. During lunch, you can taste traditional Russian food in the original monks’ refectory.

After lunch, we will set off for Suzdal, an ancient town of the Golden Ring, founded in the 11th century. You will spend the night here.

After breakfast, in the morning we are going to have a sightseeing tour around Suzdal. Discover the finest examples of Russian medieval architecture with a visit to the Kremlin and The Monastery of Saint Euthymius.

After lunch, we will leave for Vladimir, another town of the Golden Ring, which has preserved significant buildings surviving from the 12th century. You are going to have a city tour there, visiting its famous Dormition and St. Demetrius’ Cathedrals and the Golden Gate. In the late afternoon, we will come back to Moscow.

It’s time to leave Suzdal and depart to Murom, the most ancient city of the Vladimir region, mentioned in the “Tale of Bygone Years”, dated 862! Its most famous native is the hero Ilya Muromets, who was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church, his monument you will find in the Oksky park.

The most popular sights of Murom are its monasteries: men’s Transfiguration and Annunciation, women’s Resurrection, and Holy Trinity. The Holy Trinity convent houses the relics of Peter and Fevronia, the patrons of family happiness and a strong marriage. You will learn an amazing story about how, being buried separately, the relics of the saints were inexplicably brought together. In the evening you will have free time to explore the city on your own.

We will start a new day with a trip to Gorokhovets. Founded only 20 years later than Moscow, Gorokhovets is called a living museum of architecture: a long history has enriched the city with real masterpieces of architecture! During a sightseeing tour of the city, you will see the five-domed temples, white-stone and wooden civil buildings of the 17th-19th centuries, provincial Art Nouveau houses. Crowning the top of Puzhalovaya Mountain, the Holy Trinity Nicholas Monastery keeps the relics of St. Sergius of Radonezh, from its walls you can enjoy magnificent views of the city. You will visit the House of Tsar (King) of Peas – the residence of the humorous hero of Russian folk art, where you will get acquainted with national traditions, customs, dances, songs, and jokes.

After lunch, we will travel to a little cozy town nearby Nizhniy Novgorod – Gorodets. The houses in this city were built in the 19th century. It feels like you got into a fairy tale when walking through the streets with these pretty little houses. We will visit the museum of the samovar, a traditional Russian tool to boil water and make tea. Then we will have an excursion to the museum “Gorod Masterov” (the city of masters). There you will learn about some traditional Russian arts, see and buy some unique things and souvenirs. At the end of the day, we will move to Nizhny Novgorod for an overnight.

Welcome to Nizhny Novgorod! It is a city situated on the bank of the Volga river, one of the biggest rivers in the world. It is not far from Moscow, just 4 hours by high-speed train. Get ready for a city tour covering the main sights: Nizhny Novgorod Fair that used to be the center of commerce in Europe, Rozhdestvenskaya street that has preserved 19th-century architecture, Zapochainia district. After the city tour, we will visit the Rukavishnikov museum-estate to learn how the richest merchants used to live.

In the second part of the day, you will visit the most famous sight of Nizhniy Novgorod – Kremlin. We will end this wonderful day with a leisurely walk along the Volga promenade.

Today we will depart to Bolshoye Boldino – a village that was owned by the Pushkin family for a long time. Now there is a museum-reserve on its territory that contains Pushkin’s house, park, and other former estate constructions. There is a well known period in the writing activity of the poet called «Boldino autumn». Pushkin stayed in Boldino for self-isolation during a cholera epidemic in Russia. The poet was extremely productive. He wrote lots of poems and a series of short stories “The Belkin Tales”. At the end of the day, we will go back to Nizhny Novgorod.

In the morning we will depart to Pechersky Ascension Monastery. This monastery was preserved from the 17th century. It is the unique architectural example of monasteries existing at that time. After an excursion to Pechersky Ascension Monastery, we will have a cable car ride over the Volga river. To see the river at the bird’s-eye view is a truly exciting experience.

At the end of the day, we will have a walk through Bolshaya Pokrovskaya Street. It is regarded as an analogue of Arbat street in Moscow. The peculiarity of this street is lots of monuments that depict the ordinary citizens of the city – a policeman, a photographer with a dog, a servant in the tavern, a lady with a child on a bench, a postman, etc. You can also find different kinds of souvenirs there. And now we are leaving Nizhny Novgorod, but taking good memories with us.