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Region: Central Russia
Activity: biking
Season: June - August.
Ourbike trip takes you on a cultural and historic journey through the Russian heartland.
Experience the quiet, pastoral life of the Russian countryside, visit with local villagers, enjoy the forest, fields, lakes and rivers, and relax to a slower, peaceful pace.
On the way, you can bike at your own pace and ride in our support van, that is always with us, if you get tired. The van will carry all gear and belongings.
The Golden Ring, southeast of Moscow, is an ancient ring of historic Russian cities beginning with Vladimir in the south and fanning out northward. Our route takes us through cities and villages of old Muscovy, set by rivers which linked the Baltic with the Black Sea and Byzantium, the center of the world as it was then. Many of these cities were flourishing commercial centers developed from pre-Slav tribal settlements, and were in regular trading contact with Constantinople and the western world before the Tatar- Mongol invasion interrupted their lives.
Most of the stone buildings have survived from the Middle Ages. Nearly every city of the Golden Ring has a citadel -- a Kremlin -- with a church, often called a cathedral, at its center.
Itinerary:
Day 01. 08/08. Nizhny Novgorod - Suzdal
Departure from our office in Nizhniy Novgorod at 09:00 a.m. Transfer to Bogolyubovo by shuttle bus. Start cycling to Church of Intercession Upon Nerl– site of the oldest church in Russia. Picnic-lunch. Bycicle ride to Suzdal, 30 km. Cycling throught peacefull landscape of Russian villages and fields full with summer flowers. You choose your own cycling pace, and the bus is always at your disposal if you feel yourself tired. Overnight at hotel “Pushkarskaya Sloboda”.
Day 02. 09/08 Suzdal
Suzdal. Sightseeing at the Spaso-Yevfimiev Monastery (16th century), the Kremlin with the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin (13th century), the Museum of old Russian wooden architecture. Suzdal is a a picturesque green town, where you can at the same time feel the russian country life and enjoy walks around fairy tale dome convents. Inside Suzdal the atmosphere is as if nothing had changed since the nineteenth century, goats, chicken and cows graze freely next to the kremlin and monasteries. The hilly green town, that looks more like a village, is very seducing, walking around is a pleasure, the monasteries offer dreaming views. Lunch in a restaurant. Cycling 34 km.Camping on the lakeside.
Day 03. 10/08 Countryside
Cycling all day, 54 km through small villages and green fields in the Russian countryside. You will enjoy views. Lunch on the riverside. Overnight at camping, near Smekhrovskoye Lake .
Day 04. 11/08 Palekh
After nutritious morning breakfast start cycling to Palekh – a small provincial town famouse for its handicrafts – laquered miniatures. Lunch at the countryside. Overnight at Kovcheg Hotel. The is about 88 km, part of it we travel by bus.
Day 05. 12/08. Palekh - Plyos
Bus to Plyos. Sightseeing at the Museum of Levitan, a Russian landscape painter. Palkh sightseeing in the morning. Cycling 60 km. Lunch at the countryside. Transfer by bus to Plyos. Hotel “Fortezia-Rus”, on the Volga river. Dinner at the yaucht club restaurant.
Day 06. 13/08. Plyos - Yaroslavl
All day we travel by bus. Visiting art galleries, museums. Town of Plyos is famous for its picturesque lanscape and was frequently visited by great russian painters. Transfer to Kostroma (68 km). Sightseeing tour to 16-century Ipatyevsky Monastery. Lunch in a restaurant. Transfer to Yaroslavl. Preceded by Viking sites such as Timerevo from the 8th or 9th centuries, the city is said to have been founded in 1010. In the 17th century it was Russia's second largest city, and for a time, the country's de facto capital. Overnight at Volzhskaya Zhemchuzhina Hotel.
Day 07. 14/08. Yaroslavl' - Uglich
Morning sightseeing, visiting Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery. Transfer to Uglich by bus, part of road will be covered by bycicle. Lunch at the countryside. Overnight at Hotel Moskva.
Day 08. 15/08. Uglich - Rostov
Town sightseeing. Start cycling to Rostov Velikiy. Lunch at the countryside. Today we visit Borisoglebsky Monastery. Overnight at a traditional russian guesthouse. Dinner in the Kremlin.
Day 09. 16/08. Rostov - Pereslavl-Zalessky
Rostov. Sightseeing at the Kremlin and Metropolitan's Residence (16th century), the Cathedral of Dormition (1162). Great view of Lake Nero. Bus to Pereslavl-Zalessky. Sightseeing at Goritsky Monastery (14th century), the Botik Museum. Bike & bus, 105 km. Overnight at Lake Plesheyevo.
Day 10. 17/08. Pereslavl-Zalessky - Sergiyev Posad - Nizhny Novgorod
Early transfer to Sergiev-Posad (70 km). Sightseeing, visiting Troitze-Sergieva (Trinity) Lavra. Lunch at some restaurant. Transfer to Aleksandrov, 60 km, by bus. Kreml sightseeing – the former residence of Ivan the Terrible. Transfer to Vladimir. Overnight at Monomakh Hotel.
Day 11. 18/08. After breakfast city sightseeing. Vladimir was one of the medieval capitals of Russia, and two of its cathedrals are a World Heritage Site.After lunch transfer to Nizhniy Novgorod or Moscow.
End of tour.
Tour cost : from USD 1000
Tour cost includes: all bus transfers as per itinerary, double and single accommodation as per itinerary, breakfasts, lunches and dinners at the countryside, all entrance fees, bycicle rent, camping equipment, expert leadership.
Tour cost excludes: fees for photo and video inside historical sites. Lunches and dinners in restaurants, alcoholic and soft beverages, personal expenses.
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