A tasteful story. Veliky Novgorod – Valdai – Krestsy

Breakfast at the hotel.

Collection from hotels in the city:

• 8:00 Volkhov Hotel 4*;
• 8:15 a.m. Intourist Hotel 3*;
• 8:30 Sadko 3* hotel.

There may be a slight delay in the delivery of the vehicle. In this situation, we recommend that you keep in touch with the guide.

8:40 Departure program: departure to Valdai, a small ancient city on the Moscow – Novgorod highway (140 km). Travel tour.

On the road between St. Petersburg and Moscow, A. S. Pushkin, who had passed through here before, A. N. Radishchev wrote "Who has not been to Valdai, who does not know the Valdai sheep and the Valdai flushed girls?

10:40 Excursion with a visit to the Valdai active Iversky Svyatoozersky Bogoroditsky Monastery, located on one of the islands of the picturesque Holy Lake.

The richest monastery of its time. Visiting the monastery allows you to touch the life-giving power of Orthodoxy.

We recommend that the ladies bring handkerchiefs to cover their heads.

Free time on the territory of the monastery.

13:00 Departure to the "Old Believers' courtyard" in Lyakov.

Most of the residents in Lyakov are "old believers." They not only preserve the traditions and precepts of their ancestors, but also try to tell travelers about them.

14:00 "To the descendants of the Old Faith" – an interactive tour at the Staroversky Podvorye club museum and a fun theatrical program with unexpected plot twists and surprises immerses in ancient pre-Petrine Russia, homely comfort and authentic interiors of Old Believer life enhance authenticity.

Everyone can choose what they like to do.: chop firewood, comb sheep's wool, spin on an antique spinning wheel, iron the linen with a towel and make a charm doll with your own hands.

Guests will be treated to a brew of local herbs.

With every passing minute, we are more and more immersed in the past, listening to spiritual poems and fervent folk songs, stories about ancient rituals and folk games, about the traditional cuisine of the Old Believers.

Lunch at the Old Believers'.

Rich gray cabbage soup with sour cream and horseradish or mushroom soup to choose from, rustic potatoes with mushrooms - fragrant dishes from a hot Russian oven with pickles, bacon and cabbage, herbal tea with pies, stuffed eggs.

And also the grounds according to an old recipe. You can try all the dishes, and after lunch you can buy farm-made organic products: chicken or quail eggs, honey, dried apples, sauerkraut, canned cucumbers.

16:00 Departure to Nizhny Novgorod.

~17:00 Arrival in Nizhny Novgorod.

Free time.

Breakfast at the hotel.

Attention: 12:00 is the check-out time. Room release before departure for excursions (things in the hotel's luggage room for tourists departing by Moscow train).

Collection from hotels in the city:

• 10:30 Volkhov Hotel 4*;
• 10:45 a.m. Intourist Hotel 3*;
• 11:00 Sadko 3* hotel.

There may be a slight delay in the delivery of the vehicle. In this situation, we recommend that you keep in touch with the guide.

11:00 a.m. 4-hour car tour of the city and surrounding area "To the stars of the blue domes".

During the sightseeing tour of the city, you will get acquainted with the Antoniev Monastery, a monument of ancient Novgorod architecture of the XII—XVII centuries, the largest spiritual center of the XVIII century, the Pokrovsky Animal and Holy Spirit Monastery.

A trip to an active monastery for men, learn about the monks' lives. St. George's Cathedral was built on the territory, this temple was used as the tomb of the Novgorod princes. Alexander Nevsky's mother and brother, Dmitry Shemyaka, and others are buried here.

Visit to the current, largest of the Novgorod monasteries – St. George the Victorious, traditionally called St. George, St. George's Cathedral in 1119 (visit on your own).

12:30 Excursion to the wonderful village of "Vitoslavlitsy" – we will learn about the traditions and life of the peasants of the Novgorod province in a living open-air museum. Architectural and natural reserve of wooden architecture.

Visiting huts with a set of peasant household items and tools, a forge, a threshing floor.

Acquaintance with the Novgorod traditions of the Novgorod province in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

13:30 Visit to the only surviving manor house of Countess A.A. Orlova-Chesmenskaya.

14:30 Tasting meeting at the Yuryevsky Podvorye restaurant complex.

You can try our own products.

You will hear a fascinating story about the history of their birth, the processes and subtleties of manufacturing, and various combinations. All products are handmade according to the traditional European recipe and have an absolutely natural composition.

The opportunity to purchase products made from natural ingredients according to old recipes at manufacturer's prices.

An excursion to the Yurievskoye Podvorye cheese factory, during which you will learn how and from what excellent cheese is made, learn how to recognize different varieties of cheese and determine its quality, see the entire cooking cycle through a special viewing window, learn about the history and peculiarities of Russian cheese making, participate in a tasting and become a real cheese sommelier!

15:30 Lunch in Novgorod style at the Yuryevskoye Podvorye restaurant complex.

Salad with hot smoked Ilmen pike perch, rich gray cabbage soup with sour cream, fragrant stewed pork with mashed potatoes, artisanal podvorsky bread, hot sbiten with gingerbread.

16:30 Departure to the city center. Those who wish to stay can return by public transport No. 7, No. 7a (stop at the Vitoslavlitsy gas station).

Free time in the city center.

Independent sightseeing according to the guest's card.

Transfer to the railway station for tourists departing to Moscow:

• 20:20 Sadko Hotel 3*;
• 20:30 Intourist Hotel 3*;
• 20:40 Volkhov Hotel 4*.