New Year's Eve in Veliky Novgorod. Bus tour from Saint Petersburg

Brunch buffet.

Walking tour of Yaroslav's courtyard and Torg. It is not difficult to guess that this place was named after Prince Yaroslav, who became Wise with age. According to legend, the prince built a palace here, which no European castle could compare with.

They have been searching for traces of this unprecedented structure for a thousand years, but in vain. Later, barns and shops were located here, along the shore there were marinas where ships with goods were parked.

At times, the famous Novgorod veche, which decided the most important state affairs, was noisy here.

Bus tour with a visit to the Perynsky Skete and St. George's Monastery with St. George's Cathedral. The Perynsky hermitage is located in a picturesque location on Lake Ilmen. Once there was a temple of the main pagan god Perun.

A bus tour to St. George's Monastery, located at the headwaters of the Volkhov River near Lake Ilmen, is part of a magnificent natural panorama.

This is the southern outpost of Veliky Novgorod, founded by the great Kievan Prince Yaroslav, who was baptized with the name George (in honor of George the Victorious).

St. George's Monastery is considered the first Orthodox monastery in Novgorod land. The name of the monastery was first mentioned in chronicles in connection with the construction of St. George's Cathedral in 1119.

The main temple of the Yuriev Monastery is surprisingly harmonious, as if carved from a piece of white stone. Fragments of frescoes from the 12th century can be seen in it. The Novgorod Diocesan Theological College is located in the Archimandrite building of the Yuriev Monastery.

Lunch at a cafe (for an additional fee, optional).

Return to the hotel.

Free time.

Breakfast in the hotel's buffet restaurant.

Departure to Staraya Russa, an ancient Russian city that turned 1,000 years old in 2015! In the Middle Ages, Staraya Russa flourished due to the extraction of the most precious mineral, table salt.

Sightseeing tour of Staraya Russa with a tour of the Resurrection Cathedral and St. George's Church. A particularly revered shrine, the icon of the Mother of God of Old Russia, is carefully preserved in the Resurrection Cathedral, which has been the main temple of the city for more than three centuries.

There is also a unique icon "Joy of All the Sorrowful", which was of particular importance to the Dostoevsky family.

Sightseeing of the Staraya Russa resort. When salt production gradually stopped in the middle of the 19th century, the popular balneo-mud resort Staraya Russa was already operating in the city.

This resort still exists today, and the most powerful mineral spring in Europe, the Muravyovsky Fountain, is one of the attractions of the city. A walk through the resort's park.

Visit to the museum-apartment of F.M. Dostoevsky. Staraya Russa played an invaluable role in the life of Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. It was an extremely fruitful period in the work of the brilliant writer.

Three of his five great novels were written or completed in Staraya Russa: "The Demons," "The Teenager," and the last one, "The Brothers Karamazov." In 1971, a large exhibition was opened in the Dostoevsky House, but the museum was fully opened in 1981.

The museum has 19th–century furniture, all things, books, photographs and documents are authentic, belonging to the Dostoevsky family.

Lunch at a cafe (for an additional fee, optional).

Visit to the museum "Manor of the medieval Rushanin", where the ancient salt-making process was restored in detail. Museum guests have the opportunity to taste and buy various varieties of salt and other local souvenirs.

Departure to St. Petersburg.

Estimated time of arrival is around 22:00-22:30.