Yaroslavl, with its "Zero Point" sign, is the largest city of the Golden Ring claiming the right to be called its capital. For most of its history, Yaroslavl was rich and influential, and in the Time of Troubles even became the actual capital of Russia. E.g. the second militia of Minin and Pozharsky stood in the city.

Yaroslavl is an ancient and ever young city. It is located on the banks of the great Russian river Volga, in the center of the famous “Golden Ring”. Yaroslavl is the administrative center and the largest city of the region; over 600 thousand people live here.

Modern Yaroslavl is well-kept and quite festive. Its historic center is protected by UNESCO.

The main place of attraction is the Transfiguration Monastery. Take some time to get on the upper tier of the belfry: the view is worth any effort. According to one of the versions, it was in this monastery that Musin-Pushkin opened the “Word about the regiment of Igor's”, a separate exposition is devoted to the ancient poem. Nearby, in the cage lives the bear Masha - a living symbol of the city. Her colleague on Pervomaiskaya Street, though made of bronze, but every hour it does a fierce roar. In the Museum “Music and Time” you will find antique clocks, bells, gramophones and other interesting things. Children will enjoy the Einstein Museum of Entertaining Sciences.

To get a contrast, from Yaroslavl you can go to Myshkin. 100 km - and you find yourself in a small town with countless wooden houses in the laces of carved platbands. Obligatory point of the program is to visit the famouns Mouse Museum. Then you can study crafts, take photographs of old machinery, and see how flour is ground at the mill.  You can choose for yourself a pair of felt boots! There are many museums in Myshkin. It’s worth finishing a busy day in the pretty “Myshkin Compound” rest house in a forest on the banks of the Volga.

We would offer two Itineraries in Yaroslavl: urban and to the countryside.

Urban

Let's go on a bike ride around Yaroslavl to get closer to this amazing ancient city. Sightseeing bike tour around the city does not take much time. We suggest that you take a ride through the historical center, visit the Transfiguration Monastery, visit the Yaroslavl Kremlin and then, after a short bite, go to Holy Vvedensky Tolgsky Convent, which is located on the other side of the Volga River.

A little adventure outside the city

Following quiet streets of the sleeping areas of Yaroslavl we leave the city. We cross the Kostroma highway and turn onto a dirt path to the village of Luchinskoye, where we can admire the ancient Church of Joachim and Anna (1736).

Next we move along a fairly calm asphalt road and after a few kilometers we suggest having a little rest on Klimovskiy quarries for a snack.

The following sights are waiting for us in the village: the old church of the Icon of the Mother of God - in the Zayatchiy Kholm (Rabbit Hill)  village - and Trinity temple - in Unimer village.

Then we ride up to the city of Gavrilov-Yam. In this small, but cozy and friendly town, we offer to visit the Museum of the Coachman, to get a little acquaintance with the history of this ancient land. Gavrilov-Yamsky Museum of the Coacher - invites modern travelers to plunge into the flavor of that distant era, when the only means of transportation in Russia were troopers' troika. In the building, stylized as an old carriage, there are assembled various coachers utensils, clamps, arches with bells, bridles, horseshoes, a collection of equestrian vehicles: sleds, drags and sledge. Well, the guest room of the museum will tell you not only about the life of the postal station, but also lift the veil of secrets and legends enveloping the Russian Coachers region.

After visiting the museum and having a lunch break, we will continue our journey to Velikoe (Great) village. The village of Velikoye glorified the Yaroslavl land with linen canvases, folk crafts, business exhibitions, noisy fairs, and abundantly fruitful gardens. This is where the commercial cooperation of this region originated. The village of Velikoye is fraught with amazing, in many respects still unknown information about the history of Yaroslavl, about the people, its spiritual and material culture. Peter the Great stayed in village of Velikoye. N.Nekrasov often visited here. The village of Velikoye is the birthplace of many noble people of Russia. In the village of Velikoye you must take the time to visit the Velikoye Selo Kremlin, the Bogolyubskaya church, and also you can visit the museum of potato riot.