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Great Maslenitsa (Moscow region)

OFF SEASON 2024

12 Mar – 18 Mar 2024

7 days / 6 nights

Gastronomic fixed tour

Shrovetide (Pancake week) is one of the most ancient and cheerful Russian folk holidays. This holiday means seeing off a cold and long winter and meeting spring. As for the Christian meaning, this week is dedicated to the most important goal - reconciliation with others and forgiveness of all insults.
We decided to invite your clients to meet the Russian Maslenitsa as part of the gastronomic program in the Moscow region. This is a great opportunity to find out about the history of the holiday, the traditions of the Russian Maslenitsa week, about signs and fortune-telling at Maslenitsa. You will have the opportunity to appreciate the hospitality of small Russian cities and celebrate the most interesting even on the last day of Russian Maslenitsa – saying goodbye to Maslenitsa – a solemn burning of the stuffed figure of winter in Kolomna with russian blinis (pancakes) with us during fun city festivities.
The program is preliminary. The excursion blocks can be replaced with the similar ones, without changing main waypoints.
Day Place Program
1

Moscow

Transfer from the airport / railway station to the hotel. Check in the hotel. Optional: Dinner in the hotel.
2

Moscow region

Breakfast in the hotel. Transfer to the eco-farm in the suburban area of Moscow. Tour of the eco-farm, tasting of the farm produce. Return to Moscow. Ukrainian dinner at a local restaurant. Optional: Night walking tour of Moscow “Mystery of the capital”.
3

Tula

Breakfast in the hotel. Transfer to Tula by train. Tour of the Kremlin of Tula. Lunch in a local restaurant. Visit to the gingerbread-producing factory, master class. Return to Moscow by train. Russian dinner in a local restaurant. Optional: Visit to the viewing platform in the Moscow-City complex.
4

Yaroslavl

Breakfast in the hotel. Check out of the hotel. Transfer to Yaroslavl by train. Visit to the Yaroslavl Museum-Reserve with an exposition “Repast in Yaroslavl style”. Russian cuisine lunch. Visit to the residence of the Empress of the Main Maslenitsa of the country. Pancake baking master class. Check in the hotel. Dinner in the hotel. Optional: Night tour of Yaroslavl.
5

Pereslavl-Zalessky

Breakfast in the hotel. Check out of the hotel. Transfer to Pereslavl-Zalessky. City tour of Pereslavl-Zalessky. Excursion to the museum “The kingdom of vendace”. Lunch with tasting of vendor specialties. Tour of the tea museum. Transfer to Moscow. Check in to the hotel. Optional: Dinner with Wine tasting.
6

Kolomna

Breakfast in the hotel. Transfer to Kolomna. Tour of the Kremlin of Kolomna. Visit to the fruit pastille producing factory “Great Maslenitsa” festivities outside with pancake tasting and Maslenitsa burning. Late lunch at a local cafe. Return to Moscow. Caucasian dinner in a local restaurant. Optional: Bus tour “Moscow by night with a visit to the Moscow underground stations”.
7

Moscow

Breakfast in the hotel. Check out of the hotel. Transfer from hotel to the airport / railway station.

Program

Moscow

1 Day

Pick-up from the airport and transfer to the hotel.

Check in the hotel.

Optional: Dinner in the hotel.

Moscow region

2 Day

Breakfast in the hotel.

Depart for the eco-farm by bus. Tour of the eco-farm.

You will go to one of the eco-farms of the Moscow region, where you can break away from the bustle of the city, plunge into the serene rustic comfort, see and learn with your own eyes how agricultural crops and animals are grown in the household, how farm food is made by hand, which you will definitely try at the great master's table.

Lunch of original farm produce.

Farmer’s cheese tasting.

Return to Moscow by bus.

Ukrainian dinner in a local restaurant.

OPTIONAL

NIGHT WALKING TOUR OF MOSCOW “MYSTERY OF THE CAPITAL”

Mystical unexplained phenomena, ghosts and stories associated with them – all this can be found on a night tour of Moscow. Night is a mysterious time. A time when darkness reigns. You will take a trip to the special places of Moscow, which are shrouded in centuries-old secrets and legends. Take a walk near the famous temples that keep the secrets of the past. You will see old mansions where strange, inexplicable phenomena occur and ghosts live.

Tula

3 Day

Moscow – Tula – Moscow

Breakfast in the hotel.

Transfer to the Kursky railway station.

Depart for Tula by the train “Lastochka” (places in cars with seating arrangement will be provided).

Tour of the Kremlin of Tula.

The Tula Kremlin is the oldest building in Tula. It is called an ancient citadel on the border of the “wild field”, which defended the southern borders of the Moscow principality from the Crimean horde. In 2020, the Tula Kremlin celebrated its 500th anniversary. Today the Tula Kremlin is one of the most visited museums in the country. The architectural ensemble of the Kremlin, in addition to the ancient walls and towers, includes the Assumption Cathedral of the 18th century with a unique monumental painting by Yaroslavl masters, the cathedral bell tower, the Epiphany Cathedral and the 19th century shopping arcade.

Lunch in a local restaurant.

Visit to the Museum of the Tula confectionary and gingerbread-producing factory:

  • visit to the exhibition of the museum, talk on the appearance and development of the gingerbread manufacture in Russia and abroad
  • getting to know the technicalities of the confectionary production process
  • visit to the production shop at work
  • tasting of the produce from the conveyor belt
  • master class in baking traditional Tula gingerbread

Depart for Moscow by train (places in cars with seating arrangement will be provided).

Russian dinner in a local restaurant.

OPTIONAL

VISIT TO THE VIEWING PLATFORM IN THE MOSCOW-CITY COMPLEX.

MIBC “Moscow city” has become a symbol of the new Moscow, the new Russia. No one believed that this was possible, but the outstanding Moscow architect B. Thor managed to build the city of the future on the banks of the Moscow river, just 4 km from the Kremlin walls. You will see the brainchild of B. Thor, designed and built by him from the beginning to the end – “Tower 2000” and the shopping and pedestrian bridge “Bagration”, you will admire Moscow from the height of the observation deck of the upper.

Yaroslavl

4 Day

Moscow – Yarolslavl

Breakfast in the hotel.

Check out of the hotel, transfer to the Yaroslavsky railway station.

Depart for Yaroslavl by train (places in cars with seating arrangement will be provided).

Visit to the Yaroslavl Museum-Reserve with an exposition “Repast in Yaroslavl style”.

The Yaroslavl Museum-Reserve, located on the territory of the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery, often called the Yaroslavl Kremlin, is one of the oldest museums in Russia. The architectural dominant of the monastery is the Transfiguration Cathedral built in 1516, one of the best monuments of Russian architecture.
“Repast in Yaroslavl style” is not just an exhibition of ancient dishes, but a fascinating story about the history and culture of food, gastronomic peculiarities of the Yaroslavl land. The exhibits will tell you what the Yaroslavl province was famous for a hundred years ago throughout Russia: about Rostov and Borisoglebsk onions, green peas from Porechye, the famous Rostov pike and Vyatka cucumbers. You will also learn how our great-great-grandmothers prepared food, what utensils they used in the kitchen, what dishes they preferred, how the tables were served and what kind of dishes they used.

Russian cuisine lunch.

Visit to the residence of the Empress of the Main Maslenitsa of the country.

Pancake baking master class.

The residence of the Empress of the Main Maslenitsa of the country is the only interactive museum of this subject in Russia, it is a unique chopped city, recreated according to drawings and preserved film materials of 1913, which was built in honor of the last visit of the imperial family and Tsar Nicholas II to Yaroslavl. You will learn everything about the customs and traditions of the Maslenitsa celebration, visit the Empress's study, see with your own eyes her Dressing Room with luxurious outfits for all seasons, the Pantry with gifts from other cities and states, as well as the Throne Room with a unique working tiled Russian stove. Also, you will have a master class on making real Pancakes, after which you can taste them at a festive tea party!

Check in the hotel.

Dinner in the hotel.

OPTIONAL

NIGHT TOUR OF YAROSLAVL BY BUS

Traveling through the old part of Yaroslavl, you will visit the embankment of the Volga river, which is considered to be almost the most beautiful of all the embankments of Russian cities. Get acquainted with the rich temple architecture, in the rays of night illumination. Volga embankment-Keeper of secrets and legends. You will learn about the prisoners who built this embankment in the XVIII century, and about the Ghost of Biron: this is where he lived during his exile in Yaroslavl. And on the arrow of the two rivers-the Kotorosli and the Volga — you will learn about the first princes, burial sites of the Mongol-Tatars and the four Dormition cathedrals.

Pereslavl-Zalessky

5 Day

Yarolslavl – Pereslavl-Zalessky – Moscow

Breakfast in the hotel.

Check-out of the hotel, depart for Pereslavl-Zalessky by bus.

City tour of Pereslavl-Zalessky.

Pereslavl-Zalessky is the home city of Alexander Nevsky and the cradle of the Russian fleet. During the tour, you will learn how the history of this amazing place was formed, what famous people left their mark on it, what the city lives today and what is the secret of its special charm. You will visit the heart of the ancient city – red square, walk along the earthen walls of the XII century and see one of the oldest churches in North-Eastern Russia – the Transfiguration Cathedral. In addition, take a walk along the picturesque shore of Pleshcheyev lake and visit one of the ancient Pereslavl monasteries.

Lunch with tasting of vendor specialties.

Vendace, an incredibly delicious fish, is a true gastronomic brand of the city of Pereslavl-Zalessky. After tasting this fish you will understand why it was so favored by Russian tsars.

Excursion to the museum of tea with tasting three kinds of willow-herb tea.

You will learn what kind of tea the Russians drank before the 19th century which saw the speed popularization of the Chinese and Indian teas. The tea expert will tell you about the willow-herb tea, about the teas that were made in Siberia and Far East and when Russian tea makers learnt to obtain fermented tea.

Depart for Moscow by bus.

Accommodation in the hotel.

Dinner in the hotel.

Optional: Dinner with wine tasting (instead of the dinner included in the tour).

Kolomna

6 Day

Moscow – Kolomna – Moscow

Breakfast in the hotel.

Depart for Kolomna by bus.

City tour with a visit to the Kremlin of Kolomna.

On the picturesque bank of the confluence of two rivers, the Moskva River and the Kolomenka, the ancient Kremlin of Kolomna rises. From the height of the walls of the Kremlin, beautiful landscapes of the city and its suburbs open up. The Kremlin harmoniously combines antiquity and modernity. The Kolomna Kremlin is “alive”: on its territory there are cozy one-story houses in which local residents live. This is the only Kremlin in Russia where life has not stopped for many centuries. In the Kolomna Kremlin you can see the architectural styles of different eras: “Kazak” Gothic, Moscow Baroque, provincial Empire style – harmoniously coexist here.

Lunch in a local restaurant (menu inspired by dishes favored by Old Russia’s merchants).

Visit to the fruit pastille producing factory. Theatrical performance, visit to the production shops “Great Maslenitsa” festivities outside with pancake tasting and Maslenitsa burning.

Late lunch at a local cafe.

Depart for Moscow by bus.

Caucasian dinner in a local restaurant.

OPTIONAL

BAS TOUR “MOSCOW BY NIGHT WITH A VISIT TO THE MOSCOW UNDERGROUND STATIONS”

Moscow by night is another city. With all its illumination, parks and monuments, Moscow by night is a splendid view to see. Our excursion is a door to the world of mysteries and adventures. Explore the Red Square, the heart of Moscow, the lively Tverskaya Street with its numerous shops, cafes, bars and restaurants, Victory Park – a huge park-memorial to the Russian glorious victory in the war against the Nazi Germany, decorated with the endless chain of fountains, which are colored at night in bright red. Enjoy the picturesque view on the whole of the city lying below with its peacefully twinkling lights from an observation platform at Sparrow Hills, an area where one of the seven so-called Stalin sky-scrapers or “wedding cakes” is located housing the best and the most prestigious Moscow State University named after Lomonosov.
Besides you will peek into the Moscow underground life visiting the subway of the capital. The stations of Moscow’s subway system have often been called «the people’s palaces», for their elegant designs and lavish and profuse use of marble, mosaics, sculptures and chandeliers. Built during Stalin’s rule, these metro stations were supposed to display the best of Soviet architecture and design and show how privileged the lifestyle of the Russian people was.

Moscow

7 Day

Breakfast in the hotel.

Check out of the hotel.

Transfer to the airport.

End of the tour.

Our prices includes:
  • Double accommodation in Moscow in 4* hotel (Holiday Inn Tagansky or Novotel Center or similiar)
  • Double accommodation in Yaroslavl 4* (Park Inn by Raidisson or similar)
  • Breakfast in hotels
  • Luggage handling in hotels
  • Catering per program (including all mentioned degustations)
  • Transport and transfer service per program
  • Train tickets according to the program (Moscow – Tula – Moscow, Moscow – Yaroslavl)
  • Excursion program
  • Local English, French, German speaking guides or assistants for translation from Russian per program
    *Service in Italian and Spanish languages will be provided for a supplement
  • Accommodation, tickets and catering for guides when necessary
  • Visa support letter
Supplementary:
  • Accommodation and program in Moscow or Saint-Peterburg before or after the tour
  • OPTIONAL visits (can be prebooked only)
  • Single supplement. Please always consider a single supplement when the number of pax is odd
  • Service in Italian and Spanish languages with a supplement
  • Non obligatory insurance of medical, medical transport and other expenses
  • Non obligatory accident insurance
*Should any evens of International or Federal importance coincide with the dates of the tours (such as Economic and Legal forums in Saint-Petersburg etc.), we reserve the right to review the rates and /or offer a non-central hotel as a substitute.
**If restrictions are imposed on the entrance to museums for a certain number of people, we can serve group requests with the division of groups into smaller ones, with the predominant use of the same transport (or with a different number and capacity of transport), but with a large number of guides.
***Some museums or excursions can be excluded from the program if circumstances beyond the control of the tour operator require it (time constraints due to covid-19 / bans on the operation of facilities). At the same time, as far as possible, we will offer an alternative replacement.

Prices

Please contact us at sales@volgabalt.com for Price List.

* If restrictions are imposed on the entrance to museums for a certain number of people, we can serve group requests with the division of groups into smaller ones, with the predominant use of the same transport (or with a different number and capacity of transport), but with a large number of guides.

** Some museums or excursions can be excluded from the program if circumstances beyond the control of the tour operator require it (time constraints due to covid-19 / bans on the operation of facilities). At the same time, as far as possible, we will offer an alternative replacement.

For reservations please contact us at sales@volgabalt.com