Ecological Gift of Nature 2023

Arrival to Moscow.

Transfer to the hotel. Check in.

Free time.

Optional: Dinner at the hotel.

Breakfast at hotel.

Walking tour of Botanical garden of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Then the tour will go to the main Botanical garden of the Russian Academy of Sciences – one of the largest in Europe. Its value is not only in the collection of rare plants: it gives you the opportunity to fully immerse yourself in the romantic world of nature, without leaving the city. In addition, here you can satisfy your curiosity: in the Botanical garden you will find areas of flora of Russia and regions of the former Soviet Union, a Japanese garden, a huge arboretum, greenhouses, plant exhibitions. Rest, silence, clean air right in the metropolis – a real pleasure!

Transfer to the eco-farm in the suburban area of Moscow (~100 km).

Lunch at the farm (original farm product).

Tour of the Teterin’s eco-farm (or similar), tasting of the farm produce.

Take a trip to the extraordinary world of nature! At the eco-farm, you can relax in an atmosphere of peace and comfort, take a walk in the garden for meditation, take a horse ride through picturesque places, and enjoy a delicious lunch made from natural products. You will also be able to taste 5 varieties of farm cheese. Enjoy unity with nature and farm life!

Transfer back to Moscow.

Optional: Dinner at the hotel.

Breakfast at hotel. Check out.

Transfer to the airport.

Domestic morning flight Moscow – Voronezh.

Transfer to the hotel. Check in.

Free time for rest and lunch (lunch is not included).

Bus sightseeing tour of Voronezh.

Voronezh is a beautiful old Russian city with a rich history, one of the greenest cities in Russia. A tour of Voronezh will help you get to know it from different sides. You will visit Koltsovsky, Petrovsky, Pervomaysky and Platonovsky squares, Patriot Park, Central Park, Voronezh agricultural University district, as well as other significant places in the city.

Optional: Dinner at the hotel.

Breakfast at hotel.

Transfer to Dobrino village (~75 km).

Visit to the dairy farm of the Eko-Niva agricultural holding.

The holding's farms are located in 8 regions of the country, but the first was the one located in the Voronezh region, near the village of Dobrino. Breeding cows, livestock complexes with free keeping of animals and modern methods of milking, feed grown in the fields of the holding, own factories for processing dairy products and high-quality responsible specialists-all these factors ensure the natural composition of milk and dairy products of Eco-Niva a high level of useful properties, excellent taste, full volume and exact compliance with GOST.
In addition, the farm has great excursion opportunities. Here you can see the full cycle of milk production, from growing feed, as well as learn how to replenish the herd, where milk is processed, as well as taste the finished products (milk, yogurt, kefir).

Lunch in a local café.

Transfer to Divnogorie (~50 km).

Visit to the natural and archaeological museum-reserve “Divnogorie”.

The Divnogorye Museum-Reserve is one of the most beautiful places in Russia. On the geological border between the Oka-Don lowland and the Central Russian Upland, there is a powerful chalk monolith, from which the chalk outliers-divas created by nature itself rise. In one of these divas in the 17-19th centuries a chalk temple was excavated, consecrated in the name of the Assumption of the Virgin. In addition, the reserve preserves areas of unplowed steppe, which is good at any time of the year. The ruins of the northernmost fortress of the Khazar Kaganate, a chalk canyon that has formed over the past decades, archaeological excavations - all this is also located on the territory of the museum-reserve. Attention! A visit to the reserve is associated with high and rather steep ascents and descents!

Transfer back to Voronezh (~140 km).

Optional: Dinner at the hotel.

Breakfast at hotel.

Transfer to the Kamennaya Steppe nature reserve (~180 km).

Visit to the nature reserve and Shipova oak forest.

The Kamennaya steppe reserve is an area where several species of feather grasses are collected. World-class scientist V. Dokuchaev worked here. The foundations of landscape management laid by his expedition (forest protection strips and afforestation of ravines) turned the once arid steppe into a stable functioning oasis. The created system of forest strips is a unique creation of human hands. The research Institute of agriculture of the Central Black Earth zone named after V. Dokuchaev works in the Kamenny steppe, its staff conduct tours of the reserve.
The tour also includes a visit to the Thorn oak forest - a unique forest area, which is almost entirely made up of oaks. The Museum, located on the territory of the forest area, tells about the features of the ecosystem, the history of its development and conservation work. At the master class, you can learn how to determine the quality of oaks, their compliance / non-compliance with the ideal. The eco-trail makes it possible to feel the features of the forest area.

Lunch at a local café.

Transfer to Hrenovoe village (~90 km).

Visit to the stud farm, where the famous Oryol wooded breed of horses is bred.

Hrenovoe is a Voronezh village, where at the end of the 18th century, thanks to the works of Count Alexei Orlov, one of the brightest figures of the era of Catherine the great, was created one of the brands of Russia – the Orlov trotting breed of horses. The count himself was a talented breeder, and achieved the goals that he set for himself, starting the creation of a new breed: endurance, strength, beauty, trotting. His daughter, Anna Alekseevna, built the existing complex of stables designed by the famous Russian architect of Swiss origin Domenico Gilardi. The Orlov trotting breed is preserved at the Hrenovsky and Chesma stud farms by real professionals who are in love with their work. Russia's only jockey school is also located in Hrenovoe.

Transfer back to Voronezh (~130 km).

Optional: Dinner at the hotel.

Breakfast at hotel.

Transfer to Lipetsk region (~155 km).

Visit to one of the smallest nature reserves in the world – “Galichya Gora”.

One of the world's smallest nature reserves was created on the rocky limestone banks of the Don river by Voronezh state University biologists to preserve the population of birds of prey in the black earth region of Russia (eagles, falcons, hawks, owls). Scientists have succeeded almost impossible: in captivity in the reserve, several species of feathered hunters reproduce perfectly. The results of this colossal work are visible on the steppe expanses of the Black Earth, where a meeting with a kite or a Falcon is no longer an event, as it was a few years ago.

Lunch at a local café.

Transfer back to Voronezh.

Optional: Dinner at the hotel.

Breakfast at hotel. Check out.

Transfer to Krasnolesny village (~55 km).

Visit to the Voronezh State Biosphere Reserve.

The reserve, with an area of 23,000 hectares, is located not far from Voronezh. Oak forests and forests, mixed areas, wetlands and river floodplains make up its landscape. One of the most important goals of the creation of the reserve was to preserve and increase the population of the river beaver, which was almost completely destroyed in Russia by the beginning of the 20s of the last century. Today, as scientists joke, every second beaver in the country has Voronezh roots. In 2015, the only two-level bobronarium in the world was opened in the reserve, eco-trails were built that go through the most interesting ecosystems of the protected area. In addition, you can see how beavers are kept on the farm, learn how biologists have learned to breed these animals in captivity, how they are released into the wild.

Lunch in a local café.

Transfer to the airport in Voronezh (~80 km).

Domestic evening flight Voronezh – Moscow.

Transfer to the hotel. Check in.

Optional: Dinner at the hotel.

Breakfast at the hotel. Check out.

Transfer to the airport.

End of the tour.