Gastronomic Tour (Caucasus)

Reception at Mineralnye Vody airport.
Transfer to Pyatigorsk.

It is only one place in the world where mineral water of different composition is produced in a small area. Here we can feel the taste and flavor of the health.

Ethnic lunch with Cossacks.

Cossacks are people inhabiting the Stavropol Territory for hundreds of years. In the past they used to be brave warriors and experts in fancy riding. Their descendants keep the traditions of their ancestors.

Walk around Pyatigorsk.
Tour to Pyatigorsk Tsvetnik (Parterre) Park.

The park is a historical place, as well as the heart of the city. There is the most important sculpture emblematic of the city — the eagle holding a snake in its claws. Visiting potable well room, tasting natural mineral water. Touring Pyatigorsk Proval, a lakelet of bright blue color in the midst of a rock massif.

Dinner in Pyatigorsk.
Accommodation in the hotel (Mask Hotel 4**** or equivalent).

Breakfast in the hotel. Check out from the hotel.
Transfer to Shato Erken.

Shato is a modern amenity making the dreams of wine-drinkers come true. You will get acquainted with the castle and taste local wines.

Lunch on the way.
Transfer to Upper Balkaria.
Master-class in lamb roasting.

You will be able to take part in cooking ‘Ucha’ dish. According to the old surviving technology, the lamb is roasted in a special stove or a grill.
Imagine that: the whole lamb will be cooked according to an old recipe. And you will be able to participate in this national sacrament in the open air.

Dinner al fresco with the main course of Ucha.
Overnight at a hospitable guesthouse.

Breakfast. Check out.
Transfer to Blue Lakes.

There are incredibly beautiful lakes in Upper Balkaria. Their water is crystal clear with color changing from soft-blue in clear weather to azure in other weather conditions. The still water surface seems to be frozen up in puzzling and mysterious beauty. Legend has it that the lake occurred as a result of a dragon’s fall being defeated by the national hero, the ancestor of the modern North Caucasians.

Transfer to Vladikavkaz.
Lunch and ossetian pies master-class.

Ossetian pies serve as a culinary landmark of Ossetia. You will wonder why you didn’t bake them before, as it’s so exciting and delicious too! The traditional lunch is followed by a culinary interactive session.

Vladikavkaz city tour.

On the left bank of the turbulent Terek River you can find a Sunni Mosque (Mukhtarov Mosque), built 109 years ago. The guide will introduce you to the biography of Kosta Khetagurov, the Ossetian poet, playwright, publicist and artist.

Brewery tour.

If you want to get the full taste of Ossetia, you should visit one of its best city breweries. The beer ripens in oak casks which gives it rich flavor. After touring the enterprise, you can taste Ossetian beer and enjoy your dinner in cosy atmosphere of its bar.

Dinner.
Accommodation in the Alexandrovski Hotel 4**** or equivalent.

Breakfast in the hotel. Check out.

Ingush people refer to themselves as ‘galgays’ – people of towers. The last residents left the tower city at the time of repressions during the Great Patriotic War.

Transfer to Mountain Ingushetia.
Excursion to the tower complex.

With the outbreak of the Mongol invasion, the route of the Great Silk Road was plotted again, through the mountains. The tower town of Egikal is a witness of those distant times.

Touring apiary — the place where honey is gathered.

You will have an opportunity to see a bee garden in the mountains of Ingushetia and get familiarized with the local beekeeping practices shared by the owner.

After the apiary, you will experience the importance of being a guest in the Caucasus. At lunch hosted by the local Ingush family you will try Ingush national food.
Tsei-Loam Pass. Beautiful view from the observation deck and a short walk.
Transfer to The Grozny.
City tour in the evening Grozny.

You will visit the beautiful mosque «Heart of Chechnya» and you will see the city from a bird's-eye view from one of the tall buildings of Grozny City.

Dinner.
Accommodation in the Grozny city****, Local Hotel**** or equivalent.

Breakfast at the hotel.
Sightseeing and walk tours in Grozny.

Grozny is a city-phoenix revived from ashes after so long-run war.
The Grozny Tower was erected in the beginning of the 19th century. You can see the spiritual heart of the city — the Mosque “Heart of Chechnya”. From a distance it resembles a fragile flower and bewilders by its architecture grandeur in close-up.

Lunch in the city.

Transfer to Dondi Yurt.

It’s an open-air museum of national artefacts and natural wonders. All exhibits can be picked up and touched. They have personally been collected by the owner Adam Satuev.

Dinner with master class in cooking ‘shashlyk’, the local equivalent of shish-kebab.

The world-famous Caucasian shashlyk is particularly prepared and grilled meat. It will hardly leave anyone indifferent due to its flavor and fragrant smell! In the suburbs of Grozny, you will be offered a master-class in cooking a perfect Caucasian shashlyk! You will have a unique opportunity to get the «shashlik» recipe straight from the source.

Transfer back to Grozny.

Breakfast in the hotel. Check out.
Transfer to Sulak canyon.

The Sulak canyon is impressive even in photos, though no photos can convey the feeling of breathtaking while standing at the brink of the abyss. No wonder, as it is one of the deepest canyons in the world — with a depth of 1,920 meters! Furthermore, it’s deeper than the famous Grand Canyon on the Colorado Plateau.

Lunch served with fresh river trout in a cosy place.
Transfer to the Makhachkala.
Walking by the Caspian sea.
Dinner of national cuisine.
Accommodation in the Central City Hotel Makhachkala.

Breakfast in the hotel.
Transfer to Derbent.

Derbent is a nice and the oldest city in Russia. It’s 5,000 years old. Its main attraction is a citadel of Naryn-Kala. Welcome to the history!

Excursion to Naryn-kala citadel.

It’s an ancient fortress in the upland part of Derbent, connected to the Caspian Sea by double walls, designed to block the Caspian gates to Persia. The sea part of the wall goes 500 meters into the sea, thus locking the entrance to the harbor. Naryn-Kala is on the UNESCO World Heritage List, with good reason.

Old city.

You can take a walk along the old streets-magals, visit Djuma-mosque, and observe the combination of the ancient and more modern buildings. You can also drop in the grocery market to buy cheese, dried fruits, urbech, honey and jam.

Lunch of national cuisine at the restaurant ‘‘Great Silk Road’’ with a shish-kebab and tasting Derbent wine and cognac.
Transfer to airport in Makhachkala.