The content of the article:
- St. Petersburg
- Moscow
- Moscow region estates
- Gold ring of Russia
- Sochi
- Crimean peninsula
- Kamchatka volcanoes Gorely and Mutnovsky
- Lake Seliger
- Karelia
- Tula and Tula region
A vacation is a great opportunity to travel by car. At the same time, it is not at all necessary to go to another country: there are plenty of places in Russia, a visit to which will be remembered for a long time by travel lovers.
Russia is so vast and diverse that in every corner of it you can find interesting routes, make your trip bright and enjoyable. Traditionally, the list of the most popular destinations for road trips is Moscow, St. Petersburg and the environs of these megalopolises. But in this list you will find Kamchatka and the southern regions - everywhere there is something to see and where to go!
1. St. Petersburg
The northern capital of the Russian Federation is traditionally the leader in the ranking of the best routes for travel by car. This city is delightful at any time of the year, but if we talk about car travel, it is certainly best to go here during the summer months.
The best way to get to the city is by using toll roads - they reduce travel time. There is a paid section between the Moscow Ring Road and Solnechnogorsk, and a relatively recently opened section bypassing Vyshny Volochek.
The M-11 highway is paid, it makes it possible to move at a speed of up to 110 km / h, along the road there are equipped dry closets, parking, but when starting this route, it makes sense to stock up on gasoline for the road - there are not as many gas stations as we would like. The infrastructure is also "lame" in relation to roadside cafes.
In this respect, the free M-10 is more comfortable - there are roadside cafes and more gas stations. On the other hand, there are more monitoring cameras on the M-10 highway, and therefore there is a greater risk of running into a fine by exceeding the speed limit or breaking the rules.
In addition to cameras, there are many patrolling mobile traffic police posts. So you should drive as carefully and correctly as possible.
In addition to the splendor of museums and parks, Peter will delight guests with all kinds of festivals, exhibitions, cultural events. In order to plan your vacation in advance, you should inquire about those premieres of performances, exhibitions, concerts that will occur during your stay in Northern Palmyra.
It is convenient and pleasant to travel around the city by car - there are wide avenues, high-speed ring road and Western diameter. With parking, however, everything is complicated, as in any large metropolis - in the center they are all completely paid and, as a rule, are busy, and the fine for parking in the wrong place is taken here quickly and severely, the workers on the tow trucks do not sleep and do not hesitate, putting things in order. Therefore, it is best to leave your car either in the hotel parking lot or strictly in a paid parking lot.
What to see in St. Petersburg? The main thing is to come to terms with the fact that you won't see everything in one trip:
- visit the Hermitage - the greatest treasury of works of art, not inferior to the Louvre;
- look at the raised bridges over the Neva on the Palace Embankment;
- visit the water excursion "Bridges hung over the waters" along the canals and the Neva;
- climb the colonnade of St. Isaac's Cathedral to appreciate the beauty of the layout of city streets from a bird's eye view;
- go to Peterhof and see the beauty of the buildings and fountains of Peterhof;
- visit the suburbs: Pavlovsk, Tsarskoe Selo, Gatchina.
2.Moscow
Red Square, Tverskaya, Boulevard Ring - we have known all these names since childhood. It is worth going to Moscow by car, even though the city is replete with traffic jams - on foot here, as they say, "don't run over", the distances are long, and there are a lot of interesting places to visit.
The best time to travel to the capital is summer. And it's not just the weather - in the summer, many Muscovites leave the city for their summer cottages, thereby significantly relieving the congested highways of the city all year round.
Arriving in the capital, do not neglect the road navigator - here new road signs often appear on the roads, travel routes change, so you should take care of the availability of up-to-date information so as not to get lost when choosing a route. Also, an important factor is information about traffic jams.
The infrastructure in the metropolis is quite developed and will not cause any particular problems - there are parking lots (of course, paid ones and in the center are more expensive than on the outskirts), gas stations (there are enough of them in Moscow, but try to give preference to an already well-known company), cafes, shops, hotels - Moscow has always been a hospitable hostess who happily welcomes guests.
Of course, you should start your acquaintance with the capital from Red Square, Arbat, Tverskaya. There are a lot of places to visit, it is better to plan routes in advance:
- visit Vorobyovy Gory and admire the city, look at the bikers gathering here, taste delicious food in a cafe, ride a cable car;
- go to the Serebryany Bor park, look at the Zhivopisny bridge;
- relax in Gorky Park;
- take a walk around VDNKh, which began to actively restore and open the pavilions that were closed until recently;
- take a bike or walk along the Boulevard Ring;
- take a ride on the Moskva River on a motor ship.
3. Suburban estates
In the photo: the summer residence of the Sheremetyevs
If the bustle of a big city does not fit well with rest in your imagination, you can, having arrived in Moscow, diversify your vacation with short one-day trips to the estates near Moscow.
In order to make the trips interesting, it is better to plan them in advance - many estates near Moscow are under reconstruction, so it is better to clarify in advance whether it is worth going to this or that place. Here is just a small list of estates that will be interesting to visit:
- Manor Abramtsevo - 60 km from Moscow in the direction of the Yaroslavl highway. This is the place that Gogol, Pogodin, Schepkin, Turgenev visited during the time when the writer Aksakov lived there.
- Manor Muranovo - 50 km from Moscow in the direction of the Yaroslavl highway. Here lived the poet Baratynsky, the Tyutchev family. By the way, Tyutchev's literary heritage - manuscripts, family heirlooms - are located right here, in the former home of his family.
- Manor Serednikovo - 20 km from Moscow in the direction of Solnechnogorsk. The place where Lermontov's relative Dmitry Stolypin lived.
4. Golden Ring of Russia
(Pereslavl-Zalessky)
This tourist route remains highly popular for several decades. There are many cities in the "Ring", but you do not need to go with an excursion - having your own car at your disposal, you can always plan a one-two-day trip, choosing the cities that interest you the most.
It is convenient to start your journey from the city of Pereslavl-Zalessky - 130 km from Moscow along the M-8 highway (Yaroslavl highway).
Traveling along this highway will bring pleasure to the motorist: up to the village of Tarasovka, it was reconstructed into a five-lane highway with a high speed limit, and only after Tarasovka it turns into an old two-lane road, which, nevertheless, is quite convenient for a calm measured drive.
A visit to Pereslavl-Zalessky itself will take a couple of days. If you have the time, you can spend a week or more visiting all the main cities of the Golden Ring.
From Pereslavl you can go to Rostov and Yaroslavl or start from Suzdal and Vladimir.
5. Sochi
As promised, we are moving on to the “non-capital” regions of the country.As you know from the words of the movie heroine, "every person rests in Sochi at least once in his life." There are many interesting places here, especially after the 2014 Olympics. Sochi was really put in order, renovated and restored. Sochi residents are rightfully proud of their city.
To get here, as a rule, you need to take the M-4 highway through Rostov-on-Don. The track is wide, modern, with lots of roadside motels. There are several toll sections on the highway, which will be more expensive to go around than to pay. A trip to the resort south is not cheap, it is better to plan a budget in advance and put in it an amount for unexpected additional expenses.
Sochi is famous for its parks, they are really worth admiring: the yew and boxwood grove, the Sochi arboretum, the Southern Cultures Park - this is a real exotic for northern tourists, the opportunity to take great photos and just breathe in the clean fragrant air of the southern parks.
Autotourists will also be interested in ski resorts - Krasnaya Polyana, Rosa Khutor. The cable car ride will not leave you indifferent!
6. Crimean peninsula
In the photo: Crimea, Swallow's Nest
Crimea is notable for the fact that there seem to be no uninteresting places in it. Having entered the peninsula through the Kerch bridge, just move along the coast, visiting towns and villages along the way, up to Sevastopol.
From here you can start excursions in the mountainous Crimea - towards Bakhchisarai, Chufut-Kale and Mangup-Kale. There are hundreds of routes in Crimea, and you will not be able to choose one to “embrace the immense”. Therefore, plan your trip in advance, draw up a route map - and off you go!
Palaces, fortresses, parks - Crimea is infinitely diverse and interesting, you just need to be able to consider its beauty behind the influx of the same travel lovers. By the way, precisely because of the large flow of tourists, if you want to see not only the sea and the beach, you should go here in May or early autumn, when the bulk of the visitors have not yet arrived or have already left, taking the children away by the beginning of the school year.
Do not forget that the cost of gasoline on the peninsula is one of the highest in the country... However, there is no shortage of gas stations here. The roads are being actively restored, but they are still far from perfect.
If you have a desire to climb the mountains by car, be careful: it is best to go to such places in a four-wheel drive car. There are frequent cases when, after rains on the plateau under the hot southern sun, the top layer of clay is grasped by a crust, under which one cannot suspect dry mud, and it is easy to slip in it, having fallen belly deep. The winch is an essential piece of equipment!
7. Kamchatka volcanoes Gorely and Mutnovsky
Photo: Gorely volcano, Kamchatka
This route is for true wildlife fans. The beauty of Kamchatka is undeniable, but the roads ... with them, the situation is much sadder than with natural beauties.
However, this does not bother real fans of the automotive extreme. As a rule, travelers from the European part of Russia prefer to get to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky by any means, rent a car here and travel on it.
You need to leave the city in a southerly direction through Paratunka, early in the morning - in this case, you can have time to make a trip in one day. The road goes mainly on a dirt road.
It is better to climb to the top of Gorely volcano on foot, leaving the car at the foot. The beauty of mountain passes and hills is a worthy reward for persistent travelers!
8. Lake Seliger
And again we return to the European part of the country. This time - outdoor recreation near Lake Seliger between St. Petersburg and Moscow. This trip is suitable for those who like to spend time in the open air, spend the night in a tent.
Guarded parking is abundant here, so you can drive to the place, leave your car in the parking lot and go with your camping equipment in the bosom of nature.
9. Karelia
(Karelia, wooden architecture)
We climb even further north, to the Republic of Karelia - a uniquely beautiful place in the country. Most often, residents of St. Petersburg and the cities closest to the northern capital come here, but even those who decide to get here from more distant parts of the country will not be disappointed.
From St. Petersburg in this direction there is the P-121 highway. The roads in this region are decent, so there shouldn't be any problems with getting around.
One of the most beautiful places in Karelia is the Marble Canyon in Ruskeala Park. These places are truly a photographer's dream. You can leave your car, take a boat and spend half a day on a boat trip.
10. Tula and Tula region
Tula closes our list not because it is not as interesting here as in other places, but simply because the list - only a dozen - is not able to accommodate a lot of other interesting places for a car trip.
Routes M-4 and M-2 lead to the region. At the word "Tula" the name of Leo Tolstoy and Yasnaya Polyana first of all come to mind. The atmosphere of the estate where the great novelist lived amazes and impresses not only fans of the writer's literary talent, but also nature lovers.
Also in the Tula region, you can choose a route around the estates. The natural historical and artistic reserve-museum of the artist Polenov (Polenovo estate) will allow you to fully immerse yourself in the spirit of the Oka expanses, wander through the forests, and take a horse ride.
Conclusion
It is perhaps impossible to describe all the variety of places where you can go on a road trip in our country. We have told only about the most striking routes. At the same time, for sure, travelers will name a lot of places that were not included in this list, but are unique, inimitable, interesting. Well, there are many roads in Russia, all that remains is to wish our auto travelers a happy journey!
