Great Russian Maslenitsa Culinary Tour

DAY 1 MOSCOW

Welcome to Moscow! You will be picked up from train station or airport and transferred to the hotel.

DAY 2 MOSCOW REGION

Breakfast in the hotel followed by the departure for the eco-farm by bus. Today is an exciting day! You will tour the eco-farm! Enjoy Lunch of original farm produce followed by 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

DAY 3 MOSCOW - TULA - MOSCOW

Breakfast at the hotel followed by the transfer to the Kursky railway station. You will depart for Tula by the train “Lastochka” (places in cars with seating arrangement will be provided). Start with the tour of the Kremlin of Tula. Then, enjoy a lunch in a local restaurant. Next, visit the Museum of the Tula confectionary and gingerbread-producing factory: you will see the exhibition of the museum, listen to the talk on the appearance and development of the gingerbread manufacture in Russia and abroad; you’ll get to know the technicalities of the confectionary production process; you’ll visit the production shop at work; and taste the delicious produce from the conveyor belt. The highlight of the tour is the 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 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. 

DAY 4 MOSCOW - KOLOMNA - MOSCOW

Breakfast in the hotel followed by the depart for Kolomna by bus. Embark on the city tour with a visit to the Kremlin of Kolomna. Have lunch in a local restaurant (menu inspired by dishes favoured by Old Russia’s merchants). Next, visit the fruit pastille producing factory, visit the production shop; see the theatrical performance “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: Moscow by night tour with a visit to metro stations: 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.

DAY 5 YAROSLAVL

Breakfast in the hotel followed by the check out and transfer to the Yaroslavsky railway station. Depart for Yaroslavl by train (places in cars with seating arrangement will be provided). On arrival, transfer to Nekrasovskoye. Lunch will be organized in a café located on the territory of Russia’s only Salt island! Next, visit the unique Landscape and Ethnographic Salt museum: you will learn about the Great salt route, the history of salt works in Russia. You will learn about the salt-producing process: the saline solution was extracted from special wells and the salt was evaporated; then you will participate personally in the salt- producing process. Afterwards, visit the salt barn where you will learn about the manufacture of cooperage barrels for salting food products and will be told some secrets and recipes. The guide will tell you how to make the cleanest and the healthiest salt – the black salt - and will give you an opportunity to taste it. And then you will participate in traditional Russian entertaining activities. Return to Yaroslavl for Accommodation in the hotel. Dinner.

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.

DAY 6 PERESLAVL-ZALESSKY

Breakfast in the hotel followed by the check-out of the hotel and departure for Pereslavl-Zalessky by bus. There, participate in the interactive gastronomic program in the museum “The Kingdom of vendace” with vendace tasting, drinks and freshly-baked bread. 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 favoured by Russian tsars. Then the guide will tell you how this fish was caught, salted and preserved. Lunch (traditional Russian menu). Next, embark on an 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 learned to obtain fermented tea. City tour of Pereslavl-Zalessky followed by departure 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).

DAY 7 MOSCOW

Breakfast at the hotel followed by the meeting with a guide in the lobby. Breakfast in the hotel and check out. Transfer to the train station or airport.

*The program is preliminary. The excursion blocks can be replaced with the similar ones, without changing main waypoints