by Options for every taste: from a weekend trip from Moscow to a week-long vacation on the other side of the country. -avtoputeshestvija-po-rocsii-ad0877f.png” alt=”7 interesting routes for autotravel in Russia” />
Ekaterina Antonova
Ekaterina Antonova Customer Experience Director of OneTwoTrip travel planning service.
How about traveling by car in Russia? Now is a great time for this, besides, by car you can get to places where there are fewer tourists. It's also inexpensive, especially if you bring friends with you.
1. Merchant Ring
- Duration: 5 days.
- Length: about 640 km from Moscow and back.
- Itinerary:from Moscow go to Borovsk, then drive to Kaluga and stop for the night. Then Przemysl, then – Kozelsk and one more overnight stay. Then we pass Belev, Odoev, Krapivna. Not far from these points, you can choose a country hotel. We arrive in Yasnaya Polyana, make a stop in Tula, and head back to the capital.
This is a wonderful route through small towns and picturesque villages of the Kaluga and Tula regions. Along the way, you will admire not only old houses and beautiful churches, but also the landscapes of central Russia.
Separate advantages of the route are rather short journeys (no more than two hours on the way) and good quality of roads, especially in the Kaluga region. If you don’t stop anywhere for a long time, you can drive around all the points in a weekend, but we still advise you to extend the trip to five days and spend at least a few hours in the beautiful estate of Leo Tolstoy. There you can visit one of the excursions, where the guide will tell you about the life of the writer, take a walk in the park and try the famous Ankovsky pie. The museum at the estate regularly holds exhibitions and other interesting events – the schedule can be found on the official website.
2. Karelia
- Duration: 12 days.
- Length: about 2,500 km from Moscow and back.< /li>
- Itinerary:from Moscow to St. Petersburg by car (7 hours on the way) or by train. If you chose the second option, you can rent a car in St. Petersburg. And then a long march awaits you: first 9 hours to Belozersk, then 7 hours to Petrozavodsk. But after that you can slowly go around all the local sights and beauties.
Karelia attracts a huge number of Russian tourists this summer – and it is not surprising, there really is something to see here. We recommend starting your acquaintance with the region from its capital, Petrozavodsk: spend at least a couple of days here. From here it is also convenient to get to the island of Kizhi (2 hours by car to the village of Velikaya Guba, and from there by water taxi). After Petrozavodsk, keep your way to Kondopoga and see not only the city, but also its surroundings (Kivach waterfall and Lake Onega). And then visit one of the main attractions of the region – the mountain park “Ruskeala” in a former marble quarry. You can get here from Kondopoga in 4 hours.
Spend the night in neighboring Sortavala, and then start your journey home. If you are going to St. Petersburg to drop off your rental car, please allow three and a half hours. And you can go to Moscow through Veliky Novgorod (7 hours) and stay there for a day.
3. Volga Region
- Duration: 14 days.
- Length: about 2 370 km from Moscow and back.
- Itinerary:leave Moscow and go to Vladimir (first stop), then to Nizhny Novgorod (stop for the day). Then, according to the plan, Kazan – you can spend 1-2 days here, depending on your desire. Next – Ulyanovsk and Samara. We suggest going back through Penza and Ryazan.
In terms of saturation with excursions and sights, this route will give odds to the traditional Golden Ring: what are Nizhny Novgorod and the beautiful Kazan! We advise you to stay in each city for at least one day in order to have time to leisurely see all the most interesting things and not get too tired from the road. You can also make small stops along the way – for example, between Vladimir and Nizhny Novgorod, stop by Kovrov, and on the way to Kazan, see Cheboksary.
Transfers between cities take from 3 to 5 hours. The longest is from Penza to Ryazan, but the path from Nizhny Novgorod to Kazan is not a short one, so choose a pace that is comfortable for you. If there is no hurry, the trip will take about two weeks.
4. Krasnodar Territory
- Duration: 14 days.
- Length: about 3,300 km from Moscow and back.< /li>
- Itinerary:the road from Moscow to Krasnodar will take about 16 hours by car, so it is better to take your time and make a stop in Voronezh or Rostov-on-Don. And then you will have a tour of the resorts of the Azov and Black Seas: the village of Golubitskaya, Taman, Anapa and Gelendzhik.
Let's go to the sea! If there are two drivers in the car, then even a long journey to Krasnodar will not seem difficult. Or, on the way, you can relax and get acquainted, for example, with Voronezh – but keep in mind that you will probably want to stay in the city for at least a day. Krasnodar is 10 hours away.
And then you can choose resorts to your taste. We recommend starting with a tour of the Sea of u200bu200bAzov – first get to the village of Golubitskaya, from there go to Kuchugury and Taman. It is convenient to get to Anapa from Taman.
Do not forget to stop in Vityazevo along the way – the village is considered one of the most picturesque places on the Black Sea coast. You can also relax there for a couple of days, sunbathe and swim – there are a lot of tourists in Anapa and Gelendzhik this year. You can return to Krasnodar through Adygeysk. Set aside a couple of days to take a break from such an active vacation and gain strength before the road home – and back to Moscow.
5. Altai, Chuisky tract
- Duration: 6–7 days.
- Length: about 1,800 km from Novosibirsk and back .
- Itinerary:get to Novosibirsk by plane, rent a car right at Tolmachevo airport and set off on a journey through the picturesque places of the region, starting from Gorno-Altaisk.
The Chuisky tract is considered one of the most beautiful highways in Russia — besides, it is quite comfortable even for novice drivers. For almost the entire length, you will find good asphalt, markings, places to stop and fenders. However, to see all the sights, many of which are located in the surrounding mountains, it is worth renting an SUV or crossover.
Start your journey with a long drive to Gorno-Altaisk (6 hours). Then all the most interesting awaits you: not far from the city are the Tavdinsky caves, the Seminsky pass, Mount Chertov finger and other local beauties. Be sure to take the time to see the famous petroglyphs – some are located right next to the road. Admire the rivers and mountain scenery. If desired, you can drive to the very border with Mongolia. Exploring the sights in relaxed mode will take approximately three days.
On the way back, take some rest at the Manzherok mountain resort near Gorno-Altaysk – there is something to do there both in winter and in summer. And then return to Novosibirsk. If six hours on the road does not appeal to you, make a stop in Novoaltaysk.
6. Baikal
- Duration: 7 days.
- Length:about 800 km from Irkutsk and back.
- Itinerary: first you need to fly to Irkutsk, rent a car there and go to Listvyanka and Olkhon.
- Duration: 8 days.
- Length:about 1,050 km from Volgograd and back.
- Itinerary: fly to Volgograd, pick up a car at the airport. You can spend the day in Volgograd, and then go to Elista and the surrounding area. We recommend going back through Astrakhan.
August and early September are a great time to travel to Baikal: during this period it is the warmest here, and there is not much rain yet. If you wish, you can leave directly from Moscow, but then get ready to spend at least three days on the road in one direction. We offer a faster option – with a flight to Irkutsk. It is best to rent an SUV, because the roads around the lake are not very good.
Spend the first couple of days on vacation in the village of Listvyanka on the shores of Lake Baikal – there is everything for the comfort of tourists. And then go through Irkutsk to the local pearl – Olkhon Island. There is a ferry going there in the summer. Since the place is quite popular, there can be a queue at the crossing, so allow about 6 hours for the road.
You will definitely want to stay on Olkhon longer – keep this in mind when buying air tickets. Three or four days is enough to drive around all the main beauties of the island: capes, lakes, rocks. We recommend staying in the village of Khuzhir or the village of Kharantsy.
7. Kalmykia
Kalmykia is an exotic corner of Russia, and getting there from Moscow is not so difficult: only 2 hours by plane to Volgograd and 4 hours by car to Elista. We advise you to spend the first day in the hero city – to relax and see the main sights. And on the second day, go along the P221 highway to the capital of Kalmykia.
Spend at least two days in Elista. In the city, be sure to visit the Golden Abode of Buddha Shakyamuni with a museum of Buddhist history and the older Buddhist temple Syakyusn-Syume. The Seven Days Pagoda and the Golden Gate are also worthy of your Instagram page*. If you do not put a geotag, no one will guess that you did not leave Russia.
Go back to Volgograd via Astrakhan to extend your trip and see the natural attractions of Kalmykia: you will meet dunes, dunes and lakes. Formally, the road from Elista to Astrakhan takes about 4 hours, but plan on the trip for a whole day so that you can safely stop along the way – take a walk and take a photo. The city on the Volga itself also deserves attention and a stop for at least one day. Volgograd Airport is 6 hours away.
*Meta Platforms Inc. activities. and its social networks Facebook and Instagram is prohibited in the territory of the Russian Federation.
