The Enchanting Seliger Lake

1 DAY - SAINT PETERSBURG
Meeting with a guide at the airport.
Transfer to the hotel. Check-in. Free time.
Optional: Dinner in the hotel.

2 DAY - VALDAY
Breakfast at the hotel. Check-out.
Meeting with a guide in the hotel lobby.
Transfer to Valday (~310 km)
Visit to the Valdaysky Iversky Bogoroditsky Monastery.
A walk through the territory of the existing monastery with an inspection of the interiors of the main temple. The monastery was built in the 17th century on the Selvitsky island in the middle of Lake Valdai. Everything happened in its history.
In 1712, he unexpectedly lost independence and was assigned to the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. The consequences were sad: the cloister lost most of the church's jewelry and even two bells. In 1927 the monastery was abolished altogether, in its buildings a museum, workshops, a hospital, etc. were placed in turn. In 1991, the monastery was finally returned to the Novgorod diocese. This is a unique architectural monument, the center of tiled production, wood and stone carving.
Lunch at a local cafe.
Transfer to the village of Novye Eltsy (Seliger lake, ~160 km). Check-in. Free time.
Dinner at the hotel.

3 DAY - NIKOLA-ROZHOK
Breakfast at the hotel.
Tour to the ancient settlement of Nikola-Rozhok.
The town of Nikola-Rozhok got its name from the name of Nikolai the Miracle-Worker especially honored in these parts and the ancient church of his name, as well as from the name of a steep mountain rising once north of the church and giving the whole hill a look of a horn. In the mid-19th century, the horn was torn down, and the earth, along with specially brought boulders, was used to strengthen the steep slope of the hill, to prevent its erosion by Seliger. At this place is also an ancient settlement, tentatively dated to the 11th century.
Return to the hotel.
Lunch at the hotel.
Bus tour “Source of the Volga” to the village of Volgoverhovye, the place where the great Russian river Volga begins.
The beginning of the Volga is a reserved place, which from ancient times beckons people with its mystery. In the village you can admire two churches, one of which is the five-domed Transfiguration Cathedral, which remained from the Volgoverhovrovsky convent, opened in the early twentieth century, and the second is a one-domed wooden church in the name of St. Nicholas. But the main building here can be considered a small wooden house on stilts, installed in 1995 at the place where the Volga begins.
Return to the hotel. Dinner at the hotel.

4 DAY - NILO-STOLOBENSKAYA PUSTYN
Breakfast in the hotel.
Bus tour with a visit to the Nilova Pustyn Monastery.
Not far from the city of Ostashkov, on Lake Seliger, lies Stolobny Island, on which the walls and temples of the Ancient Russian Monastery – the Nilo-Stolobenskaya Pustyn – majestically rise. The monastery was founded in the XVI century. Nilova Pustyn is a whole city consisting of buildings for various purposes: residential and utility buildings, chambers for the head priest of the monastery and the brethren, hotel, barns, cellars, forges, ship repair workshops, stable yard and orchard. In the middle of the monastery stands a cathedral in the name of the Epiphany of the Lord. You can climb the bell tower, which offers a magnificent panorama of the lake, adjacent islands, small villages and temples.
Return to the hotel.
Lunch at the hotel.
Free time.
Optional: BOAT TRIP AROUND LAKE SELIGER
During the tour you will overtake the largest island on Seliger – Khachin and you will see one of the three inland rivers – Polonovka. You will see a panorama of the ancient village of Kravotyn, in which the Vvedensky church of the 18th century has been preserved. You will learn the history of this place, whose name is associated with the invasion of the Tatars in the XIII century. You can feel the beauty of these places during the “green” stop in a picturesque forest.
Dinner at the hotel.

5 DAY - OSTASHKOV
Breakfast at the hotel.
Bus tour of Ostashkov.
You will see a small but beautifully planned city on a beautiful peninsula, preserving many buildings of very interesting architecture, remaining from several centuries of its rich history. A peculiar feature of the city is the feeling that it stands directly on the water. The Mother of God Zhitenny Monastery in the city of Ostashkov is a modest, beautiful in its simplicity, strict monastery, one of the ancient and amazing monuments of architecture, spiritual centers of the Upper Volga. Founded in 1716, the monastery was dedicated to the main highly revered local shrine – the Smolensk icon of the mother of God, protector and patroness of Ostashkov.
Excursion to the local History Museum.
The museum has a rich collection of fine art and talks about the crafts of the Ostash. In the 18th century, Seliger became the center of industrial fishing. The local fishermen and artisans were well known not only in Russia. Ostashkov boats and nets, fishing boots and knives did not know the competition. They were traded in the Caspian and the Baltic, in Norway and Sweden, in England and Canada. Seliger fish for every taste – fresh and salted, dried and frozen – went to Moscow, Saint-Petersburg, Rzhev, Tver and other cities, and Seliger fish and the famous smelt were always supplied for the royal table.
Return to the hotel.
Lunch at the hotel.
Free time.
Optional: BOAT EXCURSION TO SILVER LAKE
Silver Lake is considered a natural monument: at the bottom of the lake there is healing clay, there is a special density of water and its special purity. There is a legend that at its bottom, at a depth of 50 meters, chests with silver still lie – the wealth of the rebellious Martha the Posadnitsa. The lake is also credited with the ability to promote health and even fulfill the most cherished desire. Those who wish can take a walk through the woods and take a swim in the lake.
Dinner at the hotel.

6 DAY - TORZHOK
Breakfast at the hotel. Check-out.
Departure to Torzhok (~160 km).
City tour.
Torzhok is one of the oldest cities in the Upper Volga. Numerous architectural monuments of the 17th-19th centuries have been preserved in the city, including: the wooden church of the Ascension of the 17th century, the Travel Palace, built under Catherine the Great, the complex of the Borisoglebsky Monastery, the Transfiguration Cathedral, the architectural masterpieces of the 18th century N.A. Lviv with the only monument to the great architect in Russia, numerous residential buildings in the style of classicism.
Lunch at a local cafe.
Excursion to the Museum of Gold Sewing.
Gold Sewing has been preserved in Torzhok since the 12th century. In 1238, fragments of clothing embroidered with silver and gold threads were discovered, which debunked the myth of the connection between Russian craft and Mongol-Tatar traditions. Currently, Torzhok is the only center that carefully preserves and cherishes the traditions of truly “precious” craft: Torzhok craftswomen still embroider with threads containing from five to eight percent of the precious metal. Golden seamstresses use the old “embed” sewing method: a metal thread does not pass through the fabric, but is attached to its surface with transverse silk threads. Museum exhibits reflect the history and current state of the Torzhok gold embroidery and other types of folk hand and machine embroidery.
Transfer to Saint-Petersburg (~460 km).
Check-in the hotel.
Optional: Dinner in the hotel.

7 DAY - SAINT PETERBURG
Breakfast in the hotel. Check-out.
Transfer to the airport / railway station.
End of the tour.

The program is preliminary. The organizers reserve the right to replace the excursion blocks with similar ones, without changing main waypoints.

Our prices include:

• Double accommodation in Saint-Petersburg in hotel 4*
• Double accommodation in Novye Eltsy in hotel 3*
• Breakfast at the hotels
• Luggage handling in Saint-Petersburg hotel
• Registration fees in Saint-Petersburg hotel
• Lunches on Days 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
• Dinners on Days 2, 3, 4, 5
• Transport service and all transfers per program
• English / German / French / Italian speaking guide or assistant for translation from Russian per program
• Visa support letter
• Accommodation and catering for drivers and guides when necessary

Supplementary (for prebooking only):

• Pre / post accommodation and /or program in Saint-Petersburg
• Single supplement in hotels
• Dinners in the hotel in Saint-Petersburg on Days 1, 6
• Boat trip around Lake Seliger
• Boat trip to the Silver lake

* If restrictions are imposed on the entrance to museums for a certain number of people, we can serve group requests with the division of groups into smaller ones, with the predominant use of the same transport (or with a different number and capacity of transport), but with a large number of guides.
** Some museums or excursions can be excluded from the program if circumstances beyond the control of the tour operator require it (time constraints due to covid-19 / bans on the operation of facilities). At the same time, as far as possible, we will offer an alternative replacement.