Private educational trip Krasnodar - Moscow - Krasnodar
Introduction
In May, one of our clients who had recently purchased a bike and wanted to go on a trip wrote us, saying he was a bit concerned to go on his first trip all by himself. He asked us to help him prepare for the road and partially accompany him on his journey. The client is a hard working entrepreneur, about 40 years old, with a serious business, family and children. The bike he had purchased was sport tourist. His overall experience riding bikes was as little as 300 km.
Before our trip began, we had arranged a few meetings with the purpose of setting the objectives, discussing relevant matters etc. We talked about the theoretical aspects, looked through the things he already had for the trip, pondered over the things he still needed to buy. Clothing, tools, etc.
Since the client is a very busy man, it was up to us to plan the route and everything that had to do with it. Of course, during our meetings, he had communicated what he wanted from the trip to us.
Day 1: Moscow - Tula, 230 km
On our first day of the trip to Krasnodar we went to see one of the most beautiful churches there are, The Church of the Omen of the Blessed Virgin. The beautiful church, built of white stone, on the high bank of the cape, formed by the confluence of the Desna and Pakhra rivers. The church is famous for its unique architecture. It is remarkable that the founder of the temple was Prince Golitsyn who was Peter’s I mentor and tutor as well as a relative of prince Golitsyn, a famous wine maker.
Peter the First himself was present at the opening of this church. Next to the church, in the building of the registry office located the eponymous restaurant called Prince Golitsyn. It is the most appropriate place, should you want to propose! We highly recommend you to visit this place, especially from Moscow since it is very close.
We then took secondary roads through Chekhov and Serpukhov, and had some coffee, did some stretching up at the gas station. After driving on the federal highway for about 10 km, we got off and took a road that ran along the highway that was nicely paved and free from traffic right through villages and more villages to Tula, enjoying the green scenery and scents of lilac in the air all around us. Beautiful.
The first stop was planned in Tula. We first wanted to go to the museum at Yasnaya Polyana, but as it turned out, the museum was closed on Mondays. So, we postponed visiting the museum-reserve for tomorrow morning. We checked in at the hotel and headed over to the new Weapon Museum. It is totally worth it so allow for more time there, if you or your children are fond of weapons. Right by each exhibit, there is an interactive screen, with a detailed description for each weapon. There are a lot of unique weapons, mock-ups and displays, dioramas, interactive zones and even a multimedia complexes.
What a modern and interesting museum it was! Two more floors, 4th and 5th are to be open yet. They will feature the weapons from 1945 to the 21st century. We recommend it to everyone and we will be sure to come back again on our next trips. A true paradise for boys. Although ironically, we only saw girls who were playing interactive tank games in the gaming zone.
After, we had lunch at Khinkalnaya and went for a walk around the Kremlin. A small rain slightly spoiled our walk. The next day we planned for an early visit to Yasnaya Polyana after which to take secondary roads towards Voronezh.
Day 2. Tula - Voronezh, 370 km
Since yesterday (on Monday) the museum in Yasnaya Polyana was closed, we headed there right after breakfast and arrived there by 10:00 am, just in time for the tour. We recommend everyone to take a guided tour which lasts an hour and a half which practically just flies by, since it is extremely interesting.
You have to see and listen for yourself, read and research. On June holidays in Yasnaya Polyana an annual theater festival is held, so two big stages are being built there. Highly recommend.
Today, according to our plan, we had secondary road detour to Voronezh. We drove via Efremov, Yelets and Zadonsk. On the way, we checked out the Ascension Cathedral in Yelets and a very beautiful Bogoroditsky Monastery. That day we drove very little on the federal highway, not more than 30 km or so. Traveling secondary roads may be slower but it is much more pleasant!
The next day was dedicated to a visit to the National Reserve Divnogorie early in the morning. After that, we headed to Rostov-on-Don.
Day 3. Voronezh - Rostov-on-Don, 700 km
Today is the longest, in terms of kilometers, route and a lot has been planned to check out. With that in mind, we ordered an early breakfast and by 6:30 am we had left the hotel in Voronezh.
We arrived in Divnogorie and walked around the national reserve for about two and a half hours. You should definitely visit this incredibly beautiful place. If you want to come to Divnogorie on a motorcycle, your best clothing choice would be sneakers, shorts and a jersey. It was about 25 degree at 9 am already in Divnogorie.
Then, a lot of walking up, rest in a local cafe and a drive to Rostov via secondary roads. Mind-blowing views, and the road itself is just like a fairy tale. During the day, the temperature went up to 36 and even 42 degrees! Summer was in full swing, at last. In total, all the way to Rostov a drive on the federal highway alone was only about 250 km and we never regretted it. Approaching Rostov, the highway gets a bit subdued with a lot of traffic.
4 day. Rostov-on-Don - Krasnodar, 330 km
We decided to drive around Rostov Father early in the morning Since it already got over 30 degrees by 9 am, we decided to take a walk and admire the sights on the way back from Krasnodar. That last-night banya feeling when waiting on a traffic light! I really wanted to take a pint of beer and some Shamayk fish instead of driving!
On the way to Krasnodar we stopped local natural history museum. We recommend you to visit it if you happen to pass by. Besides some dinosaurs skeletons, it featured the expositions devoted to the Second World War and Revolution which we appreciated very much. We totally recommend this museum.
Passing by some landings, we spotted another bike that had been parked by the road. We waved to the biker, he waved back. For some reason I thought him to be a foreigner) At the next gas station during our coffee stop, he had caught up with us and came in to say hi. He really turned out to be a foreigner, a Scot. Graham, about 70 years old, an incredibly positive man! Very energizing indeed! He was traveling alone for over five months without having a clear plan. The only thing he was restricted by was the validity period of his visa. He had already visited Georgia, Azerbaijan, Dagestan, and traveled to Elista, Volgograd. He said he wanted to go to Turkmenistan as well, but due to the visa difficulties which he did not manage to solve he was unable to go there. But he wasn’t upset in the slightest))) His positivity could only be envied! According to him, the roads are excellent, the weather is super and people are wonderful!
Of course, we invited him to our first event in Valdai, which will take place at the end of June, 23-25th , the 1st Russia Travellers Meeting. He promised to come. We exchanged contacts and told him how to get to Moscow via secondary roads, turns out he doesn't like taking federal highways either. Then we set off to drive in the direction of Krasnodar, and he headed to Yeisk) See you in Valdai man!
On the way to Krasnodar there is a wonderful city of Timashevsk. It featured a museum dedicated to the Stepanov family. This museum was among the marked places on our route to visit. Some very sincere women work in the museum. They gave us the most interesting guided tour. We said that it was among our goals to visit their museum, and that we were coming from Moscow. That made the staff of the museum very happy and they even gave each of us, as a sign of gratitude, a set of materials about the Stepanov family and their heroic mother. We also recommend this place to visit.
To Krasnodar we arrived in a wonderful mood, even the evening traffic jams and a messed up navigator did not spoil it. We met our client’s friend, washed our bikes and parked them.
That concluded the training part of the route. We accompanied our client to Krasnodar, where he met his friend with whom he was to go further to Evpatoria, Crimea. A week from then, we were to meet again in Krasnodar and start our journey back to Moscow.
Day 5. Krasnodar - Rostov-on-Don, 450 km
So a week later, on a beautiful summer evening we met our client in Krasnodar in order to start our journey back. We drove some remarkable secondary roads through the Caucasus region, the Stavropol Territory. The journey ended up to be traffic free all the way, so we were enjoying beautiful views, quality roads and excellent weather. In some places on the way we saw watermelons already being sold.
Lots of lakes and rivers around with paid access for fishing and swimming. As we got to Rostov, we checked in at the hotel we already knew, located on the left river bank. We headed straight to the Russian banya, after which were were treated with some delicious Rostov crayfish and divine-tasting dried fish - called Rybets. May and June is the fishing season on the Don so you get to taste the most delicious fish.
We had our guided tour of Rostov with a local guide. We got to know the city better and concluded the day by taking a sunset boat trip on the Don. An excellent end to the eventful day.
Day 6. Rostov-on-Don - Voronezh, 800 km
Today was, by far, the longest and the most eventful day of our trip. We had covered about 800 km. From Rostov, via the old Rostov highway, we came to the city of Novocherkassk. At the entrance to the city located one of two unique to South of Russia triumphal arches, which was built by the Cossacks in 1817 in honor of the victory in the war against Napoleon. The city itself features the most beautiful Holy Ascension Cathedral with the tomb in which the heroes of the Don, participating in the war of 1812 are buried.
Further on the way, passing via Shakhty, Kamensk-Shakhtinsky, Gukovo enjoying some very picturesque roads with minimum of traffic we got to M1. Driving through Millerovo, we stopped in the village of Vyoshenskaya, where the famous Russian writer MA. Sholokhov lived and worked all of his life. Having enjoyed an interesting tour in the Sholokhov’s house-museum, we took a stroll along the places that are native to the writer and his family.
Truly wonderful places. We recommend everyone to visit them. We dined near the house-museum and then drove along the Don through the villages in the direction of Voronezh. Excellent roads, beautiful places and magnificent landscapes. We wanted to drive to the town of Kalach, but encountered unpaved dirt roads after Kazanskaya village, so we were forced to return to the federal highway and take it to Voronezh.
Day 7. Voronezh - Moscow, 700 km
The last day of our trip was also extremely eventful. As usual, we left early morning right after breakfast.
The first stop following the service stop at a gas station was the Galichya Gora which is a museum-reserve in the Lipetsk region. One of the smallest nature reserves in the world. We walked around the reserve, went to the beach, where it is possible to relax with a tent. We checked out the local sanctuary for predatory birds. Many scientists, studying birds, insects and plants come to the sanctuary.
We took a magnificent road along the Don to Lebedyan and then through Dankov, we came to another natural reserve Kulikovo Field. Unfortunately, we did not have enough time to check out everything there was, due to the size of the territory, it is very large. A very modern museum featuring a cafe and even a hotel. We went on a guided tour of The Church of Sergius Radonezhsky, checked out the memorial on the Red Hill.
We figured, we will definitely come here on more than one occasion. You should visit this wonderful place. We ate at a local cafe and hit the road finally reaching home via secondary roads. On federal highway that day we only went once and for about 30 km in the area of Venjevo, Tula region.
Conclusion and results of our first educational motor tour:
It turned out to be an incredibly eventful Moscow-Krasnodar-Moscow tour.
We drove over 3500 km in total.
During the trip we managed to demonstrate our client:
- The techniques of driving on Russian federal roads;
- Interesting secondary roads;
- Tons of beautiful sights and attractions;
- The theory and practice of driving a motorcycle, including riding in the rain and in 40-degree heat.
Throughout the trip we have visited 5 museums-reserves: Yasnaya Polyana, Divnogorie, M.A. Sholokhov Museum-Reserve, Galich mountain, Kulikovo field. We highly recommend you to visit each of them.
We especially liked the new weapons museum in Tula and the Museum of the Eternal Memory of the feat of the Stepanovs family in Timashevsk.
The client has gained much more confidence to travel, both in a busy city, and on federal and secondary roads. Well done, man!
