Life in Russian Villages: Our Journey to the Rural Russia

The road was very long… about 4 hours of driving the highway with numerous cars and tracks. Russia is famous worldwide by its awful roads, so tourists coming to Moscow are always surprised by amazing highways and multi-level interchanges. After 2 hours of fast-driving, we finally turned from to the small and lonesome asphalt road. 
There were almost no cars, just trees, trees, and trees. Such roads go on for thousands of miles in Russia. Most of the time it seems that no one lives in this country! Only rare buses reminded us about remote Russian villages that are invisible from the road.

Finally, we turned from this long and lonesome road to the even smaller one that was full of potholes and had no cars at all. After 200 km of highways... we found the real Russia 
 We crossed the river and drive several kilometers more when we suddenly reached the village... I always wonder why people settled in such places a hundred years ago? Have they dreamed of building another thriving city? Anyway, it seems that Mother Nature has won, slowly vanquishing the tiny village and futile efforts of its dwellers.

It was small but nice with a several large wooden houses located in the distance from each other. People in the villages respect their own private space. Fortunately, there’s so much space in Russia that it’s not difficult to have it. 
Moreover, it's definitely difficult to take care of it! The grass feels great in the summer growing so fast that you spend several days a month just cutting it off. Trees scatter their branches on miles away, so you need to cut them and burn as well. Birches need only several years to turn the abandoned field into the forests.

We got to the inner yard and found the space with a fresh-cut grass, some wooden sheds and greenhouses. Small piece of earth where its chaotic nature was slightly tamed!
This couple of seniors lived in subsistence farming with only few things bought in the supermarket that was far away from the village. Even in the Tver' region it's possible to grow a lot of potatoes (our second bread), tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, beats, and apples to cook the traditional food with your own product during the whole winter. 

Golden Ring of Russia for 4-7 days

During first days we will visit all must-see place in Moscow. Whether you're looking to visit medieval monasteries, historic houses, stunning cathedrals, soviet monumental skyscrapers, wonderful parks and more, there are plenty of landmark destinations to visit when you're in Moscow.

The next 2-3 days we will see life in the typical Russian provinces visiting small towns of the famous Golden ring of Russia. It is a ring of ancient towns, which also played a significant role in the formation of the Russian Orthodox Church. They still preserve the memory of the most important and significant events in Russian history.

The towns are one of the best places to visit in Russia! They have been called "open-air museums" and feature unique monuments of Russian architecture of the 12th–18th centuries, including kremlins, monasteries, cathedrals, and churches. You will also see a lot of rural Russia with its old wooden houses and traditional villages.

From Moscow to St. Petersburg for 5 days

There is a great difference between Moscow, St. Petersburg, and all other Russia... The concept of this tour is to show you the real Russia with numerous small towns, pristine nature, abandoned churches and the life of people.

This tour does not include Golden Ring towns! Instead, you will see Staritsa town and Novgorod the Great, beautiful places to visit in Russia!

We will also visit an elderly couple living in a traditional Russia village. We will help them with their daily work - plowing the land (not by tractors, but by horses), caring for the livestock and cooking food in a traditional Russian oven… And surely we will taste some real fresh milk and eggs while they will be telling us about their common life, their habits, and the households.

The itinerary is perfect for those who are going to St. Petersburg. It takes only 4 hours to get there from Novgorod by a cheap local train.

Life in Russian Village: Our Journey to the Rural Russia

What is the daily life in the rural Russia? How the traditional Russian village still looks like? This is a very popular questions among the foreign travelers. This August we visited a small Russian village located in the middle on nowhere that is just 250 km from Moscow.

Read our story! It tells how to travel only 200 km from Moscow and find the Rural Russia!

There were almost no cars, just trees, trees, and trees. Such roads go on for thousands of miles in Russia. Most of the time it seems that no one lives in this country! Only rare buses reminded us about remote Russian villages that are invisible from the road.

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Finally, we turned from this long and lonesome road to the even smaller one that was full of potholes and had no cars at all. After 200 km of highways... we found the real Russia

It was small but nice with a several large wooden houses located in the distance from each other. People in the villages respect their own private space. Fortunately, there’s so much space in Russia that it’s not difficult to have it.

Our friend’s parents live in this village for many years. Once they were typical city dwellers with good educations and jobs. Then they moved to rural Russia just to have their own house, livestock, and garden. They wanted to live closer to nature. To be closer to real life.

When you pass their nice wooden fence, you get inside the flourishing little garden. Actually, it’s not little! But branches of trees, a pops of grasses and flowers, and vegetable patches leave only a few space for a human being. Mother Nature made her way through the fence.

There were also animals everywhere! Joyful dogs barked at the duck that was standing on the terrace looking at the kitten that was hiding in the corner because of the dogs and watching his relaxed mother cat drinking the milk. A harmony as it is!

What Else?

We got to the inner yard and found the space with a fresh-cut grass, some wooden sheds and greenhouses. Small piece of earth where its chaotic nature was slightly tamed!

Then we passed another fence to stumble onto a flock of sheeps. We were about to apologize for such a sudden invasion, when sheeps decided that it’s better to leave and run behind the shed.

Actually, I couldn’t stand and did my best to force them into a corner to make nice photos. It was not easy at all! They were fast and well-organized! Finally, they get tired of me running to and from and hide in the darkness of the shed.

We went outside and have a walk around the village. Our children were happy to spend time there. Fields, a lot of flowers, animals… and freedom! Till now, a lot of people send their children “to grandma to the village” for the summer holidays. What an amazing place to learn the world!

Finally, we got to the house of a horse family… It was REALLY a house where they live. Moreover, they choose it by themselves and were totally free to move into another house.

These were horses of our friends. The father’s name was Earl. It was incredibly strong and big! It was ready to defend his wife and small. We were a little bit frightened even despite it was hobbled not to run away. Petr, his owner, fed them with bread.

In the evening, we returned to the wooden house of our friends to have a dinner. Should I describe how tasty it was?! Fresh tomatoes, cucumbers and traditional bortsch from local vegetables… Mmm, it seems that I started to understand why people move to villages!

Do you want to travel the small towns in the Russian countryside?