The ancient city on the Volga River – Kostroma is located 370 kilometers from Moscow. The city is rightfully considered the cradle of the Romanov dynasty. There are many architectural monuments associated with historical events of the 17th-19th centuries. Local connoisseurs of the region – professional guides will always come to the aid of guests seeking to learn as much as possible about the city of Orthodox shrines, the shopping center of North-Eastern Russia and, finally, one of the most beautiful places on the banks of the great Volga. The choice of excursions in Kostroma offered to tourists is so wide that every inquisitive visitor can always choose a route to his liking.
Mystery of Kostroma
Once in the Volga city, you should definitely try to get to know its rich historiography as much as possible, see significant places and feel the nuances of modern life in Kostroma. A professional guide will help you with this. A connoisseur of the region organizes an educational walk for a group of up to 6 people, which will last 1.5 hours.
Initially, the route starts from the central square of the city, then it will go to the Fire Tower, where tourists will visit the Guardhouse. Passing by the house of Senator Borshov, travelers will hear his mysterious story. It will be interesting for the whole group to take a picture and stroke the bronze dog Bobka on the head. Along the route, the guide will tell you what was sold in Gingerbread, Kalashny, Bolshoi flour and Red trading stalls. Also, the guide will dedicate the listeners to the details of the tragic fate of Ivan Susanin, a native of Kostroma.
Further, the road will lead to the territory of the Kostroma Kremlin. Here, guests will learn why it was demolished at one time. From the height of the Kremlin ramparts, you can take a photo session with views of the river and the city. During the educational walk, the guide will entertain the group with riddles that he himself will solve. The guests will find out what mistake the famous artist Kustodiev made, how to hide the whole river, what the Kostroma Snow Maiden wears. It will also be interesting to find out where crayfish and dogs hide in the local prison and who are called Kostroma elephants.
History of Russia and the House of Romanov
A sightseeing tour for a group of tourists up to 5 people under the guidance of a professional guide will take 2 hours. Even in such a short time, you can see a lot in the city, learn the history of one of the most remarkable provinces of Russia. A professional connoisseur of local attractions will guide guests through the ancient streets and historical square, and will try to make you feel the atmosphere of the 19th century of one of the rare cities that have preserved the appearance of that time.
During one of the historical periods, the fate of the city was inextricably linked with the house of the Romanovs. More than four centuries ago, the first representative of the Romanov dynasty, Mikhail Romanov, was called to the kingdom from the Ipatiev Monastery. Since then, members of the royal family, assuming the throne, always came to Kostroma. In 1767 Catherine II visited the city.
The profile of the Tver galley, on which the queen arrived, is depicted on the coat of arms of the city. The guide will give a lot of interesting facts from the life of members of the royal family. From the guide, the tourists will learn about the Feodorovskaya Icon of the Mother of God, revered by the Russian Orthodox Church, kept in the Bogoyavlenksko-Anastasina Monastery, located on the territory of the city.
Ant: a walk with a secret
An educational journey along the historical street will last 1 hour. The maximum number of voyage participants is 20 people. During the walk, information is brought to the sightseers in the form of an intellectual game, where the guide asks questions, and he, with the help of hints, invites the listeners to find the correct answers.
Kostroma residents call Muravyovka the historical district of the city.
Here guests will visit the places where governors, local celebrities and royalty stayed at one time. Dzerzhinsky Street received its popular name even at the time when it was called All Saints. This is due to the name of the Kostroma governor – Muravyov, who in 1852 – 1853 did a lot to improve the Muravyov descent to the Volga.
During the mini-trip, the guests will learn what influenced the formation of the image of Katerina in the play “Thunderstorm” by the great playwright Alexander Ostrovsky, why Kostroma residents got rid of a lot of money, what role Emperor Nicholas I played in improving the city's primary education system.
First acquaintance with the city
The walking tour will last 1.5 hours, during which a group of up to 15 people will visit the main sights in the city center – Susaninskaya Square, the Fire Tower, Ostrovsky's rotunda, the historical territory of the ancient Kremlin. Participants will also trace the history of the emergence and development of the city over several centuries.
The route starts from the central square, called Susaninskaya by Kostroma residents. Seven main streets radiate from here. Guests will have a view of the administrative, commercial and cathedral center of Kostroma. The group will proceed along Prospekt Mira, which is called “cultural street” by the locals. Further, tourists will see the Fire Tower, an interesting guardhouse and a monument to the first and last guide of the Polish invaders – Ivan Susanin.
The guide will show the Alleys of Recognition and Culture, the Romanov Museum, the Noble Assembly and the Theater. Ostrovsky. The route will end with a promenade along Tchaikovsky Street along the facades of the richest mansions of the 18th-19th centuries. In conclusion, the guide will make a stop near the monument to Prince Yuri Dolgoruky, who, along with Moscow, is credited with founding Kostroma.
Classic Kostroma
Within 2 hours, a group of up to 6 people, led by a professional guide, will visit the most significant sights of the city. The route starts at Susaninskaya Square. Participants of the mini-tour will learn why the locals call the central square a frying pan, see the building of the Guardhouse, the house of General Borshov.
Of particular interest to tourists will be a walk along the eighteen buildings of the Trade Rows and an inspection of the Fire Tower. While getting acquainted with the architecture of the building of the Noble Assembly, the group will find out which famous Kostroma resident it belonged to. Further, the guests will visit near the Epiphany-Anastasia Monastery, hear the history of its origin.
The guide will tell you a lot of interesting things from the biographies of famous countrymen such as the playwright Ostrovsky, the artist Kustodiev and the poet Nekrasov. After examining the monument to Yuri Dolgorukov, the accompanying person will tell you why Kostroma residents are so reverent about the feat of Ivan Susanin and why Kostroma is called the cradle of the Romanov dynasty.
Sweet life
An entertaining walk with an omniscient connoisseur of the native land will last 1.5 hours. A group of inquisitive guests up to 20 people will follow the route through the iconic places where local residents rested and had fun at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries. Guests will visit the Gingerbread Rows, go to the city park, where they will hear stories about how the “golden” youth of that time had fun.
The main time of the entertaining voyage will be devoted to the development of the confectionery business, competition for the right to own recipes, and city establishments in the past. It will be interesting to visit the confectionery, where you will be invited to become a participant in a chocolate making master class. The cost of participation in this event is paid additionally.
Soul walk in the city
A two-hour route for a group of up to 8 people will pass through significant places in the city. Having received a huge amount of information about the large center of culture on the Volga from an omniscient guide, the guests of Kostroma will go from the monument to the founder of the city to Susaninskaya Square, visit the old shopping malls, see the Fire Tower, get acquainted with the interesting architecture of the Guardhouse. Walking along the ancient streets, tourists will hear from a local expert on the region about the history of remarkable mansions and their famous owners in the past.
It will be interesting to learn little-known facts from the biographies of famous Kostroma residents such as the playwright Ostrovsky, the painter Kustodiev and the poet Nekrasov. The route leader will tell you where and how the annual fairs were held and why the main one was called the Ninth. The walk will end with a visit to the Epiphany-Anastasiin Monastery, where believers can touch the myrrh-streaming icons and receive a blessing.
City from under the artist's brush
An educational walk for a group of up to 40 people lasts 6 hours. The route includes a walking promenade through the significant places of Kostroma. You will visit Susaninskaya Square, admire the Fire Tower, walk along the ancient Trade Rows. The guide will take you to Cathedral Hill, where in the first decade of the 15th century a wooden fortress was founded by Prince Vasily the Dark, which laid the foundation for the city.
The participants will visit the Five-domed Church of the Resurrection, erected in honor of the victory over Napoleon, then they will visit the temple complex, which consists of the winter Vvedenskaya and summer Trinity churches. A visit to the Levitan Museum will leave an indelible impression on the paintings of the great artist. The apotheosis of the trip will be a boat trip along the water surface of the deep water area of the Volga, called Ples.
The participants of the mini-tour will see delightful coastal landscapes against the backdrop of Plyos. The cost of the route includes a bus transfer in both directions. Tickets to the Levitan Museum are paid additionally on the spot.
Come, see and fall in love
The route is designed for a group of up to 10 people and will last 2 hours. Meeting with the guide will take place at the monument to Yuri Dolgoruky. Then the guests of the city will walk in an organized manner through the historical center, including a visit to Susaniskaya Square, inspection of the provincial government offices, the Fire Tower, Gostiny Dvor with Trading Rows.
Further, the journey will continue on the territory of the Kremlin, destroyed in ancient times. After seeing the Cathedral of the Epiphany, the guide will invite the tour participants to go up to the observation deck, where from a 30-meter height, amazing views of the Volga, the city and the Ipatiev Monastery will open. Further, walking along one of the central streets with beams radiating from Susaniskaya Square, it will be entertaining to examine the facades of the mansions of the nobility and merchants of the 19th century, having heard a lot of interesting things about their owners from the escort.
The walk will end with the story of the unusual story of the Epiphany-Anastasia Monastery and a visit to the Epiphany Cathedral. Where believers will be able to venerate the miraculous image of the Theodore Mother of God.
Cradle of kings
A group of up to 10 people meets with a guide at the monument to Yuri Dolgoruky. The educational walk lasts 4 hours. During this time, the guests of the city will visit the central Susaninskaya Square, from where they will go to the Trading Rows, representing the arcade architecture, they will see an unusual tower – the Fire Tower. Next, the participants of the voyage will visit the Epiphany Cathedral in the Epiphany-Anastasia Convent, where the holy relic of the royal Romanov dynasty is kept – the miraculous icon of the Theodore Mother of God.
Then the group will move by car to the Ipatiev Lavra (men's monastery). Among the snow-white walls with golden domes, the participants of the route will learn from the guide how the Holy Trinity Ipatiev Monastery was associated with the Godunov family, and why the monastery is considered the font of the royal Romanov dynasty. Against the backdrop of the most beautiful examples of Russian Orthodox architecture, you can have one of the best photo shoots of your entire stay in the city.
To an elk farm and to the jewelry capital of Russia
An entertaining trip is designed for a group of tourists in the amount of up to 40 people and will last 5 hours. The original route combines two journeys of completely different themes. The first voyage is a trip to a nature reserve located 20 kilometers from Kostroma. This is a kind of elk farm, where animals live almost in natural conditions of the natural landscape.
Here you will have the opportunity to observe the life of elk, to see very small elk calves during feeding. The local guide will tell you a lot of interesting things about the life and habits of moose. Farmers will certainly treat visitors to elk milk, which is provided by forest “cows”. The second part of the tour is a trip to the village of Krasnoe-on-Volga, proudly bearing the title of the jewelry capital of Russia. On the way to the destination, accompanying the group about the origin of the local jewelry industry from time immemorial.
Arriving at the place, the guests will go to the Krasnoselsky Museum of Jewelry and Folk Applied Arts, where they will see collections of jewelry made from filigree – these are openwork patterns from twisted or soldered gold, silver and copper thin wires, which are folded into a configuration of products for various purposes. After viewing the exposition, the shop at the museum offers visitors to purchase samples of this rare type of jewelry art.
Yaroslavl and Kostroma in one day
The route is designed for a group of up to 8 people and will last 7 hours. Tour participants can bring children with them. A rich and capacious journey will pass through two glorious cities of North-Eastern Russia. The organization of a car tour involves the use of private transport or a rented minivan for the movement of tourists (for an additional fee).
Initially, guests arrive from Kostroma to Yaroslavl. During sightseeing and a walk along the embankment, travelers will hear from the founding of Yaroslavl accompanying the legend, see masterpieces of temple architecture in the historical center and learn how a bear with an ax appeared on the coat of arms of the city. The traveler will visit the central square, where the temple of Elijah the Prophet rises with the chapel of Our Lady of Kazan.
The guide will tell curious listeners the history of the emergence and prosperity of the salt industry in the century before last. Returning to Kostroma, tourists can take pictures against the backdrop of the monument to Yuri Dolgoruky, go to the Fire Tower and admire the unusual architecture of the Guardhouse. In the Ipatiev Monastery, the guide will tell you how it was possible to persuade and call to the kingdom 16-year-old Mikhail Fedorovich, the founder of the Romanov dynasty.
Wooden architecture
The educational walk is designed for a group of up to 10 people and lasts 1.5 hours. The route is completely dedicated to the Kostroma Museum of Wooden Architecture. Outside the city, on the banks of the Igumenka River, there is an open-air ethnographic exhibition. Here are collected the best examples of wooden houses and structures. Guests will see modest peasant huts and luxurious towers, the facades of which are lined up along a single-lane street.
Here you can see buildings erected without a single nail, admire the two-tiered Ilyinsky Church and the chapel of an unusual structure. A feature of the museum is that visitors can see the houses, huts and outbuildings from the inside. Tourists will feel the atmosphere of life in the 18th and 19th centuries, learn how the peasants lived, what their children wore and played with. Here you can compare the living conditions of artisans and timber merchants. It will be interesting to see such household items as rubel, spinning wheel and so on.
Legends of the Kostroma Trans-Volga region
An educational walking tour led by a connoisseur of the region, designed for a group of up to 10 people, lasts 3 hours. During this time, tourists will pass along the upland part of the Volga bank, from where picturesque views of the Ipatiev Monastery and the recreated Kremlin will open before the guests of the city. Next, the group will visit the Church of the Holy Prophet Elijah, built in the middle of the 17th century.
Along the way, the guide will tell the history of the village “Gorodishche”, give some little-known facts from the life of the boyars Morozov and describe the ancient traditions of the inhabitants of the settlements. Passing through the picturesque streets of Spasskaya Sloboda, travelers will come to the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral. Services are held here on weekends and religious holidays.
After that, the participants of the route will meet with the descendants of the commander of the archery troops in his house. From here, in 1551, Russian soldiers set off on a campaign against Kazan. The journey will end with a climb up Streletskaya Street and a visit to the Church of the Holy Martyrs in the village of Selishche.
To Nerekhta – a city from the annals
A study trip is organized for a group of up to 40 people. The journey will take about 7 hours. Walking through the ancient town of Nerekhta, guests will feel the atmosphere of past centuries. Tourists will see the Trade Rows of the century before last, they will see the Vladimirskaya, Resurrection Church and the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord. After that, the participants of the voyage will find themselves on the territory of the Nerekhtinsky convent, where they can get drunk and wash themselves with healing water from the monastery spring.
After that, it will be interesting to visit the Lavrovskaya factory of artistic painting. On the spot, the guide will reveal the secrets of making wooden toys. Guests will receive a master class and will be able to do artistic painting on their own. Taking with them “author's works”, the excursionists will return to Kostroma.