Valdai National Park, ancient churches and unusual museums

The best place to start your acquaintance with the national park is the main attraction - the Valdai Lake. Take a walk along the shore, enjoy the silence and beauty.
There are 75 streams and rivers flowing into the lake, and only one river, the Valdayka, flows out. There are about 20 islands on the lake. There is an Iversky monastery on one of them.
In the lake there is a place to fish, to ride on catamarans or motorboats, to go horseback riding or bicycle riding.

The museum is located in a nineteenth-century mansion in the center of Valday.
The first mention of the city was found in the birch bark manuscript of 1151. In 1495, mentions of the settlement Valdai Selishche appeared. Valday was transformed into a town in 1770. It became rapidly prosperous because of its location in the middle of the postal route between St. Petersburg and Moscow.
In the museum, you can learn about town planning, local antiquities and crafts, as well as public figures, writers and scientists of Valday.

• The museum is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10:00 to 18:00.

The first Wednesday of the month is a sanitary day.

Valdai National Park was opened in 1990. It is now under the control of UNESCO.
Most of the major rivers start here: the Dnieper, the Volga, and the Western Dvina. There are more than 20 clear lakes in the park.
It is also unique for its historical heritage. Here are the sites of the ancient Slavs, fortresses and manor houses. There are three ecological trails for adults and one for children.
To visit the national park you have to buy a ticket and get permission on the website in advance.

You can have lunch in the café on the ground floor of the youth centre. It has a pleasant modern design and tasty food. In summer you can take a table outside and admire the lake and the monastery.

The Museum of Bells on Valday was opened in 1995. The place chosen was unusual - the traveling church of Catherine the Great, built in 1794.
Valday has been famous for its coachman bells since ancient times. Legend has it that in the 15th century, a veche bell split to pieces here. The shards turned into ringing bells. And the local inhabitants picked them up and learned to make the same ones.
In the museum you'll learn about the history of the bells and the legends about them. You can touch and even ring all the exhibits.

• The museum works from 10:00 to 18:00 every day except Tuesday. The ticket costs 200 rubles.

The jewel in Valday's historical crown is the Trinity Cathedral, which was built in 1744 by the order of Elizabeth. In 1772, it received the status of a cathedral.
The temple has an interesting fate. All the wooden churches that used to stand here were destroyed by fire. In 1854, a fire happened here again during the procession. Only a few relics were saved.
In 1930, the church stopped functioning. There was a hospital, and then the House of Officers. In 1993 it caught fire again. It took 8 years to rebuild it.

The main attraction of Valday was founded in 1653.
The monastery is located on Valday Lake, on Selvitsky Island. It was created in the likeness of the Iversky monastery on Mount Athos.
Patriarch Nikon on his way to Solovki in a dream saw a column of flame. Then he blessed the lake and renamed it Svyatoe. At first two wooden churches were erected on the island, later stone churches were laid.

• The monastery is open to visitors every day from 7:00 to 21:00.

You can have dinner in the café-bar. Unusual design, pleasant atmosphere, tasty home cuisine.
By the way, at the entrance to the cafe you will see a metro sign! It's probably the most unusual subway in the world. It exists only online, in fact, it's a local guide. You can see the scheme here.

Overnight stay near the Seliger lake.