«ON THE TRAIL OF LEO TOLSTOY» MOSCOW AND YASNAYA POLYANA

Tour program

• Day 1

  MOSCOW

  Arrival in Moscow and transfer to the hotel.

• Day 2

  YASNAYA POLYANA

  07:30 Departure to Leo Tolstoy's estate in Yasnaya Polyana. 11:00 Arrival and visit of the famous estate of Leo Tolstoy in Yasnaya Polyana village, located not far from the city of Tula. We will embark on a tour of the estate grounds with a visit to the Tolstoy family house. The estate was founded in the 17th century and belonged first to the Kartsev family, then to the Volkonsky and Tolstoy families. Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (known in the West as Leo Tolstoy) was born here on August 28, 1828, and it is a place where he lived and worked throughout his life (War and Peace, Anna Karenina and many other works were written in Yasnaya Polyana), and his grave is also located there. The estate formally received the official status of a museum in 1921, when it was administered by his daughter Alexandra Tolstaya. The museum complex consists of several houses: the writer's mansion, a school for peasant children, outbuildings, stables. The buildings themselves are surrounded by massive woods and gardens. There is also a large park nearby with where the grave of the great writer is located. 14:00 Free time for lunch. 15:00 Departure for Moscow (arrival in Moscow approx. 19.00)

  

  

  

  

• Day 3

  LEO TOLSTOY'S HOUSE

  09:00 Departure for a panoramic city tour. Today you will go on a sightseeing tour of Moscow's most interesting and famous sights. We will take a stroll around the Red Square, seeing the Kremlin Walls, the Lenin Mausoleum, the GUM department store and St. Basil's Cathedral. We will proceed to walk along the wide radial avenues and the famous "rings" that embrace the city, see the majestic Cathedral of Christ the Savior and the renowned Bolshoi Theatre. 13.00 Free time for lunch. 14.00 Visit to Leo Tolstoy's house. At 21 Khamovniki Street, which today bears his name, Tolstoy bought this simple turn-of-the-century-style wooden house in 1882, in order to spend the winter in Moscow. Leo Tolstoy lived in this house for almost twenty years. From 1882 to 1901 the house was rebuilt and furnished according to the writer's own instructions, so a visit to the museum provides a good insight into the way of life of Leo Tolstoy and his family, their tastes, customs and traditions. It is undoubtedly a museum that aims to reconstruct Tolstoy’s life with extreme preciseness, as well as being a place dedicated and closely linked to the writer's creations. Free time in the evening.

  

  

  

  

• Day 4

  MOSCOW

  09.00 Departure for the visit to Kremlin. The administrative and religious centre of the city, the Kremlin is the heart not only of the capital, but of Russia in its entirety, being one of the most well-known places of Moscow. It is also a unique historical monument in and of itself, declared a World Heritage Site. We will visit Kremlin’s grounds and enter two of cathedrals located within. 13.00 Free time for lunch. 14.00 A tour of Moscow's famous "Underground Palaces" awaits you. Moscow subway stations are known all over the world for their beauty. Originally built with the idea of becoming Palaces for the People, they represent various aspects of Russian architecture and culture, along with the nations that came together to form the USSR. Then you will continue your visit in one of the historical districts of the capital, the Zamoskvorechye district. Its name means "behind the Moskva River". Located just a few steps away from the Kremlin, it is very different from the aristocratic center of Moscow. In the old days it used to be a part of the old city where the archers protecting it and later the merchants lived. We will take a short walk through this historical district which prominently appeared in the works of Leo Tolstoy. Free time in the evening.

  

  

  

  

• Day 5

  MOSCOW

  Free time in the morning. Transfer to the airport.