Vologda



Vologda (Во́логда, VOH-log-dah) is a city in Northwestern Russia. It is part of the Silver Ring of cultural and historical centers of Northwestern Russia.

Understand
While Vologda is becoming increasingly popular among Russian local tourists, it is still remaining undeservedly undiscovered by international visitors.

During the Orthodox Christmas and the New Year holidays Vologda acts as the major transit point for crowds going to Veliky Ustyug, Russian Ded Moroz (Farther Frost) residence.

History
Vologda was firstmentioned under year 1147. It was major transit city before St.Petersburg was founded (1703). 1565-1571 Ivan the Terrible proposed Vologda as the new capital of his domain (instead of Moscow).

By plane
is not busy at all. There are only three flights a week from Vnukovo (Moscow) and two flights a week from St. Petersburg. Flight time is about 90 minutes from both Moscow and St. Petersburg. Airport is situated 8 km north from city centre, easily reachable by bus or taxi.

By train
With more than 120 pairs of train passing through each day, Vologda gets more rail service than most other cities of this size. It is the largest sorting and transiting for the Northern Railway because it is the only railway that heads north towards the Arctic Ocean to Arkhangelsk. Multiple daily overnight trains to/from Moscow, Saint Petersburg and Arkhangelsk are available.



By car
Vologda is 470 km to the north by the road from Moscow. It takes 5-7 hours drive to reach the city depending on traffic. Road conditions are generally good for Russia, excluding the total mess with street navigation when passing Yaroslavl. So, using GPS navigator is recommended.

Budget
There's a nice coffee shop near the Tourist Information centre.

On Mira street (улица Мира), fast food and restaurants are not hard to find.