Yaroslavl

Yaroslavl  (Ярославль) is the capital city of Yaroslavl Oblast in Russia and a point on Golden Ring itinerary.

Understand
With a population of 600,000 people, Yaroslavl is the second-largest city in Central Russia after Moscow. Its 1000-year history and location in the middle of Golden Ring make Yaroslavl a good point for a day or weekend trip from Moscow.

By train


Train timetables and fares can be found on the RZD website.



From Moscow
Yaroslavl is 266 km from Moscow and 13 trains per day make the 3-4 hour journey (₽500-900) from Yaroslavsky Railway station in Moscow. These trains include the Trans Siberian Railway trains, departing from Moscow.

From Saint Petersburg
An overnight train makes the 12-hour journey from Saint Petersburg daily. Tickets cost from ₽750.

From other points
Journey by elektrichka needs connection in Alexandrov, stopping in Rostov Veliky first and Sergiev Posad later - both worthwhile excursions.

Daily trains include other destinations of Arkhangelsk, Ivanovo, Vorkuta, Cherepovets, and Tolyatti.

By bus
There are buses from Moscow Central bus station near Schyolkovskaya metro station at 08:30, 12:15, 14:15, 17:30, 23:15 daily. The journey takes 5 hours. Underway, the bus passes places such as Rostov Veliky and Sergiev Posad, both well worth a visit.

By car
Taking the opportunity of no traffic jams from Moscow, if any, drive on Yaroslavskoye shosse aka M-8 'Kholmogory' and visit beautiful destinations en-route: Sergiev Posad, Pereslavl Zalessky, Rostov Veliky. The road takes 4 hours or more, depending on traffic near Moscow.

Get around


Rides on public transport, which operate during the day and late at night and include buses, marshrutkas, and trolleybuses, costs ₽23-26.

The most useful trolleybus is trolleybus #1, which starts at the train station, and goes all the way down Svobody, through Volkovo to Yaroslavl Red Square.

See
The historical center of the city is found at the river confluence which is also a UNESCO World Heritage site. Architecture is mostly Classicism era of Catherine the Great.



Religious buildings

 * Church of Ilya the Prophet: a very impressive church, which is run like a museum. The frescoes inside are exceptionally rich in detail, and depict many of the most vivid Biblical stories. Well worth a visit. There is often a small choir performing in one of the side galleries, asking only for donations. ₽500
 * Alexander Nevskiy Chapel
 * Transfiguration Cathedral
 * St. John the Baptist Church: a beautiful brick church on the Volga-riverside in a dreary suburb. Well worth a small trip (you can get their with marshrutkas (about ₽50 in total) but taxis are much quicker and not that much more expensive (around ₽100). This church is considered to be the epitome of Yaroslavl's school of church architecture - and probably the most impressive brick church of Russia, only surpassed by Saint Basil's of Moscow. ₽100.
 * Vvedenskiy Tolga Convent
 * St. Elijah The Prophet Church
 * Kazansky Monastery
 * Temple of the Lord Presentation

Monuments

 * Monument to the Bear
 * Monument to Afonya And Plasterer Kolya
 * Monument of Yaroslav the Wise
 * Monument Celebrating 1000 Years of Yaroslavl
 * Monument to Copeck of 1612

Do

 * Cruise over Volga.
 * Tours of Smaller Golden Ring (Uglich-Myshkin-Tutayev-Rybinsk) that takes 3 days and even smaller excursions to neighboring towns.
 * Be a guest of Baba-Yaga on her birthday, 26 June.

Festivals and events

 * Jazz over Volga (Джаз над Волгой), the international festival of jazz taking place every odd year since 1979 in March.

Buy
Go along Deputatskaya St and you'll find several curious shops of traditional cloths (6/1), amulets (15) and stone (15/43).

Kiosks at the museums and rooms of souvenirs inside them are another opportunity to give a look and buy something.

Eat
The best place to eat out is the Volga promenade but there is a bunch of curious restaurants:

For more standard Russian fare, visit one of the modern 'stolovaya's' (buffets) of the Bazar chain, found all around the city. Priced very competitively.

Drink
For a dark, smoky atmosphere, you could do worse than Bar Beer, which is on the main street, just off Ploshad Volkovo, heading towards the monastery. They only sell beer: if you're looking for anything other than beer, you would be better off heading to Ars Café, which is inside a theatre next to the Bear's Corner hotel. There are three main sections to Ars Café, an upstairs, with comfortable sofas, which is often busy, a downstairs section, with dance floor and a big long table for larger groups, and a back room, which you have to pay to get into, but is very comfortable, and is primarily supposed to be used to smoke Kalyan (Shisha). Across the road from Ars Café is Tarzan, a higher end establishment, which is a restaurant by day. Dark inside, with a jungle theme. The bar Silver is on Ulitsa Svobody, near the Ulitsa Pobedy junction. Pleasant inside, with a very silver theme. They also serve food. Bristol, on Kirova, is nice, but pricey.

Aktor, a studenty bar a few years ago, has become a seedy, unpleasant place, and Cocktail Bar, next door, threaten to serve you "Cancer" (a mis-translation of Crab), but that's the least of your worries - bad vodka, appalling service, and a joke of a toilet means it's better avoided.

Learn

 * The center of German language, email: jardc@mubint.ru.

Read

 * Nikolay Nekrasov: His mansion in Yaroslavl Oblast is a museum 15 km from the city.

Internet
Free Wi-Fi locations abound: and many more but they may be pay Wi-Fi points.
 * McDonald's at 119, Leningradsky Prospekt and 115, Moskovsky Prospekt.
 * Kinomaks at 123, Leningradsky Prospekt.
 * Mojo Coctail Club at 9, Svobody St.
 * Yubileynaya hotel.
 * Le Petit Cafe at 4 Volzhskaya Naberezhnaya (riverside).
 * Shaiba (sport-bar) at 135, Moskovsky Prospekt.
 * Rodina at 7a, Respublikanskaya St.

Go next
Take an elektrichka to Rostov Veliky or Alexandrov.