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Novgorod Oblast is a region in Northwestern Russia, which borders Pskov Oblast to the west, Leningrad Oblast to the north, Vologda Oblast to the northeast, and Tver Oblast to the south.

Cities

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Map
Map of Novgorod Oblast

  • 1 Novgorod — the capital is the region's only city and a great weekend trip from Saint Petersburg or Moscow as its kremlin holds the oldest church in Russia, Saint Sophia's Cathedral, and the kremlin and city are full of a wide variety of churches, one of which boasts frescoes painted by the 12th century Russian master, Andrey Rublev.
  • 2 Kholm Kholm, Kholmsky District, Novgorod Oblast on Wikipedia — if you're looking for an adventure, head to this small town ruined by World War II and try to get to the abandoned Rdeisky Monastery in the thick woods and swamp to the west.
  • 3 Staraya Russa — a large town where Dostoevsky spent his summers and wrote The Brothers Karamazov, which is set in the town; Dostoevsky's house is open to visitors as a museum.
  • 4 Valday — Iversky Monastery is under construction, albeit still beautiful, and this town is the main base for exploring Valdaisky National Park.

Other destinations

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The Novgorod Kremlin
  • 1 Khutyn Monastery Khutyn Monastery on Wikipedia — some 10 km north of Novgorod, this monastery was once considered one of the most important of the Novgorod Republic.
  • 2 Valdaisky National Park.

Understand

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Novgorod Oblast is surprisingly sparsely populated for European Russia because World War II hit this region hard. Most of the former residents were either killed or forced to relocate permanently. But fear not, the cultural monuments of Novgorod were among the first of the Soviet's priorities for restoration after the war, underscoring their huge importance to Russia.

Novgorod's kremlin and churches are without question the highlight of any visit to the region, and probably the only destination on your itinerary for the region. That is, unless you love Dostoevsky as much as you should, in which case you should budget a full day to explore Staraya Russa.

Get in

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Daily trains depart from Saint Petersburg to Novgorod in the afternoon and take 3 hours. The return trip leaves Novgorod in the morning around 07:00.

Daily overnight trains also depart from Moscow (around 22:00) for Novgorod (arriving around 06:00).

Get around

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See

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Do

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Eat

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Drink

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Novgorod is famous for its mead and rightly so—it's absolutely delicious.

Stay safe

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Go next

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This region travel guide to Novgorod Oblast is an outline and may need more content. It has a template, but there is not enough information present. If there are Cities and Other destinations listed, they may not all be at usable status or there may not be a valid regional structure and a "Get in" section describing all of the typical ways to get here. Please plunge forward and help it grow!