You can go on a memorable trip without leaving far from Moscow. The Tula region is ready to provide tourists with intellectual leisure, physical activity, and outdoor recreation. We tell you how interesting it is to spend time outside Tula. We mark places with geotags.
From Moscow to Tula is about 180 km. You can get there by bus or by train, but best of all – by car to visit not only Tula itself (it is worth reading about holidays in the capital of the region, for example, here and here), but also interesting places of the Tula region, a list of which we have prepared.
With it, you can plan your own weekend trip and more.
We wrote earlier about where to go by car from Moscow within two hours.
ONE OF THE SMALLEST CITIES IN RUSSIA
Distance: from Tula – 102 km, from Moscow – 254 km.
For those who want to get an “achievement” (English: achieve), there is a unique settlement in the Tula region Chekalin – one of the smallest settlements with urban status in Russia in terms of the number of inhabitants. In 2021, 931 residents were officially registered in the city.
In Chekalin, it is worth visiting the modern Devyagor-Likhvin Historical and Landscape Museum-Reserve (dot on the map) with interactive zones where you can master the telegraph and experience the Tula-Likhvin railway.
Devyagorsko-Likhvinsky Historical and Landscape Museum- a nature reserve in Chekalin. Photo: Visit Tula
In the Sobornaya Gora Art Park (a point on the map), you can enjoy walking between the restored wooden buildings, there are play areas for children.
Sobornaya Gora Art Park in Chekalin, Tula region. Photo: Regional Fund “Agency for Tourism Development of the Tula Region”
Nearby is the Vvedensky Temple (dot on the map), which turned 200 years old in 2021.
BEHIND THE STORY: TO THE KULIKOVO FIELD MUSEUM-RESERVE
Distance: 95 km from Tula to Epiphany (250 km from Moscow), another 25 km to Monastyrshchino, another 8 km to Mokhovoye.
In the Kulikovo Field Museum-Reserve, you can supplement your knowledge about the history of Russia. In fact, the large-scale complex has 8 museums in 4 locations: the museum of merchant life in Epiphany (dot on the map), the memorial to the heroes of the Battle of Kulikovo in Monastyrshchino (dot on the map), the museum of the Battle of Kulikovo (dot on the map) and the children’s museum-quest “One in the field is not a warrior” (dot on the map) in Mokhov, the Memorial on the Red Hill (dot on the map) and the museum and exhibition center “Tula Antiquities” (dot on the map).
And there are branches in the Museum Quarter of the regional capital.
Tula, “Museum quarter”. Photo:
The reviews note the well-groomed territory of the complex on Kulikovo Field, live excursions, interesting fascinating interactive programs, exhibits that can be touched. Parents really praise the quests for children.
The schedule of excursions can be found on the website of the museum-reserve.
By the way, the tourist portal of the Tula region offers to cover the route through the museums of the complex not only by car, but also on foot.
Memorial sign on Kulikovo field, Tula region. Photo: Regional Fund “Agency for Tourism Development of the Tula Region”
ESTATES OF the TULA REGION: “POLENOVO”, “DVORYANINOVO”, “YASNAYA POLYANA”
According to a survey conducted by one of the largest tour operators in Russia, Russians often go on trips to visit manors and museum houses. There are three famous estates in our Tula list.
The closest to Moscow museum-estate “Dvoryaninovo” by A.T. Bolotov (dot on the map) is located 128 km from the Russian capital and 69 km from Tula.
Andrey Bolotov is the first Russian scientist-agronomist, as well as the teacher of biologist and breeder I.V. Michurin. It was thanks to him that potatoes and tomatoes appeared on our table.
Linden alley in the estate of A.T. Bolotov “Dvoryaninovo”, Tula region. Photo: Amateur, Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons license
The territory of the estate is small, so that its visit can be combined with the Vasily Polenov Museum-Reserve located 30 km from Dvoryaninovo (dot on the map). From Tula to Polenovo – 86 km, from Moscow – 135 km.
Polenovo Manor. Photo: Regional Fund “Agency for Tourism Development of Tula Region”
The artist is best known for his painting “Moscow Courtyard”, which is kept in the Tretyakov Gallery. However, the Tretyakov Gallery itself has compiled a list of 10 Polenov paintings that everyone should know.
Landscapes in the Polenovo estate, which were inspired by the great artist. Photo: Regional Fund “Tula Region Tourism Development Agency”
You can spend several hours in the manor if you get on an excursion, as well as walk along the banks of the Oka River to the neighboring village of Behovo, where there isa remarkable Trinity Church (dot on the map) and a small beach. By the way, we wrote about beach hotels near Moscow here.
Holy Trinity Church near Polenovo. Photo: Regional Fund “Tula Region Tourism Development Agency”
An interesting fact: today the director of the museum is the great-granddaughter of the painter.
We also mentioned the Polenovo estate in the context of Tarusa, which will also be interesting to get to by car from Moscow. In summer, you can take a ferry or a private boat from the museum to the city of poets and artists.
One of the most popular places for educational recreation in the Tula region can be called the Leo Tolstoy museum-estate “Yasnaya Polyana” (dot on the map). It is not close to get to it from Moscow – 204 km, but the distance from Tula is only 15 km.
It was in this ancestral estate that two of Leo Tolstoy’s most important novels were written – “War and Peace” and “Anna Karenina”.
Be careful, the interest in the museum is so great that during the tourist season, tickets remain at the ticket office only for the entrance to the park. It is better to purchase tickets for excursions in advance.
Yasnaya Polyana, photo celest.ru , Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons license
On the vast territory of the museum you can relax, take a walk, as well as ride a horse or attend a master class in the stable yard. There are also two cafes outside the estate, which are praised by tourists.
By the way, 40 km from Yasnaya Polyana is the village of Krapivna, where every year in June the museum-reserve holds a nettle festival. At this time, in the village you can try pastries with nettles, visit a farmer’s fair, watch artists perform and just stroll through the rural streets.
There is also a branch of the Tula Museum of Fine Arts and the Krapivensky Museum.
Museum of Russian and Modern Art in Krapivna. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
WHAT TO SEE IN THE TULA REGION FROM NATURAL ATTRACTIONS
For those who prefer natural attractions to cognitive recreation, there is a specially protected natural area of Konduki on Tula land, where lakes with emerald water have formed on the site of a former coal quarry (dot on the map).
Conductors. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
In summer, you can have a picnic or photo shoot on the shore of the lake, walk or bike, or swim in saps, boats or catamarans.
It is 256 km from Moscow to Konduki, 78 km from Tula.
Another interesting place in the Tula region is the source of the Don River (a point on the map). It is located in the city of Novomoskovsk, 57 km from Tula and 222 km from Moscow. The length of the entire river flowing through the European part of Russia and flowing into the Sea of Azov is 1,780 km.
The source of the Don River in Novomoskovsk, Tula region. Photo Visit Tula
WHERE TO STAY IN THE TULA REGION
The Tula region has an unusual nickname – “the capital of glamping”. It was here in 2016 that the first glamping in Russia appeared – “Gulyai-Gorod”, and today there are more than 40 of them.
Today you can relax as close to nature as possible in the Tula region both on a budget and with comfort and various “chips”.
In Astro Glamp. Photo: regional fund “Agency for Tourism Development of the Tula Region”
For example, the owners of “Astro Glamp” offer guests a whole tent city with telescopes, exhibitions, a cinema and open-air art objects. It takes 1.5 hours to get here from Moscow.
In Astro Glamp/Photo: regional fund “Agency for Tourism Development of Tula Region”
The creators of the Wild Mint music festival also have their own themed glamping of the same name.
You can live in tree houses in “Lapochkin’s nest”, in “Yasny Pole” there is its own cultural and educational program, in “Bolotov.In the cottage” and in the “Green Path” you can wander around the neighborhood during the day and play board games in the evening.
Glamping “Green Path” is already very It is popular with guests of the region. Photo: Visit Tula
PARK HOTEL WITH A COLLECTION OF SAMOVARS AND BROTHS
Distance: from Tula – 24 km, from Moscow – 206 km
For those who want to relax in Tula The Grumant Park Hotel (a dot on the map) will comfortably suit the region.
He is praised not only for his impeccable service, but also for the amazing “Museum of samovars and Broths”. As the owners of the hotel say, their private collection is the largest in Russia. It has more than 300 copies and some of them are the only ones of their kind.
Museum of samovars and broths in the Tula region. Photo: regional fund “Agency for Tourism Development of Tula Region”
Anna Popova
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
