Santa Claus, Christmas and New Year fairs, snow … New Year is approaching, and with it snow-white landscapes, life-affirming films and evenings colored with lights come into our lives. You can sit, wrapped in a blanket, by the fireplace on the carpet under a stupefyingly smelling Christmas tree glittering with glass fragile toys, or you can go in search of adventure somewhere far from home - to another city, to a ski resort, or at least to the neighboring square, where the Christmas market is noisy, people are skating in bright scarves, and the air smells of happiness. We have some great ideas for where to go for New Year's holidays in Russia in 2021!
Tourists will have 10 days of public holidays at their disposal. Holidays will begin on January 1st and end on January 10th. The time until the "X" hour is running out, so now you need to think about booking rooms in hotels.
Moscow
Do you want noise, fun, illuminated streets, European Christmas markets? Then you have a direct road to Moscow. The capital acquires New Year's luster, starting from the last days of November, and does not lose it until the Old New Year.
In Moscow, for the New Year holidays, there will be enough lessons for even the most staid tourists. There are too many temptations here, so make a plan of what you want to see before you travel.
Theatergoers will not miss the opportunity to visit the Nutcracker at the Bolshoi Theater, art and history lovers will walk through museums (some are allowed on New Year's Eve without tickets), absolutely all guests of Moscow will certainly want to visit the festive festivities in the capital's parks and estates.
Numerous skating rinks will also operate in Moscow. The main one is located on Red Square. And on it you can celebrate the New Year. Ticket sales will begin on December 15, the cost is 2021 rubles.
The fireworks will be best seen from Red Square and from the territory of Zaryadye Park.
Where to go with your child in Moscow
Veliky Ustyug
There are a lot of Father Frost's residences in Russia - almost every region is trying to attract tourists by opening the estates of the magic grandfather and his assistants. But the main patrimony of Santa Claus is located in the north - in Veliky Ustyug, where it is difficult to get outside of the holidays, because this ancient city is located away from the beaten tourist routes. But on New Year's Eve, tourists are brought here in whole buses, trains and planes.
There are two houses in Veliky Ustyug that belonged to Ded Moroz. In the center of the city, you can find his city mansion, and outside the city, 15 km from civilization, there is a huge manor, which includes the Museum of New Year's toys, and the Trail of Fairy Tales, a post office, a cafe, and even a hotel. Children and their parents ride dog sleds, teach magic in a special school, and are invited to have tea in the company of Santa Claus.
A special festive program with fireworks is planned for the New Year.
Kazan
The capital of the Republic of Tatarstan, Kazan in winter turns into a snow-covered fairytale city with the longest skating rink in Europe, gorgeous open-air Christmas trees, cafes with sweets at every corner.
Not a single tourist in Kazan on New Year's Eve will miss the Millennium Park. It is here, under the shadow of the city's main Christmas tree, that a Christmas town with ice slides, souvenir kiosks and impromptu dance scenes works. Similar fairs can be found on Kremlin Street and on Bauman Street parallel to it. A festive atmosphere also reigns in the Old Tatar settlement.
On New Year's Eve, you can look into the Gorkinsko-Ometyevsky forest, where they constantly organize some kind of winter fun - they build a labyrinth of snow, then they arrange battles with snowballs.
Where to go in Kazan
Sochi
What could be better than the sea on New Year's Eve? Only the sea, complete with mountains. Do you want to walk along the edge of the surf, admire the green palm trees, and then, in a few hours, find yourself in the middle of a winter fairytale, at the start of the ski slope? Then you should book a ticket to Sochi, from where the Krasnaya Polyana ski resort is just a stone's throw away. And already there are all the attributes of traditional Christmas - snow, wooden chalets, a husky park, pens with deer, skating rinks, mulled wine by the fireplaces.
Meeting the New Year in Sochi, where the air temperature is unlikely to drop below +15 degrees, will appeal to romantics. Tired of walking the streets decorated with garlands and arranging a belly festival in a cafe, where a special menu is created especially for the New Year, go to Abkhazia - for tangerines, even more juicy than in Sochi, greenery and new impressions.
Baikal
People go to Baikal in winter for various reasons. Someone wants to see a completely frozen lake, on which you can not only walk, but also ride a sleigh pulled by dogs, or even jeeps - the ice will withstand everything.
Someone is planning to have a good rest on the mountain slopes. On Lake Baikal there is a good ski resort on Mount Sobolina, from where you can get to Mamai, the mecca of freeride lovers, in an hour and a half. The snow layer here is about 2.5 meters.
Other tourists dream of the most memorable holidays of their lives. And Baikal can provide such a celebration. On New Year's Eve, the ethnographic complex "Taltsy", which is located on the way between Irkutsk and Listvyanka, becomes an arena for merry festivities.
A calmer rest awaits tourists who decided to take a ride along the Circum-Baikal road, where an old train runs. And for sybarites, a special entertainment is provided - a relaxing pastime in the water of a thermal spring in the Arshan resort. By the way, there is also a ski center there, so you can combine the pleasant with the equally pleasant - and strengthen the immune system, and go skiing.
Winter excursions on Lake Baikal from private guides:
Where to go for the New Year 2021 abroad by the sea
