GREAT SILK ROAD

Meeting guests at Mineralnye Vody airport.

Transfer (61 km) to Karachay-Cherkessia for touring Honey Waterfalls.

Lunch - tour cost inclusive.

Walking tour to Honey Waterfalls. Touring Medovye Vodopady tourist complex (Honey Waterfalls). The waterfalls were named according to a legend. Once upon a time there was a huge college of feral bees hiving by the waterfalls. There was such a lot of honey that on hot summer days it would melt and flow thickly out of honeycombs under icy water currents. And then the water would become sweat-tasting.

Free time, buying souvenirs. You can buy mountain honey and herbal tea.

Mountain herbal tea is a collection of fragrant highland healing herbs. Herbal tea normalizes sleep and digestions, and improves the elasticity of blood vessels. It’s important to use pure water for tea brewing.

Embussing.

Pyatigorsk, Zheleznovodsk, Essentuki, and Kislovodsk have been enjoying enduring appeal as the all-Russian balneological health resorts for two centuries already. There are hundreds of thermal water springs of different mineral composition jetting out of the ground there. People drink it, bathe in it and take a bath. Thermal waters and therapeutic muds are effective in treating many diseases. Therefore, numerous sanatoria, including state ones, have been built in the region. Should you need treatment or prevention, please come here for at least 7-10 days.

Transfer (25 Km) to Kislovodsk.

Sightseeing tour in Kislovodsk, a walk in the park, mineral waters tour.

Transfer (40 km) to Suvorovskaya village to visit thermal pools.

Bathing in hot, warm and cold thermal water pools. Lidos. Bathing gives both comfort and health to the body. Your body and soul instantly relieve all worries and enjoy every moment of life! Instant effect lasts for 24 hours after bathing. The total time spent in the bath is 1 hour, including bathing time- no more than 15 min.

You are recommended to bring your bathing suits, slippers and a towel.

A visit to the Suvorov baths is not included in the tour price.

Embussing, transfer (41 km) to the hotel.

Суворовские термальные источники

Breakfast at the hotel.

Early departure, transfer to Elbrus Region (160 km), about 3.5 hours with two stopovers.

Stopover at Narzans Glade - the place where mineralized waters spring out of the ground. There are totally three springs there. You can drink water in each of them and take some along in your bottles.

Early lunch - Tour cost inclusive.

Ascent to Elbrus by cable car to a height of 3,800 m.

Elbrus is a sleeping double peak volcano. It’s listed as one of the seven highest mountains in the world, along with Chomolungma and Kilimanjaro. Its height above sea level is 5,642 m. Will you be lucky to see the legendary summits or will Elbrus hide them in the clouds?

The cable car tickets are extra-charged according to the fixed rate.

Descent of the mountain, embussing. Transfer (130 km) to Nalchik, the capital of Kabardino-Balkaria. Journey takes 2.5 hours non-stop.

Arrival in Nalchik, a short bus tour of the city center.

Hotel accommodation, free time.

Breakfast at the hotel.

Embussing.

Transfer (24 km) to the Chateau Erken.

Tour to the Chateau Erken winery, founded by Tembulat Erkenov. The citadel is located in the middle of an artificial lake. The lake is surrounded by vineyards. While walking along with the winery, you can encounter peacocks, pheasants, and even deer. The duration of the tour and tasting of several types of wine is 1.5 hours. The entrance fee is extra-charged.

Lunch - tour cost inclusive

Transfer (140 km) to Vladikavkaz, North Ossetia-Alania.

Hotel accommodation.

Vladikavkaz city tour. On the left bank of the turbulent Terek River you can find a Sunni Mosque (Mukhtarov Mosque), built 109 years ago. The guide will introduce you to the biography of Kosta Khetagurov, the Ossetian poet, playwright, publicist and artist. His poems are part of the Golden Literature Fund of Russia.

Return to the hotel.

Rest and overnight at the hotel.

Breakfast at the hotel.

Embussing.

Transfer (60 km) to the mountains of Ingushetia, with one stopover.

Egikal tower complex touring. With the start of the Mongol invasion, the route of the Great Silk Way was laid anew, through the mountains. The tower city Egikal is a witness of those ancient times. The residents of Ingushetia settled down along the valley of the fortress. That is why the Ingush call themselves the Galgai- “the people of the towers”. The last inhabitants deserted the tower city under repressions during the Great Patriotic War.

Lunch in the mountains. Tour cost-inclusive.

Embussing.

Transfer (72 km) to Nazran for touring Memorial of Memory and Glory, with one stopover.

Memorial of Memory and Glory. The memorial complex was built in 1997. Each object of the memorial is filled with deep meaning. The heated freight car used to deport the Ingush from their motherland, as well as the memorial plates listing the names of the residents of Ingushetia, who participated in the Great Patriotic War. 9 towers braided with barbed wire. The towers symbolize the number of deported peoples. The Monument to the last defender of the Brest Fortress lieutenant Umatgirei Artangovich Barkhanoev. Equestrian Monument dedicated to the legendary Wild Division.

Transfer (40 km) to Vladikavkaz, North Ossetia-Alania.

Free time.

Rest and overnight at the hotel

Breakfast at the hotel.

Transfer (100 km) to the Chechen Republic, with one stopover. It is a guided bus tour.

Stop at the ethnographic museum Dondi-Yurt in Urus-Martan. Entrance fee is extra-charged.

Dondi-Yurt has a collection of genuine artefacts, stone, clay and wooden buildings. There are military and residential towers, dugouts, crypts and dwelling houses furnished in a traditional style. And it is hard to believe that this open-air collection is the work of one person! Preserving the history for future generations – was the goal set by the founder and creator of the Dondi-Yurt Museum Adam Satuev.

Transfer (40 km) to Grozny.

Hotel accommodation.

Lunch. Tour cost inclusive.

Grozny city tour. Grozny is a city-phoenix revived from ashes after so long-run war.

The Grozny Tower was erected in the beginning of the 19th century, the Church named after Michael the Archangel was built by means of public donations, which was destroyed during the war and restored again. There is a sky-scrapers complex of “Grozny-City” opposite the church, and the observation deck of one of them provides a bird’s eye panorama of the city. You can also see the spiritual heart of the city- the Heart of Chechnya Mosque.

Rest and overnight at the hotel.

Breakfast.

Transfer (40 km) to the Argun Gorge. It is a guided bus tour.

Excursion to the Argun gorge. The old road leads up the gorge of the turbulent Chanty-Argun River. The road is partly hacked out in limestone rocks by the generations of Chechens. The nature here is wild and intact and preserved the features of savagery.

Lunch.

Transfer (180 km) with two stopovers in Dagestan.

Hotel accommodation.

Overnight at the hotel.

Breakfast at the hotel.

8:30 Early departure. Transfer (180 km) to Derbent with two stopovers. It’s a guided bus tour.

Derbent is the most ancient city in Russia! Derbent is 5,000 years old and it has changed little so far. The same walls of limestone, ‘Dagestani stone’ as it is called here, and the same calm and hospitable inhabitants.

Arrival at the city beach of Derbent, free time- 30 min.

Excursion to Naryn-Kala citadel. Naryn-Kala is a part of defensive fortification of the ancient Persians. Touch the walls built thousands of years ago! The museum tickets are extra-charged.

Lunch. Tour cost-inclusive.

City-tour: the “Soviet” city market (on its working days), the Juma Mosque, the ancient Armenian Church, and the old narrow streets create oriental mood.

Arrival at the city beach of Derbent, free time for a photo session and swimming (in hot season).

Embussing at the appointed place at 17.30.

Transfer (110 km) to Uitash airport in Makhachkala.

TOURISTS DEPARTURE.