Tver is an ancient Russian city, “older” than Moscow (mentioned in chronicles in 1135). Ancient streets, houses with painted shutters and patterned arches, centuries-old cathedrals and unusual museums attract tourists here. Architecture connoisseurs travel to Tver to see the works of great architects, pilgrims strive to touch the holy places. And the eighth miracle of the engineering wonders of the world was also built in this amazing city.
Tver is not a small city, so we have selected the most beautiful and interesting places to visit, and museums worth visiting if you don’t have much time to explore.
If you have a few days left, travel from Tver to no less interesting cities of the Tver region: Torzhok (1.5 hours by bus or train) Vyshny Volochek (from 1 hour by train, bus, train) Kalyazin (4 hours by bus or 2.5 hours by car)
Historical sites and museums
Imperial Travel Palace
Address: st. Sovetskaya, 3. Telephone , 34-31-56 (museum and educational, excursion department) Website : https://gallery.tver.ru/palace/ Cost : For adults - 250 rubles, discounted (for schoolchildren over 16 years old, students and pensioners) - 100 rubles, children under 16 years old - free. Sightseeing tour: for adults 2000 rubles, for children under 16 years old - 1000 rubles, for schoolchildren over 16 years old, students and pensioners - 1400 rubles, for foreigners - 4000 rubles. 45-minute thematic excursion for adults - 1000 rubles, for children under 16 years old - 500 rubles, for schoolchildren over 16 years old, students and pensioners - 700 rubles, for foreigners - 2000 rubles. Individual excursion - 300 rubles. Opening hours : Wed, Thu, Sat, Sun: from 11:00 to 18:00. Ticket office until 17:00. Fri (extended day): from 11:00 to 20:00. Ticket office until 19.00. Mon, Tue – weekend.
The luxurious palace, created in the classicist style with Baroque elements, served as a transit point for the rest of the imperial family along their route from Moscow to St. Petersburg. Catherine II hosted dinner parties in this palace, Alexander I often stayed here, and his sister Ekaterina Pavlovna turned the palace into the center of the country's social life. Poets and writers came here from all over the country to read their works to members of the imperial family.
Another travel palace is located in Torzhok, 60 kilometers from Tver - this is an atmospheric and interesting city that is worth a visit if you have time.
Art Gallery
Address: st. Sovetskaya, 3 (Imperial Palace) Tel.: Website: https://gallery.tver.ru/ Cost: 250 rub. — adult, preferential categories — 150 rubles, children under 16 years old — free
The gallery is one of the largest museums in Russia. Valuable collections of painting masters are collected here. The museum is located in the building of the travel palace, but has now temporarily moved to a business building due to restoration work in the palace.
Goat Museum
Address: st. Zhigareva 5 Phone: +7 (910) 83 777 83, Website: https://museum-goat.rf Opening hours: every day (except Monday) from 10.00 to 18.00, Sunday from 12.00 to 19.00
Many legends in Tver are associated with a goat that got entangled in the bell ropes and rang the bell, thereby warning the residents of the danger. In addition, the goat can be considered a symbol of Tver, since for five centuries products made from goat skin made in Tver were distributed throughout Russia.
In the museum you will see more than 3.5 thousand goat figurines. They are made from all sorts of materials: ceramics, wool, wood, glass, straw and so on. The excursions are conducted with humor and in poetic form.
If you like unusual museums, you will like the city of Myshkin and its museums of felt boots, mice, and vodka.
Museum of Tver Life
Address: st. Gorkogo, 19/4 Phone: Website: tvermuzeum.ru Opening hours: Wed-Sat 10:00-18:00, Sun 10:00-17:00 Cost: children under 16 - free, students - 30 rubles, pensioners - 50 rubles, the rest - 100 rubles.
The territory of the museum is a typical city estate of the 18th-19th centuries, consisting of a main house, several outbuildings, a well and outbuildings. Here you can get acquainted with the way of life of different classes, their outfits, furniture, wooden utensils, jewelry, toys and notebooks.
There is a separate exhibition dedicated to samovars. There are travel samovars, “selfish” samovars, trays, sugar tongs, tea makers and much more. In addition to the usual lectures, visitors are offered tea in a real Russian tea house.
Saltykov-Shchedrin Museum
Address: Rybatskaya 11/37 Tel.: Website: https://tvermuzeum.ru/affiliates/ Opening hours: daily from 11.00 to 17.00, Thursday from 13.00-21.00 (no excursions are held on Monday and Tuesday). Cost: 50 rub.
Located in the building of a former noble estate. In this house in 1860-1862. Saltykov-Shchedrin lived. In Tver, he not only was engaged in creativity, but also worked as vice-governor for several years. The museum has about 800 exhibits, including the author's manuscripts and illustrations for his books, made by famous artists.
You can take tours of the museum's exhibition halls and attend literary meetings and scientific conferences that are held here.
The museum is currently closed for restoration.
How to get to Tver from Moscow
- On Sapsan: Departure there: 06:50, 07:00, 9:20
- Return departure: 19:45, 21:49
- Travel time: ~1 hour 10 minutes
- Ticket price: from 1600 rub. one way
- Departure there: 06:58, 07:47, 8:46
- Departure there: 07:03
- Along the “old” Leningradka: 150 km, ~2.5 hours
What is the most profitable and cheaper way to go to Tver?
- The cheapest and longest option is a regular train .
- The best option: in order not to get up very early in the morning, you can choose Sapsan for the route there with departure at 9:20 and be in Tver by 10:30. And for the return journey, use Lastochka or a regular train.
- In a large group, you can travel by car : the cost of travel for 4 people on a round-trip train will be comparable to the cost of gasoline and the payment of toll sections . And if you leave early in the morning, then there is a chance to make it before the morning traffic jams and save additional money by traveling part of the route along the free Leningradka.
Places for walking
City Garden
Address: st. Sovetskaya, 5 Tel.: Website: https://gorsad-tver.ru Cost: free
Walking through the park, located on the banks of the Volga, you can not only enjoy the scenery and ride on all sorts of attractions, but also feel a connection with ancient history - in the city garden there is a moat from an ancient fortress that protected the city for centuries.
Stepan Razin Embankment
After a severe fire, when the city was devastated, Catherine II ordered the restoration of the damaged houses of Tver as a matter of urgency. For this purpose, an architect was sent, who built buildings on the embankment in the style of a “single facade”, just as it was done in St. Petersburg. It is not for nothing that in the 18th – 19th centuries Tver was called “the corner of St. Petersburg”.
Novovolzhsky Bridge (Kalinin Bridge)
Address: the bridge connects Komsomolsky Avenue with Tverskoy
The cast-iron barriers of the bridge were used during the siege of Leningrad, then they were removed and forgotten. A few years later, the statesman Kalinin remembered the existence of a bridge in the warehouses, which Tver needed exactly. Kalinin gave instructions, and the spans of the former Lieutenant Schmidt Bridge were transported and installed on the Volga.
Starovolzhsky Bridge
Address: the bridge connects Cathedral Square with Peace Square
The elegant openwork design is interesting both historically and engineeringly. The bridge was built almost 120 years ago using innovative engineering approaches. During the Great Patriotic War, the bridge was blown up, and 30 years later it was reconstructed, so although the appearance of the bridge was preserved, many interesting solutions were removed.
Light and music fountain
Address: Komsomolskaya Square
There are many fountains of various designs in Tver, but not long ago another one was opened. You can see an unusual fountain, with the help of which water compositions are created that change to the sounds of melodies, on Komsomolskaya Square.
Steam Locomotive Monument
When you go to Zheleznodorozhnikov Street, you will notice a massive steam locomotive that was placed here in honor of the brave drivers from Tver who helped people during the siege of Leningrad.
Obelisk of Victory
Address: Alley near Victory Square
The 45.5 meter high obelisk is a symbol of victory over fascism. On it there are slabs with bas-reliefs of soldiers who fought against the German invaders.
Monument to Mikhail Krug
Address: Radishcheva Boulevard, 21
On a bench in the center of Tver sits a bronze copy of Mikhail Krug with a guitar and an unbuttoned shirt.
The sculpture was opened in 2007, thanks to the efforts of the singer’s close friends and relatives. This was not easy to do: the local intelligentsia opposed it.
After its creation, the monument was even repeatedly attacked by vandals, and today it is loved not only by fans of the chansonnier’s work, but also by local residents.
Trekhsvyatskaya street
Address: crossroads st. Trekhsvyatskaya from st. Lidia Bazanova - pl. Lenin
Trekhsvyatskaya Street mainly consists of small mansions of the 19th-20th centuries, as it appeared after the fire that destroyed the city center in 1763. It got its name thanks to the monastery of the same name, to which it leads.
Today, part of the street is pedestrian, so there are a large number of tourists, musicians, artists, souvenir shops, cafes and restaurants. There are also several large shopping centers located here.
Botanical Garden of Tver State University
Address: per. Shevchenko, 16 Phone: Website: garden.tversu.ru Opening hours: Mon-Sun 09:00-17:00 Cost: children under 18, pensioners, students - 100 rubles, others - 150 rubles.
When the garden was created in 1789, its territory included several galleries, a bridge and a rotunda. It acquired botanical status thanks to its second owner, natural history teacher Leonid Anatolyevich Kolakovsky.
Today the garden's area is almost 3 hectares, and in its expanses you can find plants from almost all parts of the world. There are 8 expositions for visitors, which include more than 2.5 thousand plant species.
The oldest local attractions are a pond from the 18th century, larches and oaks from the 19th century, as well as the bed of the ancient Buhan stream.
Business-
Address: Smolensky Lane, 29 Website: panorama-tver.ru Opening hours: 09:00-00:00
Tourists may be interested in the business center building for several reasons:
- The cinema and concert hall constantly hosts theatrical performances, concerts and film screenings for residents and guests of the city.
- Restaurant "Panorama", which lives up to its name: 22nd floor, huge windows and space. This comes with soft armchairs and a good kitchen.
- The observation deck is the only place from where you can look at the city from a height of 77 meters. Here you can have a photo shoot or have a date.
See the city of Tver from the Volga River
Between the two central bridges near the Zvezda cinema, go down to the pier and buy a ticket for the river bus and ride on a boat (40 minutes or 1.5 hours). And during this time, imagine all the exhausting burden of the barge hauler - the Tver region was especially “loved” by barge haulers for its numerous shallows and oxbow lakes.
Or you might be surprised how the picturesque banks of the Volga are built up with numerous military units, factories, factories and industrial sites, and not with beautiful houses and parks.
Or just relax, exposing your face to the cool breeze and watching houses, districts, and bridges float by.
Before this, of course, go to the cafe “Arzu” (popularly “Dead Horse”), popular among Tver residents, it is located on the side of the cinema, buy takeaway food, go to the slope of the shore and have a picnic on the grass, watching the seagulls and fishermen.
Churches and temples
Chapel of Mikhail Yaroslavich Tverskoy
Located on Memory Island. It is a church erected in honor of the Grand Duke of Tver, who reigned in the 12th-13th centuries.
Cathedral of the Ascension
Address: st. Sovetskaya, 26 Tel.: Website: https://vosnesenie.ru/ Opening hours: daily from 08.00 to 19.00 (check the start time of each service on the website)
The temple was repeatedly damaged by fire, but parishioners always restored it. The white stone cathedral in the neo-Russian style, as it can be seen today, was rebuilt in 1763.
Assumption Cathedral
Address: emb. Afanasia Nikitina, 1 Tel.: Website: https://www.otrochmontver.prihod.ru/ Opening hours: daily from 08.00 to 19.00 (the start time of the service may vary, check the information on the website)
The ancient temple is mentioned in chronicles at the very beginning of the 12th century. It was here in the 16th century that Metropolitan Philip, who was conducting his service, was strangled by Malyuta Skuratov.
White Trinity Church
Address: st. Troitskaya, 38 Tel.: Opening hours: from 08.00 to 19.00 (depending on the service)
Built in 1564, it is an architectural monument. Surprisingly, the oldest church in the city did not stop working even during Soviet times. And not far from her, in an inconspicuous house with old shutters, a clergyman secretly baptized children, at a time when this was prohibited in the USSR.
Nativity of Christ nunnery
Address: 1st Proletarsky village, 1 Tel.: Website: https://xrm.tver.ru Opening hours: daily from 07.00 to 19.00
Mentions of this monastery are found in chronicles from 1514, and the main temple was built in 1810. Near it, cells with a chapel and an unusual arch are still preserved, where the echo reflects your voice with many echoes.
Alexander Nevsky Church
Address: st. Comintern, 18a Phone: Website: sobor-nevskogo.ru
The church project was approved by Emperor Alexander II back in 1879, but due to lack of funds it was not implemented then. But 9 years later they remembered the drawings and decided to coincide the construction of the temple with the miraculous rescue of the imperial family during a train crash in 1888. Three years later the work was completed.
Services were held in the church until 1929. Then they organized a warehouse in it, later rebuilt it into a store and apartments, and then completely dismantled it.
The new building was founded in 2010. The relics of the Great Martyr Thaddeus, Archbishop of Tver, were placed at the base of the temple. The opening took place 6 years later.
Trekhsvyatskaya street
Tverskoy Arbat. The street is considered one of the most beautiful and well-maintained. Trekhsvyatskaya is closed to cars and is intended only for leisurely walks and pleasant pastime - the most important city events take place on the street. There are always a lot of artists, musicians and other performers there. Here you can buy souvenirs and dine in cozy cafes and restaurants.
The street got its name because it previously led to the Three Saints Monastery. Now there are two- and three-story mansions on it from the century before last.
Neighborhood
Domotkanovo estate. Valentin Serov Museum
Phone: Website: gallery.tver.ru Opening hours: Mon-Sun 10:00-18:00, May-September Thurs - 11:00-20:00 Cost: children - 10 rubles, students and pensioners - 20 rubles ., the rest - 50 rub. How to get there: by car or bus from Tver 23 km (30 min. - 1 hour.)
To this day, a 19th-century park with ponds and gazebos, a wooden house, a carriage barn, a bathhouse, and part of a manor house have been preserved on the territory of the estate.
Many famous artists were frequent guests here: Ivan Levitan, Vladimir Favorsky, Ivan Bilibin, Nina Simonovich-Efimova. But the estate was brought to fame by Valentin Serov, who spent the last 5 years of his life here.
Masterpieces that became classics of Russian painting were created here: “Girl Illuminated by the Sun”, “October. Domotkanovo", "Overgrown Pond. Domotkanovo”, works of the “peasant cycle” and illustrations for the works of Ivan Krylov.
The artist's memory museum was opened on the estate in 1965. The exhibition contains reproductions of his works, personal belongings, and a recreation of the interior in which the painter lived.
Vasilevo Estate
Address: Vasilevo village Telephone: Website: tvermuzeum.ru Opening hours: Wed-Sun 11:00-17:00, May-August - Mon-Sun 10:00-19:00 Cost: preschoolers - free, schoolchildren - 30 rubles ., students - 40 rubles, pensioners - 50 rubles, others - 100 rubles. How to get there: by bus or car from Tver 70 km (1-1.5 hours)
The Vasilevo estate is a museum of wooden architecture, where architectural monuments from all over the Tver region are collected: old barns, a fire station, a tavern and even a water mill. The most valuable exhibits are the Transfiguration Church and the Chapel of Archangel Michael, built in the first half of the 18th century.
Holidays and celebrations are regularly held on the estate. And sometimes they even make movies: the dark and light armies fought on the local “Devil’s Bridge” in the movie “Night Watch.”
This bridge is unusual: from the outside it seems to be built of large stones, but in fact inside it there are rooms lined with brick.
Manor Znamenskoye-Rayok
Address: Raek village Telephone: (order excursions) Opening hours: Wed-Sun 09:00-18:00 Cost: 100 rub. How to get there: by bus to the Maryino stop, from there 3 km on foot; by car from Torzhok 23 km (30 min.)
The Znamenskoye-Raek estate differs from others in its scale and is a huge complex surrounded by a park. It was built by Fyodor Ivanovich Glebov to amaze his second wife Elizaveta.
The estate is located in the village, and formerly the churchyard, Raek, the name of which is associated with the name of Catherine II. According to legend, when she saw the local beauty, she exclaimed: “This is paradise!” Indeed, the estate was built on a royal scale and was designed to receive imperial persons. There were even portraits of Russian tsars and queens hanging in the main dining room. All this was done to emphasize the family ties of the estate owners with the ruling dynasty.
After 1917, there was a rest home here, then a hospital, and then a dispensary for a local factory. Now the estate is being restored to open a luxury hotel.
Zavidovo National Park
Coordinates: 56.421481, 36.134960 Address: Tver and Moscow regions. How to get there: by bus or personal transport from Tver 74 km (1.5 hours), the nearest settlements are Kozlovo village and Dorino village
The history of Zavidovo Park dates back to the time of Ivan the Terrible, who came here to hunt in the 16th century. Later, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin followed his example. True, during one of his visits he was almost arrested for poaching.
In 1929, the park was transformed into a hunting ground, which was later visited by all the country's leaders. Under Yeltsin, it received the status of a national park, and the state complex built on its territory became the official country residence of the President of the Russian Federation.
Today the park covers an area of 125 thousand hectares and is included in the list of the most environmentally friendly places on the planet. Zavidovo consists of three parts: a reserve, a resort area and a residential sector. Tourists will find here cozy embankments, cafes, restaurants, spa complexes, horseback riding, hunting, unity with nature and an international class golf course.
Kalinin Front Museum
Address: Emmaus village, stop. “Boarding school” Phone: Website: tvermuzeum.ru Opening hours: Wed-Sun 10:00-17:00 Cost: children under 16 years old - free, students - 40 rubles, pensioners - 50 rubles, others - 100 rubles . How to get there: by bus (1 hour) or personal transport from Tver (18 km, 25 min.)
The museum is located in the place where in 1941 the troops of the Kalinin Front managed to break through the defenses of the German army. The exhibition is divided into 2 halls. The first introduces visitors to the events of the beginning of the war and the course of hostilities in the region. Among the exhibits there are photographs, documents, and military records of fallen soldiers. Here you can see the red flag hoisted at the local train station in honor of the liberation of Kalinin.
The second hall is dedicated to 1942 and 1943. An exhibition has been organized here telling about the secret operation in the area of Bely during Soviet times, the arrival of Stalin, the works of war correspondent Boris Vdovenko, as well as German photographers are presented.
Walk along Tver's Champs Elysees
Tchaikovsky Avenue among thinking young people (several buildings of the state university are located in that area) was called the Champs Elysees.
To get the full impression, it is worth walking along Tchaikovsky from Kaposvár Square to the railway station on the left side. At the very beginning of the route, go up to the top floor of the Geophysics building and look out the window - the street in perspective really resembles a Parisian one.
Considering that Stalin is the last style of architecture, as significant as classicism or empire style, a walk along the Tver Champs Elysees will bring pleasure in looking at the elegant houses of the 50s of the last century.
On the way, near the Faculty of Philology, you will meet a monument to Cyril and Methodius, who bashfully turned away from the building in reproach to the modern state of science.
You can finish your walk in the station waiting room. It is notable for the fact that for several years in a row it has won the competition for the title of the best waiting room and is a luxurious winter garden with hundreds of plants, singing birds, and beautiful benches. There is also a museum room on the platform where the imperial family stayed during trips on the October Railway.
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Starovolzhsky Bridge
The first city bridge across the Volga. Its length is almost 216 meters. Its appearance is reminiscent of the Freedom Bridge in Budapest.
The bridge is divided into two parts: automobile and pedestrian. In the 30s of the 20th century, a tram line was launched, and later a trolleybus line. At the end of the 20th century, the bridge was completely reconstructed: all wooden coverings were replaced with asphalt concrete ones, the roadway was widened, and all supporting structures were additionally strengthened.
