Pilgrimage in itself is a very logical thing: you should not invent anything, just understand why and where you want to go. After all, a true pilgrimage is not just a “round trip”.   It is necessary for the pilgrim to feel that all  thoughts and aspirations coincide with the upcoming journey.

 
Practical moments

One of the most important practical points that must always be taken into account is the peculiarities of food (fasting on Wednesday and Friday) and the organization of the liturgy. As a rule, travel time is calculated so that the pilgrims come to the place in the evening. And in the morning they attend liturgy. All programs are structured in such a way that there will be one or two mandatory liturgies for the journey.

Travel duration

All  pilgrimage tours in Russia can be divided into day trips (mostly Moscow region), "weekend tours" and multi-day trips - mostly from 3 to 7 days. As a rule, the maximum number of days on a tour is no more than 12. Most often, these are either boat trips or a pilgrimage to remote regions of Russia, when the road takes a fairly long time - for example, Yekaterinburg, Tobolsk and Altai.

Here is an example of such a route. The journey from Moscow to Tobolsk takes about two days, depending on the train selected. The most commonly there is a stop in Tobolsk for 2-3 days and inspection of nearby attractions. Then - transfer to Yekaterinburg by bus or train and exploring the outskirts of the city. In addition, Perm is not far from these places, where the monastery Belogorie is located - a kind of "Ural Athos". Thus, in one journey, you can unite the holy places of the Northern and Central Urals, and also to “attach”  all the way of the Royal Martyrs in the Urals and in Siberia.

Where and when to go

If you divide the pilgrim tours on a regional basis, then we can identify some specific areas. This is, first of all, the North-West and Center of Russia, the most developed part of the country, which was still in the Middle Ages, at the time of the emergence of Christianity and its development in Russia. A lot of pilgrims go on a trip around the Golden Ring, Zadonsk (Lipetsk region), Kursk and Diveevo (Nizhny Novgorod region) and, of course, to the North-West region.

 

North-West is not only Karelia (Valaam and Kizhi), but also Arkhangelskaya (Solovki) and Vologda lands, Pskov and Veliky Novgorod. Pskov is interesting not only for the Pushkin Mountains and the Pechora - apart from them, many pilgrims visit the Talapan Islands, where Father Nikolai Guryanov lived and served.

 

Most of the cities in the Golden Ring of Russia are inextricably linked with the histories of Orthodoxy in Russia: many shrines are concentrated there, and almost every church and monastery is an object of pilgrimage. The most visited cities are Alexandrov, Sergiev Posad, Pereslavl-Zalessky, Rostov Veliky, Yaroslavl, Tutaev, Uglich, Kostroma, Suzdal and Vladimir.

 

In addition, it is necessary to note such southern directions as Rostov-on-Don, Krasnodar and Arkhyz - lately many monasteries have been restored and opened there. A special place is occupied by Altai, pilgrimages there are inextricably linked with the study of the traditions of local residents.

 

Sources: https://tonkosti.ru https://www.pravmir.ru