Sixth Pit Stop: The Golden Ring, Russia (Rossiya) SUZDAL, RUSSIA Suzdal, although virtually unknown in the West, was one one of the most famous towns in Russian history. Like an untouched medieval open-air museum, Suzdal was endowed with well preserved fortified castle walls, monasteries, cathedrals, and convents. After being founded in 1024 by ...

We got our first taste of Russian helpfulness as soon as we left the dreaded constraints of Moscow. I wanted very much to see something other than a sprawling, annoying, metropolis, so I picked Suzdal out of the options in the back of Lonely Planet Moscow. Unfortunately, the earliest bus from Moscow went at around 6pm, meaning that we would get ...