Korotsko: Starting a trip on the Great Valdai Route

Korotsko offers two distinct points of interest: the start of a trip on the Great Valdai Route at the tourist information centre, and a village attraction, the Church of the Intercession of the Most Holy Mother of God. This gives you a starting point for exploring the place itself while also leading to nature and cultural themes across the wider Novgorod Oblast.

Route theme and seasonal trip

The art installation “Bolshaya Valdaiskaya tropa” is located at the tourist information centre in Korotsko. It serves as the emblem of the tourist route of the same name. A trip on the Great Valdai Route also starts at the centre. The route theme therefore takes two forms here: an art installation and the starting point of a journey. The trip is available seasonally; check current operating details with the park before making your plans.

A village attraction

The Church of the Intercession of the Most Holy Mother of God is an attraction in the village of Korotsko, in Valdai District and the Korotsko rural settlement. It is a distinct local point of interest alongside the route’s starting point. When planning your trip, you can consider these two aspects separately: the trip itself or an interest in a village attraction.

Nature experiences in Novgorod Oblast

In the wider destination of Novgorod Oblast, Valdai National Park covers 159,100 hectares and extends across the Valdaysky, Demyansky and Okulovsky districts. Mount Ryzhokha is the highest point in the national park. A 25-metre-high observation tower on the mountain offers views of the taiga, Lake Velyo and other bodies of water.

The circular trail in the Bor area offers a different landscape experience. It passes through typical taiga forests on hilly terrain and a variety of marshes in the hollows between the hills. The tower and the circular trail offer different perspectives: views of the taiga and bodies of water on the one hand, and forest, hills and marshes along a trail on the other. If you are weighing up nature experiences for your trip, this difference makes the choice between a viewpoint and a landscape trail more concrete.

Bells and town history in Valday

The cultural attractions of Novgorod Oblast also offer different ways to explore the region. At the Bell Museum in Valday, staff demonstrate bell-ringing techniques and let visitors try them out for themselves. The Bell Museum Centre in Valday displays bells from around the world, as well as types ranging from the 3rd century BC and the Middle Ages to modern souvenir bells. According to tourism information, it is the only museum in Russia to bring together bells from around the world.

An exhibition at the Museum of the County Town in Valday opened in 1998. It covers the everyday lives of the town’s residents, the development of local trades, and the lives of individual Valday families and well-known summer visitors. There is also a historical connection to craftsmanship and bells: the monument “Kuznetsam i kolokolnym masteram Valdaya” was erected in Valday in 2017.

When looking for a holiday apartment, it helps to decide first what you would like to focus on: should Korotsko, with its route starting point and village attraction, be at the centre of your trip, or are you particularly interested in the broader nature and cultural themes of Novgorod Oblast? This lets you choose a location based on the kind of discoveries you have planned, without conflating regional attractions with those in the village.

Discover more destinations: Mstinskiy Most, Volna, Zimogorye, Selishche, Bolshoye Voronovo, Anukhino, Veryassko, Staraya Russa

For the wider travel overview: Novgorod Oblast.