Around Russia on our own: compatriots are increasingly choosing auto tourism

New Year’s holidays are an excellent reason to go sightseeing in Russian regions. The interest of compatriots in traveling within the country is growing year by year, which has also provoked a sharp increase in the quality of tourism services provided. New hotels and holiday homes are opening, parks are being improved, the number of winter activities in municipalities is growing, and what’s more, even the coffee at gas stations is getting better. The latter is especially important for those who are not accustomed to being tied to train and plane schedules, preferring to travel by their own car.

As TASS reports, a quarter of Russians are planning a trip for the New Year holidays, among them 9% of respondents will go by car, 6% by train, 5% of respondents will fly by plane, and 4% are going to travel by bus.

According to 46% of respondents, the best city for a New Year’s trip is St. Petersburg. Another 36% choose Moscow, 30% – Veliky Ustyug, 27% – Karelia, 24% each – Sochi or Baikal. In addition, 20% of Russians prefer to go to Kazan for the New Year, 19% to Suzdal, 16% to Yaroslavl, 14% to Nizhny Novgorod, 12% to Kostroma, 11% to Sergiev Posad. Among other cities for a New Year’s trip, Russians noted Sheregesh, Yekaterinburg, Tula, Vladivostok, Murmansk, Khabarovsk and Krasnoyarsk.

Recently, the number of autotourists has really been growing. Both the road infrastructure and the equipment of gas stations on the highways are being improved to ensure that the voyage is as comfortable as possible. For example, the development of roadside service and increasing the level of customer services at the Rosneft gas station network is one of the priorities, the company reported. The filling stations have shops, cafes, pharmacies and machines for receiving/dispensing clothes for dry cleaning. The company is also developing a new area of ​​customer service – food trucks (mobile retail outlets). The “cafe on wheels” service is available at gas stations in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Voronezh and in other regions where the retail chain operates. And recently, unusual coffee straight from Venezuela appeared at 30 flagship gas stations.

“Venezuelan coffee, consisting of 100% Arabica beans, is grown in the Andes at an altitude of 1,800 meters above sea level. Venezuelan coffee is very different from other South American coffee varieties. It is soft, with notes of vanilla, chocolate and ripe fruit. Due to the small volumes of exports from this country, it is rarely found on the Russian market today,” a Rosneft representative said at the international exhibition and forum “Russia”.

Information: Coffee appeared on the territory of modern Venezuela back in 1730 thanks to Spanish missionaries. The country’s mountainous terrain and mild tropical climate are ideal for growing coffee and obtaining a rich harvest. Around 1800, coffee began to play an important role in the country’s economy. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Venezuela produced a third of the world’s coffee. Approximately 70% of coffee grown in Venezuela is Arabica. Coffee trees begin to bear fruit four years after planting and produce two harvests per year – the exact time of harvest depends on the region, weather conditions and altitude.

“There is a special romance in this – when you buy hot coffee and a hot dog at a gas station in the middle of endless roads. That is why road travelers most often choose these products for a snack, despite the fact that our Zerno food trucks offer a wide range of dishes,” continued the company representative.

So that tourists can travel without having to plan a long and painful route, the oil company launched a special information and service platform “Russian Horizons: Come with us!” The project allows you to plan or select a route to interesting places through the infrastructure of roadside services and gas stations. Several modules are already available that travelers can combine. For example, a route along the M-10 highway between two capitals. Moreover, each route undergoes an independent assessment in advance – by the National Association of Motorcycle Tourism and Caravanning, so that travelers do not accidentally end up on trails that exist only on maps.

For example, the Arkhangelsk region recently became a participant in the program. Tourists can try the “Road to the Russian North” route, developed specifically for road travelers, which runs through the iconic and most picturesque places in the region. The length of the route from the city of Velsk to Arkhangelsk is 550 km, with stops it will take four days one way. For autotourists from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yaroslavl, Vologda, it is more convenient to plan a trip along the M8 highway.

There are 13 Rosneft gas stations along the route, where tourists can fill up their cars with high-quality fuel, relax in a cafe and purchase goods they need on the road. Thanks to the auto route, tourists will be able to rationally use their travel time and visit the main attractions, experience the atmosphere and uniqueness of the Russian North.

The route is integrated into the already launched information and service platform of the company – “Russian Horizons: Come with us” (Russian Horizons.RF). The navigation functionality makes all interesting locations stops on a route that the autotourist can independently assemble and change at any time during the trip.

As part of the thematic days of the region, which took place in the Rosneft pavilion from December 21 to 24, experts from the Tourism Development Center of the Arkhangelsk Region have already talked about the iconic and most picturesque places in the region: the karst caves of Pinezhye, the architectural ensembles of Kargopol and Solvychegodsk, the picturesque Kenozero and unique monuments Russian wooden architecture.

Every day, especially for all guests of the exhibition, Candidate of Historical Sciences of the Northern Arctic Federal University M.V. Lomonosov Roman Boldyrev gave lectures on the history of the Russian North – a stronghold of ancient Russian culture and traditions of the spiritual life of the local population.