Rostov, known as Rostov Veliky, or Rostov the Great, is one of the oldest towns in Russia, mentioned in the earliest chronicles under the year 862, and it sits on the shore of Lake Nero, a broad, shallow lake in the Yaroslavl region. Its history gives it a quiet grandeur that few other provincial towns can match. The Kremlin, built in the seventeenth century as the residence of the metropolitan, stands beside the water, a long, white walled enclosure of churches, towers and gardens, and its bells, cast in the 1680s, still ring out across the lake in a famous peal.
The town is part of the Golden Ring of old cities northeast of Moscow, and travellers have been coming here for centuries. It has a long tradition of enamel painting, known as finift, in which tiny, brightly coloured scenes are painted on metal, and workshops still make brooches, boxes and icons. Local gardeners are known for their onions, grown in the rich soil of the lake shore and sold in markets around the region, and the town's cuisine has a modest, hearty character that suits cold weather.
The roads in this region are flat, wide and straight, with little change in gradient. The main highway between Moscow and Yaroslavl runs close by, busy with trucks, and quieter local roads wander through villages of wooden houses with carved window frames, birch woods and fields. Surface quality varies, with smooth new asphalt in some places and potholes and patches in others, so keep your eyes on the road. Summer is the best season, with long evenings and warm weather, while spring brings mud and winter brings snow and ice.
Rostov has about thirty thousand people and enough fuel stations, shops and cafés to meet your needs, and Ishnya, a few kilometres away, is a smaller place with a few shops. The nearest big city is Yaroslavl, about sixty kilometres to the north, which has a fine riverside and a number of old churches covered in painted tiles. If you plan to ride the Golden Ring, allow time to wander the streets and see the churches, because the real pleasure of the region is not in the kilometres but in the stops. Pereslavl, on its own lake to the south, is a worthy partner for a day's ride.