Prince Andrey Bogolyubsky built his fortified residence at Bogolyubovo in the 1150s and 1160s, after he moved the centre of power in northern Rus away from Kyiv, and a lone staircase tower from it still stands beside a later monastery. That prince also built the white stone cathedrals of Vladimir and the Golden Gate, which this ride is paired with, and the tiny church of the Intercession on the Nerl, which rises from a flood meadow like a white candle and is one of the most perfect small churches in Russia.
Suzdal itself is the heart of the old Golden Ring, a town of about eleven thousand people that was a princely seat in the Middle Ages, then a place of monasteries and merchants, and then, when the railway went elsewhere, simply forgotten. The result is a town that kept its low wooden houses, its many white churches and its monastery walls, so the skyline still looks seventeenth-century. The Kremlin stands on a bend of the Kamenka river, with the blue, star-spangled domes of the Nativity Cathedral, and the meadows along the river are dotted with wooden churches and windmills. Suzdal is also known for its honey mead, medovukha, and for pickled cucumbers, which have their own festival.
The country around is flat to gently rolling, a landscape of birch woods, wide fields and villages with carved wooden window frames. Roads are straight and quiet but can be badly patched, particularly after the freeze, and heavy trucks wear ruts into the surface, so the pace is steady. Summer is warm and green, and the autumn colours of birch and aspen are lovely, while winter closes the season with deep snow and ice. Mosquitoes by the river in the evening can be a nuisance.
Suzdal has fuel in the town, but Vladimir, about thirty-five kilometres to the south, has a wider choice of stations and services. Check the rules on documents and insurance for visitors before travelling, as regulations and sanctions affect foreign vehicles and travel in Russia. In town, a plate of pancakes and a glass of mead make a good break.