Today I finally start a series of reviews of beautiful Russian holiday destinations. It is now summer, the most pleasant time for traveling through our vast and – very often forgotten – wonderfully beautiful homeland. Certainly, luxury culture in our country is still quite young, and much remains to be done, but some luxury hotels and good restaurants have already appeared. And not only in the capitals. So the first place I want to talk about in this connection is called Plyos.
High hills, colorful wooden houses and churches, old trees, boats on the banks of the Volga. That’s what Ples is. And Plyos is almost a synonym for beauty and painting. At the end of the 19th century, Russian artists, tired of eternal Italy, began to travel here. Discovered this place first Isaac Levitan. Traveling along the Volga, he accidentally stumbled upon a tiny town and … fell in love with it at first sight. Here Levitan was waiting for one of the most fruitful periods of his life – he painted more than forty paintings with surrounding landscapes, which are now in various museums around the world. In Plyos itself, only three paintings remained from Levitan’s heritage; they can be seen in the Levitan’s house-museum, which works in the house of the merchant Solodovnikov – the very house where the artist lived.
The most comfortable and authentic hotel in Plyos it “Cathedral Sloboda”. It was created by businessman Alexey Shevtsov. A few years ago, he bought 11 old Plyos houses, restored them and turned them into luxurious “villas” in the Russian style, but with European comfort. Previously, these wooden mansions, scattered in different parts of the historical center of the city, were inhabited by philistines and merchants, so some houses are still called by their names – the Maklashins’ House, the Access House. And I, for example, stayed at the Novozhilov House.
Simple and spacious country houses, cozy and warm. The interior design combines European design with Russian provincial furniture such as heavy antique chests of drawers and carved sideboards.
The second hotel in Plyoswhere it is quite possible to live, it is “Private Visit”. Actually, it’s not even a hotel, but a guest house, but don’t think, this is not some kind of budget guesthouse there … This is exactly what chamber hotel, purely homemade. It was opened in their own house by the spouses Elena and Andre Magnenan (André is French). There is a breathtaking view from the windows and everything is very homely.
The hostess herself cooks for the guests, and, I must say, cooks very tasty. The pies are especially good.
Well, besides these pies, in Plyos, of course, there is still where to eat: Plyossky restaurant “Yacht Club”, for example, is very strong. And, in addition to delicious Russian cuisine, there is a large selection of local liqueurs and good European wines.
Russia. Ples. Summary
Where to stay: a href=”http://www.pless.ru”>“Private Visit” – rating 4.
“Cathedral Sloboda” – rating 5.
Where to eat: restaurant “Yacht Club” – rating 4.
