For a Half Day

Arkhangelskoe: Accessible from Tushinskaya Metro station, Arkhangelskoe is the perfect place to escape the grind and grime of Moscow. Founded in 1670, this famous country palace and estate passed through several hands before it was bought by Prince Nikolai Yusupov (1751-1831). A latter-day playboy, Yusupov is best remembered for keeping a harem at the palace, but he was also an influential patron of the arts who debated philosophy with Voltaire, welcomed Pushkin into his library and hung the work of Anthony Van Dyck on the walls of his palace.

Parts of this extravagant place are open to the public and the formal gardens, which stretch down to the Moscow river, bloom in summer time with scented roses. Dotted around the grounds are a temple to Catherine the Great, a two-storey summer house and a Stalin-era military convalescence home. In addition to fresh woodland air, the estate provides an insightful glimpse into how the city's elite lived in their heyday before the emancipation of the serfs got in the way of their aristocratic fun. Arkhangelskoe is 22km (14 miles) west of central Moscow and accessible from Tushinskaya metro then bus 549. Opening times are Wed-Sun 1000-1600 (till 6pm for the grounds) but it is advisable to call in advance to confirm times (tel: (495) 363 1375).

For a Whole Day

Sergiyev Posad: One of the most magical sights in Russia is the monastery of Troitsko - Sergieva Lavra (The Trinity - St Sergius Crypt) in the town of Sergiyev Posad (formerly Zagorsk). Its famous onion domes in bright blue with gold stars come into view from the last rise in the road from Moscow. The monastery is one of Russia's most important pilgrimage sites and one of only four in the Russian Orthodox Church to have the honorific 'Lavra', the Orthodox term for revered retreats for hermits. It is part of the Golden Ring, a group of ancient Russian towns to the northeast of Moscow that are practically open-air museums.

The monastery complex, founded in the 1340s by St Sergius of Radonezh (the Russian Orthodox Church's greatest saint), comprises churches, cathedrals and monastic buildings that are still in use today. Troitsky Sobor (Trinity Cathedral) is the oldest (1422-23) and finest of the churches and its iconostasis once included paintings by Rublyov, some of which are now visible in the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow. The monastery (tel: (495) 281 6020; www.stsl.ru) is 80km (50 miles) north of the city and can be reached by train from Yaroslavsky Vokzal station in Moscow. It is open daily 0800-2000 and admission to the church is free (the parts of the monastery used by monks are not open to the public).