Vladimir Oblast

Vladimir Oblast is a region in Central Russia, which borders Moscow Oblast to the west, Yaroslavl Oblast to the northwest, Ivanovo Oblast to the north, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast to the east, and Ryazan Oblast to the south.

• Vladimir — the capital is 900 years old and home to numerous Russian cultural monuments on the UNESCO World Heritage list, which attract hordes of tourists each summer on the Golden Ring circuit
• Alexandrov — for a short time this small city was the capital of Russia under Tsar Ivan the Terrible
• Bogolyubovo — a small village just east of Vladimir, which shares the UNESCO World Heritage site status for it's remarkable 12th century white stone convent and churches
• Gorokhovets — a pretty, small town on the Klyazma River with some old churches
• Kirzhach — a historic town, home to the 14th century Annunciation Monastery
• Kovrov — the second largest city in the region with a major defense industry presence
• Murom — a large ancient city (9th century) with enormous history and cultural importance to Russia; home to the 11th century Saviour Monastery and several cathedrals
• Suzdal — a small town with a "Russian village feel," an extraordinarily high ratio of churches to residents, and very important monasteries
• Yuryev-Polsky — a town notable for its 13th century Cathedral of Saint George and the Monastery of Michael the Archangel

• Meshchora National Park

To be sure, there are multilingual guides around the UNESCO World Heritage sites, but for the most part, residents of Vladimir Oblast just speak Russian.

Vladimir is a 2.5 hour train ride from Moscow.