My wife and I spent a day in Novgorod and its immediate vicinity and could have spent another one! The architecture is fabulous – we had never before found an active church (the Cathedral of St Sophia) which was in use before William the Conqueror hit the shores of England!
The place for lunch is the Detinyets Restaurant, which is actually within the walls of the Kremlin. And if you can, visit the Convent at Vizhishti, which if you’ve driven to Novgorod from St Petersburg, is a very small diversion on your way home.