Russia - Sudzhal and/or Sergiyev Posad

You might find this New York Times article, about driving the Golden Ring towns, to be of interest (it was just published last week): http://tinyurl.com/cgmxl99 I haven't been to Sergiyev Posad. Suzdal was quite interesting, as was Vladimir, and I would highly recommend a guided tour to one or both (they're about an hour apart). I went with my Russian-speaking sister, and this was fine, but if I went alone, not speaking Russian, the trip would have been almost impossible. Even if you don't learn a word of Russian, make sure you (and your kids!) learn the Cyrillic alphabet - it makes everything much easier. The article above almost implies that Suzdal was "touristy," but we only saw a few non-Russian tour groups there. A few restaurants did have English menus. Also, if you were last in Moscow "years ago," you'll hardly recognize it, so you may find more of interest than you expect. I was there in 2001 and 2010, and found all kinds of changes, the most pleasant being the decrease in cigarette smoking. Yes, many restaurants now actually have non-smoking sections!

I've only been to Suzdal, and not Sergiyev Posad. You can check out my thoughts and pictures of the visit on my blog here. Between the two, I would probably choose Sergiyev Posad as the day trip. Suzdal is a very sleepy town and the kremlin in Sergiyev Posad looks much more interesting/impressive. Suzdal was nice (and my mother, whom I traveled with from St. Petersburg to Ulaanbaatar, loved it), but again, very sleepy, smaller town. Not too much going on and probably less in the winter. ;)

I missed the time of your visit. I was there in September. In winter, I think the wooden village (I forget the real name) in Suzdal would still be interesting, and Vladimir had several interesting small museums. I agree any town ambiance would probably be buried under lots of snow.