Novgorod Kremlin (also Detinets) stands on the left bank of the Volkhov River. The compound was originally the site of a pagan burial ground upon which the first bishop of Novgorod built the Cathedral of Holy Wisdom upon his arrival in the area in 989 or so. The main buildings in the Detinets are the Cathedral of Holy Wisdom and the archiepiscopal/metropolitan compound in the northwestern corner. To the south of this, across the plaza in which stands the Monument to the Thousand Years of Russia, is the Novgorod Museum and the Novgorod Regional Library, housed in what had in the imperial period been the administrative building of Novgorod.

The Cathedral of St. Sophia (the Holy Wisdom of God) in Veliky Novgorod is the first Slavic church in which local divergences from Byzantine patterns were made so evident. With its austere walls, narrow windows, the church is redolent of Romanesque architecture of Western Europe, rather than of Greek churches built at that time. The oldest icon in the cathedral is probably the Icon of the Mother of God of the Sign, which according to legend miraculously saved Novgorod in 1169 when the Suzdalians attacked the city. 

Yaroslav's Court was the princely compound in the city of Novgorod the Great. Today it is roughly the area around the Trade Mart, the St. Nicholas Cathedral, the Church of St. Procopius, and the Church of the Myrrh-bearing Women. The Trade Mart renovated and heavily modified in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, is all that is left of the princely palace itself. With Novgorod being the main Russian town to trade with Baltics Hanseatic League, Novgorod was the most critical point on the trade routes intersection. 

The St. George's (Yuriev) Monastery is usually regarded as Russia's oldest monastery. It stands in 5 kilometers south of Novgorod on the left bank of the Volkhov River near where it flows out of Lake Ilmen. The monastery used to be the most important in the medieval Novgorod Republic. The monastery played the role of Novgorodian princes burial place. The monastery was an important source for historical information on medieval Novgorod, as part of the Novgorod First Chronicle (the Synodal text) was compiled in the monastery.

Located on the banks of Lake Myachino and the Volkhov River, at St. George Monastery, there is an open-air museum of wooden architecture Vitoslavlitsy.  This is one of the most picturesque places in the Novgorod region. Izbas (village houses), chapels, and churches form streets like those in old Russian villages. Restorers managed to preserve the unique works of Novgorodian carpenters. The buildings on display are so magnificent that they need no introduction. To get to know how Russian people lived many years ago, one must visit any of the izbas. Vitoslavlitsy is famed for folk and trade festivals, Christmas fortune-telling, and the International Bell Ringing Festival is annually held there.

The River Volkhov connects Lake Ilmen and Lake Ladoga. It was a vital part of the most important trade route connecting Northern Europe to the Orient, by way of the Volga (Volga trade route) and Dnieper (trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks). The ancient Russian capital Staraya Ladoga and one of the most significant Russian medieval cities Velikiy Novgorod, are located along the Volkhov. The entire Volkhov River is navigable; however, there is no passenger navigation. There are small cruises on the Volkhov in Velikiy Novgorod.