What to bring from the Vologda Region?

If you are wondering what to bring your family and loved ones from the Vologda Region, know that this region offers a wealth of characterful souvenirs. The online marketplace of local producers, "Made in the Vologda Region", introduces you to the most striking and original options.

Dairy products

Butter is the main gastronomic brand of the Vologda Region. It is based on an ancient recipe, first proposed back in the 19th century by Nikolai Vereshchagin, the founder of the industrial butter‑making industry in Russia. Incidentally, butter bearing the name "Vologodskoye" can be produced in Russia by only seven local dairy plants. Another delicious and sweet gastronomic brand is the famous Vologda condensed milk, which is produced in the Sokolsky District. This condensed milk has a rich cream flavour and contains nothing but whole milk and sugar. Delicious Vologda ice cream (plombir), block butter, and condensed milk in tin cans can be found in the city's supermarkets. Colourful wooden barrels of butter are sold in souvenir shops and at branded retail outlets.

Confectionery and Drinks

From Vologda, you can bring home sweets: pastila, marmalade, cranberries in powdered sugar, and jam made from northern berries. For something unusual yet tasty and healthy, we recommend trying buckwheat in chocolate, apple cheese, beetroot marmalade, or sweet carrot slices. In the Vologda Region, many medicinal herbs are gathered, which are used to make unique teas. Ivan‑chai (fireweed tea) and chaga tea are particularly popular. When you are in Kirillov, be sure to try the local lemonade. It was about this lemonade that President Vladimir Putin said: "This lemonade truly tastes like childhood."
Vologda Lace
Alongside its butter, the Vologda lace craft is equally renowned – a tradition that originated in the Russian North back in the 16th century. Lace items make an original souvenir to remember Vologda by. Here you will find everything from small napkins, collars, bookmarks, and earrings to true works of art: lace waistcoats, pashminas (scarves), and panels. 
Author's Ceramics
Traditional crafts reflected in modern souvenirs of the Vologda Region include ceramics. Since ancient times, products have differed not only in appearance but also in the method of production. In some places, bowls and pots were pressed in special moulds; elsewhere, they were smoked without air to obtain a black coating with a striking silvery sheen. In addition, clay whistles were moulded, and decorative tiles (izraztsy) were created – coloured tiles for finishing stoves and building facades.
Just as in ancient times, ceramic pottery and other clay items are now created in private pottery workshops across the Vologda Region. This is the author's ceramics, and therefore unique. Plates, cups, teapots, and bowls can be both familiar and whimsical, both ornamented and minimalist. An unusual reminder of your trip would be decorative ceramic panels featuring miniature Vologda windows with intricate carved surrounds, as well as ceramic kokoshniks. The local Kurakino ceramics have already become a craft with its own name, combining extraordinarily masterful decorative tiles, household ceramics, toys, and garden sculptures. These works of decorative and applied art are brought to life in a workshop in the small village of Kurakino, Kirillovsky District, the Vologda Region. They can be purchased at the salon-shop near the Ferapontov Monastery.
Silver Items
More than 300 years ago, in the Veliky Ustyug District – the northernmost district of the region – the artistic craft of silver niello was born. Today, it is actively preserved at the "Severnaya Chern" factory. All items here are made by hand from a 925 sterling silver sulphide alloy with the addition of other components. Striking souvenirs and gifts for loved ones include jewellery, religious items, sets of cutlery, or tableware. Niello silver is not afraid of water, light, or sudden temperature changes, so the items retain their original appearance for a long time.
Linen Products
In almost all souvenir shops in the Vologda Region, you can buy clothing, bedding, and table accessories made from linen. This material is valued for its eco-friendliness, durability, and hypoallergenic properties. If you're hesitant about buying textiles, consider purchasing linseed oil, which is beneficial for your health.
Fur and Wool Products
The Vologda Region is one of the northern regions of Russia: winter here is long and genuinely cold. In such a climate, extra warmth in clothing is essential, so warm souvenirs – wool and fur items made by local craftspeople – are in high demand during the winter months. Tourists happily purchase woollen and down shawls, fluffy socks and mittens, fur waistcoats, hats, and valenki (traditional felt boots).
Wooden Products
Wood has always been used in everyday life in the Vologda Region, and today it has become a tourist highlight of the area. This is hardly surprising, for even now, forests cover three quarters of the Vologda Region's territory. Here, wood is used to make practical souvenirs: chopping boards, tableware, boxes, toys, and even phone stands shaped like traditional spinning wheels. If you're only planning to buy a fridge magnet, choose a wooden or birch‑bark one.
Enamel (Finift) Products
Finift (enamel) was one of the main and most beloved adornments of Russian princesses and merchants' wives. The word "finift" comes from the Greek for "to mix". It is a particular type of applied art in which enamel, combined with metal, is the primary material. Craftspeople who master the secrets of this craft today create jewellery and everyday items, boxes depicting architectural monuments, items on religious themes, and icons of patron saints. All these can be bought in souvenir shops in the Vologda Region.
Natural Cosmetics
Local natural cosmetics make a delightful souvenir from Vologda. Creams, toners, and balms inspired by Vologda's dairy products give skin softness and hydration.
Vologda Merch with Design Code
In 2026, the region launched a merch line featuring a "design code" – and these are not just souvenirs; they are a piece of the region's soul and history. The range includes notebooks, pens and pencils, T‑shirts, hoodies, shoppers (tote bags), diaries, and thermoses. Each item is a new page in the Vologda chronicle. In the prints, you can easily recognise the airy loops of the famous lace, the silhouette of the bell tower of St Sophia's Cathedral. There is also the "Bird of Happiness" – an ancient talisman born in the Russian North, a symbol of home, warmth, and well‑being. Motifs from ancient embroideries and, of course, the main winter emblem – an airy snowflake.
The phrase "I fly like a Yak‑40" is a tribute to the legendary regional jet aircraft, which, from the 1960s to the present day, has been circling the Vologda Region, landing on the shortest runways and delivering travellers to other regions of Russia. The notebook "I will use the 'o' sound" serves as a reminder that the "o" is the region's linguistic emblem – the marker by which a person from Vologda recognises another from Vologda a thousand kilometres away. And of course, Ded Moroz (Father Frost)! His silhouette on the merchandise evokes magic, cosiness, and a belief in miracles. The first line of the new merch is already on sale and is produced in a red‑and‑white palette, referencing traditional folk colours.
Buy products marked "Made in the Vologda Region"!