Abstract: The article presents an analysis of the geographical ideas concerning Pskov and the Pskov land as part of the Tsardom of Muscovy, which developed in England and France in the 16th - 17th centuries. The authors pay special attention to the written testimonies of English and French intellectuals, diplomats, traders and travelers, who wrote their opinions on the natural and geographical features of the Pskov borderland. A separate group of sources is formed by maps of English and French origin, reflecting the level of knowledge of the inhabitants of Western Europe in the early Modern Era about the borders and geographical features of the western borders of the Russian state. The methodological basis of this study is the historical-genetic and historical-comparative methods that allow to trace the development of the English and French authors' ideas concerning the natural and geographical features of the Pskov land in the 16th - 17th centuries and to identify the sources of recurring opinions on the region that were fixed in the mind of Western Europeans. The initial testimonies on the Pskov land, both in written sources and on maps, contain significant inaccuracies in their descriptions, which are explained by the authors' poor acquaintance with the territory of the Russian state. They received information from other foreign sources, either third-hand from residents of Muscovy or from merchants and diplomats who visited the country. By the 17th century the volume of accumulated information made for more and more accurate maps of the region. The descriptions of the region's geographical features, compiled by people who directly visited Pskov, were often short. The travelers were above all interested in the natural conditions and convenience of the border location of the city itself.