Russia
- The White nights, to and beyond the Arctic Circle -
21 or 14 days from Saint Petersburg to the Barents Sea through Karelia
Starting from € 860 per person for 14 days tour
8 people max
14 days
Saint Petersburg, Petrozavodsk and KIzhi, Kola Peninsula, Murmansk & Teriberka
Starting from € 1080 per person for 21 days tour
8 people max
21 days
Saint Petersburg, Petrozavodsk, Belomorsk, Solovetsky Island, Kola Peninsula, Murmansk & Teriberka
Available dates
25 May - 14 June
27 June - 17 July
20 July- 9 August
‘When I was a kid I found out there were places on earth where the sun doesn’t go below the horizon and the daylight never leaves the sky. Since then I have been following that sun, setting my destinations northern and northern. Go until the end, until you cannot walk or drive further’
On this tour I will take you there, to my Russian Home.
There has always been something extremely attractive, fascinating, intriguing to me about Russia, its culture, its people, history and soul. The vastest country on the planet has much more to offer than that little we know. A part of freezing winters, infinite train journeys and onion-shaped domes there is the ‘Russian soul’, the one I finally started to capture, appreciate and love after years.
The ‘Universe Russia’ offers a unique diversity in every aspect. With its 193 ethnic groups and 83 different Federal subjects, 11 time zones, every region is a different reality itself.
The stretch from Saint Petersburg to the very North at end of the road allows us to investigate, understand, immerse and eventually acquire a glimpse of that ‘Russianity’ and Russian soul I learnt to love and I, now, try to share.
Along the 1500 km from the city of Peter the Great to the end of the road, you don’t only move through a great variety of landscapes and natural diversity but you witness a real change in culture, people, uses, languages, a deep investigation into that Russian Soul through the most intense, energic, flourishing time of the year when the sun never leaves the sky, when locals feel their best after the long, cold winter when everything opens up, blossoms, grows, shines, unfoldings in front of us along the way.
Why this Tour
The biggest country in the world is still a mystery for the majority of travellers. Famous mainly for its past history, literature, arts, politics there is very little we get to discover about this diverse, unique, intense, deep culture and its people. This land and its people is a place to discover slowly in many years, in many trips. Is a place that intrigues you, makes you wonder, makes you angry, joyful, sad, attracts you, and surprises you at the same time.
Russia is much more than its Transiberian Railway, more than cold winters, forests, and its Soviet time. Russia it is its nature and its cultural, ethical diversity, its cosmopolitan cities and remote villages, its almost forgotten traditions, and it’s an indissoluble link with the past.
A small group will allow us to do this and much more in an easy and low impact way on local people and the environment.
We will not try to squeeze in as much as we can but we will allow time to slow down, immerse ourselves as much as we can in the place and its past and present, we will take opportunities when they come and change plans when it is needed.
We will go with the flow but without skipping the main sightseeing places.
I designed this tour with responsible tourism in mind. This is why we will…
Stay in guesthouses, small hotels ad outdoors
eat in traditional, local cafes and cook ourselves when camping
learn about the local products and arts
use local transports and trains in order to reduce our emissions
Spend time with different local guides
Use filtering bottles and reusable dishes in order to reduce our waste
Highlights
From the gold, the palaces, the art, the history of Saint Petersburg to the remote fishermen villages of Kola Peninsula, at the very end of the continent right before the Barents Sea. Further North only the Arctic Pole.
A tour through three different federal regions of Russia, culturally, ethically extremely diverse. We will travel by foot, by trains, by cars, slowly, getting deeper into the nature and the Russian soul of an area very little known within foreigners.
We will catch local trains, sleep under the stars in the deep of the Russian Taiga, we will swim in the Barents Sea and in the Karelian lakes, we will learn more about the Karelians, ethnically Baltic Finnic people who have been living in the region for centuries.
We will travel and explore in an ethical, responsible way, having as little impact as we can on environments and local communities. We will grab opportunities when they come, change plans when needed and immerse ourselves as much as we can in one of the most fascinating, intriguing, happy, colourful, diverse, deeply cultural areas of the world.
Some of the included highlights:
Witness the White nights phenomenon and the 24 hours of sunlight
camp and trek through untouched lands spend the day and night with a local family in a village learning about the daily life and hundreds of years old traditions
Reach the Solovetsky islands and visit its XV Century monastery Unesco world heritage
Use local trains
Spend time in the biggest city above the arctic circle, Murmansk
Trek through the untouched and vast Russian Taiga
reach the village of Teriberka, the very last at the end of the road
swim in the Barents sea
enjoy as many Russian Banya as we can
Where are we going on this trip
Saint Petersburg
The Venice of the North, the masterpiece of Peter the Great, the laid-back popular Russian destination will enchant you like very few other places n the world. The start of our tour has so much to offer and so much to unveil.
Petrozavodsk
The capital of the Republic of Karelia is a 300.000 people city laid on the shore of Onega Lake. This is my Russian home, surrounded by forest and water it is our gate to this culturally and ethnically diverse part of Russia.
Kola Peninsula
Entirely above the arctic circle, one of the largest peninsulas of Europe is surrounded by the Barent sea and the white sea. Kandalaksha is the gateway to exploring the peninsula which is dotted by only very few fisherman villages along its southern shore. We will drive around untouched forests, along sandy and windy beaches, and up to volcanic hills.
Murmansk
The biggest city above the article circle is a surprise, with its laid-back atmosphere,, never-ending sunlight days and unique connection to nature will welcome you to the very Norths. Teriberka is a couple of hours away from Murmansk.
Scroll at the end of the page for the Day-by-day Itinerary
Tour cost and what’s included
The cost of the tour varies depending on the number of participants.
It starts from € 1080 (per person) in an eight people group for the 21 days tour
or from € 860 (per person) for the 14 days tour.
The 21 Days Tour cost includes:
15 Breakfasts
7 nights in small city- hotels/ b&b
7 nights wild-camping and or small local guesthouses/ huts/ ‘dachas style’
4 nights trains
7 days with private transfers
Local guides
Entrances to monuments/ museums/ activities when included
Tour leader 24/24 with the group
The following aren’t included:
Flight tickets
Personal (required) travel insurance
Not-included meals
Entrances and activities not mentioned in the itinerary
Souvenirs
Airport transfers
Tipping kitty to collect at the start of the trip
This trip is perfect for you if…
you love to spend time outdoors, exploring places slowly, walking, trekking through nature.
This is an experience designed for those who love wild- camping, for those who like to move and explore leaving no-traces behind in the full respect of the environment and locals.
A trip for those who want to explore a part of Russia less known, away from the popular Transiberian railway areas. for who, like me, is fascinated by the midnight sun and wonders how is life with 24 hours of sunlight.
A trip for those who like to dive deep into the local uses, meet people, exchange ideas, laugh, languages, learn and learn and learn.
Prepare yourself, what to expect
Accommodations
Accommodations in cities and towns will be comfortable, sometimes basic but clean and easy to reach if in the centre. We will wild-camp a few times and spend time in nature. This will be done in a responsible way, trying to leave as little impact as we can.
Connectivity
Phone signal will be good in many of the places we will be visiting. Sim cards are also available for foreigners and quite easy to get.
Hygiene standards
Most of the places we will be exploring have the same standards you are probably used to. As for camping, again we will try to have a very minimum impact, carrying out our own shovel, never leaving traces behind us.
Moving
Trains in Russia are not only popular with travellers along the famous Tainsiberian. Trains are the main mean of transportation to and from most of the areas. Russian love the trains, they are on time, efficient, good value for money, comfortable, local and they allow you to meet a lot of people! The itinerary is based on 3rd class compartment tickets, supplements for 4-people cabins are available.
Laundry
It is relatively easy to find places where we can hand our small items laundry during the trip.
Locals
The majority of people of Russian culture are some of the friendliest I have met during my travels and ‘lives around the world. They have a very unique, interesting, peculiar friendliness that grows on you. The first time in Russia is an introduction, after that, you will be dragged into this huge, diverse, fascinating, unique country many and many times more. the younger generation will speak English and the older ones will use anything they can to try to communicate with you, especially during train journeys. Once you break the ice, Russians will carry you into their souls, their houses, their lives, and their country, and the fascination and the adventure will begin.
When is the best time to go?
This is a tour designed for the summer, to enjoy the white nights and make the most out of 24 hours day sunlight. Breath, live and soak the magical summertime of Russia.
The phenomenon of the midnight sun will be visible above the arctic circle from the 22nd of May to the 23rd of July. before and after there will be still light most of the time.
Temperatures are very comfortable with warm days and cool nights but never too cold.
This trip is suggested from mid-May to mid-August.
Day by day Itinerary (21 days)
Day 1 - Saint Petersburg
Meet with Ali and the group in Saint Petersburg in the late afternoon.
Day 2 - Saint Petersburg
First full day in Saint Petersburg. We will discover less known areas of the city a bit out of the tourist sightseeing major attractions. At night we will cycle around the city to have a first glimpse of the White nights and enjoy the sun and is light as much as we can.
Inclusions: B, LG all-day
Day 3- Saint Petersburg and to Petrozavodsk
The day is free to explore the city, maybe choose a couple of exhibitions or Museums within the huge selection the city can offer or simply stroll In one of its parks, grab a chai and soak up the atmosphere to this laid back, buzzing capital of the North. In the evening we will board on our first train heading to Karelia.
Inclusions: B, Train
Day 4 - Petrozavodsk
We arrive in the capital of Karelia in the morning. We will head to our accommodation and explore the city in the afternoon with a local guide. In the evening we will watch a music performance of local folk music and visit the ethnographic museum.
Inclusions: LG all-day, music performance, museum
Day 5 - Petrozavodsk countryside
Today we head to the countryside finally! We don’t need to go very far from the city to find our night accommodation. The forests along the shore of Lake Onega are dotted by villages of Dachas. We will experience a day and night in a Russian summer house with its Bania.
Inclusions: B, transport, Dacha or camp, Bania
Day 6 - Petrozavodsk
Back to the city, we will have one more day to explore Petrozavodsk and its surroundings
Inclusions: B, train
Day 7 - to Belomorsk
Today we continue our way further North boarding our train to Belomorsk, six hours from Petrozavodsk. We will arrive in the evening.
Inclusions: B, train
Day 8 - Belomorsk and to Kem
Our first encounter with the White sea and the oldest Karelian history. This area is full of Petrogrliphs and Belomorsk offers a great example of it. With a local guide, we will reach the site in the forest and witness some 5000 years old carving on stones. In the evening we will reach Kem by only a one-hour train journey.
Inclusions: LG half day, train
Day 9 - to Solovetsky Island
Kem is where we will start our trip to the Solovetsky Islands. In the morning we will reach the shore of the White sea, catch a 2 hours boat ride and spend the next two days on the island.
Inclusions: B,transport, boat trip
Day 10 - Solvetsky Island
Today we explore the XV century Monastery of Solovetsky
Inclusions: B, LG full-day
Day 11 - Solovetsky and to Kandalaksha
In the afternoon we head back to the mainland and we will board on another night train to Kandalaksha.
Inclusions: B, boat trip, transport and train
Day 12 - Kandalaksha
We will pass the arctic circle and arrive in the town of Kandalaksha in the early morning. We will settle for the day and explore the town and its surroundings.
Inclusions: LG full-day
Day 13- 14- 15 - Kola Peninsula
Time to head in the deep of the Russian taiga and drive to the Kola Peninsula. We will spend three days wild camping, driving, hiking through one of the less known areas of Russia.
Inclusions: B L D, LG full day, transport
Day 16 - Kola and back to Kandalaksha
We eventually return to Kandalksha today and we will stay overnight closer to the urban centre.
Inclusions: B L, LG half-day
Day 17 - to Murmansk
We catch our last train to the capital of Murmansk oblast and most populated ‘artic’ city.
Inclusions: B, LG full day
Day 18 - to Teriberka
Teriberka is our last destination. It is located at the very end of the road, on the shore of the Barents sea. we will spend two nights in this isolated little village, exploring the surroundings and making the most out of our 24h sunlight long days.
Inclusions: B, LG full-day, private transport
Day 19 - Teriberka
Full day in Teriberka
Inclusions: B, LG full-day, private transport
Day 20 - Teriberka and to back to Murmansk
Time to return to Murmansk on ur last day of the tour
Inclusions: B, LG full-day, private transport
Day 21
Today we say goodbye to the group and we will continue independently on our journey onwards or back home
Inclusions: B