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
‘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, and 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 the end of the road allows us to investigate, understand, immerse, and eventually acquire a glimpse of that ‘Russianity’ and Russian soul I learned 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.
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, and ethically extremely diverse. We will travel by foot, by trains, and by cars, slowly, getting deeper into the nature and the Russian soul of an area very little known by 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, and 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 the environment 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, colorful, diverse, and 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
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-person group for the 21-day tour
or from € 860 (per person) for the 14-day tour.
The 21-day tour cost includes:
15 Breakfasts
7 nights in a 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
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 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 of this laid-back, buzzing capital of the North. In the evening we will board 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! 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 in 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-year-old carvings 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 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, and 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 center.
Inclusions: B L, LG half-day
Day 17 - to Murmansk
We catch our last train to the capital of Murmansk oblast and the 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 24-hour 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 go back to Murmansk
Time to return to Murmansk on our 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 onward or back home
Inclusions: B
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 family-run guesthouses and homestay
eat at family houses and traditional, local cafes
buy local products and artifacts from local masters after meeting them
use local transports where it is possible in order to reduce our emissions
Spend time with different local guides
Use filtering bottles and reusable dishes in order to reduce our waste