Discovery of the Russian North: St. Petersburg, Kizhi, Solovetsky Island, Gulag Camp (KL-07)

Our driver will meet you in the arrival sector with a Go Russia sign board and transfer to the railway station. You will travel on a comfortable train to Petrozavodsk, arrival - next day early in the morning.

Today you will have a guided city tour around Petrozavodsk. The city was founded by Peter the Great in 1703 in an effort to win The Great Northern War against Sweden. It’s located on the shore of Lake Onega and has a reputation as the green city with plenty of beautiful parks. We will visit the National Museum of the Republic of Karelia where you will learn about the local history and traditional culture of Karelian people and the Russian North.

Later we take a hydrofoil to Kizhi Island. The Kizhi museum is one of the most interesting cultural sights in the Northern Russia; it is also included on the UNESCO World Heritage list. This open-air museum includes more than 80 magnificent structures. The most amazing are the 22-dome Church of the Transfiguration (1714) and the oldest wooden church in Russia - the Church of the Resurrection of Lazarus. Dating from the 14th century, its whole structure was built without a single nail!

In the afternoon we take a hydrofoil back to Petrozavodsk and travel by car to a local village of Kinerma. In the evening we learn how to bake traditional Karelian pies “Kalitki” - tiny pasties made of unfermented dough with rye flour and usually served with tea.

Historic village of Kinerma is a natural open-air museum representing a unique complex of traditional wooden architecture in Karelia. Seven of seventeen buildings of Kinerma have status of monuments of architecture. During a guided walking tour you will see dwelling houses and utility structures and visit a wooden chapel of the XVIII century. In the evening we travel back to Petrozavodsk and take an overnight train to Kem.

Upon arrival in Kem you will be taken to the port where you will have some rest in a local hotel. In the morning we depart to the Solovetsky Islands by ferry (3-3.5 hours). The Islands are renowned for their unique historical and cultural heritage, as well the beautiful Northern nature and their abundant sea life. In the afternoon we have a guided tour of the monastery which was founded in 1430. As centuries passed the monastery grew bigger and became famous all over the Orthodox world, thousands of pilgrims visited the monastery every year. In the early Soviet period the island of Solovki was turned into a political prison and during the WWII the island was the home of a school for young sailors. Nowadays Solovki is a functioning monastery again. You will get acquainted with legendary monastery buildings and fortresses walls, and learn the history of the infamous Stalin's Gulag camp situated within the Solovetsky Kremlin wall.

Zayatsky is a small tranquil island in about 45 minutes boat ride from the Monastery. This group of islands has a lot of attractions, including prehistoric sacred labyrinths, burial mounds (thought to have been created by the protosaami people), a medieval church, household structures and a stone dock. The main places of interest of Zayatsky, covered with the tundra-type vegetation are its mysterious stone labyrinths dating back about 4000 years and a small wooden church of St. Andrew (1702). In the afternoon we take a ferry back to Kem where we board an overnight train to St. Petersburg.

Our driver will meet you with a Go Russia sign board at the platform. You will start your discovery of St. Petersburg with a guided city tour by car that will take you around the stunning "Venice of the North"; you will see the Peter and Paul Fortress, St. Isaac's Cathedral and the Church of Christ's Resurrection (The Saviour of the Blood). You will also see the famous cruiser Aurora; the legendary ship whose canon gave the signal, on the order of Lenin, for the beginning of the Great Social Revolution more than 90 years ago.

A guided tour of the Hermitage, former residence of the Russian Tzars (famous Winter Palace) and one of best museums of the world. This stunning palace, an architectural masterpiece in itself, contains a collection over 3,000,000 works of art representing the development of world culture and art from the Stone Age to the 20th century. The collection includes works of Leonardo Da Vinci, Titian, Raphael, French impressionists, sculptures and treasures icons, coins and Tsar’s jewellery. The Hermitage is an unforgettable place to visit.

Half day tour to the suburbs of St Petersburg to visit one of the magnificent summer palaces - Petrodvorets. The Peterhof (Petrodvorets) is a world-famous palace, fountain and park complex, and an outstanding landmark of Russian artistic culture of the 18-19th centuries. Founded in the very beginning of the eighteenth century by Emperor Peter the Great not far from his new northern capital St. Petersburg, Peterhof was intended to become the most splendid official royal summer residence.

Transfer to the airport. Our driver will meet you with a Go Russia sign board at the hotel lobby.