Solovetsky Islands and the White Sea Channel

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We invite you to a unique journey to the North of Russia, where history is intertwined with natural splendor, and every day is filled with discoveries and vivid impressions.

You will visit the beautiful Belomorsk with its rich cultural heritage, see the legendary White Sea petroglyphs and go to the majestic islands of the Solovetsky Archipelago, surrounded by the White Sea.

This tour is an opportunity to touch the past, feel the atmosphere of the North and enjoy the stunning views that will remain in your memory forever.

Location

Belomorsk

Sightseeing tours

from

Early
booking

Contact the tour coordinator

Weekdays: 8am - 8pm
Weekends: 8am - 7pm (GMT +3)

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Tour highlights

The legendary White Sea Canal

Visit the 19th gateway of the White Sea-Baltic Canal, built on the instructions of I. V. Stalin

White Sea Petroglyphs

You will touch the history with the help of rock paintings, the age of which reaches 7.5 thousand years

Spiritual heritage

Explore the central complex of the Solovetsky Monastery — the pearls of Orthodox architecture

Sekirnaya Mountain

Visit Sekirnaya Mountain and admire the views of the White Sea

The Botanical Garden

Take a look at one of the northernmost botanical gardens in Russia, which is located on the territory of the former Makaryevskaya desert

A rich animal world

During the voyage across the White Sea, you can watch sea ducks and polar terns, feed seagulls, and if you're lucky, see White Sea seals and belugas

Itinerary

Day 1 - Arrival, acquaintance with Belomorsk
Arrival in Belomorsk:
by evening train No. 092A or night train No. 016A "Arctic" (Moscow — Belomorsk, an additional night in the city is required);
by morning train No. 012H (Saint Petersburg — Belomorsk).
Meeting with the guide at the main building of the railway station from the platform.
Breakfast in the restaurant of the Gandvik hotel.
Excursion to the 19th gateway of the White Sea-Baltic Canal.
On the instructions of I.V. Stalin, the 227 km long canal was built in twenty months — from September 1931 to April 1933. 19 locks, 15 dams, 12 spillways, 49 dams — such a number of hydraulic structures were erected by prisoners without the help of machines and attracted currency.
We can only guess how many lives were claimed by the construction of the White Sea-Baltic Canal…
Independent lunch at the Pomeranian cuisine restaurant at the Gandvik Hotel.
Departure for a sightseeing tour of the city of Belomorsk.
The small town stretches majestically along the coast of the White Sea for several kilometers.
Here the Vyg River with its numerous tributaries, forming a delta, flows into the waters of the White Sea.
It is from the shore of Vyga that the future founders of the Solovetsky Monastery, Elder Savvati and Monk Herman, will go to the White Sea.
Visit the Museum of the Karelian Front, located in one of the most significant monuments of the military history of Karelia and the military glory of the North of Russia — in the building of the former Headquarters of the Karelian Front.
Since the formation of the Karelian Front on August 23, 1941, the location of the front headquarters was the city of Belomorsk, which at that time was the military capital of the Karelo-Finnish SSR. In the museum you can visit a variety of places on the Karelian front – the exposition is built according to the geographical principle, and in the courtyard of the museum there is a famous military equipment with guns of different calibers.
An excursion to the Belomorsky Petroglyphs is a monument that amazes the imagination of every person.
Rock carvings of an ancient man, whose age, according to various estimates, reaches 7.5 thousand years!
The richest archaeological complex, which is world famous, includes more than 2,000 rock carvings.
The size of the paintings is striking in its scope: from 5 cm to 2.5 m. The images carved on horizontal granite rocks with a quartz chipper are not only a genuine masterpiece of world art, but also the history of our ancestors!
Departure to Kem (village of Rabochiostrovsk).
Accommodation in the Berth tour complex.
Free time.
The group is released around 21:00.
Day trips: 140 km.

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Day 2 - Bolshoy Solovetsky Island
Attention: The guide is fully present with the group at Solovki all 3 days.
Breakfast in the restaurant of the tour complex.
Room release.
Departure on a flight to Solovki on the White Sea (2 most interesting hours on the way).
During the flight, you can admire the picturesque islands of the Kuzov archipelago, watch sea ducks and polar terns, feed seagulls, and if you're lucky, see White Sea seals and belugas.
Arrival on Bolshoy Solovetsky Island.
Transfer of items to the hotel's luggage room.
Sightseeing tour of the Solovetsky Monastery (duration — 3 hours).
The tour introduces visitors to the history of the Solovetsky Monastery.
Tourists visit the territory of the Central Complex of the monastery, active temples, monuments included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, objects of economic activity of the monastery, expositions.
Lunch at the island cafe.
Excursion "The history of the Solovetsky special purpose camps of 1923-1939" (duration: 2 hours 15 minutes).
On this tour, you will be told about the Solovetsky special purpose camp, the stages of the camp's development and its reformation in 1937 into the Solovetsky Special Purpose prison, as well as you will learn about the fate of prisoners and visit a new exposition about the camp and a monument to Solovetsky prisoners.
Accommodation in the selected hotel.
Free time.
In your free time, you can rent a boat and make an independent boat trip along the lake and canal system of Bolshoy Solovetsky Island.
Note: the distance from the excursion department to the boat station (2.8 km) and back will need to be walked! The capacity of the Pella boat is: 4 people. The management of the boat is independent!
It is necessary to have gloves and raincoats with you in case of rain.(possible only in the absence of a storm warning!)
or
Take a walk around Bolshoy Solovetsky Island on your own, while visiting:
Cape of Labyrinths (1 km.) The main attraction of the cape is the northern labyrinths, one of the most mysterious monuments of antiquity. According to antiquity, this mysterious symbol may well compete with the Egyptian pyramids, and the number of various hypotheses and interpretations of the purpose of the labyrinths is in the dozens. The sign is known on four continents, and its true meaning may not be as complicated as it may seem at first glance!
Filippovsky gardens (2 km.). During the walk, you can see the settlement site of the Venerable Zosima and Herman Solovetsky. He will get acquainted with the geological and hydrological features, flora and fauna of the White Sea, as well as with the unique hydraulic structure erected in the XVI century under Abbot Philip of Solovetsky.
Filippov desert (2 km.). According to legend, when Philip was not yet Metropolitan of Moscow, during another solitude in the desert, the image of the savior appeared to him. Jesus was wearing a bloody crown of thorns and shackles, it was at that moment that the holy springs were clogged from the ground, where they then installed a well. Then a chapel, a cell building and a church in the name of the "Holy Virgin" were built, where the stone was kept, which served as the headboard of Philip himself.
The "negotiating" stone (2.5 km.). A monument associated with the events of the Crimean War of 1854 in the form of a rectangular stone slab. The British presented an ultimatum on the surrender of the Solovetsky fortress, which was rejected by the abbot of the monastery, Archimandrite Alexander. The stone marks the memorable place of the abbot's negotiations with the British officer Anton N.

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Day 3 - Free time or excursions for an additional fee.The fee
Breakfast at the hotel restaurant.
Free time (morning until 14:00).
In your free time, for an additional fee, you can:
10:00 Take a boat trip to Bolshoy Zayatsky Island (the duration of the tour is 3 hours, the travel time by boat is 45 minutes). The tour will take place only in the absence of a storm warning!
Tourists will visit the largest pagan sanctuary of the II–I millennia BC, see stone labyrinths, a complex of religious and funerary structures, Russia's first stone harbor, monuments of St. Andrew's Hermitage.
17:00 In your free time, for an additional fee, you can also take an excursion to the island of Bolshaya Muksalma (duration of the tour is 4 hours, travel time by boat is 40 minutes). The tour will take place only under favorable weather conditions!
During a boat trip along the picturesque Long Bay to the island of Bolshaya Muksalma, tourists will see a grandiose hydraulic structure — a man-made boulder dam 1.2 km long.
The dam connects the islands of Bolshoy Solovetsky and Bolshaya Muksalma. In addition, tourists will be introduced to the history of the Sergiev Skete of the Solovetsky Monastery.
Return from the island at 21:00.

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Day 4 - Excursions to Mount Sekirnaya and the Botanical Garden
Breakfast at the hotel restaurant.
Room release.
Things are handed over to the hotel's luggage room.
Excursion "Sekirnaya Mountain. Holy Ascension Hermitage" (duration — 2 hours).
The tourists will visit one of the highest points of the Bolshoy Solovetsky Island — Mount Sekirnaya, from the top of which an unforgettable view of the northern part of the Bolshoy Solovetsky Island and the White Sea opens.
They will get acquainted with the history and monuments of the current Holy Ascension Monastery, where at the time of the Solovetsky camp there was a penal isolation ward - a place of detention and punishment of prisoners. They will see a unique lighthouse church.
Excursion "Botanical garden — Makaryevskaya desert" (duration — 1 hour).
Tourists will visit one of the northernmost botanical gardens in Russia, which is located on the territory of the former Makaryevskaya desert, see monuments, unique plantings of various periods of the history of the Solovetsky Islands, enjoy an amazing view of the ensemble of the Solovetsky Monastery, opening from Alexandrovskaya Hill.
Independent lunch at the island cafe.
The group is released around 15:00.
Day trips: 30 km.
For those who leave on a daytime flight at 16:00, there is free time.
For those who leave on an evening flight at 19:30, optional: an independent visit to the Solovetsky Maritime Museum.
In the history of the development of the Russian North, Orthodox monasteries played an important role, which formed a special direction of this process — parallel economic and spiritual development of the territory.
This is most vividly confirmed by its history by the largest monastery of the Russian North — Solovetsky Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery.
The Solovetsky Maritime Museum is an Orthodox museum that tells about the spiritual and economic development of the sea and the coastal territory of the Russian North.
In your free time, you can visit the company store of the Arkhangelsk Algae Plant, buy Monastery products, Solovetsky pastries and souvenirs.
19:00 Boarding the ship.
19:30 Departure to the village.Rabochyostrovsk.
21:00 Arrival in the village. Rabochyostrovsk.
A transfer will be waiting for you at the pier, which will take you to the Kemi railway station.
Transfer to the railway station, departure by night trains.
Attention:
For tourists leaving for St. Petersburg, it is possible to depart from Solovki on a daytime flight at 16:00 in the afternoon and transfer to train No. 011H with departure time from Kem at 20:40.
For tourists leaving by morning trains, it is possible to stay in the Berth tour complex for an additional fee.

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Difficulty

Suitable for everyone

Accommodation

Camp Site

1 night
Hotel

2 nights

Comfort

Midscale

The tour includes accommodation in a hotel and at a recreation center.

The cost of the tour for 1 person, depending on the accommodation, RUB.:

Placement	"Berth" + "Solovetskaya Sloboda"	Berth + Solovki Hotel
Double room	55 600	57 050
Single room	75 150	77 650

Discount when placing an additional one. location:

for a child under 12 years old — 10%;
for an adult — 5%.

Discount for children under 12 years of age — 1,500 rubles/person.

Prichal is the largest hotel complex in the Kemsky district of the Republic of Karelia, with 8 cottages. To the village of Rabochiostrovsk, which is located on the west coast

Kemskaya bay of the White Sea, very easy to reach (12 km from Kem railway station). And they really know how to take care of a traveler here. Despite the fact that the winds of the White Sea can sometimes be strong and cold, every visitor will receive a truly cordial and warm welcome. Welcome to visit us at any time of the year.

The northern nature is rare in beauty here.

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Tour conditions

Group

up to 50 tourists

Minimum age

7 years old

Duration

4 days 3 nights

Group meets at

Belomorsk

Included in price

habitation;
meals specified in the program (4 breakfasts, 1 lunch);
transportation services according to the program;
the work of a guide;
entrance tickets;
excursions and visits:
- excursion to the 19th gateway of the White Sea Canal;
- sightseeing tour of the city of Belomorsk;
- visit to the Karelian Front Museum;
- excursion to the White Sea Petroglyphs;
- sightseeing tour of the Solovetsky Monastery;
- excursion "The history of the Solovetsky special purpose camps";
- excursion "Sekirnaya Mountain. Holy Ascension Monastery";
- excursion "Botanical garden — Makaryevskaya desert".

Paid extra

railway tickets to Belomorsk and back from Kemi;
meals not specified in the tour program;
extra nights at the Berth tour complex (breakfast is not included):
- single room — 3,800 rubles/day;
- double room — 4,600 rubles/day;
- additional place — 2,000 rubles/day;
boat trip to Bolshoy Zayatsky Island — 1,700 rubles/person.;
boat trip to the island "Bolshaya Muksalma" — 2,500 rubles/person.

It's important to know

Passport of the Russian Federation (for citizens of the Russian Federation), MHI policy;
Personal medicines. We cannot guarantee the availability of medicines necessary for you along the route of the group in pharmacies;
The SIM card is only MTS or MegaFon;
Repellents (for allergy sufferers — clove oil);
Motion sickness pills;
Sunburn remedy;
Cash. A map in windy weather may make it difficult to calculate on the islands;

Clothing and shoes:

floor-length raincoat (not an umbrella, but a raincoat);
for women, a skirt and a headscarf (headdress) for visiting active monasteries and temples;
a warm jacket, necessarily windproof;
The sweater is warm;
hat and gloves;
warm boots;
sneakers;
thermal underwear;
warm socks;
2 sets of light clothes (a pair of T-shirts, shorts, light pants);
swimsuit.

Dates and Prices

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2 – 5 Jun, 2025 4 days 3 nights

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9 – 12 Jun, 2025 4 days 3 nights

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16 – 19 Jun, 2025 4 days 3 nights

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23 – 26 Jun, 2025 4 days 3 nights

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30 Jun – 3 Jul, 2025 4 days 3 nights

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7 – 10 Jul, 2025 4 days 3 nights

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14 – 17 Jul, 2025 4 days 3 nights

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21 – 24 Jul, 2025 4 days 3 nights

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28 – 31 Jul, 2025 4 days 3 nights

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4 – 7 Aug, 2025 4 days 3 nights

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11 – 14 Aug, 2025 4 days 3 nights

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18 – 21 Aug, 2025 4 days 3 nights

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25 – 28 Aug, 2025 4 days 3 nights

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