The wonders of Solovetsky nature

Breakfast.

Meeting with the tour guide at the hotel reception.

Pedestrian crossing to the tour desk.

Sightseeing tour of the Solovetsky Kremlin (walking tour duration is 2 hours and 45 minutes).

The tour introduces visitors to the history of the Solovetsky Monastery.

Tourists visit the territory of the monastery's central complex, active temples, monuments included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, and the monastery's economic facilities.

Visit souvenir shops, a store of seaweed products from the White Sea.

Note! Optional excursions are offered for an additional fee.

Additional excursions are booked and paid for when booking the tour, the number of seats is limited. As part of the tour, a tourist can book no more than 4 additional excursions out of 6 available:

1. "Top Island" (duration — 2.5 hours).

Lovers of serenity, tranquility and silence, as well as photographers — this sea trip is for you! 

In half an hour, a high-speed boat will take you to the tiny island of Bolshoy Top in the middle of the vast sea, where there is a lighthouse marking the dangers for large vessels. 

On the neighboring Small Top, far from the standard tourist routes, skuas and terns nest, and seals, ringed seals and sea hares rest in good weather. 

The islands are covered with a tundra carpet, the "northern ginseng" grows here and the largest quartzite slab on the White Sea is located — sparkling milky crystals covered an area of about 30 square meters. 

And don't forget: the main principle of communication with untouched wildlife is "Don't touch anything!".

In the absence of waves at sea, disembarkation takes place on an unequipped shore! When planning to take part in this excursion, please calculate your strength in order to be able to jump off the bow of the boat onto dry land.

The cost of the tour: 3,500 rubles / person.

2. "Cape Beluzhy boat trip" (duration — 2 hours).

Belugas – white northern whales, peaceful inhabitants of the Arctic Ocean – come to the White Sea in the summer.

A sea trip to Beluga Cape will be remembered by every minute: The cape water area is one of the few places on the planet where you can observe whales in the wild.

Since mid-June, during low tide at sea, whale mating games, birth and upbringing of cubs have been taking place here.

There is also a station of oceanographers who have the opportunity to observe these beautiful creatures every day.

Don't miss your only opportunity to look into the whales' eyes, feel the power and beauty of these amazing marine mammals.

Note: delivery to the shore of Cape Beluzhy is carried out by a sea boat. Beluga whale watching depends on the time of low tide, as low water is a favorable time for observation.

The cost of the tour: 3,500 rubles / person.

3. "The archipelago of the Body – the world of ancient man" (duration 5 hours). 

Get ready to experience a storm of emotions: sea crossing on speedboats, landing on the rocky shore of the German Island and a 30-minute ascent to the highest point of the White Sea water area (130 meters). You are in the heart of the nature reserve "Archipelago of the Body"! On the ascent, climatic zones change from taiga to tundra, the outline of the cliff looks at the traveler like a frog or a shaman, and from the top opens an impressive panorama: Solovki, Karelian skerries and placers of the White Sea archipelagos. 

During the trip, you will get acquainted with the archaeological heritage of the island and the ancient sanctuary – the mysterious Seidov plateau – a "collection" of megaliths, mysterious stones of the North, left to us by the first inhabitants. Among this splendor, enjoy the serene silence and the endless expanses of the sea, feel the special energy of the Bodies. In the absence of civilization, the world freezes and gives you the opportunity to feel and hear yourself...  You can reach the heavens here!

When planning to take part in this excursion, please calculate your strength in order to be able to jump off the bow of the boat onto the cliff.

The cost of the tour: 4,500 rubles / person. 

Breakfast at the hotel.

Meeting with the tour guide at the hotel reception.

Pedestrian crossing to the tour desk.

Excursion "Solovetsky hermitages. History and Legends" (duration — 4 hours).

Bus tour of the northern part of Bolshoy Solovetsky Island with a tour of widely known places and iconic but rarely visited monuments of Solovki. 

The first stop is the Holy Ascension Skete with its controversial history and Sekirnaya Gora, the "fortress of light and darkness", where the lighthouse church stands, which became a penal isolation unit during the time of the ELEPHANT. 

From Sekirka, the forest road leads to the Savvatievsky monastery, the first settlement of the Solovetsky monks, which in the early 20th century became an ELEPHANT business trip and the site of the first execution of political prisoners in Solovki. 

Further along the route, Jung Alley is the remains of the dugouts of the Solovetsky Jung School. During the war years, 14—year—olds were educated here by the elite of the USSR Navy. 

From there, the route leads to Red Lake, where the famous lake and canal systems of Solovki originate and there are material traces of the Solovetsky history. 

The dam of the 16th century, the realized idea of "turning back the rivers", still performs a whole range of functions centuries later, which changed the practice of economic activity of the monastery and the Solovetsky landscapes. 

Worthy objects of display are worship and commemorative crosses, examples of cross—cutting craftsmanship. 

A meaningful trip will also allow you to enjoy the scenery and experience the beauty of the northern nature.

Breakfast at the hotel cafe. 

Free day.

Optional excursions are offered for an additional fee (to be booked and paid for when buying a tour, the number of seats is limited). As part of the tour, a tourist can book no more than 4 additional excursions out of 6 available:

• "Solovetskaya Dam" (duration 2-2.5 hours).

The most grandiose construction of Solovki after the Solovetsky Kremlin is the famous man–made causeway, a boulder road laid across the sea to facilitate transportation between Bolshaya Muksalma Island and the monastery. From the very beginning of construction in the middle of the 19th century, the dam aroused great interest among visitors to Solovki. 

The new route allows you to approach the dam from the south side of the archipelago, revealing views of the famous monument that are completely unknown to tourists. Look into the arch of the dam and pay attention to the transparency of the water and the amount of algae!

The cost of the tour: 3,000 rubles / person. 

• "Malaya Muksalma" (duration 3-3.5 hours).

Malaya Muksalma Island, a separate world behind the tourist facade of Solovki, has always been closed to the mass tourist. But we have opened this route!

We will take a speedboat along the coast of Bolshoy Solovetsky Island to the southern part of the Solovetsky Archipelago. Maneuvering through the rocky shoals, we will pass the huge Muksalom reef, which covers the approaches to Malaya Muksalma. This reef is one of the reasons the island is inaccessible. 

Even among the local White Sea captains, only the most experienced and reliable know this route. Finally, we will disembark at the pier of the algae harvesting village — this is the purpose of our excursion — a unique place not only on the scale of the White Sea, but also, perhaps, the whole of Russia.

Here, from June to October, algae is extracted manually, as it was 100 years ago, on traditional White Sea carbine boats. We will see how kelp is harvested and dried before being shipped to Arkhangelsk, from where the algae will return to Solovki in the form of cosmetics and dietary supplements. And of course, we will learn a lot of details about the life and work of local fishermen, and about what and how they make algae.
The fishing village is a "non—tourist" place. No sleek "Potemkin" huts and animators imitating traditional crafts. Tourists are not expected here – there is a lot of work. We will also have the opportunity to observe the harsh life of the White Sea fishermen and feel the peculiar brutal spirit of this place.

The cost of the tour: 4,500 rubles / person. 

• Excursion "Long Lip" (duration – 4/5 hours).

An exciting ecological boat trip along the Long Bay – the "inner sea" of Solovki, where even in stormy weather there are rarely waves. 

Driven by a fresh salty wind, a carbine boat with a motor will run past sandy beaches, countless islands and rocky ridges crashing into the water. 

One of them has a bird family, and the other one seems to have a seal basking in the sun. Shallow depths allow you to see the underwater world: starfish are buried in the sandy bottom, translucent ultramarine jellyfish hover in the water, algae sway and stretch somewhere along with the sea currents. 

The price of the tour includes a bus transfer to Long Bay and back, as well as a tasting of White Sea mussels – perhaps you are lucky enough to find a real White Sea pearl in one of them. 

The cost of the tour: 3,500 rubles / person. 

Breakfast at the hotel.

Room release.

Things are checked into the storage room.

Meeting with the tour guide at the hotel reception.

Pedestrian crossing to the tour desk.

Guided tour "Sights" of Bolshoy Zayatsky Island (duration — 3 hours).

Boat trip to Bolshoy Zayatsky Island.

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 skete.

The travel time from Bolshoy Solovetsky Island to Bolshoy Zayatsky Island by sea transport is 45 minutes.

Pedestrian crossing to the pier.

Baggage pickup at the pier.

Departure to the mainland.

Arrival in Rabochiostrovsk.

Transfer to the railway station.

Departure home after 19:30.

For tourists leaving home the next day, it is possible to book a hotel in Kem (for an additional fee).