Winter trip to the Arkhangelsk region

08:30 Breakfast in the hotel cafe.

Room release.

Bus and walking tour to "Oshevenskaya volost".

Visit to the villages: Saunino and Pogost (50 km).

The second most important place in Kargopol, where you should definitely visit. An ancient, reviving monastery, wooden architecture and traditional crafts from the Russian north coexist here at the same time.

The village of Oshevenskoye is an outstanding historical and landscape monument of the Russian North. The old-style residential buildings are organically adjacent to chapels, churches, and the monastery complex.

Artifacts of pagan culture have also been preserved here: votive crosses, a holy grove, and cult worship stones. And it's amazing!

In the village of Saunino there is the Church of St. John Chrysostom, a tent church built in 1665. Inside, the temple is covered with a picturesque ceiling – "painted skies". The hexagonal bell tower of the XVIII century gives the whole ensemble a complete and unique look.

A village with the wonderful name Pogost, where ensembles of wooden architecture monuments have been preserved.

In ancient times, the word "graveyard" meant not only a cemetery, but also a common place of nearby settlements. Not all the settlements have been preserved, but the village of Pogost has been preserved and is part of the Association of the most beautiful villages in Russia – that's why people from different lands come here – near and very far.

Rustic lunch of Kargopol cuisine.

Bread and pies from a Russian oven are a forgotten taste for some, and a previously unknown taste for others. Simple and delicious food: rich soup and fish "in the northern way", pickles and porridge Oshevenskaya.

After lunch, continue exploring Kargopol – the village of Archangel, where on the left bank of the Onega River there are two wooden churches — Archangel Michael (XVIII century.) and Candlemas of the Lord (XIX century.) (external inspection).

Transfer to Arkhangelsk. Moving 5-6 hours. Tech. stops along the way.

After 20:00 arrival in Arkhangelsk.

Accommodation at the hotel.

Dinner (on your own).

Breakfast at the hotel.

08:45 Meeting with the guide at the accommodation hotel.

Sightseeing tour "Arkhangelsk – the capital of Pomerania". Arkhangelsk is a city with a beautiful name, the first commercial seaport in Russia, founded at the end of the 16th century by decree of Ivan the Terrible.

On the shore of the Northern Dvina on the cape with the mysterious name "Pur-Navolok" you will learn about why the city was founded here and how it got its name, get acquainted with the centuries-old history: from the time when brisk trade was booming here, Peter the Great founded the first state shipyard and launched the first commercial the ship "Saint Paul".

You will hear about famous people, about Arctic expeditions, the first of which set off from the docks of Arkhangelsk, about the sights located along the embankment of the Northern Dvina.

Departure for the excursion "Severodvinsk – a city by the White Sea". You will learn the history of the foundation and
the formation of the city from the time of the Nikolo-Korel Monastery to the grandiose construction
Molotovsk, that's the name Severodvinsk, the center of nuclear shipbuilding, once bore.

The acquaintance with the history of the development of the Russian submarine fleet will continue at the Severodvinsk Museum of Local Lore. You will see an interactive composite model of a nuclear submarine. You will learn about technical solutions in the field of design and construction technology of nuclear submarines, their internal structure and equipment facilities.

Lunch at a cafe in the middle of the program.

Transfer to the shore of the White Sea on the island of Yagry. A walk along the picturesque seashore, which in winter strikes with icy silence. The southern coast of the Arctic is filled with century–old pine trees, amazing sunsets and icy hummocks of the White Sea.

Return to Arkhangelsk.

Visit to the historical and architectural complex "Arkhangelsk Gostiny Dvory". The Arkhangelsk Museum of Local Lore is one of the oldest museums in Russia: it turned 185 years old in 2022.

The "Meet Gostiny Dvor!" tour is a journey into the past that opens the pages of Arkhangelsk's history and the more than three hundred—year history of Arkhangelsk's Gostiny Dvors.

The merchant chambers of the 17th-century Russian Gostiny Dvor and the front halls of the 18th century house exhibitions and expositions. An architectural dominant that historically forms the silhouette of the city, as it was many centuries ago, Gostiny Dvory is still a symbol of the city.

Free time.

Dinner on your own.

Early breakfast at the hotel. Meeting with the guide at the accommodation hotel.

08:00 Fabulous Pinezhye country tour – a journey to the edge of a real northern fairy tale, untouched pristine nature, dense centuries-old forests, northern caves and amazing history (one-way transfer time 3.5 hours).

The Pinezh caves are a unique natural phenomenon: underground karst caves and systems, the largest and most numerous in the European part of Russia.

You will discover the wonderful world of the northern caves, where the eternal cold and darkness keep the secrets of bygone centuries. Twilight halls and mysterious galleries, grotto ceilings covered with soft and fragile snowflakes, shaped icicles and ice crystals with diamond luster.

It seems that Mother Winter herself waved her magic staff and created this icy splendor.…

Lunch at a cafe in the middle of the program.

Excursion to the Pinezhsky Museum of Local Lore. An introduction to the history of the once famous county town of Pinega, a story about the representatives of the most famous and richest dynasty of merchants of the region – the Volodins.

Return to Arkhangelsk (one-way transfer time 3.5 hours).

Arrival at the hotel after 19:00.

Free time.

Dinner on your own.

Breakfast at the hotel.

Room release. Things in the luggage room.

09:00 Meeting with the guide at the accommodation hotel.

Country tour to the Museum of Wooden Architecture and folk Art "Malye Korely".

Malye Korely is Russia's best open—air museum of wooden architecture and the main attraction of Arkhangelsk.

Once in Malye Korely, you will find yourself in Russia of the XVIII-XIX centuries: peasant huts, slender wooden temples of Kargopol, Pinezhye, Podvinsk and beautiful northern pine trees stretching to the sky create a sense of patriarchy and extraordinary peace.

Guided tour of one section of the museum.

Free time for an independent walk around the museum.

Return to Arkhangelsk.

Lunch at a cafe.

The tour program ends after 16:00.

Independent departure.

Recommended departure from Arkhangelsk after 18:00.