Legends of Ladoga. Weekends in Karelia

After breakfast by airboat, you will embark on a route along the Ladoga skerries, an amazing land of stone giants, where there are places of power and places that inspired artists.

The skerries are a maze of islands, straits and fjords, granite glacial capes and steep cliffs overgrown with forest.

Here you can see with your own eyes that Karelia is water and rocks, and trees grow on the rocks. Some low Karelian mountains contain the power of the tectonic forces of the planet, being the remnants of ancient volcanoes from the Paleozoic.

If you believe the legend of the magical Sampo mill, a mystical artifact that gives well—being and prosperity to Karelians and Finns, the Sampo fragments once turned into these islands.

Upon returning to glamping, our instructors will prepare a picnic lunch in the campfire area, conduct a master class and share the secrets of cooking Finnish lohikeitto soup.

After lunch, accompanied by a guide, you will embark on an author's hiking route along a forest nature trail, where you will be surrounded by the spirits of the Karelian forest.

The guide will tell you about the guardians of the taiga: the rich Tapio, the master of hunting, the horned Hiisi, the mysterious spirit of spruce, the winged Lempi, the ancient god of love, and the bearded Akhti, the lord of Ladoga. And also about the ancient Mistress of the animals, the giantess Louhi.

The culmination of the route will be the exit to the Haukkariutta rock (fin. "the Rock of the Hawk"). From a height of over 40 meters, you will have a wonderful view of the Ladoga skerries, guarded by forest spirits and stone giants.

In the evening, you will return to glamping, where dinner will be waiting for you.

You will spend the night in cozy hemispherical tents surrounded by a pine forest.

After breakfast, we leave the island by airboat to the pier in Sortavala.

Then we transfer to a minivan or minibus, depending on the number of band members, and drive to the unique museum "At the Master", dedicated to the peasant life of the Northern Ladoga region.

Here you will find a geological collection, peasant clothes and utensils, antique embroidery and children's toys.

You can not only see the exhibits, but also touch them, light a fire with a chair, and also try your hand at the loom.

After the museum, we will have lunch in a cozy cafe, and then we will go to the final point of our route — the Ruskeala Mountain Park.

Here, an experienced guide will take you on an exciting tour of the park.

The Ruskeala marble quarry is a monument of cultural heritage that began its work back in 1765. It is this marble that is used in the decoration of the walls of the famous St. Isaac's Cathedral and the Ladozhskaya and Primorskaya metro stations in St. Petersburg.

In the evening we will return back to Sortavala, where you will have about an hour of free time to walk and buy souvenirs before the evening train to Moscow.

If you are planning a trip to St. Petersburg, then you will have time for the evening "Swallow" (but without a walk).

It is optimal to purchase return tickets for trains departing from Sortavala no earlier than 18:00 on the final day of the tour.