Pearl necklace of winter Karelia

We invite you to a rich tour in which you will see Karelia in a new, snow-white color! 

On this tour, you will discover another Russia, realizing the depth and power of the culture of our great country. 

The shrines of the Russian North can be visited all year round, but it is in winter that they open to people with all-encompassing power.

Location

Republic of Karelia, Sortavala
from
$546
+ tickets to the starting point of the tour
No need to pay now
Duration
5 Days
4 Nights
Departures
  • Group departures
    • 30 December, 2024 – 3 January, 2025
    • Dates for next season
    • 4 – 8 January, 2025
    • 22 – 26 January, 2025
    • 5 – 9 February, 2025
    • 19 – 23 February, 2025
or
Accommodation
  • Hotel
    7 nights
Comfort
  • Premium
Difficulty
Easy
Suitable for everyone
Group
Up to 50 people
Minimum age
4 years old
Group meet at
Republic of Karelia, Sortavala
Contact the tour coordinator
Weekdays: 8am - 8pm
Weekends: 8am - 7pm (GMT +3)
Or text us in messengers

Tour highlights

Talviukko's patrimony
Let's visit Karelian Santa Claus and his faithful friends: huskies and reindeer
Kizhi Island
We will see the famous Kizhi churchyard, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site
Charming Sortavala
Let's go on a city tour and visit the Viking Age Museum
Retro train
Let's take a steam-powered train to the Ruskeala marble quarry
Legends of the North
We will visit the mountain "Sampo" and the resort "Marcial Waters", we will see the winter waterfall "Kivach"
Winter Petrozavodsk
Let's get acquainted with the capital of Karelia and take a walk along the embankment of Lake Onega

Itinerary

  • Day 1 - Charming Sortavala. Ladoga skerries. An ancient Viking fortress

    From 08:00, the meeting of the group members at the main entrance at the Sortavala railway station.

    The most suitable train for the tour: Moscow — Sortavala 160B with arrival at 08:19.

    We have breakfast in a cafe and go on an excursion to Sortavala.

    We will visit the Museum of the Northern Ladoga Region and the Kronid Gogolev Gallery.

    City tour and sightseeing of the stunning monuments of the Northern Art Nouveau: 

    • the building of the national school, built in 1929 in the neoclassical style; 
    • The Seurahuone Hotel, built in 1908, where Nicholas Roerich stayed; 
    • Leander's House (1905); 
    • the building of the Finnish Bank, built in 1915, in which every detail informs about the inaccessibility and reliability of the bank; 
    • The Siitonen Merchants' House is a typical Northern Art Nouveau built in 1907; 
    • The Town Hall, built in 1882, is one of the most beautiful buildings: turrets, carved skates, pale pink color, with carvings and white frames, as if a lace napkin was thrown on top; 
    • Wooden fire station built in 1888; 
    • The house with a lantern, built in 1920 and owned by the Helsinki Joint—Stock Bank, resembles a glass syringe in shape; 
    • The Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. It was built with the money of St. Petersburg merchants in 1873. It is built in the Russian style. Today, the main city temple of Sortavala.

    The pearl of Sortavala is waiting for us — the exhibition hall of Kronid Gogolev

    There is an old three-storey house in the very center of Sortavala. The Gogol Art Center is located here - an exhibition hall, workshops, and an art studio.

    The main exhibition is a stunningly beautiful carved paintings with northern motifs. The unique images that you fall in love with the first time will impress even the most sophisticated art lovers.

    After exploring the main attractions of Sortavala, it's time to explore the amazing beauty of natural places. 

    Karelian Fjords — Ladoga skerries are waiting for us. 

    We will go on an exciting tour of the Ladoga skerries, which will appear before you in all their winter splendor! 

    A hovercraft is also called an amphibious boat, such a means of transportation is very convenient for passing through ice, snow, water, sand, grass or swamp. 

    In case of unstable ice conditions, this excursion is replaced by an equivalent trip to the White Bridges waterfall.

    The duration of the tour is 1 hour.

    Upon our return from the Ladoga skerries, we will have a delicious lunch. 

    After a delicious meal, we go on an excursion to the Viking Age museum "Svartbjornborg" (Svartbjornborg — the fortress of the black bear).

    Here you can touch everything, absolutely any object, with your hands. Any costumes, uniforms or armor can and should be tried on and, at least for a short period of time, but feel like a brave warrior, craftsman or merchant.

    This is a large interactive platform where visitors are directly immersed in the era, turning from a spectator into a participant. 

    At the end of the tour on the territory of the fortified settlement of the "Viking age" on the shores of Ladoga, you can see:

    • fortress walls in the form of a palisade with corner and gate towers. You can walk around the entire territory of the museum along the wall, climb any tower, from where you can enjoy a panoramic view of the entire museum and the Ladoga skerries, since the museum is located on the very shore of the lake;
    • a friendly Scandinavian house under an earthen roof, which presents an exposition of everyday life, costumes and weapons of the Vikings; an active blacksmith shop — an exposition of blacksmithing;
    • a pier with replicas of wooden ships of the VIII — XI centuries. All models are valid and during the navigation period everyone has the opportunity to sit at the oar of a real Viking dragon boat;
    • a model of the sanctuary with carved wooden sculptures;
    • two playgrounds: a shooting range, with the opportunity to practice shooting with historical bows and crossbows, as well as learn how to throw combat spears and axes; and the lists — a prepared space for tournaments and funny fights (on protected weapons);
    • The pearl of the museum is the long Scandinavian house — "Honey Hall" — the largest recreated Viking dwelling in Russia. The roof of the house is made in the form of an inverted drakkar. The Honey Hall houses one of Russia's richest collections of household items, costumes and weapons.

    In the evening, we will have dinner and a cozy hotel.

    1 more photo
  • Day 2 - Retro train and marble pearl of Karelia — Ruskeala Mountain Park
  • Day 3 - A trip to Zaonezhye in winter with a visit to Kizhi Island
  • Day 4 - Winter Petrozavodsk. Ethnopark with deer and huskies
  • Day 5 - Legends of the North — Kivach Waterfall, Sampo Mountain, Marcial waters
Difficulty
Suitable for everyone

Accommodation

Accommodation
  • Hotel
    7 nights
Comfort
  • Premium

The tour provides accommodation for:

  • in a small hotel with room facilities in the center of Sortavala;
  • in a hotel in the center of Petrozavodsk.

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

Tour datesDouble occupancySingle occupancyAdditional place
22–26.01.25, 
05–09.02.25,
19–23.02.25, 
05–09.03.25
56 40064 40048 400
30.12.24–03.01.25,
04–08.01.25
79 50087 50071 500

Discounts:

  • for pensioners, disabled people, veterans of the database — 1,250 rubles.;
  • for children from 4 to 14 years old — 2,550 rubles.

Information on accommodation in Petrozavodsk:

For accommodation, we provide comfortable rooms in superior hotels and service levels located in the city center and within walking distance from the waterfront of Petrozavodsk, restaurants and entertainment centers, souvenir and grocery stores. 

We accommodate our guests in some of the best hotels in Petrozavodsk, consistently providing a high level of service and high-quality accommodation.

You get breakfast at the hotel in the price of the tour

All excursions will also start from the hotels (a maximum of 10 minutes walk from the meeting point for the tour, including on the day of check—in and check-out, as large buses are difficult to access some hotels). 

You can write your wishes in advance on choosing a specific hotel and we will try to ensure that you check into it, but the specifics of group tours are such that the accommodation grid is drawn up at the last moment, based on the available room quotas in the hotels we have booked.

Hotel in Sortavala 3 nights

Accommodation in a small hotel with room facilities in the center of Sortavala.

9 more photos
Hotel in the center of Petrozavodsk 4 nights

Tour conditions

Group
up to 50 tourists
Minimum age
4 years old
Duration
5 days 4 nights
Group meets at
Republic of Karelia, Sortavala

Included in price

  • Meals: 5 breakfasts, 5 lunches, 2 dinners;
  • master class on Karelian gates;
  • the work of a tour guide;
  • hotel accommodation;
  • all entrance tickets according to the program;
  • transport service by bus;
  • passage to Kizhi Island on a hovercraft;
  • railway tickets for the retro train;
  • skiing on the Ladoga skerries.

Paid extra

  • tickets to Sortavala and back from Petrozavodsk;
  • meals not specified in the program;
  • reindeer riding:
    • children under 12 years old — 1,000 rubles;
    • adult — 1,500 rubles;
  • husky riding (500 meters):
    • children under 12 years old — 1,000 rubles;
    • adult — 1,500 rubles;
  • husky riding (1500 meters):
    • children under 12 years old — 1,500 rubles;
    • adult — 2,000 rubles;
  • inspection of the Talviukko residence — 300 rubles/person.;
  • inspection of the Lumikki Palace — 300 rubles/person.;
  • Karelian farmstead — 300 rubles/person.;

Additional services can be purchased directly on site.

It's important to know

Are plane tickets included in the tour price?

Air and railway tickets are not included in the price of the tour. You can purchase them yourself or contact us for help.

Is insurance included in the price of the tour?
Is it possible to book services in the Ruskeala Mountain Park in advance?
What are the features of the tour?

Dates and Prices

  • from
    $769
    30 Dec, 2024 – 3 Jan, 2025 5 days 4 nights
    No seats left
  • from
    $769
    4 – 8 Jan, 2025 5 days 4 nights
    Submit request
    No need to pay now
  • from
    $546
    22 – 26 Jan, 2025 5 days 4 nights
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    No need to pay now
  • from
    $546
    5 – 9 Feb, 2025 5 days 4 nights
    Submit request
    No need to pay now
  • from
    $546
    19 – 23 Feb, 2025 5 days 4 nights
    Submit request
    No need to pay now

Reviews

  • O
    Olga
    2 Nov, 2024
    about provider
    I was very impressed with the guides and would gladly recommend them to friends and family. Our guide, Marina, shared fascinating insights about Karelia and made sure everyone felt completely at ease.
    2 Nov, 2024
    5 more photos
  • N
    Natalya
    21 Oct, 2024
    about provider
    Ihr seid einfach großartig! Macht weiter so
    21 Oct, 2024
    2 more photos
  • G
    Galina
    26 Jul, 2024
    about provider
    The guides told us in an interesting way about the history of Karelia, the traditions and the way of life of the population who previously lived on this territory.
    26 Jul, 2024
    6 more photos