Velikaya Ladoga

A busy day awaits you today. 

After breakfast at glamping, you will embark on a guided hiking trail along a forest nature trail. It runs through the entire island of Havus from south to north (about 3 km long, 1.5-2 hours). 

On this route you will see giant fir trees, picturesque marshes covered with mosses, foundations of old Finnish farms, outcrops of the most ancient geological rocks.

At the northern tip of the island, where the trail ends, minibuses will be waiting for you, which will take you to the starting point of rafting on the Yanis River (30-40 minutes on the way). 

The rafting will take place on rafts or inflatable kayaks. 

Before starting the route, you will have lunch in nature, then pick up your equipment and receive a safety briefing. During the rafting, you will overcome several thresholds of difficulty categories 2 and 3, see old Finnish hydroelectric power plants and picturesque canyons. The length of the rafting is 4-6 km, 2-3 hours.

After the rafting is over, you will return to glamping. 

Have dinner and relax in the evening. After dinner, you will watch a movie and listen to an interesting lecture about Ladoga. 

Then you can spend a soulful evening by the campfire or use additional glamping services – visit the Russian bathhouse or the hot tub-furako on the shore of Ladoga.

After breakfast at glamping, you will embark on a motorboat circuit along the Ladoga skerries.

You will travel along the so-called reef mountains, which are unique to Ladoga. This is the name of steep rocky cliffs, the height of which can reach 80 meters. 

Gulls, grey ducks, sandpipers, gags and other birds like to build nests here. Ladoga endemics, ringed seals, can often be seen on rocky ledges and boulders at the water's edge, basking in the sun.

During the trip, landings on the islands are provided. Together with your guide, you will climb to the highest and most picturesque points with magnificent panoramas of the Skerries, where you will hear legends from the famous epic “Kalevala". 

The boat route will begin with a tour of the “fingers of the giant” – the picturesque capes of the island of Honkasalo, where you can see firsthand that Russia has its own fjords - narrow bays with stone walls. 

Next, you will go to the unique Aino rock, where you will take memorable pictures. The program will end with a climb to the “roof of Ladoga” – Mount Vakhtimyaki, the view from which is truly breathtaking!

A picnic lunch is provided during the route in one of the picturesque bays. 

Dinner is waiting for you upon your return to glamping. 

After dinner, you can spend time playing games and singing around a large campfire.

After breakfast at glamping, you will try your hand at SUP boarding.

Supes are inflatable boards with an oar, on which it is customary to row standing up. Even if you have never tried to control them before, after the instructor's explanations, everything works out even for beginners. 

You will take a short route in a quiet bay, strengthen or gain SUP-boarding skills, and take cool photos on bright boards.

After the training and the bike route, lunch is waiting for you at the glamping restaurant.

Then, accompanied by a guide, you will continue exploring Havus Island and climb to the observation deck (Mount Haukkariutta), from where you can enjoy a magnificent view of the skerries of Lake Ladoga.

In the evening, you can play Karelian quiz.

On the final evening, you will have a gala dinner with a surprise from our chef.

If the weather is good, you will take a boat trip to the Valaam archipelago, located thirty kilometers from glamping. 

Here you will have an individual tour, during which you will get acquainted with the architectural monuments and the history of the Valaam Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery. 

Together with your guide, you will visit the central manor of the monastery and the Transfiguration Cathedral.

Next, you will have lunch in the monastery refectory, after which you will go to the distant capes and hermitages of New Jerusalem. 

You will see the Resurrection Hermitage, the secluded Gethsemane monastery garden, and climb Mount Olivet, famous for its magnificent views. 

At the end of exploring Valaam, you will visit the white-stone St. Nicholas Church, which has been welcoming and escorting guests of the monastery for almost two hundred years. 

At the end of the route, you will arrive in the city of Sortavala. 

The guide will take you on a short guided tour of the city, after which you will have free time to explore the city on your own and buy souvenirs.