A SUV-tour across the Russian North

Day 1 In Kargopol

After the Nyandoma meet-and-greet, tourists are taken to Kargopol, which is 80 km away. En route you will visit the ancient villages of Malaya (Little) Shalga and Bolshaya (Great) Shalga. Once there, you will be accommodated at the local hotel or in a guest house.
 
After tasting the Kargopol cuisine, you will take a car for a sightseeing tour of Kargopol. You will see the city panorama, the marketplaces (the Cathedral Square and the Old Square), as well as the “valushki”, or what has remained of the ramparts of once a great fortress where archers repelled the Polish-Lithuanian squads and Russian “thieves” as far back as in 1612.
 
You will also go to the village of Saunino to see the 17th-century wooden Church of Nativity of St. John the Baptist. Passing along the Onega river, you will admire Kargopol river rapids. For an extra fee, you can visit the Medvezhy Krai Eco Park (Russian for March of the Bears). It is a private residence containing truly fabulous sculptures and compositions. Or you can go to the private museum run by the Shevelevs, a well-known family of master potters.

Day 2 The Great Watershed

Today you are going to explore the vicinity of Lake Lekshmozero. En route you will get acquainted with the wooden architecture and culture of Kargopolye, its tent-shaped churches and the Kargopol clay toys. Also you will visit the Flax Museum, the 17th-century Church of St. Michael in Sreteno, and the multi-done Church of the Epiphany of Lyadiny monastery.
 
For lunch you will taste the conventional rural cuisine: the local Cisco (fish) delicacy, mushroom soup or stew, and tarts for tea. 
 
Afternoon you will go to Kenozero National Park to see the enormous Lake Lekshmozero. You will reach Maselga village to witness the Great White Sea and the Baltic Sea watershed dividing the Atlantic Ocean and the Arctic Ocean. There is only a narrow ridge between Lakes Maselga and Vilno. 
 
Also you will see a beautiful old house on the lake in the village of Guzhovo and climb the Hizhgora Mount, on top of which the Church of Alexander Svirskywas built  in the middle of the19 th century. Then you will return to Kargopol.

Day 3 A route to Oshevensk

Today you will travel to Oshevensk, one of the most important historical and cultural center of the region after Kargopol. En route you will stop at the “holy” stone in the village of Pozdyshevo, which contains the feed of St. Alexander Oshevensky.
 

During the tour you will visit the reviving Alexander Oshevensky's monastery, founded in the 15th century. You will see the complex of stone buildings and churches of the 18-19th centuries. You will also get acquainted with the monuments of wooden architecture observing the ensemble of Oshevensky churchyard with the Epiphany Church and the bell tower of the 18th century.

For lunch you will taste the Northern “shchi” soup cooked in the Russian oven, a porridge cooked in a cauldron, kalittki and shangi (tarts with cottage cheese and berries). After that you will visit the ancient village of Khaluy and the Arkhangelsk Churchyard, stop on an 18th-century wooden bridge.

In the evening you will stay at a guesthouse in the village of Vershinino, where you will have dinner and go to a Russian bathhouse (banya, similar to Finnish sauna).

Day 4 In Kenozerye

Walk over the village of Vershinino is waiting for you before midday. You will see the 19th-century two-story houses and the Kenozero Churchyard panorama, as well as visit the 18th-century hilltop St. Nicholas Chapel, that is considered to be an ancient landscape milestone and the symbol of Kenozero National Park. Then you will go to Ust-Pocha. Here you will see the unique “heavenly” paintings of the 18th-century Chapel of Nicholas the Wonderworker.
 
For the night you will stay at the guest house at the village of Markomusy. You will travel there via the Poonezhye parishes of Berezhnaya Dubrova, Ust-Mosha, and Paberezhye. For dinner you will have steamed game meat and cranberry tea.

Day 5 Rafting to the village of Turchasovo

On this day you will get to the village of Turchasovo by motor boats down the Onega river or take a walk on motor boats to Pustynka. It is a picturesque place near the Biryuchevskaya ridge of the Onega rapids. It has preserved the 18th-century wooden Church of the Annuciation.

In Turchasovo you will see the central villages of what used to be the Turchasovo Parish. Learn more about the monasteries of Lower Onega, as well as see the wooden churches, chapels, and bell towers in Piyala, Polye, Verkhovye and Nermuzhe villages.

You will have a picnic on the bank of the Onega river. In the evening you will arrive to Onega town to stay at a guesthouse and go to a bathhouse. For dinner you will taste the pomor cuisine: cod soup, bread baked per ancient recipes, and Andozero tea with rye tarts and cloudberry.

Day 6 Kiy Island

Today you will take a ferry to the village of Vorzogory on the Pomor coastline, Onega Bay, the White Sea. Here you will hear old legends and explore the ancient Pomor village with a wooden ensemble of Nikolsky churchyard 17-18 th centuries.

Then you will go back to Onega for lunch and take a boat trip to the Kiy Island  Here you will see the Kiy Monastery of the Cross and enjoy the landscapes of the island with its pine forests, cliffs, and sandy beaches.
 
If the weather is inappropriate for the boat trip, you will cross the Onega River to reach the village of Kamenikha and visit its 18th-century St. Vladimir Church on Mount Zherebtsova.

Day 7 End of journey

After breakfast you will be offered to join an Onega city tour, which includes a visit to the Museum of Local Lore.
 
Then you will go to Arkhangelsk where you will have some free time for a city walk before flying home.