Glamping in Karelia

Day 1 The ancient Kinerma village and Yukankoski waterfall

After the meeting at the Petrozavodsk railway station, you will travel to Sortavala by expeditionary SUVs, visiting the iconic natural and historical sites of the Northern Ladoga region along the way.

The first stop on the route you will make in the ancient Karelian village of Kinerma. Here a guided tour and lunch with national cuisine in the old house-museum is waiting for you. Kinerma is a monument of folk wooden architecture of the Karelian natives —Livviks and is included in the Association of the most beautiful villages in Russia. It was founded more than 440 years ago. You will walk through the quiet village streets among the old Karelian houses, visit the chapel of Our Lady of Smolensk with the iconostasis of the XVIII century and get acquainted with the peasant life.

Then you will continue your journey and go to the picturesque Yukankoski waterfall on the Kulismayoki River. It is also called "Belye mosty" (Rus. for "White Bridges"). This is the highest waterfall in the south of Karelia (19 m high). The road to the waterfall will pass through the Karelian taiga. On the way there will be a special off-road track, which, if desired, you can drive by yourself.

In the evening you will arrive at the city pier of Sortavala, from where you will go by motor boat to the island located in the heart of the Ladoga skerries (15-20 minutes on the way). This is a picturesque archipelago in the north of Lake Ladoga, consisting of many small rocky islands separated by straits.

Here you will be accommodated in glamping and have a welcome dinner with Karelian cuisine from the Chef. You will spend the night in cozy domed tents surrounded by a pine forest.

Day 2 SUP-surfing on Ladoga Lake

After breakfast in glamping you will enjoy a lecture or a movie in the panoramic tent about the Ladoga Ringed Seal. This is a unique endemic of Lake Ladoga, listed in the Red Data Book of Russia. In summer, the animals prefer to stay in the sparsely populated northern areas of the lake, where there are a lot of islands, rocks and stone capes.

Then you will take SUP-boards (inflatable boards with a paddle), so that if desired you can swim in the narrow straits of Lake Ladoga in search of seals. Even if you have never tried SUP-surfing before, after the instructor's explanations, you will definitely succeed with it.

After that, you will go by motor boats to the Karnetsaari Island , where you will climb Mount Aino — the highest point of the Ladoga skerries. It offers a magnificent view of the vast expanses of Ladoga and the Valaam Archipelago. On the route you will have a picnic outdoor. In the evening you will return to glamping, have dinner and relax in the bathhouse.

Day 3 Tour to Valaam Island Rafting on the Yanis

If the weather is good today you will go by speed boat to famous Valaam island, located in the northern part of Lake Ladoga. Here during the private tour you will get acquainted with the architectural monuments and the history of the Valaam Archipelago. In Monastyrskaya Bay you will visit the ancient Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery. See its central estate and the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral — a monument of Russian architecture of the XIV century.

After lunch in the monastery refectory you will enjoy a boat tour around Valaam Archipelago with a visit to the nearby islands. You will see the Gethsemane skete in the secluded Nikonovskaya Bay and make a landing on the Oboronny island. There are Finnish defensive fortifications from the "Winter war" have been preserved: an artillery tower, underground casemates and a secret descent to Ladoga, cut through the rock.

After the tour you will return by boat to glamping, where you will have a dinner from the Chef

Day 4 River and trekking route

Today you will have a busy day. After breakfast in glamping you will  take a walk along the forest ecological trail. It runs through the entire island from south to north (about 3 km, 1.5 hours). On this route you will see giant fir trees, picturesque marshes covered with moss, and the foundations of old Finnish farms.

Having finished hiking, you will get to the mainland by motor boat (15-20 minutes on the way). There you will transfer to minibuses and get to the place, from which you will start rafting down the Yanis river (30-40 minutes on the way).

Before going on the route, you will pick up equipment, pass safety instructions and arrange training sessions on the water. During the rafting you will pass several rapids of the 2nd and 3rd difficulty categories, see Finnish hydroelectric power plants and explore the picturesque Hemyakoski canyon (the length of the rafting is 8-9 km, 2.5-3 hours).

After completing the rafting, you will have picnic. Further you will be taken back to the glamping is located, where you will have a farewell dinner. Than you will be taken back to Sortavala for the evening train to Moscow.

Day 5 A boat trip to the Ladoga Skerries

After breakfast in glamping, you will go on a circular motor boats trip among the Ladoga skerries. One of the main features of the Ladoga skerries is the so-called "reef mountains". These are mountains that break into the lake with steep cliffs up to 80 meters high.

You will visit the Toulon Island (Tulolansaari), which is one of the largest on Lake Ladoga. Until 1940, there were several villages here, in one of which the famous Russian artist Nikolai Roerich lived and worked in the summer of 1918. You will also visit the abandoned Finnish stone quarries. Granite extracted here was used to decorate the palaces and temples of St. Petersburg.

During a boat trip you will also see several lighthouses and even a rock that was depicted on a 500-mark bill that was in use in the XIX century.

After returning to glamping you will have dinner. Then you will be taken to Sortavala for the evening train to Moscow.