New Year in a very special, enchanting place – on the Kizhi islands, next to the most beautiful monument of the northern wooden architecture.
We will travel by ice hovercraft on the endless Onego lake to discover its small picturesque islands hosting the old Karelian villages and modest charming chapels. We will feel the beauty of these places in this quiet season when there is nobody but us and locals…
Our days will be full with discoveries and winter activities – skiing, ice-angling, workshops, while the evenings will be filled with warmth and cosiness.
5 unforgettable days at Kizhi in winter…
Day 1, 30 Dec
Arrive in Petrozavodsk at 08.45 by overnight train from Moscow (at 06.50 am by overnight train from St Petersburg), meet your local Karelian guide. Transfer downtown to the best Karelian restaurant for breakfast.After breakfast, our discovery of the rural Karelia starts with a visit to a very special place in Petrozavodsk – a private gallery by the local artist Tatiana Kalinina. Here we will learn a lot of fascinating stories about the traditional pagan beliefs of Karels and their legends while looking at the amazing hand-made dolls personifying different spirits of the forest and house. Here, we will also have fun while testing our handicraft skills and making a traditional & funny Karelian doll.
At 11.30, we will leave by minibus from Petrozavodsk to Kivach waterfall and further to Velikaya Guba settlement.
We will stop at Kivach to see the frozen 11 m high waterfall with fairy snow decorations and moving dark water. At Kivach, we will visit the tiny museum of Kivach nature reserve and see the famous Karelian birch-tree. Light lunch on the way - tea with sandwiches and pastry. In late afternoon in Velikya Guba an amphibious air-cushioned vehicle (ACV, gliding over ice and water) will be waiting for us. In less than an hour, the ice hovercraft will deliver us to the village Sennaya Gube, located on Big Klimenetski island next to Kizhi.
Check in at the Ostrov guesthouse – in twin rooms of the guesthouse or in small family cottages. Rest. In the evening, there is still enough time to enjoy an excellent hot banya.
Dinner and night in Ostrov guesthouse (DBL).
Day 2, 31 Dec
Today after breakfast we suggest a fun programme where you will make acquaintance with the others. We would like these days to stay in your memory not only because of the beauty of Karelian nature in winter or joy of small discoveries, but also by the warmth and openness of the people. Hot mulled wine to the health of everybody will complete the acquaintance. After lunch, lets think about the coming New Year… We do not have yet the most important thing, without which no New Year is possible in Russia – the New Year Tree! Lets set out into the snow-dusted forest to choose our own – the most beautiful and special - New Year Fir!
The New Year Tree chosen and installed – now it is time to decorate it! Lets feel that we are again happy children and simply make decorations ourselves! Aside from the scissors, glue and colour paper, we will need only our fantasy to make the most original and precious decorations!
A little bit of free time to prepare yourself for New year celebration – and New Year dinner!
Night in Ostrov guesthouse (DBL).
Day 3, 1 Jan
After the proper New Year celebration, we can afford sleeping late today. After late breakfast, we can decide who prefers what today:
Some of us can leave for the discovery of the most beautiful wooden architecture gems of Karelia by ice hovercraft, and the others might prefer to stay and rest, enjoy cross-country skiing, ice-angling or banya. Tomorrow there will be the opportunity for everybody to catch up and do what the others do today.
So, some of us would choose to go today for a tour of Kizhi and the Kizhi necklace – small chapels that surround and frame Kizhi, the main gem, like a precious necklace. They are awaited by Kizhi, a wonderful open air museum, a UNESCO Heritage site, with an amazing creation of the XVII-XIX centuries’ masters of the Russian North – an ensemble of traditional wooden structures – majestic multi-domed wooden church, chapel, mills, barns, and peasant houses (izbas) brought here once upon a time from all over Karelia. The white silence of the snow-dusted island and the quiet beauty of the ancient wooden silhouettes create a special atmosphere of peace, harmony and the Time standing still. You will return to the guesthouse before dark; lunch as a light snack in the field. Those, who preferred to make the first day of the year more relaxed, already rested and maybe enjoyed skiing or tried out their luck in ice angling (lunch in the guesthouse).
Dinner and night in the guesthouse (DBL).
Day 4, 2 JanAfter breakfast, we split again into 2 groups: those who relaxed yesterday, will go for a tour of Kizhi by ice hovercraft, and those who has already done it will enjoy ice angling and cross-country skiing.
Winter days in Karelia are wonderful: the snow is sparkling in the sunshine and the mood at its highest. Those who go ice-angling, will drill ice holes, get the fishing rods in the water… wait… and here it is – the first fish catch on the snow! Skiing in the picturesque surroundings of the village will give you an opportunity to explore Bolshoy Klimenetski island and enjoy fresh air. Today there will be also enough time for walking on your own, feeling the beauty of the moment and taking in the energy of the grand Onego lake.
Dinner and night in the guesthouse (DBL).
Day 5, 3 JanAfter breakfast, we pack our luggage and say good-bye to Kizhi and the hospitable guesthouse. We return to Petrozavodsk – first by ice hovercraft to Velikaya Guba settlement, and then by minibus to the city itself. Light lunch as a snack on the way (hot tea, sandwiches, pastry). The time left free before departure back home you can use for visiting some shops to find an interesting (or tasty) souvenir from Karelia – a local herb or berry liquor or wood craft objects – or just walk around Petrozavodsk enjoying its unhurriedness of a provincial town.
At 19.00, depart by a comfortable night train #18 to Moscow (or at 23.00 by train #658 to St Petersburg).
The Tour Operator has the right to introduce changes to the itinerary due to the weather conditions.
