This snowmobiling itinerary will take us to the island of Kizhi in the Russian North, along the shores and across the ice of Onego lake, the 2nd largest lake in Europe. You will see the island of Kizhi with its unique multi-domed wooden church and visit usually inaccessible old Karelian villages and chapels located on the islands of Snow Necklace.
Length: appr 300 km, track - lake surface
Group size: 6 persons (1 pax on snowmobile) and 12 persons (2 pax on snowmobile)
Note on duration: this tour might be combined with another 3 days snowmobile tour (Europe's Great Lakes after the current itinerary).
Day 1
For those who arrive from St Petersburg: arrive in Petrozavodsk at 06.50 am, meet your Karelian guide. Transfer downtown to a café for breakfast. Wait for those who arrive from Moscow (free time).
For those who arrive from Moscow: arrive in Petrozavodsk at 9 am, meet your Karelian guide. Transfer downtown to a café for breakfast, meet there other participants who arrived from St Petersburg.
Transfer to the starting point of the itinerary. Getting equipped, safety briefing and instructions. 11 am – start your snowmobile tour from the Petrozavodsk Gulf of the Onego lake (the 2nd largest lake in Europe) across the lake along the itinerary: Ivanovsky islands – Shardonsky islands, picturesque rocky islands towering over snowdrifts – The Bolshoye Onego Gulf – Yuzhniy dvor village with St Nicholas church with an impressive belfry visible from far away - – Bolshoy Klimenetskiy island. Lunch as a light field snack on the way. Appr 5 pm – arrival at the guest house, accommodation (double-basis). Dinner and overnight.
Day 2
Breakfast. 11.00 – start the 2nd day of snowmobiling, which will be full with discoveries. Snowmobile to the Kizhi island, the UNESCO heritage site - an open-air museum of wooden architecture with an amazing creation of the XVII-XIX centuries’ masters of the Russian North – an ensemble of traditional wooden structures - church, mills, barns, and Russian houses (izbas).
Day distance snowmobiling: 40 - 90 km, on lake
Note: the day itinerary might be altered depending on the ice condition on the Onego lake
Day 3
Breakfast. 11 am – start your last day of adventures and discoveries. Snowmobile to Sennaya Guba – Uzkie Salmi – Guba Bolshoe Onego - Ivanovsky islands – Petrozavodsk. Lunch as a light field snack on the way. Appr 4 pm – arrival at Petrozavodsk. Early dinner in a cafe downtown.
Day distance snowmobiling: 90 km, on lake (depending on the ice situation near Petrozavodsk)
