Chasing the Northern Lights
Route Attractions
Route Activities
Duration: 11 days / 10 nights
Driving distance: 2300 km
Types of driving: 60% paved roads and 40% back roads
Type of tour: Self driving tour (Fly&Drive)
Vehicles: UAZ PATRIOT
Minimum driver age: 21
Group size: from 6 to 25 person
Accommodation: Best hotels on the route
Meals: 3 times a day
Best time: February - March
Day 1. Saint Petersburg. Arrival
Arrival to St.Petersburg. Pick-up at railway station arrivals hall. Transfer to the hotel, check-in.
Panoramic tour of the city (3-4 hrs). Explore the most significant landmarks of Russia’s Northern Capital. Our shrewd guide will be happy to take you around the historic sights and share some entertaining details of the city's history and present-day life.
The 2.5 mile Nevsky Prospect is adorned with Russian History. Time to make the multiple iconic photos in front of the gorgeous Winter Palace, admire the breath-taking bridges and impressive St.Isaac’s and Kazan Cathedrals, view the whimsical Zinger Building, marvel at the extravagant Church on the Spilled Blood.The Russian Museum, the Admiralty, the elegant Spit of Vasilyevsky Island, the formidable Peter and Paul Fortress – Saint Petersburg surely has it all to blow the guests away!
Welcome dinner in the evening to meet the crew and talk some details of the road trip ahead.
Accommodation in a hotel (Meals: -/-/-)
Day 2. St. Petersburg – Sortavala. Distance: 300 km
Our morning starts with an introduction to our SUVs. We conduct a short briefing, and then our journey begins! We leave the city and adjust to driving in the convoy and interacting with each other on the radio.
Heading to Karelia, we will ride along the Ladoga Lake – the largest freshwater lake in Europe – enjoying marvellous views. This section of the route will allow us to get comfortable with the cars, and maybe drive to shore of the lake while we explore the elegant Karelian forests and forest backroads on our SUVs.
Highlight of the day is Ruskeala Nature Reserve – a definitive must-see location!
The marble extracted in the Ruskeala quarry since the 1600s was widely used for decoration of palaces, churches and even some metro stations in St.Petersburg. The quarry was closed in 1985 and later officially recognized as a cultural heritage site.
Operated by a private travel company since 2005, The Ruskeala Mountain Park offers a walk around the flooded quarry, zip-lines, visit to underground caves. We take a walk around the artificial lakes of the flooded quarry, see the monuments of industrial architecture, enjoy the magnificent winter scenery with a coffee from a neat kiosk.
In the evening, we will arrive at our hotel, hidden in the woods on the bank of a charming pond.
Accommodation in a hotel (Meals: B/L/D)
Day 3. Sortavala – Petrozavodsk. Distance: 160 km (4-5 hours)
This morning we leave Sortavala to head on to the enchanting city of Petrozavodsk.
We visit a fabulous place hidden on a river bank in thick Karelian woods - a Siberian Husky kennel. Meet the playful energetic Huskies and experience the speedy sledding – both absolutely delightful. Learn how to harness a sled, and experience how amazingly fast the team of these dogs can go.
We will have lunch around a fireplace in a traditional Northern chum (tent) and enjoy a local band playing ethnic instruments.
Our day trip finishes in Petrozavodsk, the capital of Karelia region. Among the town's landmarks are the outdoor statues of Emperor Peter I and Gavrila Derzhavin (the governor of the region in the late 1700s century, but vastly known in Russia as a poet).
The appealing waterfront promenade on the Onega Lake invites for a leisurely stroll.
Accommodation in a hotel (Meals: B/L/D)
Day 4. Visit to Kizhi Island (5-6 hours)
Today we embark on a trip with a ‘khivus’ (hovercraft) for a slide along the smooth ice surface of Lake Onega to Kizhi Island. This ride takes about 1.5 hours.
Wooden architecture can be found throughout Russia, but Kizhi Island boasts some of the nation's most famous and most intricate pieces. Masterpieces of church architecture, including the famous Transfiguration Church with 22 domes, and unique iconography (for example, the “Savior All-Merciful” the “Judgement Day” pieces created in the 1500s and the late 1700s respectively).
Traditional loghouses (up to 3 stories high) and household items created in Karelian, Veps and Russian villages over the centuries are all to be found here. Most of these structures from various times (the oldest one is believed to date back to 1300s) are local, but some were carefully collected and transported to the island to be preserved and displayed for the public.
After a fascinating tour of the museum grounds, we return to Petrozavodsk to enjoy dinner at one of the city’s coziest restaurants.
Accommodation in a hotel (Meals: B/L/D)
Day 5. Petrozavodsk – Segezha (265 km drive (5-6 hours)
We leave Petrozavodsk to see more of the marvels Karelian wilderness has to offer. After breakfast, we head north. Our path will go along the coast of the Onega Lake, parts of it on back roads, with a bunch of stops along the way to capture the magnificent landscape.
One the interesting stops on our way will be the Kivach Falls. Translated from Finnish as "powerful, impetuous”, the name fully reflects the soul of the 10.7-meter high waterfall located on the Suna River. It had been even more powerful before a hydroelectric power plant was built 30 km up the river. We continue further on to Girvas, the 3 billion year old volcano crater, currently almost obliterated by the river. The very picturesque petrified lava flows in the drained channel of the Suna are still clearly visible.
We are now passing some of the key points of the enormous project of the 227-kilometer long White Sea–Baltic Canal constructed in 1931-33 to enhance the strategic transportation options in the north-western regions of the USSR.
By evening, we reach a comfortable hotel in Segezha, on the shore of yet another of the great Karelian lakes.
Accommodation in hotel (Meals: B/L/D)
Day 6. Segezha – Kirovsk (540 km drive (7-8 hours)
Today we leave North Karelia and reach the Kola Peninsula. Entering the Arctic will be a fascinating journey through the absolutely deserted terrain. Which is especially felt in winter, when everything around is covered with snow. A rare tourist rides here. This is where the true adventure starts.
After lunch, our brave convoy heads to Kirovsk, passing Apatity. The name of the city stems from the phosphate ores mined in this area.
During World War II, the village of Apatity was responsible for food production for the region, since the Kola Peninsula itself was cut off from the country. Just imagine the agricultural work carried out in these conditions, involving the entire able-bodied population.
This is the closest place to St. Petersburg tourists come to in order to see the Northern Lights. Latitude here already allows for the unique natural phenomenon to be observed.
The Lapland Biosphere Reserve - the largest natural park in the European part of Russia with a huge number of reindeer living in the wild – is located 30 km from Apatity. Moose, brown bears, wolverines, martens and wolves can also be found here.
We reach the hotel by evening and hope that luck strikes today and we can see the Aurora!
Accommodation in cottages (Meals: B/L/D)
Day 7. Kirovsk (60 km of drive (full day / round trip)
We won’t be rushing anywhere today, but the day will be full of activities. We are staying in the very center of the Khibiny range in Kirovsk and explore the vicinity with our SUVs. The difficult terrain will challenge our driving skills on some nice patches.
We will also visit the Snow Village – a huge labyrinth made under the snow with beautiful wall carvings and ice sculptures made by artists from all over the Arctic region. Illuminated with colored lights, its halls and caves carry us into a fantastic world of winter fairytales, where Father Frost (the Russian Santa Claus) and Snow Maiden welcome their guests.
Located at the foot of Mount Kukisvumchorr and Yuksporr, the city is both the northernmost mountain ski area in Europe and one of the nerve centers of PhosAgro, the mining giant that extracts phosphates in the neighbouring regions.
It’s exactly the place to enjoy the most exciting snowmobile rides, and we shall absolutely take advantage of that!
Options to pick for the day: snowmobiling, alpine skiing, snowboarding.
Accommodation in a hotel (Meals: B//L/D).
Day 8. Kirovsk – Sami Village – Lapland Village (230 km drive (3-4 hours)
We start driving towards towards Murmansk along the Kola highway in the morning.
We may be able to visit a settlement of the local indigenous Sami people: see the traditional tent houses, take photos in ethnic clothes and even pay tribute to the pagan idols! Locals takes us around their territory, share stories about their culture and history and introduce us to the wonderful animals of the North: reindeer, elk and polar foxes. Feeding reindeer from your own hands is an incredible experience!
Naturally, reindeer sledding is on the list as well.
Lunch with traditional courses on the menu.
We’ll be spending the night at a cozy hotel located outside of Murmansk. Situated very conveniently close to a large lake, Lapland Village offers a number of comfortable cottages that allow you to see the birth of the Northern Lights outside the city lights and enjoy the magnificent dancing colors in a fluffy bed (or on the deck outside).
We settle down, have a nice dinner, and set ourselves up for the most beautiful impressions.
Accommodation in glamping cottages (Meals: B/L/D).
Day 9. Lapland – Teriberka – Lapland (80 km drive (full day / round trip)
Today we set off to the literal edge of the earth, the village of Teriberka, located on the shore of the Arctic Ocean. The 2-hour drive across the snowy desert of the tundra to suddenly arrive at a sandy beach washed by peaceful waves (remember, the Barents Sea doesn’t freeze?) is a pretty surreal experience.
PLEASE NOTE: given the unpredictable weather conditions of the region, we reserve the possibility of the road to Teriberka being blocked by heavy snowfall.
Once a fisherman’s village, Teriberka looks somewhat abandoned now. Still, life here does not fade away thanks to the tourists who come here in winter to contemplate the North radiance, while different festivals are held here in summer. It has also become an internationally recognized center for kitesurfing with camps, festivals and trainings.
If time allows, we’ll pay a visit to the Dinosaur Eggs beach – famous for its huge and perfectly round boulders, very similar to eggs from dinosaur nests in their size and in appearance. Another impressive place is the cemetery of abandoned ships, where a wooden skeletons stick out of the water like ghosts, reminding us of their glorious past.
Discard all the perishing traces of civilization, the harsh northern nature remains. Smooth hills passing into the steep rocky coast of the Arctic Ocean stretching beyond the horizon. The piercing silence broken by the rare cries of gulls and gusts of wind. The cold reigns here.
Not to worry, we can warm ourselves in our cozy SUVs and head back to our snug cottages!
Accommodation in glamping cottages (Meals: B/L/D).
Day 10. Lapland Village – Murmansk (40 km drive (1-2 hours)
The end of our amazing journey is close, but the adventure continues.
Today we explore Murmansk, the most populated city in the Arctic and one of the largest ports in the world within the Arctic Circle, as the Barents Sea never freezes due to the Gulf Stream reaching here. Just a bit over 100 years old, Murmansk is located right on the rocky coast.
A city with a rich history and memory of the war. We’ll visit the impressive 42-meter tall Alyosha monument - a stone soldier facing west, toward the Valley of Glory, where the fiercest fighting of the Arctic Campaign occurred when the German invaders were turned back from the approaches to Murmansk in 1941. The hill where the monument stands also offers spectacular views of the harbour.
We have also have planned a tour of “Lenin”, the first nuclear-powered icebreaker in the world, that is currently a cultural heritage entity. Over 500 Soviet factories and scientific labs took part in the creation of this engineering marvel. Commissioned on December 3, 1959, it provided navigation on the Northern Sea Route over the next 30 years. It also served as a “nuclear university”, where the personnel for the nuclear-powered fleet gained experience during the year-round Arctic navigation. Lenin has traveled 654,400 nautical miles, more than three times the distance from the Earth to the Moon, helping thousands of ships on their way through the ice of the Arctic.
We will have dinner at one of the best restaurants in the city, exchanging our impressions of the tour and watching a slideshow of pictures and videos taken along the way.
Accommodation in a hotel (Meals: B/L/D)
Day 11. Departure from Murmansk to Moscow
Today the long journey ends with a warm goodbye at the airport in Murmansk! Should you need additional service in Moscow, we’ll be glad to arrange transfers, accommodation or guided tours.
Program rates provided on request according to the requested dates and services you would like to include.
Please note, the standard program is a framework to be customized to partners requirements.
