We went to Karelia and share proven places: what to see on your own, how much it costs and how to get there by car. We marked all the sights of Karelia on the map. Description, photos, our reviews and advice.
We have written this review of the sights of Karelia following the results of our fifth auto expedition to the most beautiful places in Russia.
For your convenience, we have built all the interesting places in Karelia in a route and arranged in the order of movement from St. Petersburg. See below for a detailed map of all the sights of Karelia.
Why go to Karelia
Karelia is woven from dense forests, mirror-like lakes, countless rivers. She has a calm beauty. People come here to take a break from the city and touch nature: live by the lake, pick mushrooms and berries, go boating. There are also a lot of lovers of trophy-raids on equipped off-road vehicles - there are many hidden corners in Karelia, where not every car will pass.
Advice
Guest house or recreation center search on Booking and Airbnb. Here are the main rules for finding housing. Check out our list of inexpensive recreation centers in Karelia.
Tours to Karelia in all their diversity you will find at the tour operator "Big Country". They have both inexpensive tours with a classic program and real adventures for the most discerning tourists.
Which car should you drive? Many sights of Karelia can be seen on any car, some - on an ordinary SUV, and some - only on prepared jeeps. Check out our tips for traveling to Karelia by car.
Where to stay in Karelia to see everything? Alas, there is no such place - the republic is large, all the sights of Karelia are scattered over a huge territory. But the most popular places can be viewed by stopping at several points: in Sortavala, Petrozavodsk, Belomorsk. Find out where and how best to relax in Karelia.
When to go? You can see Karelia at any time. In the summer, you will be able to get to any place by car. It will be especially beautiful in autumn, but because of the rains, the car will not pass everywhere. There are no mosquitoes in winter. In the spring, you will see deep rivers and rugged waterfalls.
Sights of Karelia on the map
Kircha in Lumivaara
It is worth seeing in Karelia the abandoned church in the village of Lumivaara and the Finnish cemetery with it. The beautiful Lutheran church is well preserved - the Finns look after everything. Find the frescoes and climb the bell tower.
Ladoga skerries
Skerries are picturesque rocky islets scattered along the northern shore of Ladoga. It is best to take a boat to explore them - on your own or with a guide. Stop on the islands, climb rocks and admire the panoramas. And also - to pick mushrooms and berries and fish. Many people take a tent and meet amazing Karelian sunsets and sunrises on the skerries. You can see the skerries for free, but only from the shore - beautiful views open from Mount Hiidenvuori and the small Snake Mountain near the island of Sorolansaari. You have to understand that you will see just a fraction.
Mount Hiidenvuori
The summit has several names - Lysaya, Leshego Mountain, Khiisi. You will climb through a fabulous forest: century-old fir trees, green ferns and mosses, stone boulders. You can pick berries along the way. Above, there is an almost bare plateau blown by all the winds with a view of the endless taiga and Ladoga skerries. There is also a vertical shaft where Finnish soldiers hid during the war.
The ascent is easy, with the longest inspection the walk will take no more than 2 hours.
Sortavala
If you are interested in architecture, then in Karelia we advise you to see Sortavala. The pleasant town reminded me of Vyborg. There are preserved old houses in the Northern Art Nouveau style - wooden and stone. There is the Vakkosalmi park, which overlooks Lake Ayranne. In 2-3 hours of leisurely walking around the city and the park, you will have time to see all the most interesting.
From Sortavala ships are sent to Valaam. The queue is big! Also from the city you can go on a boat trip along the Ladoga skerries.
Balaam
The holy island with an active male monastery is located on Lake Ladoga. The word "Balaam" breathes solitude, tranquility, and holiness. But with the crowd of tourists that burst there, you are unlikely to feel it. Usually the island is visited during daylight hours, but some stay in a hotel or hostel at the monastery.
Ruskeala
It is included in our list of the most boring places in Karelia.
The park with the proud epithet "mountain" in many guidebooks is the # 1 attraction in Karelia. The main thing in it is a flooded marble quarry with an unrealistic color of water. There is a trail around the quarry with views of the grottoes and caves. What's more interesting: an Italian quarry, an old steam locomotive, an abandoned factory, a sinkhole, mines. You can rent a boat, do bungee jumping or zip-line rides, but these are all quite expensive.
Overall, it is a pleasant walk with pretty views, especially in autumn. With a very slow examination, it will take no more than 2-3 hours.
Ruskeala waterfalls
A cascade of lowland waterfalls with a circular eco-trail for 1.5 km (30 minutes - 1 hour). There is nothing special here - the flat waterfalls do not amaze the imagination. Just an easy route through the forest and over waterfalls. The people call in on the way to the Ruskeala mountain park. Infrastructure: parking, toilets, signs, souvenirs and food stalls.
Karelian Zoo
What to see in Karelia with children? Visit the zoo. It contains over 500 species of animals, including exotic ones. Deer of various species, llamas, guanacos, Shetlen ponies, mouflons, marals, yaks, fallow deer, ostriches, predatory animals and birds. You will be able to pet and feed the animals from your hand. The zoo is located near an ancient crater left after a meteorite fall. Lake Yanisjärvi was formed at the bottom of the crater.
Abandoned factory in Läskelä
We recommend visiting this closed factory for lovers of industrial objects. The rigorous assignment of red brick is beautiful; beautiful and stormy rapids nearby. I don't know if it is possible to get inside - we looked from the side for literally 5 minutes and drove on.
Kitoye pomegranate deposit
We love beautiful stones, so we did not fail to visit Kitela - there used to be a deposit of almandine garnets there. Of course, all the best has already been mined, and the place has been given to prospectors and occasional tourists. They say that you can still get quite large stones, but you need a trained eye, patience and tools. We contented ourselves with small stones - enough for a personal collection :) Pomegranates are really beautiful, dark red, mysterious.
We advise you to go to the mine in thick clothing and a mosquito net. Treat clothes thoroughly with repellents, especially if you are going seriously and for a long time. There are countless mosquitoes in the forest, and everyone is hungry. Otherwise, you will stir stones with one hand, and fight off mosquitoes with the other.
Koirinoya waterfalls
Do you want to look at a pretty waterfall for free and painless for the car and nerves, while not driving far from the track and kneading dirt for several kilometers? Turn to the Koirinoya waterfalls, or better immediately to the Lower. Judging by the reviews, it is more beautiful and more powerful than the Upper, which remained from the hydroelectric power station. We did not check, we went straight to the second one.
The waterfall is really pretty. But not as beautiful as other tourists wrote about it in travel reports - there are no "pink stones in a blue haze of shimmering golden sequins of water dust." Do not expect anything large-scale.
But the place is calm, there are no tourists. You can take a walk in the light pine forest that grows a little further.
Waterfall White Bridges (Yukankoski)
A 17 meter high beautiful waterfall hidden in the wilderness. The highest in Karelia. According to reviews, it is worth driving only in an SUV, especially if it rains. However, someone runs the risk of driving a passenger car. Many people leave their cars in the parking lot, and then walk for 3 km. We didn't go - we chose Koirinoi.
The waterfalls are unpopular with tourists due to the poor road to them. If you're lucky, you'll be alone there.
Kinerma
Kinerma is the most beautiful village in Russia. This is the sign at the entrance. This is an old Karelian village with wooden houses from the 19th century. The place is so charming that you want to live there for a week or two. The silence is ringing: no hum of cars, no empty talk. Occasionally a local man will pass or a dog will run. There were no tourists either, surprisingly.
Be sure to visit this village in Karelia - the easiest way to get to it is from the main road. Other settlements are further away. Caution, the village is addictive: only a couple of streets and 16 houses, and we spent two hours there.
Petrozavodsk
In Petrozavodsk there is a beautiful Governor's Park, the Onega Lake embankment, paved with crimson quartzite, and a quarter with 19th century wooden houses at the end of the embankment. In the suburbs there is a large Botanical Garden. From Petrozavodsk they sail to the Kizhi island.
Kizhi
While on vacation in Karelia, see the Kizhi Island Museum on Lake Onega. It contains samples of Russian wooden architecture. If you do not like to wander among tourists and do not want to overpay, give up the museum. We decided not to visit Kizhi, because during our trip across Karelia we saw many wooden churches and houses for free - in Kinerma, Virma, Kemi.
Zoo complex "Three Bears"
The zoo complex is located on the shore of the forest lake Syamozero not far from Petrozavodsk. Here you can see lynxes, bears and other representatives of wild fauna, there is a beach area and guest houses (book >>). The animals are allowed to feed. The visit is expensive, but, according to tourists, it is worth it. A ticket with a guided tour - 800 rubles, children 3-12 years old 50% discount, up to 3 years old - free.
Talvi Ukko Residence
This item is often included in New Year's tours. In addition to the standard entertainment, there is a large sled dog kennel and a deer farm, which means you can go sledding. The patrimony of Father Frost is located in the village of Chalny, which is half an hour's drive from Petrozavodsk. You can get there by regular bus from the bus station.
Kivach waterfall
It is included in our list of the most boring places in Karelia.
How is it possible to visit Karelia and not look at its symbol? Can! It is difficult to call a waterfall just over 10 meters high. Better go to White Bridges if you are in an SUV - it is more impressive.
Paleovolcano Girvas
It is included in our list of the most boring places in Karelia.
This paleovolcano more than 2 billion years old is the most boring sight in Karelia, unless you are a volcanologist or geologist. You need to have a very wild imagination to see the volcano in all this, or to know what to look for and where to look. From the point of view of an ordinary tourist, these are nondescript remnants of lava, a pile of stones and a frail waterfall. And hordes of tourists on buses - not what we dreamed of! Also, the entrance is paid.
Mount Vottovaara
Vottovaara is a famous place among esotericists. All guides parasitize on a bike about the mystery of the mountain and call it the Karelian Stonehenge. However, on the "mystical" mountain Vottovaara electronic devices and compasses do not go crazy, but people go crazy - from the beauty and endless blueberry fields.
In Karelia, we advise you to definitely see this mountain, even though it will take at least two days to get there and back. It's worth it! On a visit to the mountain itself, lay half a day or a day if you like unusual landscapes, trekking and berries. You can spend the night at a camp site in the village of Gimoly or in a tent on the mountain. The source of water is just below, take water with you.
The road to the foot of the mountain in dry weather is quite simple for an SUV, but it is better for cars not to meddle. There are transfers from the camp site and excursions from different cities to the mountain.
If you are in Karelia by car, do not miss the chance to look at the most ancient petroglyphs. White Sea - the most affordable in the north of Russia! There is no need to swim anywhere and wade through the off-road, just turned off the road, walked through the forest - and here are more than 2,000 unique images hollowed out in stones. The figures are best seen at sunset.
There are three main clusters near Belomorsk: Besovy sledki, Zalavruga and Erpin Pudas. The demonic tracks are still closed for tourists and it is not known when they will be opened. The easiest way is to see Zalavruga.
