Having the opportunity of a preferential flight within the country, our compatriots from the most remote corners of Russia can now visit the cultural capital of the Motherland, as well as the most interesting areas of the Leningrad Region, for little money.
In order for the trip to bring maximum pleasure, it is advisable to think in advance which places are best to visit. The tour industry offers a ton of opportunities. In the St. Petersburg travel and excursion bureaus they will always tell you about the best weekend excursions from St. Petersburg. Both group and individual visits to historical places and natural parks are possible.
It offers tourists bus, pedestrian, car and other travel options. It is enough to go to a travel agency and ask its employees a question where to go on a weekend (St. Petersburg), and you will be offered a lot of a variety of tourist routes. How not to get confused and choose the most interesting? We will tell you about the most popular excursions from St. Petersburg. Our review should pay special attention to those who wish to study closer the North-West region of the Russian Federation.
Travel to Valaam Island
The island of Valaam is the largest on the Valaam archipelago. It is located in the northern part of Lake Ladoga. There are several hotels on the island - Zimnyaya, Igumenskaya, Attic, as well as guest houses. Having reserved places for 2-3 days, you will be able to perfectly relax and recharge your batteries for the upcoming workdays.
Be sure to visit the Stavropegial Monastery. The entire island of Valaam abounds with its hermitages, temples and outbuildings. Excursion to the monastery is inexpensive. There is even the opportunity to live in the monastery for free. To do this, you need to agree with the pilgrimage service of the monastery to perform some kind of obedience. The work will take only a few hours, but you will be provided with food and overnight.
We advise you not to ignore the worldly village of Valaam. An excursion there is rarely included in the standard tourist route, however, locals smoke trout and sell various souvenirs and handmade crafts. Here, their price is much lower than in the monastery shops.
Valaam is, of course, the pearl of which all of Russia is rightly proud, and not just Karelia. For 2 days from St. Petersburg to this wonderful island, it is most pleasant to get there by boat. Travel time is 3.5 hours. It will fly by, because the shores of Lake Ladoga are incredibly picturesque. If you want to save time, then the high-speed Meteors, which will reach your destination in just 1.5 hours, are at the service of travelers.
The defenses of Kronstadt
From April to October - it's time to explore the forts of Kronstadt. Excursions on them are carried out on boats and on small boats. The most impressive are the “Plague”, “Kronshlot”, “Peter 1”, “Pavel 1” forts and the battery “Prince Menshikov”. In addition to forts, lighthouses and gate signs built by famous architects are of great interest. During excursions, you can not only see the lighthouses and forts of Kronstadt from afar, the excursions involve visits to the interior, as well as photographing at viewing platforms.
Heroic Kirovsky District
Excursions to places of battles for Leningrad will be interesting not only for adults, but also for children. Travel agencies can arrange group visits to places of military glory. Students will be interested to see the places of battles and listen to stories about the courage and heroism of Soviet soldiers. Children will see Soviet military equipment, will be able to lay flowers on memorials to the memory of soldiers who died on the battlefields of Leningrad.
The excursion program devoted to the defense of Leningrad usually includes a visit to the museum-diorama “Breaking the blockade of Leningrad”, a meeting place for the Volkhov and Leningrad fronts, a memorial on the Sinyavinsky heights, the village of Nevskaya Dubrovka and, of course, the famous Nevsky Piglet.
Kirov is a small district of the Leningrad Region, but during the years of World War II, there were the most fierce battles for breaking the blockade. Guides will talk about the most interesting and significant moments of military history.
Short trip to Finland
Residents of the Northern capital have long mastered weekend tours to Finland. Buses, ferries and airplanes regularly depart from St. Petersburg to the country of Suomi. For such a trip, you need to collect a package of documents in advance. This is a passport, visa and insurance.
By the last day of the trip, the expiration date of the passport must be at least three months. When applying for a visa, this will be taken into account. In addition to the insurance policy, to obtain a visa you will need a document indicating the purpose of the trip, for example, travel agency reservation, one color photograph and the standard application form available at each visa center. The consular fee is 35 euros.
One-three-day bus trips are the most popular type of tourism. Where to go on a weekend (St. Petersburg) should be planned in advance. The fact is that a rather expensive trip (from 50 euros) involves not only excursions and relaxation, but also purchases. Moreover, prices for excursions, as a rule, are not included in the price of the tour.
Many travel agencies take into account the desire of compatriots to get on sale. In anticipation of the New Year holidays, this is most relevant, as these days a stream of tourists from all over the world will flood into Finland. The guests of the country are attracted not only by amazing crafts made of deer skins and horns, famous hunting knives, wooden mugs-kuks, homespun rugs and toy mummy trolls, but also Finnish clothes, which are of the highest quality and ideal for the harsh Russian climate.
It is pleasant to combine winter weekend excursions from St. Petersburg to Finland with a trip to a ski resort. It is not necessary to take the necessary uniforms with you - at the ski resorts you can rent everything.
Camp sites of the Leningrad region
You do not have a passport, and the desire to ski or snowboard is irresistible? No problem. There is where to go on a weekend (St. Petersburg). The Leningrad region is replete with picturesque places, as if created for family vacations and corporate events.
Inexpensive recreation centers in the Leningrad Region are located in forests, on the shores of lakes, rivers and the Gulf of Finland. Prices range from 800 rubles a day to several thousand. Ski resorts, equipped with the latest technology, offer comfortable rooms for 2-3.5 thousand rubles a day for one person. The price includes accommodation in comfortable rooms and three meals a day. There are also such bases where it is possible to rent a whole cottage and get fishing equipment. The most inexpensive recreation centers in the Leningrad Region are located 100-150 km from St. Petersburg. We will not list the names, and there are several dozens of them. Let us dwell only on the coverage of opportunities to spend time there interestingly and usefully.
In summer, guests of tourist camps can rent bicycles, catamarans, tennis rackets and other sports equipment. In winter, specially equipped halls have tables for billiards and table tennis. There are paintball pavilions and bow dashes.
Paradise for kids
Couples should definitely visit the fabulous Andersengrad, which is located in a small town with the beautiful name Sosnovy Bor. Young children, because of their age, are not ready to perceive the aesthetics of the palaces and theaters of the cultural capital, thanks to visiting the town of fairy tales, they will always remember the trip to St. Petersburg. Sosnovy Bor (the distance by car from St. Petersburg is only 70 km) was designed by the famous domestic architect Yuri Savchenko. The ensemble of the complex includes towers, dungeons, bridges, bastions, a children's highway, cafes, attractions and a theater. All buildings are made in medieval style, decorated with mosaics and panels.
On the territory of the fabulous town, festivals, competitions and many other cultural events are constantly held.
Manor of Nicholas Roerich
In October 2016, after extensive restoration, the Roerich Memorial Museum in Izvara reopened its doors. This is the estate of the parents of the famous artist, traveler and thinker Nikolai Konstantinovich Roerich. Here he lived almost a third of his life. The museum complex is not only the house of the parents of Nikolai Konstantinovich - farm buildings and a park with spring lakes are located on 60 hectares of land.
The main building has a small collection of Roerich's paintings, mostly reproductions, but there are also a few originals.
On the territory of Izvara village there is an old Nikolo-Pyatnitskaya church built in the late 18th - early 19th centuries. It is also part of the excursion route through Roerich places.
Caves and holy places of Staraya Ladoga
Staraya Ladoga was once the capital of Northern Russia. In these places, a large number of ancient monuments have been preserved. For tourists, the caves of Staraya Ladoga are of constant interest. This, in particular, Tanechkina and Staroladozhskaya caves. Despite the fact that they have long become a place of pilgrimage for tourists, it is better not to go there without an accompanying person, because they can easily get lost alone. It is advisable to provide a waterproof uniform - in the caves it is rather damp, there are shallow lakes.
In order not to be tormented by the question of where to go for the weekend (St. Petersburg), it is better to immediately book a two-day excursion and these days plunge into the atmosphere of quiet antiquity - together with an experienced guide visit one of the monasteries (Nikolsky, Uspensky or Holy Trinity Zelenetsky), drink healing water from the holy spring of Paraskeva Fridays. All listed objects are located near the caves.
Kizhi island
Speaking of excursions and weekend trips from St. Petersburg, it is impossible to ignore tours of Karelia. The unique nature, numerous lakes, aromas of coniferous and deciduous forests, monuments of ancient architecture attract pilgrims like a magnet. The magic church of the Transfiguration of the Lord, made of wood, seems like a toy. Surrounded by wildlife, she looks very different than in photographs. On the island of Kizhi, many old buildings have survived - houses of Karelians, Vepsians and Rusichs. It is interesting to walk around the old churchyard, pray in temples, and buy souvenirs. In fact, Kizhi Island is an open-air museum of ethnography, history and architecture.
Island of Good Spirits
The island of Good Spirits is called Shambhala of the Republic of Karelia.
For 2 days from St. Petersburg, the city is noisy and busy, office workers tend to move to places where you can relax from eternal stress and switch from the dull routine of everyday life to a more healthy and positive mood.
For this purpose, a place that is not very popular with tourists and guides is ideal, preferably one that is not on the map either. The island of Good Spirits meets all these requirements in the best way possible. Not only is he not on the tourist map of the Leningrad Region, it’s not even easy to get to him - you need a boat, because you have to go down to the lower reaches of the Okhta. And this is not enough - the locals will be able to tell the right path to the island, but only if they like you. The island has a variety of sculptures - from modern to ancient. Next to the wooden idols are sculptures of a mosquito, a car, a rocket, a ship and others.
The first Russian resort
The first Russian sanatorium was founded not in the Crimea, but, oddly enough, in the Republic of Karelia. An excursion will take there all day. Do not forget to bring your bathing accessories. It will be a shame if you visit the famous resort and do not experience the delights of the mud baths of the balneological resort.
Peter 1 himself founded the water-mud bath. Having learned that a man named Ivan Ryabtsev had cured local water from severe heart pains in just three days, the king gave him three rubles of money and ordered that the keys be named after Mars, the god of war and iron. Thus, the name “Martial” appeared at underground sources. The water in them actually has a strong smack of metal.
Weekends in the Leningrad Region will not be dull and monotonous if you devote them to studying the sights of Karelia and the suburbs of St. Petersburg. And the price of excursions depends not only on the thickness of your wallet, but also on the appetites of travel agencies. During the crisis, many private guides appeared with excellent education and broad horizons. For a very reasonable fee, they will conduct an individual excursion in their own or your car.
Gatchina
It will take more than one day to go around almost 150 hectares of the area occupied by the State Art and Architecture Palace and Park Museum-Reserve Gatchina. It is best to book a 2-3-day tour with accommodation in a hotel or hostel. These days you don’t have to get bored and figure out how to take your time. On the territory of the complex are luxurious parks - Palace and Sylvia with pavilions, gates and sculptures, as well as two palaces - Big Gatchinsky, built for Count Grigory Orlov Catherine the 2nd according to the design of Antonio Rinaldi, and Prioratsky, built by Paul the 1st for E. I. Nelidova, subsequently transferred to them by the Order of Malta (project of architect N. A. Lvov).
Reserve "Kivach"
The Kivach Nature Reserve is best known for its picturesque waterfall on the Suna River. The places here are very picturesque, and the waterfall itself is simply amazing. The jets of water, breaking, turn into snow-white foam, and the smallest splashes of water, refracting the rays of sunlight, create a rainbow. Water falls from a height of 10.7 m. The stream pours from two rocks located at right angles to each other. The uniqueness of the waterfall is that it is flat, and the pressure of the water is 300 cubic meters. water per second.
In addition to the waterfall, the reserve has a rare tree nursery (arboretum) and a nature museum, which presents all the animals and birds living here.
It is better to go to the reserve by your own car or by sightseeing bus, because the route bus stops 8 km from the waterfall and recreation center. This distance will have to be overcome on foot.
St. Petersburg residents prefer to come here with tents and stay for the night. A recreation center was built near the waterfall. There you can leave the car, charge the phone, buy the necessary products if you forgot something in the city.
Entrance to the reserve is paid.
Ruskeala Mountain Park
Ruskeala Mountain Park is one of the most popular tourist places in Karelia. A few days off spent here give a lot of energy and improve your mood for a long time. Clean forest air, beautiful nature and well-organized infrastructure are popular with everyone. The park provides entertainment even for lovers of extreme tourism.
In addition to the observation platforms located at the highest points of the quarry, there is an opportunity to climb rocks themselves. Climbers and climbers use this for training.
Divers learn to scuba dive in underwater caves and grottoes, and those who do not have special equipment get the thrill of flying over a quarry on a troller (cable).
Ruskeala is an abandoned marble quarry developed in the reign of Catherine the 2nd. The local stone was used to decorate the palaces, and in Soviet times - metro stations.
Since Ruskeala Park is 300 km from St. Petersburg, you need to go here overnight. The campground and the campsite are located outside the park, but it is not far away, and the park staff also supplies tourists with drinking water and firewood. They can also charge mobile phones.
A 10-minute walk from the park there is the Blue Lagoon Motel, and in the village there is a Lutheran church, renting rooms to everyone.
Shaman places
In Karelia, there are places in which people with hypersensitive abilities experience an unusually strong energy effect. This is primarily the mountains of Hiidenvuori and Vottovaara.
Hidenvuori is also called the Bald Mountain, or Mount Hiisi. Hiisi is an evil spirit, a giant, the master of the forest. At the foot of the mountain there is a village, which is mentioned in the ancient Novgorod chronicles dated 1500, when Tsar Ivan the 3rd ruled this land. On the mountain there is a convenient platform from which the surroundings and Lake Ladoga are clearly visible, and in clear weather you can even see the island of Valaam.
Mount Vottovaara is a typical venue for religious rites of ancient priests or shamans. Climbing to its top, you immerse yourself in the dull ringing silence, which is not broken either by the singing of birds or the noise of foliage. The trees here are clumsy and stunted. Even centennial pines do not grow above two meters, and birches are twisted by knotted raskoryam. Huge boulders in a certain order are stacked on top of each other, as if on a temple of druids. On the mountain, especially sensitive people experience an inexplicable feeling of fear or anxiety, see non-existent objects or figures of living creatures. As for cameras, mobile phones, compasses, here they behave absolutely abnormally.
Having returned home from a trip to such strange places, you feel much better and more fun, and this is exactly what is required from a good vacation.