To Karelia by car! Interesting travel itinerary and tips

Instructions on how to get to Karelia by car. We are building a route for an interesting journey by car to the main attractions.

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So, you have made a decision to go to Karelia by car. This is a great idea! There is no better format for exploring this beautiful land of shaggy forests and mirror-like lakes. Still, the distances there are considerable, you don't see much on public transport, and excursions in the republic are godlessly expensive. So boldly sit down at the steering wheel of the car and go on a journey!

However, if on vacation you just want to have a rest, and not to steer, then it is better to take a ready-made tour of Karelia - the tour operator Big Country has a huge selection of interesting programs.

In this review, I will help you organize your trip so that everything goes smoothly, interestingly, and at the same time inexpensively. I'll tell you what to see and where to visit in Karelia. If you are a beauty and adventure seeker like me, then get ready to see all the main beauties of the region: skerries, forests, waterfalls, Mount Vottovaara, ancient petroglyphs, picturesque villages and famous monuments of wooden architecture. Go!

How long to go to Karelia by car

My journey by car across Karelia and the Kola Peninsula, along with the road, took one month. But don't be in a hurry to get scared! I, a hardened auto-traveler, simply do not leave home for a shorter period of time, and I went with my team all the way from Perm itself. But for the residents of Moscow, St. Petersburg, Leningrad region, Yaroslavl and other western regions of Russia, even a few days will be enough for the first acquaintance with Karelia. Well, in a week or two, you can see almost all the most interesting points on the map of the republic. So you can go for any length of time and in any case have a great time.

Go from Saint-Petersburg There are two ways to get to Karelia: from the southeast of Lake Ladoga or from the northwest through Sortavala. It all depends on your interests and the destination of the trip. Perhaps the second route of the trip is more interesting, because after a couple of hours drive from St. Petersburg you will reach the Ladoga skerries, numerous recreation centers and fishing spots. The A-121 highway to Sortavala is now in a splendid condition, you can drive in three hours. The trip from St. Petersburg to Petrozavodsk along the P-21 Kola highway will take about 5-6 hours (430 km).

Go to Karelia from Moscow you can also take two roads: through Velikaya Novgorod or through Yaroslavl and Vologda. Do not hesitate to choose the first option: through Tver, Novgorod, Volkhov, Svyatozero. You need to drive 1020 km, book for 12-14 hours. It is better to leave the capital at night or early in the morning, while there are no traffic jams and the city is free to leave. If you have time and desire, then take a look at Veliky Novgorod and see the Novgorod Kremlin and the Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior of the XIV century, where the frescoes of Theophanes the Greek have been preserved. But then add an extra day to your schedule, because you won't be able to get to Karelia in a day. In Kirishi you can see the "Echo of War" memorial, and in Volkhov - the old hydroelectric power station.

Do not even think about going to Petrozavodsk along the south-west of Lake Onega through Oshta - there is no road there, besides, there is a ferry crossing. You can, of course, bypass Onega in the north through Pudozh and Medvezhyegorsk, but this is a big detour. However, if you want relax in Karelia as a savage, then the north of Lake Onega will suit you perfectly: the land there is wild, deserted and charming in its own way. We drove there twice, the road is good and completely free, but keep in mind that gas stations are rare.

If you want to relax on Lake Ladoga, then drive through St. Petersburg and further north along the A-121 highway. To go to Sortavala 980 km - it is about 11-13 hours.

Roads in Karelia

An independent trip by car in Karelia will bring you great pleasure! The roads are laid through pine forests, past lakes, noisy rivers and picturesque rocky ridges. All the main roads in the south of the republic are of excellent quality, perfect asphalt, the traffic is quite small, the drivers are mostly adequate. In general, driving around Karelia is easy and pleasant.

However, to some places the roads are dead, unpaved, or even fierce off-road, so find out about each road to the place you need. In our travel guides to Karelia, we always write about the quality of roads to attractions. When planning your route, also consider the effect of rain and snow on road traffic. Do not forget to fill up a full tank if you go into the wilderness (northeast of Lake Onega, Vottovaara, northwest of the republic).

The R-21 "Kola" highway is maintained in good condition, but repairs are taking place in many sections, which is why you have to waste time.

Travel route in Karelia

What to see and where to visit while traveling by car in Karelia? I will tell you about the route of our trip. We visited almost all the most famous sights and saw different parts of the republic. Everything about everything took us 10-12 days - this is a sufficient time for a long and interesting trip. Then we drove further north, to the Arctic, to Kola, but this is a completely different story (although, I’ll tell you a secret, even more interesting than the Karelian one).

Routes in the republic should be planned taking into account what car you are going to drive to Karelia. Almost all attractions will be available to you on an SUV, but in principle you can do without it. There are good asphalt and dirt roads to many interesting places, accessible to any car. I myself travel across Russia in my UAZ Patriot, because I like to climb into the wildest wilderness and I need a huge trunk to accommodate all our equipment and provisions.

I will not talk here about the sights themselves, but I will only give a reference about the distance to them and outline our route. For more information, refer to our travel guides on the links below.

• What to see in Karelia: all the main places
• TOP worst sights of Karelia
• 10 ideas for recreation in Karelia

Our travel itinerary in Karelia: northeast of Lake Onega, wooden Nikolskaya church, Kinerma (the most beautiful village in Russia), an abandoned factory in Lyaskelia, Ruskeala mountain park with the famous marble canyon, the pleasant town of Sortavala with unusual northern Art Nouveau architecture (ferries go to Valaam from here), a church in Lumivaara and the Finnish cemetery, Ladoga skerries, Mount Hiidenvuori, Kitelye pomegranate deposit, Koirinoya waterfall (accessible for any car), Girvas paleovolcano, mystical Mount Vottovaara, White Sea petroglyphs, the depressed city of Belomorsk, the wooden church of Peter and Paul, 17th century decorations in Virme to the film "The Island" of Lungin, the wooden Assumption Cathedral in Kem.

All of these places can be reached by any car. The exception is Mount Vottovaara: any car can drive to the nearby camp site, but only an SUV or a reliable crossover can get to the mountain itself (20 km). If you do not have an all-terrain vehicle, then a transfer will be organized at the base, so getting to the mountain is not a problem. A damn bad road from Belomorsk to Wyrm - sheer hell, terrible pits, but you can also drive on a puzoterka, just keep in mind that the road is exhausting.

Islands... Kizhi Island can be reached by ferry from Petrozavodsk, Valaam - from Sortavala, Solovki - from Belomorsk or Arkhangelsk. It is worth spending at least one full day on the islands, and preferably a couple.We thought and thought, but we didn't go there ourselves: the price was too biting, and there was not much time, and the summer crowds of tourists would definitely ruin the atmosphere of these places, and therefore our impressions. Let's go another time.

Other interesting places in Karelia, where we have not yet visited: Onega petroglyphs at Cape Besov Nos (inaccessible), Paanajärvi National Park in the north near the border with Finland, White Bridges waterfall (Yukankoski, the highest in Karelia). There was not enough time for these places. And we didn’t have time to just live in nature at some pleasant recreation center and take a boat ride on Lake Ladoga. Well, the islands remained unvisited. So there are reasons for a second trip.

The most convenient way to start your trip across Karelia is from the north-west of Lake Ladoga and Sortavala, where you can stay for a few days. Then go to Petrozavodsk, see the sights along the way and in the vicinity of the regional capital. Then go to the Vottovaara mountain and then go further north, if time and desire remains.

Install the Maps.Me application on your smartphone - these are very convenient offline maps. Read also about other useful travel apps.

How long does it take to get from Petrozavodsk to the main attractions of Karelia:

Map of interesting places in Karelia