Where to go for the weekend (St. Petersburg)? Weekend Excursions from St. Petersburg

Having received 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 districts of the Leningrad region for little money.

In order to maximize the pleasure of travel, it is advisable to think in advance which places are best to visit. Excursion industry offers a lot of opportunities. In St. Petersburg travel and excursion agencies always tell about the best weekend excursions from St. Petersburg. Perhaps both a group and individual visits to historical sites and natural parks.

The services of tourists are bus, pedestrian, automobile and other travel options. It is enough to go to the travel agency and ask its employees a question, where to go for the weekend (St. Petersburg), and you will be offered a lot of various tourist routes. How not to get confused and choose the most interesting? We will tell you about the most popular excursions from St. Petersburg. We should pay special attention to those who wish to study the North-West region of the Russian Federation more closely.

Travel to the island of Valaam

The island of Valaam is the largest on the Valaam archipelago. It is located in the northern part of Lake Ladoga. On the island there are several hotels - "Winter", "Igumen", "Mansard", as well as guest houses. Having reserved seats for 2-3 days, you will be able to perfectly relax and recharge your energy for the upcoming work days.

Be sure to visit the Stavropegic Monastery. His monasteries, temples and household buildings abound in the whole island of Valaam. An excursion to the monastery is inexpensive. There is even an opportunity to live in a monastery for free. For this it is necessary to agree with the service of the pilgrimage of the monastery for the performance of some obedience. The work will take only a few hours, but you will be provided with food and lodging.

We advise you not to ignore the secular community of Valaam. The excursion there is rarely included in the standard tourist route, but local people smotely smoke trout and sell various souvenirs and handmade crafts. Here the price for them is much lower than in monastic shops.

Valaam is certainly a pearl, which is rightfully proud of all of Russia, and not just Karelia. For 2 days from St. Petersburg to this wonderful island is most pleasant to get by boat. The journey takes 3.5 hours. It will fly by unnoticed, because the shores of Lake Ladoga are incredibly picturesque. If you want to save time, then to the services of travelers fast "Meteors", which domchat to destination in just 1.5 hours.

The fortifications of Kronstadt

From April to October - it's time to inspect 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, great interest is represented by beacons and case signs, built by famous architects. During the excursions, you can not only see lighthouses and forts of Kronstadt from afar, excursions involve visiting the internal premises, as well as taking photos at viewing platforms.

Heroic Kirov district

Excursions to places of battle for Leningrad will be of interest not only to adults, but also to children. In the tourist office you can order a group visit to places of military glory. It will be interesting for schoolchildren to see the places of battles and listen to stories about the courage and heroism of Soviet soldiers. The guys will see the Soviet military equipment, they will be able to lay flowers at the memorials of the soldiers who died on the battlefields for Leningrad.

The excursion program dedicated to the defense of Leningrad usually includes an examination of the museum-diorama "Breakthrough of the Siege of Leningrad", the meeting place of the Volkhov and Leningrad fronts, a memorial on Sinyavinsky heights, the settlement Nevskaya Dubrovka and, of course, the famous Nevsky Piglet.

Kirov - a small area of the Leningrad region, but during the Great Patriotic War, there were the most fierce battles for the breakthrough of the blockade. The guides will tell you about the most interesting and significant moments of military history.

Short trip to Finland

Residents of the northern capital have long mastered the weekend tours to Finland. From St. Petersburg to the country of Suomi regularly send buses, ferries and airplanes. 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 expiry date of the passport must be at least three months. When registering 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 travel, one color photo and a standard application form available in each visa center. The consular fee is 35 euros.

One-three-day bus trips are the most popular type of tourism. Where to go for the weekend (St. Petersburg), you should plan ahead. The fact is that quite an expensive trip (from 50 euros) involves not only excursions and rest, but also purchases. And the prices for excursions, as a rule, are not included in the tour price.

Many travel agencies take into account the desire of compatriots to get on sale. On the eve of the New Year holidays, this is most relevant, as in those days a stream of tourists from all over the world will flow into Finland. Guests of the country are attracted not only by amazing crafts made of reindeer hides and horns, famous hunting knives, wooden mugs-dolls, homespun carpets and toy mummies, but also Finnish clothes, which are of the highest quality and ideal for the harsh Russian climate.

Winter weekend excursions from St. Petersburg to Finland are pleasant to combine with a trip to a ski resort. It is not necessary to take necessary outfit with you - on the ski bases everything is rented out.

Hostels of the Leningrad Region

You do not have a passport, and the desire to go skiing or snowboarding is irresistible? No problem. There is where to go for the weekend (St. Petersburg). The Leningrad region abounds in picturesque places, as if created for family holidays and corporate events.

Inexpensive recreation centers in the Leningrad region are in the forest, on the shores of lakes, rivers and the Gulf of Finland. Prices range from 800 rubles per day to several thousand. Ski resorts, equipped with the latest technology, offer comfortable rooms for 2-3.5 thousand rubles per day per person. The cost of services 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 equipment for fishing. The most inexpensive recreation centers in the Leningrad region are located 100-150 km from St. Petersburg. We do not list the names, but several dozen of them. Let us dwell only on the illumination of possibilities, it is interesting and useful to spend time there.

In summer, guests of tourist bases have the opportunity to rent bicycles, catamarans, tennis rackets and other sports equipment. In winter, specially equipped halls are equipped with tables for billiards, table tennis. There are pavilions for paintball and shooting galleries.

Paradise for children

Family couples should certainly visit the fabulous "Andersengrad", which is in a small town with a beautiful name Sosnovy Bor. Little 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 will forever remember the trip to St. Petersburg. Sosnovy Bor (distance by car from Peter - only 70 km) is designed by the famous Russian architect Yuri Savchenko. The ensemble complex includes towers, dungeons, bridges, bastions, children's motor road, cafes, attractions and theater. All buildings are made in medieval style, decorated with mosaics and panels.

On the territory of a fairy-tale town, festivals, contests and a host of other cultural events are constantly held.

Manor of Nicholas Roerich

In October 2016, after extensive restoration, the Roerich Memorial Museum reopened its doors in Izvar. This is the estate of the parents of the famous artist, traveler and thinker Nikolai Roerich. Here he lived almost a third of his life. The museum complex is not only the home of Nikolai Konstantinovich's parents - on 60 hectares of land there are farm buildings and a park with spring lakes.

In the main building there is a small collection of paintings by Roerich, mostly reproductions, but there are several original ones.

On the territory of Izvara village there is an ancient Nikolo-Pyatnitskaya church built in the late 18th - early 19th centuries. It is also part of the excursion route along the Roerich places.

Caves and holy places of Old Ladoga

Old Ladoga was once the capital of Northern Russia. In these places, a large number of monuments of antiquity. 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 without accompanying them, for it is easy to get lost alone. It is desirable to provide a form of clothing waterproof - in the caves are rather damp, there are shallow lakes.

In order not to worry about where to go for the weekend (St. Petersburg), it's better to immediately book a two-day excursion and for these days to immerse yourself in the atmosphere of quiet antiquity - together with an experienced guide to visit one of the monasteries (Nikolsky, Uspensky or Holy Trinity Zelenetsky), drink healing water From the Holy Spring of Paraskeva Friday. All listed facilities are located near the caves.

Kizhi Island

Speaking of excursions and weekend trips from St. Petersburg, it is impossible to ignore the tours around Karelia. The unique nature, numerous lakes, aromas of coniferous and deciduous forests, monuments of ancient architecture draw pilgrims like a magnet. The magic church of the Transfiguration of the Lord, made of wood, seems to be a toy. In an environment of wildlife, it looks quite different than in photographs. On the island of Kizhi, many old buildings have survived - houses of Karelians, Veps and Rusich. It is interesting to walk around the old churchyard, pray in the temples, buy souvenirs. In fact, the island of Kizhi is a museum of ethnography, history and architecture in the open air.

Island of Kind Spirits

The Island of Good Spirits is called the Shambhala of the Republic of Karelia.

For 2 days from St. Petersburg, the city of bustling and bustling, 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 healthier and more positive way.

For this purpose, an ideal place is suitable, a little popular with tourists and guides, preferably one that is not on the map. The Island of Good Spirits meets all these requirements as well as possible. It is not only not on the tourist map of the Leningrad region, it's not even easy to get to it - you need a boat, because you have to go down to the lower reaches of Okhta. And this is not enough - local people will be able to tell the correct way to the island, but only if they like you. On the island are collected various sculptures - from modern to old. Next to the wooden idols are the statues of a mosquito, car, rocket, ship and others.

The first Russian resort

The first Russian sanatorium was founded not in the Crimea, but, strangely enough, in the Republic of Karelia. Excursion there will take all day. Do not forget to bring your bathing accessories. It will be insulting if you visit the famous resort and do not experience the delights of the mud baths of the balneological resort.

Pyotr 1 founded the water and mud baths. After learning that a certain man named Ivan Ryabtsev was cured by the local governess from severe heartaches in just three days, the tsar gave him three rubles of money and ordered him to name the keys by the name of Mars, the god of war and iron. Thus, the name "Marcial" appeared in the underground sources. The water in them and in fact has a strong taste 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 there were many private guides with an excellent education and a broad outlook. For quite a moderate fee, they will conduct an individual excursion on their own or your car.

Gatchina

In order to circumvent almost 150 hectares of the area occupied by the State Artistic and Architectural Palace and Park Museum-Reserve "Gatchina", it will take more than a day. It is most correct to order a 2-3-day excursion with accommodation in a hotel or hostel. These days you will not have to miss and think 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 - Bolshoi Gatchinsky, built for Count Grigori Orlova by Catherine II, designed by Antonio Rinaldi, and Prioratsky, built by Paul the 1st for E. I. Nelidova, subsequently transferred to the Order of Malta (the project of architect N. A. Lvov).

Kivach Nature Reserve

The Kivach Nature Reserve is best known for its picturesque waterfall, which is on the Suna River. The places here are very picturesque, and the waterfall itself is simply delicious. Water jets, breaking, turn into snow-white foam, and the smallest splashes of water, breaking rays of sunlight, create a rainbow. Water falls from a height of 10.7 m. The stream flows from two rocks located at right angles to each other. The uniqueness of the waterfall is that it is flat, and the water pressure is 300 cubic meters. Water per second.

In addition to the waterfall, the reserve has a nursery of rare trees (arboretum) and a nature museum, in which all animals and birds living here are represented.

It is better to go to the reserve on your own car or on a sightseeing bus, because the shuttle stops 8 km from the waterfall and recreation center. This distance will have to be overcome on foot.

Residents of St. Petersburg prefer to come here with tents and stay for the night. Near the waterfall built a recreation center. There you can leave the car, charge the phone, buy the necessary products, if something is forgotten in the city.

Entry to the territory of the reserve is paid.

Mountain Park Ruskeala

Mountain Park Ruskeala is one of the most popular tourist places of Karelia. Several days off spent here, give a big charge of energy and improve the mood for a long time. Clean forest air, beautiful nature and well-organized infrastructure like everyone. The park provides entertainment even for fans of extreme tourism.

In addition to viewing platforms located at the highest points of the quarry, it is possible to climb onto the rocks independently. This is used for training climbers and climbers.

Divers learn to dive in underwater caves and caves, and those who do not have special equipment, get a thrill, rushing over the quarry on the troller (cable).

Ruskeala is an abandoned marble quarry, developed in the reign of Catherine II. The local stone was used to decorate the palaces, and in Soviet times - the metro stations.

Since the park Ruskeala is 300 km from St. Petersburg, then you must come here with an overnight stay. Campground and camping are located outside the park, but it's not far, moreover, the park's staff supply tourists with drinking water and firewood. They can also charge mobile phones.

In 10 minutes walk from the park there is a motel "Blue Lagoon", and in the village - a Lutheran church, renting rooms to all comers.

Shaman places

In Karelia, there are places in which people, endowed with supersensitive abilities, experience an unusually strong energy impact. This is primarily the mountains of Heidenvuori and Vottovaara.

Heydenvuori is also called the Bald Mountain, or Mount Hyishi. Hyishi is an evil spirit, a giant, the owner of a forest. At the foot of the mountain there is a settlement, which is mentioned in the ancient Novgorod chronicles, dated 1500, when this land was ruled by Tsar Ivan III. On the mountain there is a convenient platform with which the surroundings and Lake Ladoga are well seen, and in clear weather you can even see the island of Valaam.

Mount Vottovaara - a typical place of religious rites of ancient priests or shamans. Having risen on its top, you plunge into the dead ringing silence, which neither the singing of birds nor the noise of foliage disturb. The trees here are clumsy and short. Even the centenary pine trees do not grow more than two meters, and the birches are twisted with knotty scrapers. The huge boulders in a certain order are stacked on each other, as if on a temple of druids. On the mountain, especially sensitive people experience an inexplicable sense of fear or anxiety, see non-existent objects or figures of living beings. As for cameras, mobile phones, compasses, here they behave absolutely abnormally.

Returning home from a trip to such strange places, you feel much better and more fun, and this is exactly what is required of a good rest.