4x4 Off-road Adventures Northwest Russia

Updated:
Apr-2015

4WD Polar Off-road Adventure description:

Day 1, Friday: Arrival in Kandalaksha and check-in in hotel. Dinner in a restaurant (without guide). In the evening you can drive to the old quarter of Kandalaksha to view old Pomor houses and have a nice view over the Kanda Bay.
Optional: Our guide can meet the group on Finland territory and help to cross the Russian border. We can provide car insurances for Russian territory (it’s cheaper and faster) and hand over the group before crossing Russian border. Ask for an offer!

Day 2, Saturday: Breakfast. Our guide picks you up at 8:00 o’clock and drive eastwards; Your Polar Off-road Adventure starts and after 5 km with a breath taking downhill drive to the White Sea shore. From time to time we drive on asphalt road. Lunch on a shore. Continue driving along the coast to Kashkarantsy, a traditional Pomor village; weather-permitting, a swim at a sand beach. Drive a picturesque coastal track to Lodochny Bay. Visit the Chapel of the Unknown Monk. Dinner, sauna and overnight at our simple wooden houses at Lodochny Ruchey. Asphalt: 90 km, Gravel: 60 km, Off-road: 60 km.
Optional: A visit to Pomor’s Museum and to craft shops in Umba village
Optional: A performance by the Pomor Folk Ensemble
Optional: Excursion in Tetrina Tonya, a small fishing village demonstrating the real old style of life of Pomor people how it was centuries ago.

Day 3, Sunday: Breakfast. During ebb-tide drive to a shipwreck 500 m offshore. We follow the 20 km sandy beach to the mouth of the Varzuga River – the easternmost point on the Kola Peninsula accessible by terrain vehicles. We continue the sandy roads to the 17th century village of Kuzomen. Lunch during the day. Via sand dunes and forest roads, continue to Varzuga, the earliest settlement on the Tersky Coast. Visit the still-functioning Uspenskaya Orthodox Church, constructed in 1674. Optional by rowing boat cross the Varzuga River, for a walk among traditional wooden houses and a short hike through forest to springs welling out of the sand (8 km). Visit the rests of an old Amethyst mine close to "Cape Ship" which juts far into the White Sea. In the evening you can try your luck in finding your own lucky Amethyst stone or go for a swim in the White Sea. Drive back for overnight and dinner in our cosy wooden houses on Lodochny Ruchey. Possibility to drive more along the shore or forest tracks or to find Amethyst stones. Asphalt: 0 km, Gravel: 20 km, Off-road: 70 km.
Remark: This day can also be done in opposite direction depending on the tide of the White Sea.

Day 4, Monday: After breakfast drive back to Umba along coast gravel road which ends with 40 km of asphalt, and continue north wards to Kirovsk via an unused challenging forest road. We have to concur muddy, stony and sandy tracks and to cross several rivers. Lunch during the day. Half way we will enter a small remote village named Inga, where we enjoy the ready sauna, dinner and spend the night in our typical Saami sot house and sleep on reindeer fur. Asphalt 40 km, Gravel: 100 km, Off-road: 70 km.

Day 5, Tuesday: Breakfast. We continue the forest road further northwards and on the horizon we can see the Khibiny Mountains. The tracks are like day 4. Lunch during the day. Then we drive a muddy road with a lot of water pools to the rests of a Stalinist labour camp. Dinner, sauna and overnight in our lumberjack guesthouse "Yolki-Palki" in twin rooms in a remote village, close to Khibiny Mountains, named Oktyabrsky.
Asphalt: 0 km, Gravel: 0 km, Off-road: 50 km to village + 40 km to Stalinist Camp and back.

Day 6, Wednesday: After breakfast we drive to a valley in the centre of the Khibiny Mountains to a mountain lake and waterfall. Field lunch. Then we continue by usual road to Saami village Lovozero and check-in at a hotel. Sauna, dinner.
Asphalt: 250 km, Gravel: 5 km, Off-road: 50 km.

Day 7, Thursday: After breakfast drive to the miner’s settlement Revda located at the foot of the Lovozero Mountains. Proceed to one of the mountain summits of Lovozero Mountains (1.106 m) with steep walls of 200 m and with beautiful view on the Kola Peninsula. Lunch, and drive to Worlds biggest city above the Polar Circle Murmansk. Check-in at the hotel in the centre. Dinner on your own. Asphalt: 220 km, Gravel: 0 km, Off-road: 30 km. Optional: a visit to Saami’s Museum

Day 8, Friday: Breakfast in hotel. Spend some time in the centre of Murmansk and/or departure Murmansk to continue your own route to Ivalo in Finland (asphalt: 200 km, Gravel: 100 km) or to Kirkenes in Norway (asphalt: 300 km).
Optional: Visit museums like the Historical Museum and the Northern Fleet Museum or have an excursion tour including an excursion to an Atomic Icebreaker.

4WD Polar Off-road Adventure tour details

Accommodation:

• 2 nights in twin rooms incl. shower and toilet in hotels in Kandalaksha and Lovozero

• 2 nights in simple wooden 4p-houses with common dry toilet and sauna at Lodochny Ruchey

• 1 night in Saami sot house with common dry toilet and with sauna in Inga

• 1 night in twin rooms in lumberjack guesthouse with common toilet in Oktyabrsky

• 1 night in twin rooms incl. shower and toilet in business class hotel in Murmansk

Level:

Experiences in 4WD-car driving is not required, but a pre.

Group size:

From 8 persons

Duration:

8 days

Dates:

Now we have tours the whole year round! Especially Polar Off-road Winter Adventure KTOR13 is very special.

Groups can request any date! Individuals may participate in groups. For request of dates: >> Click here!

Price:

Prices on request. Click here for an offer!

Price includes:

accommodation, 3 meals per day within off-road tour (excluding Day 1, Day 8 and dinner at Day 7), excursions, service truck, visa invitation, guide and interpreting services, medical insurance incl. helicopter evacuation.

Additional:

• The travel to Kandalaksha or Murmansk (depending on preferred direction of the 4WD tour)

• Fuel during the tour for 4WD car (rented) drivers

Optional:

• Excursions in Murmansk including an excursion to an Atomic Icebreaker.

Documents:

Passport must be valid at least 6 months after date of return. A visa is required. We handle the tourist invitation.

Insurance:

• The participant must possess medical insurance that at very least covers the European part of the Russian Federation.

Program Overview
4x4 Off-road holidays:

<<Click on program code for more details!

Groups can request any date! Individuals may participate in groups.

For detailed program description or request of dates: >> info@kolatravel.com

Now we have tours the whole year round! Especially Polar Off-road Winter Adventure KTOR13 is very special.

Groups can request any date! Individuals may participate in groups. For request of dates: >> Click here!

Now we have tours the whole year round! Especially Polar Off-road Winter Adventure KTOR13 is very special.

4x4 Polar Winter Off-road Adventure: 27.01 – 03.02.2016; For other dates >> Click here!