►Tours ► Weekend Tours ► From St Petersburg ► Weekend in Solovetsky Island

  A trip to the Solovetskie Islands (or Solovki as they are informally known) is something that you will remember for your whole life. It is one of the most unique and beautiful places in Russia – surrounded by the chilly White Sea, covered most of the year by snow and home to a stunning monastery more reminiscent of a mediaeval fortress. The monastery was once a stronghold of the Old-Believers, and it has been an today remains an important site of pilgrimage with hundreds of pilgrims coming here to pray at the holy site. There are practically no cars here and no tall modern buildings. It really is a magical and mysterious place like no other, but the island’s more recent history has a darker side. Many buildings on the island date from this terrible period when the island and its monastery served as the location of the prototype Gulag prison camp.

  Solovki has remained so special precisely thanks to its remote location, so it is no surprise to hear that is hard to get here. On this excursion, you will take a train, then a car and then boat, further and further away from 'civilisation’! You should also not expect to find here any luxurious hotels, high-end restaurants or a boisterous nightlife, people come here to take in the wild but beautiful northern nature and take a break from the stress and troubles of life in big cities in a place where it seems that time has stood still.

St Petersburg → Kem → Rabocheostrovsk ⇔ Solovki 

 Total distance of the tour: 1,768km -  1,658km | 20km |  90km

 FRIDAY | HEADING TO KEM

 19:48 | Departure of the train from St Petersburg’s Ladozhsky Railway Station to Kem.

 Duration: 15h

 SATURDAY | KEM - RABOCHEOSTROVSK - SOLOVKI

 10:55 | Arrival in Kem. A driver will wait for you next to your carriage with a sign saying . Transfer to the Rabocheostrovsk Sea Port.

 Distance: 10km

 12:30 | Ship Departure to Bolshoy Solovetsky Island.

 Distance: 45km |  Duration: 2h

 14:30 | Arrival at the island's port. Transfer to your hotel. The driver will wait for you in the reception of the hotel with a sign saying .

 15:30 | Excursion around the Monastery - the highlights of this tour include:

• Solovetsky Monastery – perhaps the most beautiful monastery in Russia; founded in 1436, its walls are built out of giant boulders. The first Special Designation Camp was located here under Stalin and victims of his repression were sent here.
• Transfiguration Cathedral – the main cathedral in the monastery, which dates from 1566. The thickness of the cathedral’s walls reach five metres in places and the corner domes look like towers of a fortress. In fact its architectural design is unique among Russian cathedrals.
• Refectory – this represents the first stone building of the monastery, dating from 1557.
• Prison – from the 16th century onwards prisoners were kept at this remote monastery and up to the Revolution around 500 people had been held here. Some of the most famous inmates here include: Archpriest Silvester, who fell from favour with Ivan the Terrible, Petro Kalnishevsky, the last hetman of the Zoporozhian Host of Cossacks, Count Pyotr Tolstoy, a statesman of the time of Peter the Great who was banished here when Peter II came to the throne, and Aleksandr Gorozhansky, a member of the Decembrists. 
• Solovetsky Mill – considered one of the oldest surviving stone watermills in Russia.
• Annunciation Church – this church dates from 1601 and is the only church here whose iconostasis and frescos have survived.

 Duration: 3 hours  |  Transportation: walking excursion

 Night in the Island.

• OPTIONAL EXTRA • SOLOVKI ISLAND •

Excursion to the Botanical Garden.

The gardens were founded in the 19th century by monks of the monastery in a part of the island which has its own microclimate 1.5 degrees warmer than the rest of the island. More than 30 kinds of trees and bushes are grown here as well as almost 500 sorts of decorative, medicinal and edible plants. This includes cedars, apple trees, cherry trees, lilacs and roses.          PRICE PER GROUP 1-2 PAX 3-4 PAX 5-6 PAX 7-8 PAX USD 199 206 220 241 EUR 172 179 190 209 GBP 144 149 159 174  Duration: 2 hours |  Transportation: by a private car

Excursion to Sekirnaya Gora and Voznesensky Skit

Sekirnaya Hill is the highest point on the island. It was here that monastic life on the island started as it is considered to be the place where the monks Savvaty and German (the founders of the Solovetsky Monastery) first settled. The Voznesensky Skete’s church is unique in the fact that it also serves as a lighthouse. The lighthouse began operating in 1867 and today still shows sailors the route. Its lights are visible at night from up to 60km away. In Soviet times the building was used as a cell for solitary confinement. The prisoners were kept in the Ascension Church, which was not heated, and were forced to sleep directly on the stone floor. At the foot of the hill, prisoners were executed on mass, and human remains are still being uncovered here.  Duration: 2 hours | Transportation: by a private car    PRICE PER GROUP 1-2 PAX 3-4 PAX 5-6 PAX 7-8 PAX USD 167 178 199 220 EUR 145 154 172 190 GBP 121 128 144 159

 SUNDAY | SOLOVKI

 Breakfast at your hotel.

 Free time on the island.

 15:20 | Transfer from your hotel to the port.

 16:00 | Departure of ship to Rabocheostrovsk. 

 Distance: 45km |  Duration: 2h

 Arrival in Rabocheostrovsk. Transfer to the railway station in Kem. The driver will wait for you at the port with a sign saying .

 Distance: 10km

 20:51 | Departure of train to St Petersburg

 Duration: 15h35

 MONDAY |  ST PETERSBURG

 12:26 | Arrival at St Petersburg’s Ladozhsky Railway Station.

• We recommend booking this trip in advance as hotel accommodation on the island is very limited.
• An alternative to travelling by boat is to fly to Solovki from Arkhangelsk by AN-24 plane.
• Optional excursions must be booked before the start of the trip.
• There are only a few places which serve food on the island so we recommend you book accommodation with breakfast and evening meal.
• The tour is planned for starting on Friday and ending on Monday, but it is possible on any day.
• Optional excursions should be booked before the start of the tour to schedule the itinerary.
• The tour is available in    other languages upon request.
• All excursions/guided tours included in the itinerary are private which means private guides and private transport along the programme - unless otherwise stated.
• Best time to travel on this route: from the end of June to mid-August.

• CANCELLATION POLICY •

​• COST OF THE TOUR WITH 3* HOTELS •

• COST OF THE TOUR WITH 3+* HOTELS •