Karelia (Republic)

Blue lakes, marble canyons and mountain forests with colossal boulders – there are so many things in Karelia that you’ll want to come back again and again.

Lake Onega alone has more than 1,300 different isles, among which are the famous Kizhi island, a museum of architecture under the European sky. Lake Ladoga harbors the ancient Valaam Monastery with monastic communities (sketes) on the islands. Near the city of Belomorsk in the Karelian North you can see petroglyphs – rock art left by the people who lived around these parts 5,000 to 7,000 years ago.

In the west of the republic, abandoned marble quarries were turned into Ruskeala Park. You can travel there on an authentic retro train!