Experience the pristine beauty of Russian North with RTC1.
Day 1:
Arrival from Moscow to Arkhangelsk (Talagi airport). Meeting at the airport and transfer to the city.
Lunch at the Pochtovaya Kontora restaurant.
Sightseeing tour “Arkhangelsk – the first seaport of Russia”. The city of Arkhangelsk occupies a worthy place among Russian cities. The city was born by the sea, and its life has been connected with the sea for centuries. The tour introduces the history of the city, the diverse life of modern Arkhangelsk, and its attractions.
Visit to the store for products of the Arkhangelsk seaweed plant, the only enterprise in Russia engaged in the extraction and deep processing of Arctic seaweed for the production of pharmaceutical raw materials, incredibly useful food products, and natural cosmetics.
Visit to the Northern Maritime Museum. Tour of the main exposition “Millennium of Northern Navigation”. The Northern Maritime Museum is located in the historic center of the city, where Arkhangelsk began as a monastic center and as a main port. It is located in the building of the former marine station, between two piers: the former Sobornaya (now Krasnaya) and the so-called Far Expeditions pier. The museum exhibits are dedicated to the history of the maritime development of the North, starting with the maritime code written by Peter I (a reprint from 1825 is in the Sevmormuseum funds). The exhibition space is stylized as a sailing ship, where decorative structures are made in the form of various fragments of ship drawings, rigging details, elements of internal and external ship structure.
Accommodation at the Pur-Navolok Hotel.
20:30 Dinner at the hotel restaurant.
In favorable weather conditions, the excursion “In search of the Northern Lights” is held.The colorful flashes of the polar aurora are similar to a real miracle that many people dream of seeing at least once in their life. Impressions of fantastic patterns in the sky become much brighter if you watch them away from the city, near ancient temples, surrounded by the stunningly beautiful nature of the Arkhangelsk region.
Note: The hunt for the aurora depends on many factors, sometimes beyond human control, such as cloudiness or low solar activity. It is possible to go in search of the Northern Lights on the second day of the program.
Day 2:
Breakfast at the hotel restaurant.
09:30 Departure to Malye Karely.
10:15 An out-of-town tour to the Museum of Wooden Architecture Malye Karely (25 km from Arkhangelsk), which houses a unique collection — 120 monuments of wooden architecture of the Arkhangelsk region (churches, chapels, mills, residential and farm buildings). The largest open-air museum in Russia, where wooden structures organically fit into the natural environment. Meeting with bread and salt, tour of the Kargopol-Onega sector of the museum. During the tour, you will get acquainted with Russian wooden architecture of the 17th-19th centuries, the exceptional talent and skill of northern masters, the folk culture of the Russian North, monuments of wooden architecture of the late 16th – early 20th centuries and the secrets of their construction, the arrangement of a house-yard, how to heat the stove “black”, as well as the way of life and features of the everyday life of peasants in the southwestern part of the Arkhangelsk region.
Master class on folk crafts (at your choice):
• Tetyorki — baking spring ritual cookies.
• Naboyka — sharing secrets of traditional crafts.
• Mezenskaya painting — introducing the technique of folk crafts.
Free time on the museum grounds to explore other sectors and purchase souvenirs.
13:00 Lunch at the restaurant of the tourist complex Malye Karely.
14:00 Departure to Arkhangelsk.
14:45 Visit to the historical and architectural complex Arkhangelskiye Gostinye Dvory. Today, the museum funds comprise 265,000 items that comprehensively reflect the historical, cultural and natural uniqueness of Pomorye. There are rarities worthy of becoming the basis for museum treasuries and exclusive exhibitions, including those of world importance: the Gospel by Tyapinsky of 1570, a collection of items from Willem Barents’ wintering of 1598, things that belonged to famous august persons and statesmen (Peter I, Princess Sophia, Metropolitan Philaret, Patriarch Nikon, Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov, Ioann Kronstadt and many others). There are also other items of great artistic value, for example, Kholmogory bone carving, pictorial embroidery and small plastic arts, a number of urban relics of Arkhangelsk — the carriage Berlin of the 18th century, which transported the Brunswick family, and others.
Return to the hotel along the Northern Dvina embankment.
Dinner at the hotel restaurant.
Day 3:
Breakfast at the hotel restaurant, check-out.
Walking tour along Chubarova-Luchinsky Avenue — a unique “museum” in the open air where exhibits are wooden houses in which Arkhangelsk residents lived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The oldest house, built in 1848, is also located here. During the walk, you can also see sculptural compositions dedicated to northern fairy tales, as well as the monument “Russian Wives — Keepers of the Family Hearth”, which relates us to the history of life and everyday life of the Pomor region.
At your choice:
• Master class on painting traditional Pomor gingerbread “kozuly” in the workshop of the Arkhangelsk Gingerbread museum. Traditional crafts have been preserved in the Arkhangelsk region, and you can learn about one of them at a delicious master class. It is believed that these gingerbread figures of animals bring good luck and can serve as amulets — they are excellent and tasty gifts for any holiday!
• Visit to the Pomor ARTel.
Interactive excursion program “Visiting Silanty Pomorych”. As part of the program, guests of the house will get acquainted with the Arkhangelsk merchant Silanty Pomorych, his family members, as well as the history of Arkhangelsk merchants. Visitors will hear a fairy tale in Pomor dialect, play on a saw, and even participate in an improvised orchestra of folk instruments. The host of the house will tell you who the “zuyki” are, what was necessary to go fishing, as well as how the Pomors entertained themselves during the long winter. The excursion is dedicated to Pomor culture, the life of the Pomors, and their preserved cultural heritage.
• Visit to the “Arctic Embassy” — a modern multifunctional interactive platform for those who want to get to know the Arctic better. The exposition is located in the building of the Northern Shipping Company. It presents archaeological finds discovered on the territory of the Novaya Zemlya and Franz Josef Land archipelagos. Some rarities are thousands and even millions of years old.
• Master class on northern bone carving.
During the master class, you will learn about the history of the craft, what materials bone carving masters work with, and how the process of creating a finished product from raw materials takes place.
Visit to the Belomorskiye Uzory store. You can find there author’s works and rare specimens of souvenirs in the Russian folk style, artistic wooden products with painting and carving: souvenirs, boxes, plates, salt shakers, boxes, spoons, ladles, and more; hand weaving and knitting: mittens, stockings, vests, sweaters, jackets, socks, hats, and more; embroidered linen products: tablecloths, curtains, napkins, towels, and more; products made of birch bark: boxes, tufts; Kargopol clay toy.
Lunch at the Pomorsky restaurant.
Free time for visiting souvenir shops, independent walks around the city.
Recommended traditional souvenirs of the Arkhangelsk region are: wooden birds, Kargopol clay toys, wooden and birch bark products, Kholmogory bone carving, jewelry with Arkhangelsk diamonds, cosmetic sets based on seaweed.
Recommended gastronomic souvenirs from the Arkhangelsk region are: fish, northern berries (cranberries, cloudberries, blueberries), venison, agar-agar-based jelly candies, traditional painted gingerbread “kozulya”.
Transfer to the airport.
The tour operator reserves the right to change the sequence of excursions and visits to objects.