Kinds of Ecotours

Great historical and cultural heritage makes Russia a very interesting destination for cultural tours with visiting architectural monuments, historical memorials, museums, places tied with names of celebrated Russian writers, poets, composers and artists. Do not miss opportunities to enjoy Russian ballet, opera and dramatic theatres as well as performances and exhibitions of contemporary art.

Russia is the largest country of the world which spreads through Europe and Asia for 10 time zones and envelops tundra, taiga, steppes and mountains. In spite of developed industry, here are kept huge spaces, which are practically untouched by human activities and are ideal for ecological tours. Actually most of our outdoors tourist routes in Russia, including discovery, adventurous and extreme (sport) ones, are laid in untouched wild nature. From the other hand, we are strong followers of fundamental principles of ecotourism. That is why we call ecotours all our outdoor trips.

A broad network of internal waterways with great and smaller rivers, lakes and man-made channels makes Russia a wonderful country for river cruises. Comfortable motor ships move from one stopover to another through picturesque countryside.

We offer various kinds of tours for travelers with different interests and different levels of training. Depending on a kind of accommodations and intensity of physical activities we distinguish discovery, adventure and extreme tours.

Discovery

This kind of our tours includes cultural trips as well as some ecological tours, oriented to viewing wildlife and natural wonders such as landscapes, minerals, plants, birds and animals or to visiting indigenous peoples with their traditional culture. Usual accommodations are hotels, pensions, stationary lodges or home stays. Physical activity is almost absent or restricted to short easy hiking or, to say, being a snowmobile passenger. So these tours are well within the capability of any healthy individual leading a normal active life. Experienced guides, interpreters and a cook will make your journey pleasant.

Adventure

In adventure tours you should prepare yourself for some portion of physical activity such as hiking, rafting, skiing etc according to the itinerary. But it usually takes not more than 3-4 hours daily and is acceptable for any healthy person. Our experienced guides and interpreters always try to tune the itinerary to physical conditions of a concrete tourist group. Adventure tours may include several nights in tents. Sometimes you may be expected to erect your own tent or to help with camp chores under supervision of the guide. A cook or a guide prepares meals.

Extreme

These are tours for experienced people or for those who are going to test themselves. Tents are usual accommodations. Extreme tour may involve several consecutive days of 6-9 hours trekking or, to say, rafting without a rest day and without opportunity to shorten or to change the way. Your route may lay at high altitudes with sufficient ascents and descents. Weather conditions may become worse than expected and you should be ready to the situation. Special technical skills in mountaineering or, to say, in rafting may be obligatory for some tours. In tours of higher grades of complexity you are supposed to make input to safety for your fellows and yourself. High level of physical fitness is strongly recommended for some of extreme tours. So our advice is to study a description of the concrete tour carefully and estimate your physical and technical possibilities critically. Local staff for extreme tours may be limited with 1-2 guides and an interpreter. So you have a real chance to participate all camp chores and even cooking on open fire under supervision of the guide. We provide all camping and safety equipment.

Cruises

This is a special kind of our trips, fit to the most of people including seniors. Accommodation is provided on board of motor ships, in comfortable cabins with private facilities. Meals are served in a ship restaurant. Bus and walking excursions during stopovers are easy and not tiresome.

Tailor-made trips

We offer various fixed tours to the most popular destinations. However, if you need something different in destinations, activities, itinerary, duration etc, we would be pleased to arrange a tailor-made program on your request.