ARCTIC RUSSIA EXPEDITION

15thAUGUST 2006, 9 DAYS

Firmly establishing our reputation as one of the leading 4x4 based tour companies with the most wide reaching international tours available we have now added the Kola Peninsula in Russia's far north to our list of destinations!

If you like wide open spaces then this is the tour for you. Spaces don't come much wider than this!!
We will explore the true, wild frontier land, east of Murmansk.

Bleak mountains and tundra stretch endlessly away to every horizon and we will drive for days without seeing a house or another person or even any signs of habitation. The 24 hour sunlight will add to the incredible experience as we explore long abandoned settlements and coastal trading villages, 300 miles north of the article circle!



These are some pictures from our reconnaissance last summer and as you can see it is an absolutely stunning part of the world, a true wilderness in the arctic.

Even the drive up to Kola is going to be an experience to match other company’s whole tours as you will stay in hotels and campsites through Russia as you drive in convoy with the tour guides!

To see a small gallery of some of the sights and scenes that await you in the arctic, please click here.


VEHICLE PREPARATION AND EQUIPMENT NEEDED

The terrain on this tour is rough and remote so you will need both a reliable and well-prepared vehicle. The guide’s vehicles will be fitted with winches and navigation equipment, but you must have All Terrain tyres, bash guards and recovery points fitted as a minimum. A comprehensive tool kit, spares stock and first aid kit are also must haves, the AA will not come and help you out here (and you would have to wait 2 weeks for them to get there even if they did!). You will also be wild camping for 3 or 4 nights at a time so you will need to be self sufficient for that time, with good quality equipment and storage for enough fuel, food and water.

Mosquitoes will be a problem in certain areas but a simple net to wear over a hat and a repellent spray will work wonders. Spring water is readily available, but some sort of water purification system is required as you won’t know that the water is poisonous until after you have drunk it. If you are buying tablets, taste the water before you go as some people cannot stand the taste of iodine or chlorine.

To see some pictures of some of our previous tours, please Click here.

PRICES

The price for this tour is just £555 per person!!

Price includes…

*Fully guided and supported 9 day off-road tour of Arctic Russia.

*Full board!! All accommodation and 3 meals a day, for the 9 days.

*Full time escort, guide and translator all the way from UK to the Arctic.

*All your paperwork, worth £70 (visa invitation, visa application, visa registration).

*Tour of St Petersburg city.

*All the help you need getting through borders and booking into hotels on route.

*All the pre-trip advice you need.

*Free greenlaning weekend in Wales.

What is not included. Your travel insurance, your fuel costs, ferry to Russia and your food and accommodation on the way to and from the 9 day tour.
At a rough estimate, based on 2 people sharing a vehicle, you are looking at about just less than £1000 per person for the 3 weeks.

To book a place on this tour we require a £100 deposit.

MORE DETAILS

How to get there!

There’s no getting away from it, the arctic is a long way away, but in actuality the journey is not that hard at all. Only the last 2 days will be pretty solid driving as we have about 600 miles to cover from St Petersburg to where the tour starts.

This is a rough itinerary for the journey, so you can get an idea of what is involved.

10th Everybody makes their own way to the port of Rostock in Northern Germany. Either from Calais, or the longer ferry from Harwich to Hamburg (much less driving) where we’ll take the ferry direct to St Petersburg.

11th Arrive in St Petersburg at 09.30, drive into the center to register our visas, have a tour of the city for the day and then drive 18 miles to a beautiful hotel for about £20 a night.

12th The first bit of driving. It’s 14 hours driving time from St Petersburg to the arctic, so 6 or 7 today with plenty of time to do some sight seeing or to have a leisurly rest in a nice café somewhere.

13th Another 6 or 7 hour drive all the way to the Arctic where our rooms in a log cabin await us.

14th Rest day before the serious off-roading. Chill out in the mountain town of Kirovsk or go for a health spa treatment Soviet style in the beautiful little town of Apitity, just up the road.

15th - 23rd Off-road tour of Arctic Russia.

23rd 28th Journey back home. You can either retrace your route south through Russia or alternatively you can travel down through Scandinavia, but once you leave Russia you can’t get back in again. If you take enough jerry cans you can travel through Norway and Finland on 20p a liter Russian fuel. Alternatively you can travel to Tallinn and spend a couple of days in on of the most amazing medieval cities in the word.

29th - 6th September. Recovery period!!!

8th September - Rest of Life. Telling your friends about your amazing tour to the Arctic!!


If you don't fancy the drive to the Arctic and back you can fly out to Murmansk and have a seat in the 'bus',
an army troop carrier that has found a new purpose in life!!

What's more, the costs are the same, just £555 per person!!

For more details, please contact us.



For any further information or to contact us, please phone Robb on 01978 753164 or email robb4x4@gmail.com