The most outstanding feature of Russia is its size and distances. The best way to feel the distances is walking. Consequently, walking tourism, or hiking is the most optimal type of tourism for experiencing the specific character of the country. The tour operators could offer you a big variety of walking tours in Russia, depending on the region and season. Forests and mountains, summer and winter trips, one-day and long tours different difficulty level are provided by them. Moreover, it is healthier, than traditional tourism with visiting big cities and their superfits.

The South
The walking tours in the South of Russia are tied with the mountains and sea. The variety of climatic provinces, from the subtropics to the Alpine meadows and even glacials will alternate during the trip. It is because of that the routes are going through the Caucasus Mountains. The most popular tour here is called simply The Route 30 (Tridcatka). It begins in the mountain resort of Khadjohk and finishes on the seashore in the settlement of Dagomys not far from Sochi. The tours like this include the monuments of nature and archaeological ones. The tourists get sight of the mountains, lakes, waterfalls and the traces of the ancient people like dolmens and tumili. The route 30 includes the visit to the rock shelter with the early man site. The accommodation for such tours is usually in the hostels.

Altai

Altai Territory and Altai Republic offer their guests winter and summer tours, and among them are the walking ones, which include the monuments of nature and early man sites with petroglyphs (Altai is one of the centres of the ancient colonization: more than 100 billion people on the Earth speak the languages Altai group). The main difference is that the Altai Mountains are very old ones, in spite of the Caucasus, so they are lower, so there are no such elevation changes like in the Caucasus. In the summer almost all the night accommodations are on the wilds. The flora and fauna of Altai differ from the South of Russia. Between the monuments of nature, the tourists usually see during the walking tours is Belukha mountain. The legends about Belovodye and Shambala are tied with this mountain. In the legends it is the centre of the world.

The Russian North

The Russian north is a region of taiga forests, huge lakes and swamps. From the ethnographic and historic point of view the region is interesting by its folklore and the famous wooden architecture. The part of the Karelia, where the epos of Kalevalla is supposed to appear, is now situated in Russia. In the summer the sun doesn’t set in the North, but the walking tourism is impeded because of the blood-sucking insects; in the winter the snow covers everything, and the only way to move for the tourists is skiing. The skiing winter tours through the offered by the tour operators of the Arkhangelsk Region and Karelia Republic. One of the long tours, in the Arkhangelsk Region, is running away from the settlements, only the ski-run is marked. The accommodation is provided in the little cottages with oven. To prove, that it is for real thrill-seekers, I say that the toilets can be outside the houses in the yard. The first day includes the visit to the museums, for example, the open air museum of the wooden architecture of Malye Korely.

Anyway, hiking is one of the most democratic and healthy types of the tourism. Moreover, nothing can substitute the wild nature. Everybody can choose a tour for his degree of training and financial possibilities.

Explore Russia - Book Tours Here

Booking.com

Sources:
    www.activerussia.ru

    ww.rusadventures.ru

Yulia Buzykina