Ring of Fire - Kamchatka, Commander & Kuril Islands Expedition Cruise
A once-in-a-lifetime Russia cruise in the spirit of the great explorers, embark on a Russia Far East Cruise of unparalleled adventure into the Pacific Ring of Fire. Here, Mother Nature still reigns supreme. Mighty volcanoes (mostly only half-asleep), cast their magnificent shadows across bizarre and beautiful landscapes.
Nowhere else on earth can the eruptive forces of nature be experienced more intensely than where the Pacific Ring of Fire meets the Russian Far East. Stretching for 50,000km around the Rim of the Pacific Ocean, most of the earth’s volcanoes are located around the edge of the Pacific Ring of Fire. Along with one of the world’s most active plate boundaries, millions of years of volcanic and geothermal activity have brought islands up from the sea and carved the land into the most unique and amazing shapes and formations.
Northern Lights in Russia - Railway Adventure to the Arctic Circle
We invite you to enjoy a Russian New Years holiday and experience the magic of Moscow, St. Petersburg, Petrozavodsk and Vologda. Truly, an unusual and colorful journey, like the elusive Northern Lights themselves! The New Year is celebrated at the festive dinner with a colorful show program in the beautifully decorated hotel restaurant.
Top of the World - North Pole Cruise
Get on board for the ultimate North Pole adventure. Nothing compares to experiencing the untamed grandeur of the Arctic quite like seeing its majestic landscapes unfold from the deck of a state-of-the-art nuclear icebreaker. Imagine an endless expanse of ice under the polar midnight sun. Pristine waters teeming with marine life. Prowling polar bears in the tundra. This is Mother Nature at her breathtaking best.
From Murmansk, Russia, you’ll embark the icebreaker 50 Years of Victory for a roundtrip voyage to the earth’s geographic North Pole. Our mighty vessel will plough its way through the frozen Arctic Ocean on a cruise that literally circumnavigates the globe in a matter of days. In addition to the exhilaration of cruising to the very apex of the earth, passengers will have the extraordinary privilege to land, via helicopter, on the scarcely visited Russian Arctic archipelago of Franz Josef Land, a remote wilderness home to an incredible abundance of wildlife.
North Pole Cruise Highlights:
- After 7 days of cruising from Murmansk, we’ll arrive at the geographic North Pole, the place where all meridians meet and the only direction is south. To celebrate our successful mission to the top of the world, we’ll ceremoniously drop anchor and disembark on a sturdy stretch of ice for the ‘International Round Dance’ – a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to literally walk around the world!
- Franz Josef Land: Weather permitting, we’ll spend two days exploring this uninhabited archipelago, one most pristine Arctic habitats on earth. It is comprised of 192 islands where glaciers cover 85% of the land, carving out a spectacular terrain of steep valleys, caves and pinnacles
Franz Josef Land and Svalbard Cruise
A Franz Josef Land cruise is as unique and authentic as the place itself. Franz Josef Land is part of the Russian Arctic National Park which is a nature sanctuary. Starting in Longyearbyen in the Norwegian territory of Svalbard, the Sea Spirit cruise ship crosses the icy, wildlife-rich Barents Sea to the Russian High Arctic. This remote wilderness is home to a variety of wildlife, including polar bears. In the surrounding icy waters, it is possible to spot seals, walruses, and the elusive bowhead whale. The archipelago also hosts an abundance of nesting Arctic seabirds such as the rare ivory gull.
Franz Josef Land and Svalbard Cruise Trip Highlights:
- Upon our arrival in Franz Josef Land, we’ll spend a week exploring this uninhabited archipelago. We’ll navigate the shallow waters of the isles by Zodiac and make as many on-shore landings as possible. It is comprised of 192 islands where glaciers cover 85% of the land, carving out a spectacular terrain of steep valleys, caves and pinnacles
- Our mission during our time in Franz Josef Land is to observe (sometimes at an extremely close range) the iconic Arctic animal species that call the islands home, including polar bears, walruses, beluga whales and narwhals
Reindeer Herders Festival in Yamal 2023
The Reindeer Herder’s Festival is a one-day holiday, celebrated annually in the main cities and villages in the Yamalo-Nenets region in the Russian Arctic. For the nomadic Nenets people, a festival day is a major event, which offers a chance to meet with friends and compete in contests of physical skill and a variety of other competitions.
It has also become an event in which the Nenets are able to share with the world a fascinating slice of their unique culture, which has remained relatively unchanged throughout the centuries. On this tour not only will you witness the Reindeer Herders’ Festival in Yamal but you will also stay with a Nenet family far from the city, giving you an amazing opportunity to fully immerse yourself in the nomadic way of life and if you are lucky enough, to witness Northern Lights.
Reindeer herders festival trip highlights:
- Salekhard (population 43,000) is the only city in the world located right at the Polar Circle. Despite its remoteness, it harbours a great deal of wealth as the city at the centre of one of the world’s richest oil and gas regions.
- From Salekhard, we’ll travel to a nomad camp to spend two days living with the Nenets and sleeping in their chums (tepee-style reindeer skin tents). The Nenets are one of the last surviving grounds of reindeer-herding nomads, making this experience an extraordinary privilege. Take part in day-to-day activities around the camp, herding and lassoing reindeer, sledding into the forest to cut firewood and assisting in the erecting of new chums, with plenty of time in between to relax, socialise and just take in the atmosphere.
Northern lights in Murmansk - Quest for Aurora Borealis
To visualise the Northern Lights Murmansk experience, imagine a place that lives, works and plays above the Polar Circle. This extraordinary place is the Kola Peninsula in the far north-west of Russia.
Why do we visit Murmansk in the coldest part of the year? Well, the Northern Lights are best seen in the winter months. Murmansk city, being so close to the Arctic Circle, is one of the world’s premier destinations to see the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, one of the most breathtakingly beautiful natural phenomenon visible from Earth.
Northern Lights in Murmansk Tour Highlights:
- Murmansk is the northernmost city in Russia, with a population of around 300,000 people, by far the largest city above the Arctic Circle, and it’s considered one of the best places in the region to view the Northern Lights.
- Visit a Siberian husky farm. The local Saami people will introduce you to their beautiful dogs and teach you how to navigate a dog sled through a specially prepared route through the forest
Reindeer Migration with the Nenets in Yamal
As the world gets smaller, we desire to travel further – and there are few places as enchantingly far away as Yamal. This cultural immersion transports you deep into Russia’s isolated Arctic region. ‘Yamal’ means ‘edge of the world’ in the language of the indigenous Nenets. The Nenets of Yamal carves out a unique way of life, seemingly at the limits of human tolerance.
Each spring, the Nenets migrate from winter pastures on the Russian mainland to the summer pastures in the Arctic Circle, a one-way journey of up to 1,000km. This is your chance to experience a small part of this epic journey alongside these extraordinarily resilient people. This is a remarkable extraordinary opportunity to get to know one of the world’s last true nomadic reindeer herders through their eyes.
Yamal Reindeer Migration with Nenets – expedition highlights:
- Salekhard is the only city in the world located right at the Polar Circle. Among the highlights on our tour of the city is the Shemanovskiy Yamal-Nenets District Museum, which includes an exhibition on mammoth remains found in the region
- Travel to the Polar Ural Mountains to an encampment of nomadic Nenets reindeer herders
Arctic Rail Explorer - Quest for Northern Lights
Experience a train journey unlike any other. An adventure on rails to the top of the world, the lands above the Arctic Circle where the mythical Aurora Borealis performs her breathtaking celestial dance in the velvet black Polar night sky. This compelling 12-day Northern Lights Train Tour showcases the unique contrast between two of Russia’s most majestic cities and the isolated yet charming communities deep within the Russian and Norwegian Arctic Circle. Commencing in St. Petersburg or Moscow, we visit some of the city’s most prominent historical and cultural sites, before embarking on this remarkable Arctic railway adventure in search of the elusive Aurora Borealis.
Northern Lights – Arctic Rail Explorer Tour Highlights:
- Admire the architectural splendour of one of Europe’s most beautiful cities on a guided two-day tour of St Petersburg that includes St Isaac’s Cathedral and the Hermitage, as well as a trip to Pushkin to visit the extravagant Catherine Palace
- In the extreme north of Norway, above the Arctic Circle lies Kirkenes, a tiny frontier town near the Russian border. Ride a snowmobile across the frozen fjords outside town and try your hand at fishing for the Arctic’s most prized seafood, the king crab
Wrangel Island - Expedition Cruise in Russian Arctic
Cruise to Wrangel Island, an area 140km off the northeast coast of Siberia, separated from northern Alaska by the Chukchi Sea. For 10 frozen months of the year, this lonely wilderness is completely cut off from the outside world. Reaching Wrangel and braving its polar climate is not for the faint of heart. Only the most dedicated nature lovers make the journey – but the rewards are without parallel. There is simply no better destination than to meet the wild denizens of the Arctic up-close, virtually undisturbed by human interference, and in numbers that will simply astound you.
Wrangel Island – Russian Arctic expedition cruise highlights:
- Whale Bone Alley is the name given to a beach on Yttygran Island in the Bering Sea. Landing on the beach, you’ll take in the haunting atmosphere of this ancient site, where gigantic whalebones appear to sprout out of the ground, stretching along the coast for nearly half a kilometre
- Wrangel Island: After 6 days we reach the highlight of our cruise. Explore the island on foot and via Zodiac, searching for wildlife such as polar bears, musk oxen and reindeer amid majestic tundra landscapes with brilliant pastel patches of Arctic wildflowers
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About 56th Parallel
56th Parallel is a travel company specialising in providing packaged tours and travel services in Russia.
Our goal is to redefine travel to Russia, focusing on creating the most rewarding experiences, which help travellers unfolds the soul of this exciting destination.
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