Altai Photo Tour, Shimmers of Siberia's Autumn

The Altai Photo tour promises cinematic scenery all year round. But visit Altai in autumn and you’ll truly understand why this enchanting place is known to the local Altayans as “The Golden Mountains of Altai”.

You’ll be given ample opportunity to snap stunning landscape photos of Altai at its very best. Contrasting colours are everywhere – red canyons, silver mountains, white glaciers, yellow grasslands, azure lakes, amber larch trees and evergreen cedar. Every day is more beautiful than the next! This Altai Photo tour was perfectly created for photographers – beginners up to pros are all welcome!

There will be some early starts with few return trips to the same location at different times of day, as well as photography workshops during our downtime. While some light hiking will be necessary, between locations, you and your camera gear will travel in an extra-spacious vehicle. You’ll also stay in comfortable, heated lodging in some of the most remote parts of the Altai Republic!

Landscapes of Altai Photo Tour Highlights:

• Visit one of the most spectacular places for wide-angle photography in Altai, the Kurai Steppe, where a chain of mountains rise up like giants from the semi-desert plain
• Explore the incredible Aktru Canyon and the Aktru Glaciers. Temporary ice caves are naturally hollowed out at the base of the glaciers, allowing us to step inside hidden vaults aglow with translucent blue ice.

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Golden Mountains of Altai Adventure Tour

This awe-inspiring circuit within the dramatic Altai Mountain range crosses vast distances to reach some of the most beautiful places in Siberia. Stretching from the capital, Gorno-Altaysk almost to the Mongolia and China borders and back, this Altai adventure takes you into the rugged heart of this untamed region. Along the way, sample some of the adventure activities that have put Altai on the map among an exclusive set of intrepid travellers. Experience hiking, rafting and horse-riding and a road trip along the Chuysky Trakt, named by National Geographic Russia as one of the most beautiful roads in the world.

This Altai Mountains tour showcases Altai’s amazing biodiversity and unique mix of ethnicities and cultures. Once the domain of roaming nomadic tribes, today you’ll be welcomed by some their ancestors in traditional villages scattered across Altai’s plains and valleys.

ALTAI ADVENTURE TOUR HIGHLIGHTS:

• Walk the narrow suspension bridge over the might Katun River in Chemal to Patmos Island, the site of an old wooden monastery

• Experience whitewater rafting on the internationally renowned Katun River. Start by exploring a broad, calm section of the river, working your way up to thrilling high-speed rapids

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Lake Baikal Cruise - 6 Days Exploring Islands of the Sacred Sea

This Baikal Cruise will take you on a journey and show you that it is so big it makes its own horizon – little wonder it is sometimes mistaken as an inland sea!

Having formed some 25,000 million years ago, Baikal is the oldest and deepest body of freshwater on earth. Containing almost a fifth of the world entire unfrozen freshwater supply, the local people of southern Siberia have treated the ancient, life-giving Lake Baikal with deep reverence.

Covered in ice for much of the year, it’s during the balmy summer months that Baikal becomes a boating paradise, with brilliantly blue calm waters, shimmering azure bays and a shoreline hugged by dramatic mountain ranges, pristine forests and quaint ethnic villages. READ MORE

Kamchatka's Forgotten Coast - Expedition Cruise

On this Kamchatka cruise, venture into the forgotten landscape of the Kamchatka and Chukotka coasts, the sublime natural beauty of untouched landscapes and abundant wildlife! As the Kamchatka coastline has been largely uninfluenced by human interaction for years, natural habitats and colonies of birds, seals, foxes, bears, and marine life have been able to flourish in the region.

It is also home to many indigenous peoples such as the Itelmen, Even, Chukchi, and Koryak, whose cultures you can experience on this Kamchatka cruise.

Kamchatka’s Forgotten Coast Cruise Highlights:

• Take a unique journey to the Commander Islands, rich with bird and marine life like the Red-faced cormorant, horned puffin, Pigeon Guillemot, Crested and Whiskered Auklets, and Sea Otters. Cruising the surrounds, you’ll also have the opportunity to observe the humpback, northern minke, sperm, orca, and Baird’s Beaked whales.
• Multiple landings across the Koryak and Chukotka coast will provide an excellent opportunity for sightings and photography of the natural world. As this Kamchatka cruise expedition takes you from the forested fiords to lagoons and bays, you’ll be in awe of wildlife like the brown bear, Kamchatka marmot, red fox, Tundra Bean Goose, Asian Rosy Finch and Siberian Accentor.

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Imperial Russia, Classic Trans-Siberian Journey

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.

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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

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Lake Baikal Photography Tour

This Lake Baikal Photography Tour will grant intrepid photographers the honour of focusing their lenses on some of Siberia’s most famously beautiful frozen landscapes. Summer sees the bulk of tourist activity in the area, but it’s in winter that the most devoted photographers make the pilgrimage, hoping to capture once-in-a-lifetime images of the natural world at its most powerful and surreal.

Lake Baikal Ice Photo Tour Highlights:

• Enjoy a breathtaking panoramic view showing the true scale of Siberia’s “inland sea” from Khoboy Cape, which contains a labyrinth of grottoes where sunlight dances off ceilings jagged with icy stalactites

• Khorin-Igri Bay: an ideal spot to photograph the natural phenomenon of frozen bubbles under Lake Baikal, rising to the surface in perfect discs suspended in the clear, dark water

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Golden Eagle, Luxury Trans-Siberian Express

The world’s greatest railway journey, the Trans-Siberian Railway runs like a steel ribbon across Russia, connecting Moscow to the East over the Urals, the forested mountain range separating Europe from Asia. Skirting alongside the shore of the world’s largest freshwater lake, the rail line then crosses the Mongolian border into a land of baking deserts, majestic steppe country and vast grasslands where columns of smoke still rise from the nomad camps of the last of the Mongol horsemen.

To travel along this route is by far the best way to experience the vastness and grandeur of Russia’s rarely visited interior. This private 15 day Trans-Siberian Railway tour spans the entire 9,288km length of the world’s longest rail line, with a total of 12 days aboard the luxurious Golden Eagle, beginning in Moscow and ending in the Russian port city of Vladivostok, close to the Chinese and North Korean borders.

Trans-Siberian Railway tour highlights: 

• Moscow City Tour: Immerse yourself in the atmosphere of one of the world’s biggest metropolises on a guided exploration of Moscow, taking in the Red Square, the Kremlin, St Basil’s Cathedral, Lenin’s Tomb and the world-famous Moscow Metro tour

• Kazan is the epicentre of ethnic Tartar culture. Discover the city’s mediaeval Islamic influence, tour the grounds of the picture-perfect Kazan Kremlin and enjoy a private concert of the music of Feodor Chaliapin, Kazan’s most famous opera singer

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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

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Kamchatka - Kingdom of the Brown Bears

Perhaps the most potent symbols of Kamchatka’s untamed nature are its towering volcanoes and the mighty Kamchatka Brown bears, the furry residents are the ancestor of the Alaskan Kodiak bears. These two iconic natural emblems are the main subjects of our Kamchatka bears and volcanoes tour, an adventure into the wilds of Russia’s Far East that’s equal parts thrilling and humbling. Including three nights staying in a cabin on Kuril Lake at the height of the bear’s salmon hunting season, this Kamchatka wildlife watching tour will get you closer than you ever imagined to the animal inhabitants of the Kamchatka peninsula.

Kamchatka – Kingdom of the Brown Bears tour highlights:

• Kuril Lake during the summer salmon run is one of only a few places where visitors can observe hunting brown bears in their natural habitat at close proximity. To get the best chances of adrenaline-pumping close encounters and amazing photos ops, we’ll watch bears feed and frolick along the shore from a motorboat, as well as on-land from a special viewing platform overlooking prime fishing grounds.

• Take off in a Russian Mi-8 helicopter for a breathtaking flight to the Khodutka River hot springs, nestled in a forested valley where we’ll bathe, relax and camp for the evening. The largest collection of hot springs in Kamchatka, water temperatures in the various spring pools range from 40 and 60°C.

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Legend of Lake Baikal

Dive into the Legend of Lake Baikal on this glorious summer excursion to the glittering Blue Pearl of Russia. Plummeting to 1,642m at its deepest point, Baikal is also the world’s most voluminous lake. Its mirror-clear waters are a reflection of Siberia’s wildness, its vastness, and its beauty. Baikal is a place where shamans still speak to the spirit world, wildlife-rich virgin forests thrive and lake-living seals fish and frolic in freshwater. Surrounded by jagged mountains and taiga of pine, fir, and cedar, Lake Baikal is a protected World Heritage site. Unsurprisingly, it is the most famous attraction in Siberia, but Baikal’s sheer size means there’s always an escape from the crowds.

Legend of Lake Baikal Tour Highlights:

• The Taltsy Museum between Irkutsk and Listvyanka is a fabulously comprehensive open-air museum, set over 64 acres. Over 40 historical buildings from both the Russian and Buryat cultures of Baikal have been painstakingly reconstructed and authentically furnished. Wander through the streets of an 18th-century Siberian village and get a feel for life in a nomadic Buryat summer camp

• Cruise to Olkhon Island, the largest of Lake Baikal’s islands and the “capital” of shamanistic culture. On a day tour of Olkhon’s natural wonders, discover untouched Siberian forests, craggy capes, pristine beaches, and jaw-dropping sunsets

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Lake Baikal Ice Adventure

Our Lake Baikal Ice Adventure tour takes place during late February and March. The beginning of spring in the Baikal region, at this time of year, the temperature climbs above zero, but the surface of the lake is still largely frozen, covered by solid winter ice so clear you can see rocks and other objects at the bottom of the lake as far as 40m below. During spring, Baikal receives few visitors compared to the summer high season, allowing you to feel an inspiring sense of isolation and communion with undisturbed nature during this handcrafted 7-day tour. Be amazed by the frozen beauty of the world’s oldest and deepest lake and experience real-life walking on water. We’ve included a few activities exclusive to the cooler months such as ice skating snowmobiling to add a sprinkle of spills and thrills to this thoroughly enjoyable adventure.

Lake Baikal Ice Adventure Highlights:

• Embark on an over-ice expedition on and around Olkhon Island, the largest of Lake Baikal’s islands and the centre of shamanic energy for the Buryat people. Spend three nights on the island and discover pristine beaches, craggy capes, and untouched Siberian forests

• Enjoy over-ice hovercraft expedition to Ogoy island – one of the sacred places in the region.
• Enjoy one of the most popular winter activities – snowmobiling and dog sledding.

Lake Baikal - Frozen beauty of Olkhon Island

Lake Baikal winter tours are rightfully upheld as Siberia’s most famous attraction – its clear-as-a-mirror waters are a reflection of Siberia’s wildness, its vastness and its beauty. The crescent-shaped lake extends for 636km from north to south and is up to 1,637m deep, making it the deepest lake in the world. In fact, 20% of the world’s freshwater is contained within Lake Baikal. The vast Baikal region is home to unique indigenous cultures such as the Buddhist Buryat people. Traditional villages are dotted along the lake’s shore, interspersed with taiga forest and rocky steppes.

This tour takes place at the end of winter to provide guests with the unique opportunity to experience winter activities on the frozen surface of Lake Baikal and a trip to the region’s spectacular ice caves. READ MORE