The year 2024 offered ample opportunities to travel around Russia. Karelia is one of the most obvious, accessible, and interesting options, especially for those who wish to travel by bicycle.
This is Uliana, whom you’ll see in most of the photos along the way. We arrived in St. Petersburg, left the extra items with friends, packed what we needed into saddle bags, and set off. Considering past travel experiences, we didn’t bring anything unnecessary. Our backs were unburdened, food was acquired along the way, and we stayed in houses and hotels booked on Booking.com.
The initial plan was to cycle around Lake Ladoga, with the journey planned to take 10 days. But, as it often happens, plans began changing almost immediately, and eventually, the journey looked like this. Black indicates the bicycle route, and red indicates the train routes.
Vyborg is the first major stop on the map. It is around 200 km, which we divided into two days of 100 km each with an overnight stop in the middle.
While leaving St. Petersburg, we cycled on a temporary bike lane on Krestovsky Island. Such lanes have started appearing in Moscow and St. Petersburg as part of quick improvements for cyclists in the city under COVID measures. This cool initiative has spread worldwide, but in Russia, it has been implemented very little and not so effectively. As a result, there wasn’t a significant increase in users.
Drivers accustomed to leaving their cars on empty roads didn’t appreciate the new solutions and continued parking on the bike lane. It’s worth noting that all these people came to their training sessions at local sports centers by car, disregarding those who workout outdoors.
A bike-pedestrian bridge connects the island to the mainland. Initially, the Yachtenny Bridge was also planned for cars, but the stadium area is fenced in several layers, so, fortunately for the city’s residents, it was never opened for cars. A nice bike path runs there.
After passing the Lahta Center skyscraper, we get onto the Primorskoe Highway, which we will follow for the next two days to Vyborg.
Despite the heavy traffic and lack of a shoulder, we constantly encountered groups of athletes. Some were riding alone, some in teams with a support vehicle. This can be easily explained by the fact that the Primorskoe Highway is a quite long and scenic route along the coast. There are attraction points, places to stop, and at any moment, you can take a train back to St. Petersburg.
Why, with such an obvious demand, isn’t there a single millimeter of infrastructure along the highway? There isn’t even a shoulder, forcing cyclists to hug the edge and be wary of trucks speeding by. 😡
On overpasses and junctions, it’s even worse. Visibility is poor, and drivers accelerate uphill. Meanwhile, there are no alternative routes available.
However, once you exit the CAD, a bike path suddenly appears along the highway! Essentially, it is a bike-pedestrian sidewalk, but it is almost like the ones in the Netherlands.
Here is an example of a bike path on the way from Amsterdam to Rotterdam. It is also separated from the roadway by grass, allowing for a calm, long-distance ride while enjoying the journey.
Unfortunately, the city of Sestroretsk soon arrived, and the stunning bike path turned into this:
A huge problem is the reckless buses. They zoom very close and very fast, pushing us to the shoulder.
On one of them, I noticed an advertisement for a new mobile tariff with an incredible slogan: “Drive at super speed in Leningrad Oblast.” This seemed so symbolic to me that I went online and searched: “Drive at super speed in Leningrad Oblast accident.” And immediately found a photo of an accident involving such a bus. Here’s your result of super speed.
Beyond Sestroretsk, the highway hugs the coastline, and a bike path reappears. The impression of the journey changes drastically when you shift from a dangerous highway to a quiet path. Time seems to move differently, glute muscles relax, and the focus shifts more to the beauty around. Most importantly, you can ride side by side and chat!
Along the way, we begin to meet other cyclists traveling along the shoreline between resort towns.
We made our first stop in Repino. Here’s a group of traveling guys. Judging by their stories, they were supposed to cover 60 km that day.
It’s so cool.
In Moscow, I’ve completely forgotten about simple and convenient railway crossings.
Komarovo consists of many private houses on a hill amid a vast forest. Here there are no cars at all, and along the highway runs such a beautiful Kurortnaya Street, which we used to bypass part of the highway.
A few kilometers later, we go back onto the Primorskoe Highway with a stunning bike path.
In one spot, there was once a picturesque collapse, but instead of building a temporary bridge, they just put up a fence, and people bypass it on the road, climbing over the barrier.
A small bridge over the river.
This beauty lasted about 30 km, after which the resort towns ended, and the Leningrad region began.
Together with the bike paths, the vehicle traffic also disappeared.
For a short while, there was a winding sidewalk, but it is very old and broken by tree roots, making it very difficult to ride on.
And at one point, it completely broke. We had to rejoin the highway.
The remaining 50 km were very dull, with nothing along the way but forest and clouds. It was getting cold. A new asphalt layer on this section of the road allowed us to ride fast, but long descents and ascents started.
We turn off the highway and climb uphill. We still need to get to our night stop by the lakes.
On one hand, beautiful nature begins, on the other hand, there is more and more trash and abandoned buildings.
Especially noticeable is the visual litter, with all the trees covered in disgusting advertisements.
There’s nothing better than empty roads!
For the night, we rented a hut in an eco-park by Lake Mirror. Not the best option for bike trips, but the atmosphere absolutely makes up for it.
There is no electricity, the internet, or even mobile signal. You have to fetch water from a spring and bring your own food. There is no floor inside the hut, but there is a big bed and a stove.
It’s like a fairy tale!
Textures.
Sunset on the lake shore in complete silence. No insects, no animals, no people. Just peace and calmness.
We woke up to a drizzle, and rain was expected according to the forecast.
Continuing along the Primorskoe Highway.
The scenery visibly changed.
The road also changed. The asphalt is old and very bad in places.
Due to heavy rain, we had to make frequent stops and skip visiting Primorsk. An unflappable local grandpa biked past.
The road.
After a few hours of riding, we finally emerged from under the cloud, the sky cleared, and the roads became almost dry.
What hurts the most when you cover 150 km on a bicycle.
A break at a bus stop.
Approaching Vyborg, large boulders start appearing along the road.
The entire route can be described in one sentence: The closer to Vyborg, the more beautiful the nature and the more ruins around. How did such a once splendid Finnish city turn into a complete wreck?
The historic center is painfully hard to look at. It seems like the city was bombed a hundred years ago, and nothing has been done since. Visiting Vyborg is worthwhile only to imagine with tears how splendid it could have been.
Nevertheless, the unique atmosphere of the city still attracts a large number of tourists.
Overgrown sidewalk.
Port.
Clock tower.
A little street coziness.
We planned to head to Priozersk, but we were worn out and managed to catch a cold, so we decided to shorten the journey by taking the train.
There isn’t a direct route from Vyborg to Priozersk, so we took a locomotive to Hiitola to travel from there to Priozersk. An elderly couple was traveling with us on city bikes with huge backpacks.
An elderly couple traveled with us, riding city bikes with enormous backpacks.
This is how we got to Karelia earlier than planned.
Views from the window. The locomotive travels very slowly through swamps and lakes.
We were greeted by border guards in Hiitola. The western part of Karelia, bordering Finland, is a special border zone, so all tourists have their documents checked, data recorded, and are asked where they’re going and for how long.
A schoolboy with a backpack rides down a local road home. It reminded us that it was the first day of autumn.
The unusual terrain of small yet steep hills immediately caught our attention.
Within 10 km, we exited Karelia and reentered the Leningrad region.
This new highway along the western shore of Ladoga is probably the most high-quality road I’ve seen in Russia. After Vyborg’s dilapidated roads, it looks like a glimpse of space.
Surrounding collapsed rocks and Karelian forests.
All of this reminded me a lot of a trip to Israel, with identical roads.
A fallen sign and drainage along the road.
Observe the speed limit!
A crossing with a safety island, albeit painted.
A cute exit.
We arrived in Priozersk. A sidewalk appeared, and along the road, a buffer was allocated, which could easily serve as a bike lane.
In some places, it even passes for a very wide bike lane.
Fortress Korela. This is where the movie Brother begins.
Very neat and cozy, like in Dutch parks.
The city is clean and well-maintained, although it has fallen victim to Rosavtodor fences.
Sidewalks cleaned by small UAZ vehicles.
And around the small panel houses, square bushes grow, and no one parks on the sidewalks.
After spending the night in Priozersk, we set off back to Karelia. There’s one problem with bike travel: if you pedal all day, there’s very little time and energy left to explore the local beauty, so we decided to cheat again and reach the nearest train 20 km from Priozersk to teleport to Lahdenpohja, from where we would head to Sortavala on our own.
But in Kuznechnoye, we suddenly discovered that trains run only twice a week and definitely not today. 😭
The trick didn’t work, so we have to continue moving on our own.
Hello Karelia again! In the distance looms the border point we passed yesterday.
The charm of Karelia lies in the fact that all the names are in Karelian.
Overgrown rock.
The terrain is quite noticeable.
Why are there so many fences?
On the left, the old winding road is visible. Instead, there’s now a new one, which we’re riding on. Ahead lie 80 km of Karelian forests.
Lahdenpohja. The first settlement of the day turned out to be a terrible hole. Dilapidated northern wooden houses, a provincial cafe, and horrifying streets with no pedestrian crossings.
There’s absolutely nothing to do here.
After Lahdenpohja, beautiful smooth roads end, and winding serpentine paths through Karelian hills begin. Steep hills, sharp turns. Very cool in every sense. For drivers, especially, it’s a pleasure to race here, so we were quite scared with the bikes. Especially when at the top of yet another hill, you can’t understand how steep the descent ahead is and which way it’ll turn.
By the end of the day, energy is completely depleted, so the last kilometers seem never-ending.
Before reaching Sortavala, we turned off the highway to descend from the mountain to the lake, where we’d stay for the night.
View from the hut window.
A police boat that was once a militia.
Sitting by the lake, we realized it’s time to change plans again and leave early in the morning to visit Ruskeala without suffering on the local serpentine. We call a taxi and quickly reach Sortavala with our bikes in the trunk.
Sortavala is a wildly delightful city. It’s clean, pleasant to walk, with lots of old Finnish architecture in excellent condition.
Notice that all these silly signs and scary traffic lights hang on poles standing off the sidewalk to not obstruct passage and cleaning. Even Moscow doesn’t have this.
Neat old signs and black windows.
A very beautiful wooden house.
A Finnish bank building from the 1910s.
Finnish functionalism from the 1940s. Everything is original and in excellent condition!
An interesting building with a corner dominance at the intersection.
The beauty is overwhelming.
The sidewalk is separated from the roadway by tall bushes, creating a green corridor.
Sortavala also has a cozy embankment with a cafe, playground, and art objects.
The embankment features a green lawn and a stunning view of the skerries.
Skerries are a huge archipelago of islands with unique nature, quite different from the mainland. It’s definitely worth a boat tour around them.
Some textures.
Ladoga.
We return to Sortavala to visit another amazing place worth seeing — Ruskeala. This is a natural park with marble quarries accessible by the historic “Ruskeala Express” train.
The train is a new creation decorated in a vintage style, made so well that it is not embarrassing at all. Attendants wear costumes.
Historical lamps with beautiful signs.
The train is pulled by a real steam engine.
Inside, everything is styled vintage, though it’s all modern.
A dining car with a piano, restored furniture, and various decorations. Some people come here specifically in costumes to take photos in these interiors.
A parrot is included.
The final station with a wooden platform.
Remnants of the former marble factory.
The marble quarry. Once marble was mined here for St. Isaac’s Cathedral. Since then, it has become half-flooded.
The landscaping is very high-quality and beautiful.
Perfect clearance.
Some decorations with a workshop, but they are made very naturally.
The place where marble was extracted.
This is a real carriage, yet created from modern materials.
Thus, the bike journey through Karelia ended. We boarded the Lastochka, placed our bikes in the designated areas, and in four hours, we were in St. Petersburg.
I hope you enjoyed the story, and if you still have the energy, I suggest watching the atmospheric clip about this journey.
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If you enjoyed this tale, feel free to share it and discuss it with others who love adventure and exploration. Until next time!
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