Rest with tents is complete freedom: you go by car wherever your eyes look, you see a beautiful landscape – you stop, enjoy, and when you get bored – back on the road. The Republic of Karelia claims to be the ideal destination for such trips. People go to the Karelian open spaces to fish, pick mushrooms and berries, listen to the birds singing near the transparent lakes. But first, it’s worth arming yourself with knowledge, without which camping holidays threaten to turn into a nightmare. Between Moscow and Petrozavodsk – a little more than 1000 km, this is 12-13 hours driving. Previously, it was possible to get there only along the Leningradskoye highway M10, taking into account a number of nuances: for example, go around Vyshny Volochek along a paid section so as not to get stuck in a traffic jam. Now it is better to prefer the M11 highway – almost parallel, with a high-quality surface, without traffic jams, with a minimum of settlements and traffic lights – and turn onto the M10 already near Veliky Novgorod. In the same place, by the way, you can take a break, at the same time looking at the Kremlin and the chambers. The road to Karelia is generally picturesque: forests and meadows, the Iversky Monastery shines with domes on the Valdai Lake, Alexander-Svirsky Monastery is lost under Lodeyny Pole. It seems that in the land of rivers and lakes you can put up a tent anywhere, but there are only convenient approaches to the shore far from everywhere. Forest roads turn into a mess – not every SUV can get out, let alone cars. Many areas are swampy, and the most accessible of the suitable ones in the season are sure to be occupied by more nimble tourists. Beginners choose popular locations – Onega and Ladoga lakes, and then get upset that there is nowhere for an apple to fall. Fortunately, experienced “savages” declassify the turnouts: on the sandy beaches near the village of Vidlitsa it is noisy on weekends, and on weekdays – only the rustle of pine trees and waves. In the village of Shalsky at the mouth of the Vodla, it is also calm, but the Cholmuzhskaya Spit (a narrow strip of land with a string of small beaches) is always crowded. If you have a boat, you can settle on any of the secluded islands of the Ladoga Skerries. On Paleozero, the shores are mostly rocky, but sandy zones can also be found; actively pecking bream, pike perch, pike, whitefish and grayling. It is difficult to get to Hizhozero, but there is not a soul around. It is good to relax with children on Syamozero: there are beaches, bays and islets, the water is warmer than on other lakes, in the village of Kudama there is a kennel for sled dogs – huskies and malamutes. Pisan with steep banks attracts rock climbers (they fish here only from a boat), Pälkjärvi is densely built up with dachas and camp sites, fishermen do not like Janisjärvi very much, but from there it is close to the Janisjoki River – swift, with rifts and rapids, popular with hikers and kayakers. First, warm clothes: the summer in Karelia is short and cool, and night frosts are possible in autumn. A windproof jacket will save you from the wind, waterproof shoes – from dampness. You will also need strong sleeping bags and an awning from the rain, stretched over the tent (it should be two-layer, preferably in the shape of a hemisphere). An inflatable boat is useful even for those who are far from fishing, because panoramas from the water are even more spectacular. It is worth grabbing a basket for berries: in summer it is full of strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and princesses, in autumn lingonberries, cloudberries and cranberries ripen. Mushroom pickers are pleased with butterflies and chanterelles, aspen mushrooms and milk mushrooms, birch boletus and white ones. Mosquitoes and poisonous midges attack until September, sometimes even a float is not visible behind their swarm. Electrofumigators and repellents will come to the rescue, and creams, emulsions and lotions are safer than aerosols, since they are absorbed into the skin slowly and do not get on the mucous membranes. There are a lot of ticks in the southern regions, so we recommend getting vaccinated against tick-borne encephalitis before the trip. See also: 7 reasons to celebrate this autumn in Karelia. Bears live in the Karelian forests, most often they are noticed in the north and in the center. They rarely attack people, but at night you still need to hide food – clubfoot is lured by the smell of goodies. Recently, tourists have been joking that here it is more likely to run into not bears, but drunken “natives” begging for money to get drunk. Vipers are found in the region, recognizable by their black coloration with a reddish tint. They scare away with a hiss and do not attack first, but if they bite, you need to quickly suck out the poison, treat the wound and go to the clinic. Another misfortune is tons of garbage, which vacationers leave without a twinge of conscience. Let's do without notations: we are sure that the readers of “Subtleties” respect both nature and others. We only note that it is impossible to bury waste in the forest, because plastic, for example, decomposes for centuries, and rotting scraps can become poison for animals. It is better to carefully pack the garbage in bags and take it to the nearest landfill – and let Karelia remain clean and beautiful. .tonkosti.ru/sized/f550x700/c2/ye/c2yeijh4hzscg4gkogg88w888.jpg” media=”(max-width: 549px)”>
How to get there
How to choose a place to spend the night
What to bring with you
What to fear
