Top 5 remote islands in Russia, where you can find real peace and tranquility

President of Pro-Vision, author of the Vinogradov.story community

“Islands are almost always about tranquility, solitude and isolation from the world. It is also about unique nature and the special way of life of islanders. There are more than 1100 large islands in the seas of Russia – and how many of them are in rivers and lakes is probably impossible to count. I will tell you about the most famous and interesting ones below.

Olkhon

Olkhon is not only the largest island of Baikal, but also its geographical and spiritual center. It is here that the legendary Cape Burkhan, which is called one of the nine holy places of Asia, is located. Once Buddhist rituals were held on the cape – or, as it is also called, Shamanka Rock – and today it is one of the most recognizable and popular locations on the island. However, Olkhon is also famous for secluded places where you can spend a couple of nights all alone. Or with your other half – there is even a Love Rock on the eastern tip of the island for this purpose. Olkhon is connected with the “big land” by regular ferry communication. In winter you can get to the island on the legendary Baikal ice: this sight is worthy of separate compliments.

Olkhon

Iturup

Iturup is the largest island of the Great Kuril Ridge. To get here, you must first fly to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, and from there – by helicopter or airplane to Kurilsk. The island is famous for its volcanoes. There are more than 20 of them, and some of them are active. But even more attractive to travelers are the White Rocks, the “front facade” of Iturup, facing the Sea of Okhotsk. Due to the high quartz content they have acquired a unique milky hue that contrasts favorably with the surrounding brutal landscapes – black volcanic sand and low gray sky. Iturup is also a huge bird bazaar. When a cacophony of birds echoing off the rocks sounds over the island, the connection with reality is almost completely lost.

Iturup

Ratmanov Island

The easternmost point of Russia, Ratmanova Island, is located in the Bering Strait only four kilometers from its American “brother” – Kruzenshtern Island. But the road between them will take at least a day – all because the islands are separated by the date line. The time on the Russian and American island differs by almost 24 hours, although in fact you can get from one to the other in less than an hour. There is no permanent population on Ratmanov Island, but there are a few buildings, including a lighthouse and a weather station. But the scenery, like the rest of the Far East, is fantastic: those who have been to the island say that they feel like they are literally at the end of the world.

Ratmanov Island

Valaam

The Valaam archipelago, which includes fifty islands in the north of Ladoga, is known as a center of spiritual life. The first chronicle references to the Valaam Monastery date back to the 14th century, but the church tradition adheres to the concept that the foundation of the monastery took place during the epoch of the Baptism of Russia. The history of its origin is connected with the names of St. Sergius and St. Herman, the Valaam wonderworkers who came to the harsh northern land, probably from Greece.

Over the years, the Valaam Spaso-Preobrazhensky Stavropigial Monastery has experienced natural disasters, Swedish invasions, and periods of persecution, but has preserved its main shrines – the relics of the founders and venerable copies of the Valaam icon of the Mother of God and the “Mother of God”. Despite the ascetic conditions and Karelian-style restrained beauty of nature, one can feel the grace on the island – and one does not want to leave here for the noisy, bustling and anxious “big world” at all.

Valaam

Solovki

Another island sanctuary is the Solovetsky Monastery on the archipelago of the same name in the White Sea. It is separated from the shores of Karelia by 60 km, from Arkhangelsk – 300 km. But it is not so easy to overcome them: several months of the year the White Sea is filled with drifting ice floes, and in the coldest days it is blocked by ice. However, the short northern summer, as if to justify the long winter, gives out a calm sea surface, and bright sunset colors, and the games of seals and beluga whales, and even crops of berries. Solovki is called the Northern Athos and people come here not only for solitude and peace, but also for spiritual search, as well as for scientific and cognitive purposes. And no one leaves the archipelago disappointed.

Solovki