Solovetsky Islands
Russia
A fortress monastery in the White Sea, and the first camp of the Gulag behind its walls
Photo by Sergei Gussev on Unsplash
Photos by Sergei Gussev, Radik Sitdikov, Radik Sitdikov and Sergei Gussev on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of Russia
June to early September, while the boats run
Climate month by month
The next sixteen daysOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 65mm in Aug
Where it is
65.02°N, 35.71°E Open in Google Maps
Things to do
Weeks of it- Book a bed months ahead; there are few of them and the summer is short
- Leave a spare day either side for the boat or the plane not going
- Hire a bike for Sekirnaya Hill and the Botanical Garden
- Go to the Gulag exhibition before the monastery, not after
- Wait for the belugas at Cape Beluzhy on a calm evening at high tide
- Pack a head net; the mosquitoes are the island’s other famous thing
Solovetsky Islands travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget Russia
Mid-rangeBring every rouble you will need from the mainland. Foreign Visa and Mastercard have not worked in Russia since 2022 — not in shops, not online, not in ATMs — and do not count on changing foreign money on the islands. Change in Arkhangelsk, Petrozavodsk or St Petersburg with your passport.
ATMs & cards
No foreign card works in any machine, here or on the mainland. Arrive with roubles for the whole stay in small notes: guesthouses, bike hire, boat trips and the museum all want cash.
Avoid these
- every machine in the country — foreign Visa and Mastercard do not work in Russia
Use these instead
- Roubles changed on the mainland before you travel, at a bank branch with your passport
Do not count on changing foreign money on the islands.
Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.
Safety all of Russia
Reasonably safeVery little crime and very little help: one small village, basic medical care, and boats and planes that are cancelled when the weather turns. Mosquitoes are fierce for most of the summer. The water is cold enough to be a danger in any month. The national caveats apply — Western governments advise against travel to Russia and consular help is very limited.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (6 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
Worth more attention
- the crossings to and from the mainland — boats and planes are cancelled for wind and fog; never plan an onward connection on the same day
- the forest tracks — long, unsignposted and without phone signal in places; take water and tell your guesthouse where you went
- the White Sea — cold enough to be a hazard in midsummer
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa Russia visa rules
e-Visa requiredup to 30 daysabout $50
The unified e-visa was extended to 64 nationalities and to a 30-day stay in August 2026. Apply at least four days ahead; you need a passport valid six months, a digital photo and travel medical insurance valid in Russia. It is only good for entry at designated crossings, which include the Moscow and St Petersburg airports.
Other passports
No visa neededup to 90 days
Bilateral agreements, and the permitted stay differs by country — check the official page for yours. Turkish passports are visa-free for a shorter period.
Visa required in advance
US, UK, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand passports are not eligible for the e-visa and need a consular visa, which requires an invitation or tourist voucher from a Russian host or agency. Note also that the governments of those countries currently advise against travel to Russia, and their embassies say plainly that they can offer little help to those who go.
How to get it: Apply on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs e-visa portal, not through an agency charging a markup. There are no direct flights from the EU, the UK or the US; the usual connections are through Istanbul, Dubai or Belgrade.
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Health & emergencies all of Russia
Good but costlyRequired to enter
No vaccinations are required for entry from Europe or North America.
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
Worth having
- Routine vaccinations up to date
- Tick-borne encephalitis if you will be in forest or countryside between spring and autumn — this is a genuine risk across Siberia and the Far East
- Hepatitis A
- Rabies for remote or long stays
Getting treated
State hospitals treat emergencies, and the standard varies enormously between Moscow and the regions. Private clinics in Moscow and St Petersburg are good and take cash. The complication is not medical: many Western insurers no longer cover travel to Russia at all, and card payment does not work, so a serious problem has to be paid for in cash or arranged from home.
Ticks in forest across Siberia and the Far East from May to July carry encephalitis, and the vaccination course takes weeks — start it early. Cold is the other one: −20°C is an ordinary winter day in Irkutsk and frostbite happens fast in wind. In Kamchatka the hazards are bears, volcanic ground and weather that strands people for days.
Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.
Food tip
DecentSolovetsky herring is the one dish — salted White Sea herring, served everywhere with potatoes. The choice is small and so is the season: a handful of cafés in the village, the monastery’s own bakery, and whatever the guesthouse cooks. Bring snacks for days on the bike.
Travel tipsGetting around
Car needed- UberNot here
- BoltNot here
Nothing to hail. The settlement is walkable, and the rest of the island is by bicycle, on foot or on an excursion.
Time zone and your working day
Europe/Moscow — 7 hours ahead of you
1 hour of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — 09:00–10:00 your time, 16:00–17:00 theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 02:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 02:00–10:00 on yours.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
eSIM
A data eSIM for Russia, installed before you fly and working the moment you land:
Not here
Works hereRevolut No local plan
Must-see
Travel tipsNearby day trips
Travel tipsSay a few words
Russian
- HelloЗдравствуйтеZDRAST-vooy-tye
- Hi (informal)Приветpri-VYET
- Please / you’re welcomeПожалуйстаpa-ZHAL-sta
- Thank youСпасибоspa-SEE-ba
7 more phrases
- Yes / NoДа / Нетda / nyet
- Excuse meИзвинитеiz-vi-NEE-tye
- How much?Сколько стоит?SKOL-ka STO-eet
- I don’t understandЯ не понимаюya nye pa-ni-MA-yu
- Do you speak English?Вы говорите по-английски?vy ga-va-REE-tye pa an-GLEE-ski
- CheersЗа здоровьеza zda-ROV-ye
- GoodbyeДо свиданияda svi-DA-ni-ya
Learn the Cyrillic alphabet before you go — an hour of work, and it turns most street signs, menus and metro maps into words you can half-read, because so many are borrowed. English is common among younger people in Moscow and St Petersburg and rare elsewhere. Translation apps with offline Russian are worth downloading before arrival.
Travel tipsReligion
Russian Orthodox
The Orthodox church is woven into the state and into national identity, and church attendance rose sharply after 1991. Visitors are welcome: women cover their heads in a church, men take hats off, everyone stands — there are no pews — and nobody minds a quiet foreigner at the back. Islam is the second religion and the majority in Tatarstan, the North Caucasus and parts of the Volga; Buryatia around Lake Baikal is Buddhist, and its datsans are working monasteries rather than museums.
Travel tipsDo's and don'ts
Do
- Take your shoes off in someone’s home; slippers appear immediately
- Shake hands firmly, and only after you have both come inside — a handshake across a threshold is bad luck
- Give flowers in odd numbers. Even numbers are for funerals, and the rule is taken seriously
- Carry your passport and migration card; the police can ask and occasionally do
- Dress up for the theatre and the ballet, and leave your coat in the cloakroom — wearing it inside is not done
Don't
- Do not expect small talk or smiles from strangers; a neutral face in public is normal, not hostility
- Do not photograph military sites, airports or anything a sign forbids — this is enforced
- Do not discuss the war, and understand that the laws on "discrediting the armed forces" and on "LGBT propaganda" apply to visitors, in conversation and on your phone
- Do not refuse a toast at a table without a reason; refusing the third one, to the women present, is worse
- Do not put an empty bottle back on the table, which is a superstition everyone observes without explaining
Where to stay in Solovetsky Islands
No Holistay rentals in Solovetsky Islands yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is Solovetsky Islands on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into Talagi, Arkhangelsk ARH
2h 30mfrom the airport, roughly
Taxi to Vaskovo airfield, then about an hour on the small plane to Solovki, a few flights a week.
Also worth pricing: Pulkovo, St Petersburg LED — then the overnight train up the Murmansk line to Kem and two hours by boat, only in the navigation season.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
