| Cruises are a type of water tourism and one of the main types of both domestic and foreign tourism in Russia. Most of foreign tourists (up to 90%) prefer the Moscow – Saint-Petersburg cruises that last for 3-4 days one way. Other cruises are longer, such as those on the Volga and Siberian rivers Lena, Yenisei, Ob, Amur. Traditionally the boats going from Moscow to Saint Petersburg are full of Russian tourists and they go through Valaam island and those on which foreign tourist groups prevail in number usually go to Kizhi. On the whole, Russians like the round trips (see “water tourism”) best of all. They also prefer cruises by 5 boats and several small boats going from Saint Petersburg to Valaam, Solovki and Kizhi. The round trips go by rivers and lakes, joined together by channels or rapids. Most of their travel is down the river and going up is usually performed in the locks. For instance, the Moscow round-trip (Canal of Moscow, Volga, Oka and back to the canal) is organized during the navigation period, at the average rate of 2 times a month and it takes from 8 to 10 days (the latter variant lets you see Yaroslavl, Uglich and Nizhni Novgorod). It is only the double-deck boats that are used in these cruises as Oka is not very deep. The longest cruises are on the Volga (9-13 days from Moscow to Astrakhan)are performed by the best four-deck boats of the following types: 301,302, Q40, Q56. About two to three such cruises take place during the summer navigation period. Only one cruise boat of three-four decks goes on each of the Siberian rivers. On Lena – from Yakutsk to Igarka, on Yenissei – from Krasnoyarsk to Duduinka, on Ob and Irtysh – from Omsk to Khanty-Mansiisk, etc. there is also the ice-breaking tourism in Russia. It features cruises on Ice-breakers around the islands of the Northern Ocean (Land of Frantz Joseph, the Novaya Zemlia and the Spit Bergen archipelago. Sea voyages are organized in the northwest of the country, in the Kaliningrad region, Saint Petersburg, Murmansk and Archangelsk, where they go along the shores of the Baltic, Barents and White seas. Sometimes they provide an option of fishing for fish, shrimps, squids and other sea fauna. Regular cruises along the Sakhalin Island and Kamchatka are offered by Japanese and American cruising companies and Russian companies may organize them upon request. Komandorskie islands are the most popular choice. |