6 Most Beautiful Russian islands
From the Arctic glaciers to tropical forests of the Far East, from the “Whale Bone alley” under open sky to ancient island monasteries – here are six amazing Russian islands that may transform your world.
🌊 Sakhalin island
Discover Sakhalin Island, just a two-hour flight from Tokyo and nine hours from Moscow. Known as the island "at the edge of the world," Sakhalin is home to half a million people, with Yuzho-Sakhalinsk as its largest city. Winter spans 5 to 6 months, while short, cool summers characterize the rest of the year. Despite this, Sakhalin attracts global tourists with its pristine wildlife sanctuaries and eco-friendly resorts, perfect for ecotourism enthusiasts.
🌊 Iturup island
Explore Iturup Island, the largest in the lush Kuril Islands archipelago stretching from Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula to Japan. Nestled between the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk, Iturup offers breathtaking landscapes of blue lagoons, cascading waterfalls, and active volcanoes – a true paradise for the adventurous spirit.
🌊 Wrangel Island
Wrangel Island, one of Russia's most remote reserves, designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2004. This journey to what a 19th-century visitor called the "end of creation" is a rare opportunity. Visitors must secure special government permission, and reaching the island is no small feat – winter travel requires a helicopter, while summer sees adventurers boarding icebreakers.
🌊 Olkhon island
Explore Olkhon, Lake Baikal's largest and only inhabited island. In the language of the indigenous Buryat people, its name means "dry," despite being surrounded by one-fifth of the world's fresh water – yet, remarkably, there are no rivers or creeks. Khuzhir, with approximately 1,350 residents, humorously dubbed the "capital," is the island's largest settlement.
🌊 Kizhi island
Discover Kizhi Pogost, nestled on one of Lake Onega's 1,650 islands, a highlight of northwest Russia. Over twenty years ago, it earned a spot on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The Church of the Transfiguration, adorned with 22 domes stacked without nails on a wooden base, is iconic in Russian medieval wooden architecture. Kizhi Pogost laid the groundwork for Russia's first open-air museum of wooden architecture.
🌊 Franz Joseph Land
Franz Joseph Land: an archipelago of 192 islands, as close to the North Pole as Northern Greenland. It's among the northernmost territories of Russia and the world, part of the Primorsky District in the Arkhangelsk Region. Inhabited only by researchers, border guards, and military officers, the island hosts special expeditions studying polar bear populations in the Russian Arctic. These efforts aim to understand their migration patterns and habitat to support their survival. Beyond polar bears, seals, walruses, and beluga whales thrive in this remote region.
#DiscoverRussia #RussianIslands
From the Arctic glaciers to tropical forests of the Far East, from the “Whale Bone alley” under open sky to ancient island monasteries – here are six amazing Russian islands that may transform your world.
🌊 Sakhalin island
Discover Sakhalin Island, just a two-hour flight from Tokyo and nine hours from Moscow. Known as the island "at the edge of the world," Sakhalin is home to half a million people, with Yuzho-Sakhalinsk as its largest city. Winter spans 5 to 6 months, while short, cool summers characterize the rest of the year. Despite this, Sakhalin attracts global tourists with its pristine wildlife sanctuaries and eco-friendly resorts, perfect for ecotourism enthusiasts.
🌊 Iturup island
Explore Iturup Island, the largest in the lush Kuril Islands archipelago stretching from Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula to Japan. Nestled between the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk, Iturup offers breathtaking landscapes of blue lagoons, cascading waterfalls, and active volcanoes – a true paradise for the adventurous spirit.
🌊 Wrangel Island
Wrangel Island, one of Russia's most remote reserves, designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2004. This journey to what a 19th-century visitor called the "end of creation" is a rare opportunity. Visitors must secure special government permission, and reaching the island is no small feat – winter travel requires a helicopter, while summer sees adventurers boarding icebreakers.
🌊 Olkhon island
Explore Olkhon, Lake Baikal's largest and only inhabited island. In the language of the indigenous Buryat people, its name means "dry," despite being surrounded by one-fifth of the world's fresh water – yet, remarkably, there are no rivers or creeks. Khuzhir, with approximately 1,350 residents, humorously dubbed the "capital," is the island's largest settlement.
🌊 Kizhi island
Discover Kizhi Pogost, nestled on one of Lake Onega's 1,650 islands, a highlight of northwest Russia. Over twenty years ago, it earned a spot on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The Church of the Transfiguration, adorned with 22 domes stacked without nails on a wooden base, is iconic in Russian medieval wooden architecture. Kizhi Pogost laid the groundwork for Russia's first open-air museum of wooden architecture.
🌊 Franz Joseph Land
Franz Joseph Land: an archipelago of 192 islands, as close to the North Pole as Northern Greenland. It's among the northernmost territories of Russia and the world, part of the Primorsky District in the Arkhangelsk Region. Inhabited only by researchers, border guards, and military officers, the island hosts special expeditions studying polar bear populations in the Russian Arctic. These efforts aim to understand their migration patterns and habitat to support their survival. Beyond polar bears, seals, walruses, and beluga whales thrive in this remote region.
#DiscoverRussia #RussianIslands