Ladoga Skerries Road

One of Russia's strongest scenic-road landscapes, following the skerry coast of Ladoga.

Open this ride in the planner →

Why this ride

One of Russia's strongest scenic-road landscapes, following the skerry coast of Ladoga. The road: A121 and lakeside roads. Distance and riding time are estimates from the checkpoints until the road is measured on this page.

Roadbook

1. Sortavala start

   Sortavala is a Finnish town that happens to be in Russia. It stands at the head of a long bay on the northern shore of Lake Ladoga, in the Republic of Karelia, among granite ridges, pine woods and hundreds of small islands, and until 1940 it was part of Finland, known by the name Sortavala as well. The territory passed to the Soviet Union after the Winter War and the Continuation War, and most Finnish residents were evacuated. The architecture they left, including the town hall, the old seminary and several stone buildings in the National Romantic style, gives the centre a look quite unlike any Russian town.

   Ladoga is Europe's largest lake, almost a sea, and in the archipelago near Sortavala the water is clear, dark and cold, with bare rock islands and ferry boats. Boats leave from here to the island monastery of Valaam, one of the most important Orthodox sites in northern Russia. Inland, about twenty kilometres away, the marble quarry at Ruskeala has flooded into a turquoise lake, and its stone was used in Saint Petersburg's grand buildings. Karelia is also the landscape of the Kalevala, the Finnish national epic, which was collected from rune singers in these villages.

   The A-121 highway, which runs north from Saint Petersburg along the western side of Ladoga, is the usual route, a long road through forests and past lakes with moderate traffic and a few lorries. Surfaces vary, with some smooth stretches and some patched and rutted sections, and wildlife such as elk can appear at dusk, so watch for it. Summer is bright with endless white nights, early autumn brings colour and mushrooming families, and winter is long, snowy and icy.

   Because of the current political situation, travel to Russia is heavily restricted for many nationalities, and entry rules, insurance and border conditions change often, so check official advice before planning anything here. For practical matters, Sortavala has fuel, shops and cafes, and Khelyulya, a smaller settlement nearby, has basic services. Try kalitki, small open Karelian pies filled with potato or millet, and fish from the lake, usually smoked or served in a rich soup.

2. Lahdenpohja stop

   Lahdenpohja is a small town in the Karelian landscape on the northwest shore of Lake Ladoga, about thirty-five kilometres from Sortavala, and its name still carries the Finnish sound it had before 1940. The Finnish name means something like the bay's headland, and the town sits at the head of a long inlet, where fingers of lake water reach into a countryside of pine, granite and small fields. Some eight thousand people live here, and the pace is quiet, with fishing boats at the shore.

   The landscape here belongs to the Ladoga skerries, an immense scattering of rocky islands and inlets shaped by the ice sheet, and it is some of the most distinctive scenery in northern Europe. The stone is old, rounded and often pink, and the pines cling to it with their roots in the cracks. In places the water is clear enough to see the bottom several metres down. Hidden in the maze of channels are tiny islands with their own small chapels or fishing huts.

   History here is complicated. Before the Winter War of 1939 and 1940 the region was part of Finland, and many Finns lived in villages around the lake, with Lahdenpohja as a market town. After the war, the territory was ceded to the Soviet Union, and its people were evacuated and resettled in Finland, so the area is part of a deep and bittersweet memory in Finnish family stories. Some old Finnish buildings, graveyards and bridges remain.

   For riders, the A-121 follows this coast, a road of smooth straights and long, flowing curves through the forest, which then narrows and gets more rugged as it nears Sortavala. Views over the water appear in glimpses between the trees, and a number of small pull-offs allow you to stop at the shore. Road surfaces vary a lot, and long trucks are common, so do not take blind overtakes.

   Lahdenpohja has fuel and basic shops, and there are small cafés on the main street. For anything bigger, such as repairs or specialist supplies, the larger towns on the route are safer bets. Cold, clear water from the lake is excellent for a swim in July and August, and in autumn the forest has a rich smell of mushrooms and resin. Mosquitoes and midges are a feature of the summer.

3. Kurkijoki stop

   Kurkijoki sits on the northwestern shore region of Lake Ladoga, a small village set among granite outcrops, mixed forest and lakes in what was, until the Second World War, the Finnish province of Karelia. Before 1940 Kurkijoki was a prosperous Finnish parish known for its agricultural school and farms, and when the border moved, the Finnish population left almost entirely, taking the life of the place with them. Today the village is quiet, with Soviet-era buildings next to the foundations of older Finnish ones, and the countryside around it still holds the ghosts of fields and farmsteads.

   The landscape here is classic Karelia. Bare granite ridges smoothed by the ice sheet poke through the forest, and the roads wind between them, around lakes and over little rivers, rising and falling with the terrain. The trees are a mix of pine, spruce and birch, the light in summer is long and silvery, and in autumn the birches turn bright yellow against the dark conifers. It is a landscape that feels empty and peaceful, with very little traffic and long stretches where you see nobody at all.

   The riding is enjoyable in a gentle, flowing way. The road from Lakhdenpokhya and toward the Finnish border is narrow, often patched and sometimes broken at the edges, with blind crests and bends where rock walls hide the view ahead. Watch for logging trucks, which drive fast and take more than their share of the road, and for moose at dawn and dusk. After rain the surface can be slippery, especially where gravel has washed across.

   There is little here in the way of services. A small shop may be open, but for fuel and food plan on Lakhdenpokhya, about twenty-five kilometres away, which has stations, shops and a few cafes. Sortavala, further north along the Ladoga shore, is the bigger town for supplies and accommodation. Kurkijoki itself is a place to pause, look around at the rocks and forest, and think about how much this land has changed hands, and how quickly a whole way of life can vanish from a landscape.

4. Priozersk stop

   Priozersk stands where the Vuoksi river leaves the Karelian Isthmus and flows into Lake Ladoga, the largest lake in Europe, and it has been a stronghold for most of a thousand years. A stone fortress on an island in the river mouth dates back to the fourteenth century, when Novgorod built it to guard its northwestern frontier, and then passed between Novgorod, Sweden, Russia and Finland as borders moved. The Finns called the town Käkisalmi and the Swedes Kexholm, and different names are still spelled on different old maps.

   The fortress is the highlight of the town. Its massive walls and round towers stand beside a small bridge, and the stones carry the marks of centuries of sieges and rebuilding. Parts of it are open to visitors, with a modest museum and a view of the water from the ramparts. Until 1940 this was Finnish territory, and the war that ended that year left the town changed, with many of the Finnish buildings lost and the population replaced. Some traces of the earlier period survive, and a visitor with a little curiosity can find old villas and stone buildings among the Soviet blocks.

   Lake Ladoga itself is vast, so large that on some days it looks like a sea, with its horizon empty and waves breaking on the shore. It is deep and cold, with clear water in the north and rocky shores of ancient granite. The surrounding country is a mix of pine and birch forest, small farms, marshes and lakes. In early summer the white nights hold the sky pale until very late.

   The A-121 road, which runs north from here along the western shore toward Sortavala, is the main road through the region. It is a broad, generally decent road with long straights, some gentle bends and pleasant sections through forest, though quality varies and patches of broken asphalt can appear without warning. Truck traffic is steady, and the lake and the forest make a very Nordic setting. Mosquitoes in summer are fierce near the water.

   Priozersk has fuel, shops and cafés on the main street, and it is sensible to fill up here rather than depend on the smaller stations further north. A plate of smoked or fried fish from Ladoga, such as vendace or whitefish, is the local choice. The best season is late May to September, and autumn can be crisp and clear with the birch turning yellow.

5. Lake Ladoga stop

   Lake Ladoga is the largest lake in Europe, so big that from its shore it looks like a sea, with a horizon of open water and waves that can build to a dangerous size in autumn storms. Its northern edge, where this point lies near the small town of Lakhdenpokhya, is the most beautiful part: a coast broken into hundreds of rocky islands, inlets and narrow channels, the Ladoga skerries, carved by the ice sheet out of the granite of the Baltic Shield. Pines cling to every rock, the water is clear and dark, and the light in summer can be extraordinary.

   This was Finnish territory until 1940, and Lakhdenpokhya, Lahdenpohja in Finnish, was a small port and market town. The area was fought over bitterly in the Winter War and again in the Continuation War, and you will find memorials and old fortifications in the forests. The skerries themselves have been protected as a national park, and the islands, some with old Finnish farms or chapels, are reachable by boat. North along the coast lies Sortavala, the jumping-off point for boats to the Valaam monastery, one of the most important religious sites in Russia.

   The road along the northern shore of Ladoga is a joy to ride, winding between rocks, forests and inlets, with frequent glimpses of water and islands. The surface varies from new asphalt to old, patched tarmac with potholes, and there are blind bends and crests where rock walls close in. Traffic is light outside the main summer season. The best time is from June to September, when the days are long and the lake is calm; late autumn brings storms and early darkness.

   Lakhdenpokhya, a few kilometres away, has fuel, shops and simple cafes, enough for a stop. Sortavala, about thirty-five kilometres north, has more choice and some good places to stay. Find a rock by the water, sit for a while and watch the light change on the islands. The lake is cold even in summer, but a quick swim from a granite ledge on a warm day is one of the great pleasures of the north.

6. Back to Sortavala finish

Where this sits

Other rides by starting-point distance