A Mixed Bag: Skantur's Ruskeala Tour Falls Short of Expectations

I was really looking forward to visiting Ruskeala and taking in the stunning Karelian landscapes. To be honest, I'd never heard of Scantur before, and I'd never been to Ruskeala either. The trip was supposed to be just one day. We picked a tour pretty much at random from some website aggregator for Karelian travel. The description sounded great, and the price was even better.

We had options - we could go for the 'premium' package, which would include everything and we wouldn't have to pay extra for anything on the spot, or a cheaper option, just in case we didn't want to see everything. We went for the premium option. But things didn't quite go as planned.

Let's start with the good stuff.

The bus was spotless, beautiful, and had super comfy seats. The driver was an absolute pro, I haven't had a smoother ride in ages.
The day before, we got a text with the bus number and the guide's name, and it was easy to find the bus on time.
The tour program was executed to the letter - we hit all the spots we were supposed to, and the departure and return from St. Petersburg were both on time.
The guide was pretty engaging, especially in the second half of the tour and on the way back.
The food was actually pretty good, it was simple stuff, but fresh and tasty.

Scantur Ruskeala Karelia reviews

The downsides
Now, I know these might seem like minor complaints, but there were a lot of them, and they really left a bad taste in my mouth.

I've got to say, the bus had its pros and cons. First of all, it was a long-distance bus, and let me tell you, there was no toilet on board at all!

The seat spacing wasn't exactly comfortable either. I'm used to having a bit more legroom on long-distance buses, and my legs were pretty cramped. If you're a tall person, you might find it tough to fit in.The guide was a bit hard to understand at first, but I get it - it's 7 am, and you're not exactly at your most articulate. However, she started lecturing us like we were five-year-olds, telling us about the importance of being on time and not being like those tourists who don't pay their dues. She even complained about some previous tourists who hadn't paid up, and now she's making sure to get her money upfront. It was a bit much, to be honest.The guide's sense of humor was a bit...off. When she was talking to us one-on-one, she made some pretty crass jokes. I mean, we're all adults, but it was a bit jarring. Despite that, she was actually really knowledgeable and made the tour pretty interesting, especially on the way back.The next disappointment was that we had to pay extra for lunch, which was supposed to be included in the tour. And get this - we even had to pay extra to visit the Akvenkoski waterfalls. I mean, come on, that's not exactly what I signed up for.The driver was pretty strict about not eating or drinking anything on the bus. No food, no coffee, no snacks - nothing. It was a major bummer, especially since we'd been up since 5:30 am and were starving by 9. We ended up going hungry just to avoid any conflict with the driver and guide.The bus stops were super short and not very well thought out. We barely had time to grab a bite or use the loo. The first stop was at a gas station with a single toilet for 30 people - yeah, that was a real treat. We had to rush to the castle and then finally use the loo.The next stop was in Sortavala around 11 am, and we were literally starving. Luckily, the guide started talking and it got interesting. But we only had 20 minutes to look around, and then we had to wait for the guide to finish her business. It was a bit of a waste of time, if you ask me.We didn't have enough time to see the sights. The Akvenkoski waterfalls got 40 minutes, and that's it. I mean, it's a whole system of waterfalls, and we barely scratched the surface.Walking along these beautiful bridges was literally right up close, and we didn't even have time for photos because there were so many people and long queues everywhere.

Skantur Ruskeala Karelia reviewsWe headed to Ruskeala next, and were surprised to find out we'd only have two hours in the Ruskeala park! I mean, it was worth getting up early from St. Petersburg to explore such a massive park, but only for a couple of hours? Plus, there was some delay with tickets at the entrance, which took us about 5-6 minutes. Inside the park, things moved pretty fast too: we had a 45-minute guided tour, which was actually pretty interesting, but then we had to wait around 10 minutes before it started. With only an hour left, we couldn't possibly make it to all the main attractions and back on time. To be honest, the time given to explore all the sights was really limited.

On our way back, we even picked up some tourists who were taking the retro train. So, we spent another 15 minutes driving around to collect them. I wish we'd used that time to stay in the park instead. And then, towards the end, we had to wait around 10 minutes for people from Petrozavodsk who were on a three-day tour of Karelia. At least we got to take a break in a café while we waited. But they were expecting to visit a trout farm, which was supposed to be part of their tour, but it wasn't in our itinerary, so they were left out. I'm not sure if they got any compensation or not.

Skantur Ruskeala Karelia reviewsAnd that's the thing – all these little things like 10 minutes here, 15 minutes there – they really cut into the time we had to explore the sights. It's not exactly relaxing, more like a rush to get everything done. It's not really a holiday, but more like work – rush to get there, dash to get back.

The Verdict

My friends enjoyed the trip, but I'm either being picky or I'm just used to traveling independently. Either way, it felt like we were just scratching the surface, moving too fast. To be honest, I was exhausted by the end of it.

Because of all these issues, I can only give three stars – it's all a bit too formal and organized. But if you don't mind these drawbacks, I'd still recommend Skantur, at your own risk, I suppose.