Kamchatka Peninsula is a wonderful place to visit due to its incredible landscapes, flora and fauna.
Known as the Land of Ice and Fire, Kamchatka is one of the wildest regions of the world. Home to brown bears, active volcanoes and just above 320.000 people, the Russian peninsula’s long and exposed coastline holds a lot of potential for a great adventure.
Volcanoes
Kamchatka is famous for its volcanoes which are depicted on most souvenirs there, like on Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, the most eastern city in the northern hemisphere, coat of arms as well. There are more than 300 volcanoes in Kamchatka, from 28 up to 36 of them are active, or potentially active. Kamchatka volcanoes are included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Klyuchevskaya, Kronotskaya, Ichinskaya, Avachinskaya, Koryakskaya, and Karymskaya sopkas (volcanoes), as well as Shiveluch, are considered to be the most famous volcanoes in Kamchatka. From time to time they cause some small subterranean pushes.
Rivers and lakes
Also, this region is known to be a place of many water sources — rivers and lakes. Many Kamchatka rivers spring from mountains toes and glaciers which makes them very clean — the useful property for those who love fishing, including Kamchatka bears. The most famous rivers in Kamchatka are Avacha, Malkinskaya Bystraya, Kamchatka (which is the biggest river), Shumnaya, and Geysernaya. In general, there are up to 14 thousand rivers and stream in Kamchatka, 100 thousand lakes of different sizes, and 414 glaciers.
Geysers
Kamchatka is home to the Valley of Geysers which is located at the junction of the above-mentioned rivers Shumnaya and Geysernaya. The Valley of Geysers has the second-largest concentration of geysers in the world (after Icelandic geyser fields), and is the only geyser field on the Eurasia continent. It’s not easily accessible, as long as it’s too unique to be opened for tourists all the time, because the Valley of Geysers’ ecosystem is very vulnerable, so it’s necessary to monitor it all the time and regulate the visiting. In fact, the larger part of the Kamchatka region is preserved. There are many nature reserves, nature parks, and Makani's (protected areas) there.
Active tourism
The range of tourist activities in Kamchatka is really wide. The most crucial type of tourism there is ecotourism, and it’s clearly explained with the uniqueness of Kamchatka’s nature and resources. Such kinds as sports, marine, fishing, medicinal, cultural, and ethnographical tourism, are popular as well. To be more precise, Kamchatka offers almost unlimited possibilities for those who are fond of extreme tourism and gives the chance to climb not only mountains but volcanoes as well. Also, many rivers in Kamchatka are good for rafting. If you come here in winter, prepare for heli-skiing, and skiing as well. If you go there in summer, trekking, diving, photo safari, and bird watching are at your service.
Ecotourism
Besides, this region has good recreational potential, and one may just go there to take some rest and fix one’s health, thanks to the presence of almost every kind of mineral curative water. Don’t forget to try famous Kamchatka dishes, which are often made of local fish and other seafood, for example of salmon, which Kamchatka is really famous for.
Infrastructure
Many tourist camps were built in Kamchatka in the past few years. Tourist infrastructure there is getting better and better nowadays.
Nevertheless, Kamchatka is not too popular region because of the distance. There is only one way to get to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky by plane from the European part of Russia — from Moscow. The ticket price is quite high, so one should think of the journey as early as possible.
