Mountains, lakes, two seas, thousands of rivers – all these are of great interest to tourist worldwide. Practically all kinds of tourism are possible in Murman, except for «beach» ones: sport fishing, hunting, water and mountain tourism, mountaineering, ski mountaineering, kiting, hiking, ski touring, and cycling. One can rest in wild corners of taiga and tundra and on banks of very clean rivers.

The following towns are of interest to tourists: Murmansk – the administrative center of the oblast' (province); Monchegorsk – a beautiful modern town; Kirovsk – a center of mining industry; Kandalaksha – one of the most ancient settlements in Murman.

There are historical monuments and museums in Kola, Kirovsk, Pechenga. The geological museum in Kirovsk is well-known. Several ancient labyrinths («babylons») and petroglyphs were discovered on the coasts of the peninsula near the Umba, Ponoy, Kharlovka rivers, and Zakhrebetnyy. Lappish domestic objects, gathered in the Museum of Regional Studies in the village of Lovozero, are of particular interest. In the neighborhood one can see seyds – holy stones of the Lapps.

The main culture monuments of the Russian pomory (White Sea coast dwellers) are on the Terskiy Coast of the White Sea. The Uspeniya (Dormition) Church in Varzuga village is the most famous among them; this church has a tent-like roof, which is characteristic of the Russian northern architecture. The old carved iconostasis is well-preserved.

Water tourism is popular in the Murmanskaya oblast'. Cataracted long beautiful rivers are perfectly suitable for foldboating and kayak boating. While boating one can get experience of passing difficult river parts, going upstream, crossing gravels, saults, winding forest brooks, and visit remote corners of the peninsula. Practically all rivers are suitable for boating. The most popular among them are the Tumcha and the Kutsa.

Headstreams are often near each other, so it is possible to go upstream one river and go downstream another one, zigzagging around the whole peninsula. Water tourism is very good for getting to know the area nature. Reaching by water remote places lying far from civilized areas, one can make one-day radial trips to visit interesting objects.

There are camping sites even in tundra. Fire wood can be easily found along the rivers. Foldboat is the most convenient water-borne vehicle in this area. The most suitable time for such trips is from late July till early September.

The Murmansk Maritime Shipping Company supports the development of arctic tourism in Murmansk. Cruises on nuclear-powered icebreakers to the North Pole area and to Franz Josef Land are organized every year in summer.

The Murmanskaya oblast' is a nice place for people who like the so-called ecological tourism and outdoor recreation. The North dwellers call mushroom gathering «quiet hunting». Habitual gatherers of mushrooms have a large scope for their activities: orange-cap boletuses, small ones round the big one having the size of a wheel, sound cepes, mossiness mushrooms, yellow boletuses, which hide in pinewoods, rough boletuses near sparse trees, and coral milky caps, russules, honey agarics, chanterelles near small bogs. One should not have any special permit to gather berries and mushrooms in the Kola Peninsula (unlike in nearby Scandinavian countries), so the time of mushroom gathering lasts from August till September.

Northern summer is abundant in berries. Bilberries, cowberries, bog bilberries, cranberries, crowberries, and cloudberries are gathered in summer. Gathering of berries begins from late July or early August when bilberries (sometimes reaching the size of cherries) and bog bilberries ripen, cowberries ripen in the middle and late August and they stay longer than other berries after the first autumn frosts. Cranberries and cloudberries are gathered on bogs. Wonderful jam is made of cloudberries, which were once common as an emperor's dish. These berries grow on tussocks, their leaves are similar to those of raspberries or blackberries, ripe berries are bright orange in color.

One more kind of tourism is mineralogical one. Excursions to the most famous mineral deposits of the area are held by famous specialists on mineralogy. Amethyst deposits of the Terskiy Coast, amazon-stones of Zapandyye Keyvy are world-famous; pegmatites of the Kovdorskiy rayon, decorative jaspers, and dolomites of Pechenga are also very popular.

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