Lake Seliger

Seliger is not one lake but a chain of connected basins left by the ice, running about a hundred kilometres north to south with narrow channels, deep bays and around a hundred and sixty islands, in low forested country on the Valdai hills. It has been a holiday lake for a century, and it is where a certain kind of Russian summer happens: tents on the shore, boats, fishing, mushrooms in the forest behind. The largest island, Khachin, has its own lakes inside it. On Stolobny island stands the Nilo-Stolobensky monastery, founded in the sixteenth century where a hermit lived, rebuilt on a grand scale in the nineteenth with a domed cathedral that dominates the water for kilometres, closed for most of the twentieth century and returned to the church in 1990. Ostashkov is the base town. In winter the lake freezes solid and is driven on.

What you actually see

• The island chain - around a hundred and sixty islands across linked glacial basins.
• The monastery - Nilo-Stolobensky on its island, visible across the water for kilometres.
• Khachin - the largest island, with lakes of its own inside it.
• The summer culture - tents, boats and fishing along the shores.

When to go

June to August for boating and swimming; February for ice fishing and driving on the lake. Two days to a week. July is the busiest.

Honest expectations

Mosquitoes are severe in summer. Accommodation ranges from basic to expensive with little in between, and books out in July. Ice conditions in winter are variable and driving on them is risky. Getting between islands needs a boat.

Nearby

Ostashkov is the base; the Volga's source is a short drive north.