Northern Urals: The Heart of Parma. A Motorcycle Tour of Perm the Great

Book the tour - 14 Jun - 21 Jun 2026

We invite you to a motorbike tour across the Northern Urals.
On this tour, you will learn what Parma is. You will visit Cherdyn, Nyrob, Pokcha, Iskor, Krasnovishersk, Solikamsk, Berezniki, and many other places.

You will hear about the Komi-Permyak language. You will learn about the Voguls, Ostyaks, and Mansi peoples. We will talk a little about how these lands became part of Russia during the times of Ivan the Dark (Ivan III) and Ivan the Terrible (Ivan IV).

We will travel to the mighty Ural rivers: the Kolva, the Vishera, the Kama, and the Sylva. We will see the industry of the Urals: the huge mining plants, the productions of Uralkali and Uralchem. There will be some Permian cuisine: berries, game meat, and fish.

• Dates: 14-21, 21-28 June 2026
• Duration: 8 days
• Total distance: 1 100 km
• Start and finish: Perm
• Difficulty Level: Medium. The route is on asphalt, but there will be short gravel roads to some places
• Roads: 99% asphalt
• Price on your own motorcycle – 1 500 Euro
• Price with BWM F750GS/F850GS or Voge900 rent – 2 500 Euro
• Price with BMW R1250GS rent – 2 800 Euro
• Single room supplement: 500 Euro
• Passenger price: 1 000 Euro
• Deposit for the motorcycle: 800 Euro

What's included in the tour price:

• Accommodation in 3-4* hotels (twin rooms)
• Breakfasts
• Leading guide on a motorcycle
• Support vehicle
• Excursions
• Technical support

What's not included in the tour price:

• Lunches and dinners
• Fuel
• Travel to and from Perm

Route:

Perm – Usvinskie Pillars – Kamenny Gorod (Stone City) – Berezniki – Solikamsk – Krasnovishersk – Cherdyn – Pokcha – Pelym – Usolye – Perm

Day 1. Arrival in Perm

The group meets in Perm. We have a briefing, discuss the upcoming route, get our motorcycles, and sign the documents.

Day 2. Perm – Usvinskie Pillars, 200 km

At 9:45, after a morning briefing, we start riding. We go to the Takman ski resort, one of the two main ski resorts in the Urals, where we will have lunch. After lunch, we ride to a lodge near the Usvinskie Pillars, the main sight in this area. We check in, order a sauna and dinner for the evening, and go for a light hike to the pillars. The walk uphill takes about one hour. Those who really don't like walking can take a boat ride on the river instead and see the pillars from the water.

Day 3. Usvinskie Pillars – Usolye – Berezniki, 200 km

Before breakfast, you can take a walk to Kamenny Gorod (Stone City). It takes about 25 minutes to get there and 25 minutes to come back. The path is flat, with almost no uphill, and has a wooden walkway. Then we set off towards Gubakha, the second ski resort in the Urals, and we will have a coffee break there. On the way, we will see several large mining plants. Let's not forget that the Urals are famous for their industry.

Next, we go to Usolye. This place was once the main base of the Stroganovs, who were merchants and industrialists in the Urals. There were warehouses, storage bases, piers, ferries, and barges. Before the civil war of 1917, the Russian Empire had one of the largest and most efficiently managed river fleets in the world. But the revolution and the events that followed changed everything. We will talk about this and also visit the Stroganov museum complex in Usolye.

After that, we return to Berezniki. If possible, we will look at the "sinkholes" – the site of a man-made accident that happened in 2011 at the Uralkali mine. The city also has the Uralkali Museum, which we will visit with a guided tour.

Day 4. Berezniki – Krasnovishersk, 250 km

After breakfast, we leave the hotel and go to Solikamsk. We will stop at the main square and quickly talk about the history of salt mining. The development of the Urals started with salt. The Stroganovs made their fortune from salt, and the steamships came later.

From the city center, we go to the Salt Museum on the banks of the Kama River. There we will take a 45-minute tour with a local guide. Then we have lunch and go to Krasnovishersk, a small town on the Vishera River. Today there will be another hike / time in nature.

In Krasnovishersk, there are two famous places – Vetlan and Polyud. You can learn the story/legend of these places by reading the book "Heart of Parma". It's not in the movie, and let me say it again, don't watch the movie, just don't!

The basic plan is: arrive at the hotel, check in, change clothes, and go to Vetlan on foot. It's about 3 km uphill. It takes about one hour to go up and forty minutes to come down. There is a Plan B: instead of walking up, you can climb a special prepared steep rock with a safety rope. All the local people climb this way; it takes 15 minutes. A local guide will help and show you how. If one of the guides is Dima Govorushko, who loves rock climbing, you will have to climb.

For those who don't want to walk/climb, you can take a boat ride on the river to see the pillars and back. The next morning, we will go by boat, car, and on foot to Polyud, and then we will leave for Cherdyn.

Day 5. Krasnovishersk – Cherdyn, 150 km

In the morning, we follow the plan mentioned above – we visit Mount Polyud. This will take about 3 hours, including the travel there and back. We will cross the Vishera River by boat, then drive about 5 km by car, and then walk 2 km uphill. On the way, there will be time to tell you the story of Polyud.

Returning to the hotel, we get our things, go for lunch at "Brusnika", and then go to Cherdyn. The direct road is not far, about 1.5 hours and 100 km. After arriving at the hotel and checking in, we leave our bags and go lightly to Nyrob. There we will visit the Romanov Museum and the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Nyrob. We will talk about the history of the Romanov family and how Mikhail Romanov ended up here.

Here you can also see the wooden architecture of the Russian North. There is an ethnic museum, Khokhlovka, not far from Perm, where 15-20 wooden houses from the northern Urals were brought together. But we are purposely not going there. Why look at separate houses in a "reservation" when you can see a whole wooden town/village in real life?

Day 6. Cherdyn, Day of Rest

In the morning, a walking tour of the town center with a local guide, visiting the Trinity Hillfort (Troitskoye Gorodishche), Ilyinskaya Church, the Cherdyn Local History Museum, and the Pushkin Museum.

If the weather is nice, instead of the museums, you can take SUPs and go for a paddle on the Kolva River. Sunbathe and swim in the river. Alternatively, you can drive to Pelym, one of the most remote and authentic villages in the Urals, where life flows slowly and steadily. The road is unpaved.

No matter which option you choose, there will be time to enjoy the beautiful views of the Parma forest, leisurely drink coffee on the hotel veranda, go for a walk, and simply do nothing.

Day 7. Cherdyn – Perm, 300 km

We return to Perm, where Madam Zhu will wait for us for dinner. We will also visit the shop and workshop of the company Serebronika, where you can buy nice handmade souvenirs. If we have enough time, we will go to the Museum of Modern Art. By the end of our trip, you will probably already know the story of the Perm Cultural Revolution — and it will be interesting.

Day 8. Flight from Perm