OYMYAKON
For real frost, the best place to go is the 'Pole of Cold' – Oymyakon, which is located in Yakutia. The average temperature in January here is minus 46 degrees, and the absolute minimum is almost 20 degrees lower. Despite such harsh conditions, people live permanently in Oymyakon – officially about 500 people, and tours are organized here for extreme travelers. You can also celebrate the New Year in Oymyakon.
The program of stay in Oymyakon itself usually includes national rituals, local cuisine, a visit to a farm with Yakut cows, and receiving a certificate of visiting the 'Pole of Cold'.
Flying to Oymyakon is far, long, and impossible without transfers, so travel agencies suggest combining a visit to this town with an excursion to some large center, for example Yakutsk. Organized tours last 6-8 days, and include reindeer sledding, visits to various ethnographic complexes, and museums.
If this option is not suitable and you only want to go to Oymyakon, the easiest way is to fly to Yakutsk and arrange a transfer there. The flight from Moscow takes 7 hours, a one-way ticket costs 12–15 thousand rubles, but the transfer can be a problem – you have to cover about 1000 km on a road that is not always pleasant for travel, but certainly snowy.
You can spend the night in Oymyakon in a rented apartment or a family hotel somewhere nearby, accommodation will cost 800-1200 rubles per night. But overall, this option is not for independent travelers if you are only hoping to stay with a local upon arrival: 'official' landlords have 100% occupancy year-round, and it is virtually impossible to rent a room on the spot.
MURMANSK
A less extreme option is Murmansk. You can stay either in the city itself or at one of the nearby tourist bases.
Murmansk is the largest city in the world located beyond the Arctic Circle. The average temperature in January here is about minus 10 degrees, and the absolute minimum is almost minus 40. Exoticism to such a New Year's trip is added by the fact that the city is located on the sea. In the Murmansk port, the icebreaker 'Lenin' is docked; you can board it and walk inside.
Fans of winter sports will also have something to do – there are two ski slopes in the city, where you can also snowboard. If you don't have those skills, you can simply sled down the hill on tubes.
A plane ticket from the capital to Murmansk costs 9–13 thousand rubles, the journey takes a little over two hours. By train, you can get there for 3–4 thousand rubles, but it takes a day and a half. A double room in a hotel in Murmansk will cost 2–4.5 thousand rubles per night based on double occupancy.
ARKHANGELSK
Another city on our list with a maritime climate is Arkhangelsk, and it will be colder than Murmansk. In winter, ski and sightseeing tours are held here: the open-air museum of wooden architecture 'Malye Karely', ice caves, and the Solovetsky Archipelago are open to visitors.
The cost of an organized two- or three-day tour will be 11–12 thousand rubles per person. You can vacation cheaper on your own: accommodation in an Arkhangelsk hotel will cost 2–3 thousand rubles per night for two. A train ticket costs 2–4 thousand rubles (travel time – 20 hours), a plane ticket – 7–8 thousand rubles.
SOUTHERN URALS
In the Southern Urals, you can find many tourist bases with various offers for active recreation – skiing, snowmobiling, horseback riding, sleigh rides pulled by troikas. Organized active tours cost 18–20 thousand rubles per person for 5–6 days. You can book a room on your own for 1–1.5 thousand rubles per day per person, a small house can be rented for 2–3 thousand rubles per day. At tourist bases, there is usually a banya and the possibility to arrange meals.
How you get there depends on the chosen locality. If the town or village is already in the territory of Bashkortostan, then the reference point is Ufa; if not, you can go to Chelyabinsk and find some places nearby. Train tickets to Ufa are only available in SV (sleeping cars), their cost is from 10 thousand rubles; a ticket to Chelyabinsk costs from 3 thousand rubles, travel time is more than a day. By plane to these cities you can get there in two hours, a ticket will cost 8–12 thousand rubles.
KARELIA
Diverse winter recreation can be found in Karelia, which borders Finland, so the culture here is very interesting and mixed. In winter, the republic organizes a wide variety of tours and entertainment, including dog sledding.
A popular offer is a stay at a tourist base, supplemented with sledding, sleighs or skis. This option will cost 15–20 thousand rubles per person for 2–4 days. Among the attractions, you can visit Valaam and Kizhi.
You can get to the capital of Karelia, Petrozavodsk, from Moscow by train in 14-15 hours, a ticket costs 5-7 thousand rubles. By plane, you can fly in less than 2 hours, a ticket will cost 6 thousand rubles.