island can be reached by tour boats which leave St. Petersburg at night and arrive at the island the following morning. The president of the Russian Federation has a dacha on one of the islands of Valaam, but its precise location is not publicly known. References Sources Selby, N. St. Petersburg, 2nd. edition, 1999, Lonely Planet Publications External links http://nordictravel.ru/page/valaam.html https://web.archive.org/web/20130404201414/http://valaam.ru/en/ http://www.brill.com/oldest-one-russia Landforms of the Republic of Karelia Archipelagoes of Europe Lake islands of Europe Lake islands of Russia World Heritage Tentative List Sortavala