Arrival in Irkutsk.

Welcome to Irkutsk – capital of Eastern Siberia! We will meet you in the airport or railway station.

Irkutsk city tour.

Irkutsk is an ancient Siberian merchant city founded in the 17th century.
The city has preserved its centuries-old appearance and is renowned for its unique architecture, blending Siberian Baroque, wooden folk architecture, and Soviet Constructivism.

Our tour introduces you to Irkutsk’s historical and architectural heritage:
Spasskaya Church — an Orthodox church from the early 18th century and the oldest surviving stone building in Irkutsk; Znamensky Monastery — the oldest Orthodox women’s monastery in Siberia, housing a Gospel gifted by Peter the Great; Kazanskaya Church — a striking red church with blue domes; Monument to Alexander III — the founder of the Trans-Siberian Railway, located on the Angara River embankment.

The tour includes a walk through the 130th Quarter (Irkutskaya Sloboda), a historic district where wooden houses from the 17th to 19th centuries have been restored. This area is a unique example of architectural preservation and revival, housing museums, craft workshops, souvenir shops, cafes, and restaurants.

Departure to Listvyanka. 65 km from Irkutsk, travel time 1 hour

Visit to the Museum of Wooden Architecture and Ethnography “Taltsy”.

A must-visit attraction in the Baikal region. Situated on the high bank of the Angara River, the Taltsy open-air museum spans 70 hectares. It showcases monuments of Siberian wooden architecture, history, and ethnography from the 17th to the 20th centuries. The museum features reconstructed cultural zones that introduce visitors to the daily life and culture of the indigenous peoples of the Baikal region—Buryats, Evenks, and Tofalars.

Arrival in Listvyanka. 

Listvyanka is the closest starting point for your first encounter with Baikal.
The village stretches along the picturesque shore of Lake Baikal, at the source of the Angara River — the only river that flows out of the Great Lake.
Listvyanka is the tourist center of the Baikal region.
Guests can enjoy Listvyanka’s tourist infrastructure: museums, a ski resort, snowmobile and dog sled rides, a nerpinarium (Baikal seal show), boat tours on Baikal, and trekking routes. As well as hotels and guest houses, cafes and restaurants.

Arrive at a hotel in Listvyanka. Check-in. 

Breakfast at the hotel restaurant.

Hovercraft trip along Circum Baikal railway. 

Khivus is the comfortable air-cushion vehicle that would take you over the mirror-like ice to Circum-Baikal Railway overcoming ice-free head of the Angara River.

During the trip, you will enjoy pictorial coastal landscape of Baikal Lake and unique combination of wild nature and architecture of engineering structures.

Circum-Baikal Railway has 38 tunnels having total length 9063 meters, 248 bridges and viaducts. With reference to saturation of engineering structures, Circum-Baikal Railway has no peers in Russia and takes one of the leading places in the world.

Several stops are provided during the trip with short walking excursions as well as free time for individual walking.

Return to Listvyanka. 

Visit to the Baikal Museum.

An Educational Excursion about Baikal: the origin of the deepest lake on the planet, its water and ice, flora and fauna, and climatic features.
Lake Baikal is home to 50 species of fish, 26 of which are endemic, meaning they are found nowhere else on Earth.
Of particular interest is the transparent golomyanka fish, which consists of 35% fat and inhabits the deep waters of the lake.
The museum’s aquarium houses representatives of Baikal’s underwater world: Baikal sturgeon, grayling, and omul. And the Baikal seal — the nerpa. The aquarium uses Baikal water from a depth of 400 meters, which is supplied directly, without purification.
Embark on a virtual dive in a bathyscaphe to the bottom of Baikal, reaching its maximum depth of 1,637 meters.

Ride the cable car to the Czerski Stone viewpoint.

From a height of 728 meters, a magnificent view opens up of the lake, the source of the Angara River, and the Khamar-Daban mountain range.

Listvyanka overview tour.

You will visit the observation deck opposite Shaman Rock and hear the legend of Baikal and his runaway daughter, Angara; visit the St. Nicholas Church — a wooden temple built in the 19th century.

Return to the hotel in Listvyanka. 

Breakfast at the hotel restaurant. Check-out.

Departure to Olkhon island. 320 km from Listvyanka, travel time 5 hours.

Olkhon Island is a true jewel of Lake Baikal. It is a must-see for any traveler journeying to Baikal, highly recommended for its stunning beauty.
The island’s landscape is striking in its diversity: rolling steppes, pine forests, sand dunes, marble cliffs, and icy grottoes, all set against the endless expanse of transparent ice.
Olkhon is the sacred center of the shamanic world, steeped in ancient myths and legends.
As the largest island on Lake Baikal, it forms part of the Pribaikalsky National Park.

Arrival in Sakhurta village. Crossing to Olkhon island. Transfer to the hotel

Arrival at the Olkhon island hotel. Check-in.

Walking to Shamanka Rock.

Shamanka Rock, at Cape Burkhan, is the most iconic and unforgettable sight, frequently featured in photographs and films about Lake Baikal.
Shamanka is a sacred place for the indigenous people. According to ancient Buryat legends, the cave in the rock is inhabited by Burkhan—the primary deity of Baikal.
The rock is recognized as one of the nine great shrines of Asia.

Return to the hotel.

Breakfast at the hotel restaurant.

Tour to Cape Khoboy.

In the morning, we will depart in off-road vehicles for a journey to the northern part of the island.

Our first stop will be at the Peschanoye (Sandy) Tract, known for its dunes and “stilted trees” (root-exposed trees).
In the last century, a prison camp was located here; its inmates worked at a fish factory. The remains of an abandoned pier bear witness to this history.

Next, a stop at Cape Sagan-Khushun, featuring vertical white-marble cliffs adorned by nature with red lichen. The cape offers a magnificent view of the Maloye More (Small Sea) and the Primorsky Ridge.

Arrival at Cape Khoboy — the northernmost point of Olkhon Island, which offers a panoramic view of Lake Baikal.

Picnic.

Next, we continue along the route following the eastern shore of the island to Cape Shunté Levy, which offers a view of the endless expanse of Baikal’s Open Sea (Big Sea).

We then visit Uzury Pad — a picturesque bay surrounded by steep cliffs, on the shore of Khaga-Yaman Cove. This is the only settlement on the eastern part of the island and is home to a weather station. The area is renowned for its Neolithic-era archaeological finds.

You will walk on the transparent ice, explore ice caves, and take photos against the backdrop of ice splashes.

Return to the hotel.

Breakfast at the hotel restaurant.

Tour to Ogoy Island and the South of Olkhon Island.

Today, we will embark on a full-day excursion aboard a hovercraft across the ice of Lake Baikal to explore ice caves and grottos, ice splashes and hummocks of blue ice, and methane bubbles.

We will begin our program with a visit to Ogoy Island. A Stupa of Enlightenment, dedicated to the Buddhist goddess, has been erected on the island. It symbolizes human self-awareness and suppresses negative manifestations in the world. The island offers a panoramic view of the Maloye More (Small Sea) of Baikal.

Next, we will head to Cape Uyuga and Kurminsky Bay, where a sandy spit merges with the endless expanse of ice.

We will make photo stops and take walks near the ice caves and grottos.

Return to the hotel.

Breakfast at the hotel restaurant. Check-out.

Transfer to Irkutsk.