Lake Baikal Highlights

3 days and 2 nights

  • Schedule
    Tour can be started on any day
  • Route
    Irkutsk - Listvyanka - Irkutsk
  • Languages
    English-speaking guide is guaranteed. Other languages are on request.
  • Accommodation
    The following hotel options are available:
    3 stars
  • PRIVATE TOUR
    This is a private tour, there won't be other people in your group
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Itinerary

This tour is a great introduction to Lake Baikal and the city of Irkutsk. Lake Baikal is the largest freshwater lake in the world with an average depth of 744.4 m (2442 ft) and contains roughly 20 percent of the world's surface fresh water. The body of water is also known as the 'Baikal Sea' and the 'Pearl of Siberia'. At 1642 meters (5390 ft) Lake Baikal is the deepest, and among the clearest lakes in the world. Greater than 25 million years old, Baikal is also the world's oldest lake. Baikal is home to more than 1700 species of plants and animals, two thirds of which can be found nowhere else in the world.  The lake was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996. It is also home to the Buryat people who follow the Tibetan Buddhist religion and reside on the eastern side of the lake rearing goat, camel, cattle and sheep.

Day 1

Lake Baikal, Russia
The Listvyanka settlement, Russia

Arrival in Irkutsk and departure for a whole-day excursion to Lake Baikal (65 km). Enroute you will stop for a guided tour of Taltsy - an open-air Museum of Russian/Siberian Wooden Architecture. The museum's oldest building is the Spass Tower of the Ilimsk Fortress (1667) and the still active Kazan Chapel (1679). You will then proceed to the headwaters of the Angara River to see the famous Shaman Rock (a sacred site for the local people). You will then have lunch at a local restaurant serving Baikal fish specialties.

After lunch, you will go on a walking tour around the Listvyanka settlement: you will visit the Church of St. Nicolas the Wonderworker - the guardian angel of travelers, make a stop at a local fish market, and go to the Baikal Ecological Museum to see the lake's flora and fauna.

Overnight in Listvyanka

Meals included: lunch

Day 2

Irkutsk, Russia
Irkutsk, Russia

After breakfast at the hotel you will head towards Irkutsk to have a city tour including a visit to the Cathedral of the Holy Sign. Apart from ornate and rich iconostasis, the cathedral is famous for its graveyard where you will visit the graves of the Decembrists Mukhanov, Beschasnov, Trubetskoy and the Russian Columbus Shelekhov.

Lunch at a restaurant in the city center.

Excursion to the Decembrists Museum where you will learn about the Revolt of December 14, 1825, its participants and their life in Siberian exile.

Overnight in Irkutsk

Meals included: breakfast, lunch

Irkutsk began as a small settlement in the mid 17th century for gold-trading and for the collection of the fur tax from the Buryats (the local inhabitants of the area). The settlement officially became a town in 1686 and the first road between Moscow and the new city was built in 1760. With the road construction, many new products, often imported from China, were widely available in Irkutsk for the first time including gold, diamonds, furs, wood, silk and tea. In 1821, Irkutsk became the seat of the Governor-General of East Siberia. In the early 19th century, many Russian officers and nobles were sent into exile in Irkutsk for their part in the Decembrist revolt against Tsar Nicholas I. Due to this influx of individuals from St. Petersburg, Irkutsk became the Siberian center of intellectual and cultural life. By 1900, the city had earned the nickname “The Paris of Siberia.” Today Irkutsk has become a college town with many young people studying at the university and other institutes of higher education in the city.

Day 3

Lake Baikal, Russia
Lake Baikal, Russia

Breakfast at the hotel

Check out from the hotel

Departure to the railroad station or airport in Irkutsk.
Say goodbye to Lake Baikal and Irkutsk. We look forward to welcoming you back to this very special part of the world at some point in the future.

Included Sightseeing

These sights are included into the standard package:

Irkutsk
Taltsy Ethnographic Museum
Taltsy Ethnographic Museum

This architectural and ethnographic museum opened its doors to the public in 1980. On the territory of 67 hectares there are over 40 architectural monuments (fortress wall, churches, barns, water mills, parish school, peasant houses) and over 8,000 exhibits that tell about life in the Siberian villages XVII-XIX centuries. The museum often hosts folk festivals, and is also often used by filmmakers because of its authentic look.

Museum of the Decembrists
Museum of the Decembrists

The museum is housed in a mansion belonging to one of the leaders of Decembrist revolutionaries - these were Russian aristocracy who were banished to Siberia after their ill-fated attempt in December 1825 to overthrow the Russian Tsar in favor of a Constitutional regime. The museum is truly evocative of 19th century Russia.

Cathedral of the Holy Sign
Cathedral of the Holy Sign

Apart from ornate and rich iconostasis, the cathedral is famous for its graveyard containing the graves of the Decembrists Mukhanov, Beschasnov, Trubetskaya and the Russian Columbus Shelekhov.

Lake Baikal
Listvyanka
Listvyanka

Listvyanka is a small settlement located on the shore of Lake Baikal. On the way from Irkutsk to Listvyanka there are 3 places of interest. The first is the obo - a sacred place for the local Buryat people. The second is Taltsy - an open air Museum of Russian Wooden Architecture. The third is the famous Shaman Rock (another sacred site) located on the headwaters of the Angara river. Listvyanka is also home to the Church of Saint Nicolas the Wonderworker - the guardian angel of travelers, and the Baikal Ecology Museum with exhibits of the unique fauna and flora that surround the lake. There is also an aquarium which contains different species of local fish and the Baikal nerpa - the earth's only fresh water seal.

Prices and Terms

All seasons
  hotel 3 stars
1 $1467
2 $804
3 - 5 $705
6 - 9 $589
10-15 $494
single supplement $197

Included in tour:

  • Three star double occupancy hotel accommodation for one night in Irkutsk and one night in Listvyanka
  • Meals as per programme
  • Guided transfers and excursions as per programme
  • Bilingual guide
  • Tours and entrance fees as mentioned above
  • Free visa invitation - the document necessary for obtaining a Russian visa when applying for one at the local Russian Consulate in your country. PLEASE NOTE: your passport should be valid for no less than 6 months after the planned departure from Russia and it should have at least 2 blank pages. The process of applying for visa may take a long time and we recommend that you start in 3 months before your trip. In case you are booking the trip last minute, we recommend that you check with the Russian Consulate in your country whether you have enough time for visa application process. In case you have to cancel your trip because of visa issues standard cancellation policy will be applied.

Not included in the tour:

  • International airfare. Our Russian tours are offered as land only where you arrange your own airfare and we meet you at the airport and handle everything else. 
  • Passport and visa fees. For US and Canadian citizens, our company offers Full Visa Support. This is where you send us your passport and other documentation and we obtain the Russian visa for you. 
  • Travel insurance. We highly recommend to purchase travel insurance before embarking on your trip to Russia. It’s always good to have extra protection while traveling far from home. Click here to learn more.
  • Evacuation costs
  • Photography and video fees
  • Food and beverages not included into the itinerary
  • Tips to drivers or guides
  • Items of a personal nature, including alcoholic beverages, laundry and telephone calls
  • Other items not specifically mentioned as included. 

Payment policy:
To book a tour, 30% deposit is required at the moment of booking. The trip must be fully paid 31 days before departure.

Cancellation policy:
61 or more days before departure - a fee equal to 15% of the entire package will be charged.
60-15 days before departure - a fee equal to 30% of the entire package will be charged.
14 days or less before departure or no-show - a fee equal to 100% of the package will be charged.

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