Baikal. The best 2022

Meeting with the guide in the airport of Irkutsk. 

Let’s get comfortable in the seats of Mercedes Sprinter and go on a sightseeing tour in Irkutsk. The city has preserved its originality. Here and there we’ll see intricately decorated merchants’ houses, wooden and stone estates.

Later, we’ll drive closer to Baikal. The first stop will be made in Taltsy, the open-air museum of wooden architecture. Its is an old Siberian village with the restored furnishings of the XVII-XX cc. it is a truly unique collection of heritage architecture!

Lunch in a restaurant.
We are in Listvyanka. Here, the funicular will take us up to the height of 700m. A majestic panoramic view over the legendary lake, the beautiful Angara, Listvyanka, Baikal port, Shamanka rock and old railway will open to our eyes. The things we’ve heard so much of, will now become real!

Its power and beauty.

Night in Listvyanka hotel.

Breakfast in the hotel.
After breakfast, a speedboat will take us on a cruise.

We’ll head to one of the most picturesque places on Baikal, Peschanaya Bay.

Surrounded by taiga forests on the sides of the Primorsky Ridge, Peschanaya Bay is the most refined site on Baikal. Two huge rocks, Bolshaya Kolokolnya and Malaya Kolokonya guard the bay from two sides. Their steep walls go deep down into the lake and protect the bay from the winds. It helps to create a microclimate of its own in the bay. The number of sunny days per year here is the same as at the Black Sea coast. It’s the warmest and sunniest place on Baikal shoreline. No wonder, it has been called Baikal Riviera.

After lunch (lunch boxes) you can swim in the crystal clear water of the legendary lake!

Here, we can go to the top of the rocks in order to enjoy the stunning views of Baikal. We’ll see the walking trees and we’ll have an opportunity to make impressive photos as keepsakes.

In the evening, we go back to Listvyanka. Night in Listvyanka hotel.

Breakfast in hotel

Comfortably seated in a minivan, we’ll travel to the island of Olkhon.

Do not forget about your video cameras in order to make some creative, interesting videos as keepsakes on your 5-6 hour drive to the ferry. On our way, we’ll stop  for lunch in order to try dishes of Buryat cuisine.

Ferry to Olkhon Island takes less than an hour.

Olkhon  is the biggest and the only populated island on Baikal. The island has accumulated on its territory the whole variety of natural landscapes of Baikal region. Its shape reminds of the shape of Baikal. Olkhon is a part of the National Park and is one of the most beautiful places on Baikal.
After 40 more minutes, we are in the settlement of Khujir. This is where we’ll stay for the night in a comfortable hotel.

We won’t waste any time, and we’ll go to one of the most sacred places, the cape of Burkhan in order to take a look at Shamanka Rock. Burkhan was the name for the main god of Baikal among Buddhist Buryats.

And the walk-through Shamanka Rock was considered its home. No one had a right to come close to the spirit’s home.

Night in the hotel on Olkhon.

Breakfast.

Today we’ll go on an interesting tour to the northernmost point of the island, Khoboy Cape, and we’ll take there the most convenient transport UAZ off-roader.
Khoboy Cape is the northernmost point of Olkhon, it’s located close to the widest place on Baikal. The route will take us around the most picturesque places of Olkhon, which will stay in your memory for a long time. On our way we’ll stop in the village of Kharantsy, at Sagan Khushun Cape, Three Brothers Rock, one of the natural monuments, Uzury settlement, weather station. And, finally, Khoboy Cape. Translated from Buryat, it means ‘fang, molar tooth’. Part of the cape does resemble a beast’s fang.
On Khoboy you can see a rock with the outlines of a woman’s face. According to the legend, it’s a face of a Buryat woman who asked for a beautiful big palace from gods, and they turned her into a rock.
On a clear day, a view on the widest place on Baikal opens from the cape, and you can even see the outlines of the Svyatoy Nos (‘Holy Nose’) peninsula. Here you’ll find peace in complete mergence with nature – something you can’t find in today’s metropolitan cities.

Open-air lunch will add a charming touch to the adventure.

Everyone will have some free time to rest after coming back from the trip.

Night in the hotel on Olkhon.

After a delicious breakfast you’ll have a rest day.
You can spend it as you choose: relax on the beautiful Saraisky beach or spend your time actively taking rides on ATVs, bikes, horse rides, going on a boat trip to Ogoy Island and mineral springs…
A choice of activities to any taste (to be ordered in advance).

Night in the hotel on Olkhon. 

On a very early morning we’ll go to the most sacral place on the whole Baikal, the place of power – Shamanka Rock. The first rays will send us the vibrant energy of the sun, the Earth, its pure air and clean water. Baikal, you’re the life!
The time has come to say good-bye to Olkhon. It’s time to go back.

After a substantial breakfast, we’ll get moving.

On the way back to Irkutsk (6-8 hours), let’s take every opportunity to admire the beauty of Baikal, to preserve it in our memory and our hearts!