Ice Realm of Winter Irkutsk

This day we are going to visit the Taltsy wooden open-air museum. This is a unique collection of monuments of architecture and history of the peoples of Eastern Siberia from the 17th to the 20th century. More than three centuries of Siberian life and history have been pressed in this place. Nowadays the Taltsy Museum has 40 historical and architectural monuments, 8000 exhibits on an area of 67 hectares. And everything is genuine or repeated from the original.

Here you will find out how the life of a Siberian peasant differed from the life of his European counterpart, what the prison looked like and what a Buryat yurt looks like inside.

Today’s lunch we are going to have at a local family. Traditional Russian food, friendly atmosphere- what could be better?

In the evening we will come back to Irkutsk city center and go shopping. Dinner is included at the hotel.

Today we are going to visit Listvyanka. Listvyanka is considered to be one of the oldest settlements on Lake Baikal. Its name comes from the tree-covered Larch cape. In this city, we will visit the Baikal Museum that keeps up with the times: each new discovery sets a new theme for the expositions as the exploration of Baikal does not stop for a day.

The guide will tell you about the tectonic origin of the lake and local earthquakes, as well as introduce you to the inhabitants of Lake Baikal – both in the form of exhibits and live specimens! Of course, the cutest and most famous inhabitant of the lake is the seal; two females of this species frolic in the museum aquarium.

Have you ever ridden a dog sled? You will have a chance to try it today, in Listvyanka. During this unforgettable experience, these lovely creatures will melt the hearts of the coldest people!

After visiting the Baikal Museum and dog sledding, we are going to have lunch at a local restaurant and then we proceed with check in at the hotel.

In the afternoon we will have a city tour with the visiting of St Nikola’s Church, it is one of a few perfectly preserved architectural monuments in Listvyanka. After it, you will have free time for Baikal shore walking and shopping at a souvenir & fish market.

Today in the early morning, we will have our private hovercraft boat trip to the 100-old Transsib railway – the famous Circum Baikal railway. It is 89 km long and runs from Slyudyanka-2 to Port Baikal. It has four stations and one switching track. There are 38 tunnels; 15 stone galleries and 3 reinforced concrete galleries with the openings; 248 bridges and viaducts, 268 sustainer walls. These tunnels and stone galleries are unique due to non-typical constructive projects. They have never been altered, thus the original architectural and engineering ideas are preserved.

After the hovercraft part of the trip, we are going to visit the historical reconstruction of station “Seredina” – in the middle of Baikal between Listvyanka and Takhoy. This station functioned as a track station on the ice of the lake at the beginning of the 20th century. Insulated buildings were built 20 km from the coast on the ice of Lake Baikal, outwardly stylized to resemble the real view of the station building. There is a guardhouse and a track post nearby. All objects have been recreated surrounded by thematic ice installations.

Today’s lunch will be traditional Siberian with Baikal fish and Russian vodka.

In the evening we will return to Listvyanka, where we will have dinner and overnight.

After breakfast, hovercrafts will take us to Olkhon Island. Our road will go along the Big Sea – we will cover 300 km on ice!

Olkhon Island is a tourist Mecca of Baikal. Almost every traveler dreams of visiting this shamanic island. If Baikal is the heart of Siberia, then Olkhon is the heart of Baikal. And with such a pilgrimage of tourists, the island remains a real reserve of astonishing landscapes and magnificent nature: it is forbidden to lay asphalt on Olkhon so as not to disturb the natural fauna, and electricity appeared here only in 2011.

Today you will have an excellent chance to see a lot of amazing sculptures created of transparently clear ice. Crossing Lake Baikal by amphibious boat (Khivus) from Listvyanka to Khuzhir village you’ll make stops at the most disarming places with breathtaking views, for example, Bolshoe Goloustnoe, discovering beautiful blue ice and bubbles, Arch Cape, Sandy Bay known for its caves, decorated by fabulous icicles.

Your lunch will be on the ice. Can you imagine this? It will really imbue you with unforgettable emotions!

This night we are going to stay at a hotel in Khuzhir village with a nice view on Olkhon Island.

Your sixth day will be unforgettable! We will start our UAZ- tour by UAZ jeeps with the visiting of the north of Olkhon Island. We are going to manoeuvre on the ice of Baikal lake and explore ice caves and grottoes of the small islands, also, we are going to see Cape Khoboy, a site called rock Three Brothers. All these magic places were created by nature. They will really amaze you!

After a picnic lunch on the campfire at a picturesque place, discover of Baikal’s kingdom of Ice will continue. Having a walk on the Baikal Lake ice, you will make the photos of these pieces of art created by the artist called Nature. During the journeys, we will not let you get bored: in addition to inspecting the most beautiful locations, we will try the “kiss of Baikal”, go ice skating and get Baikal water from under the ice!

In the evening we will come back to the hotel, where we are going to have dinner and overnight.

Get ready for a long way back to Irkutsk by UAZ and after by a comfortable bus. On the way back we will stop at Ust-Orda village, the center of Buryatian culture. Here you will learn about Buryat culture and customs, hear extraordinary throat singing, and also take part in a master class on cooking buuz.

In the afternoon we will come back to the city center of Irkutsk-you can go shopping or have a rest.

Your last evening of our journey will be unforgettable-you will have a Gala dinner with Russian traditional folklore performance! Don’t forget to prepare your best outfit.

This night we are going to stay at Irkutsk hotel.

Now you can explore the city by yourself and do some last-minute shopping. Then you will be transferred to the airport. Now it’s time to say goodbye to Russia. Hope to see you again!