eastories

Lake Baikal Winter Tours

Tours to the Lake Baikal during the winter time

Departures: February – April 2024

๎˜

Description

In this tour we will show you the real and authentic Siberia during the winter time. You will be totally immersed in the local life, learning its culture and habits. You will experience Siberian winter, nature, food, sauna, roads, and distance but first of all you will meet the Lake Baikal.

Goal

The main goal of the tour is to visit the largest, deepest, oldest and the biggest container of fresh water in the world – Lake Baikal, which during the winter time gets frozen and makes it possible to even drive trucks on it.

Route

Irkutsk – Bayanday – settlement Buguldeyka – Lake Baikal – Olkhon Island – Sagan Zaba Cliff – Kurtun settlement – Irkutsk
Map of the Lake Baikal Soft Period Tours
Season
From February to April
TOTAL DISTANCE: 700 KM
Irkutsk – Bayanday – settlement Buguldeyka – Lake Baikal – Olkhon Island – Sagan Zaba Cliff – Kurtun settlement – Irkutsk
CLOTHING
  • Parka(softshell)
  • Warm trousers
  • Thermal underwear
  • Sweaters or polar fleece jacket
  • Turtlenecks or t-shirts
  • Warm socks for trekking
  • Mittens and under-gloves
  • Woolen cap
  • Scarf
  • Warm boots
  • Sunglasses
  • Backpackย 
EQUIPMENT
  • suncream
  • backpack 70-80 liters
  • hygienic lipstick
  • charger (Power Bank)
ACCOMMODATION
Guesthouses with toilet outside
Bathroom – sauna / Russian banya
Lake Baikal winter tours
Lake Baikal winter photo tours
Lake Baikal Winter
lake baikal winter tours
Frozen cave on Olkhon Island, Baikal
Lake Baikal winter tours

Itinerary

DAY 1

Meeting in Irkutsk with your guide and accommodation in the hotel. Depends on your arrival time, you can stay in the hotel and relax or go to explore the city.
In the evening we will go to the Russian restaurant, to taste local food.

DAY 2

In the morning we will have a breakfast in the hotel or local bar and then we will depart for a long journey through the forest to rich the Buguldeyka settlement. On the way we will cross an abandoned village Kurtun, where used to live Russian Old Believers, who where hiding them there from the Soviet regime.

In the late afternoon we will arrive to Buguldeyka, where we will accommodate in our “eastories farm”. Our family prepares tasty food and hot sauna, so we can warm up, after a long trip.

Before it gets dark, we will go to the shore of the Lake Baikal, for a welcome drink. Volodya, our guide, will present you to the Baikal with the local ritual, so the lake and the spirits can accept us in their land.

DAY 3

After the breakfast Volodya will take you for an excursion around the settlement. You can enjoy incredible views of the Baikal and its nature.
At the lunch time you would come back to the guesthouse. Our family will prepare food with our local products. In the evening we will go again to the Lake Baikal. You can enjoy sunset on the frozen lake and (learn) ice-skating.

After the dinner at the guesthouse, hot sauna.

DAY 4

Today we are going for a day tour to the Olkhon Island, so around 7 am breakfast and go.
After an hour and half of driving through the forest, hills and steppe, we will arrive to the village Sakhurta. Here we are going to cross by car 11 km of Ice-Road on the Lake Baikal. It is going to be an amazing experience… On the way we will stop by the Ogoy Island and enjoy some of the caves of Olkhon.

At the lunch time we will stop at the village Khuzhir, then we will visit the Shamanka Rock. After it, we will continue to go further, to the north of the Olkhon Island, to the Mys Khoboy.

In the evening we will come back to Buguldeyka village, where we will have a tasty dinner and hot sauna.

Day 5

Breakfast at around 9 and then we will go for a trip to the Cliff Sagan Zaba, which is not far from our village, but still it is not easy to get there.
The cliff Sagan Zaba is known for prehistoric rock paintings – petroglyphs on one of its side. You also can enjoy a magnificent view of Baikal from the top of the cliff.
Read more about the Cliff Sagan Zaba

At the lunch time, we would return to the guesthouse. In the afternoon, free time. Around the evening time we are going to prepare a BBQ, if the weather conditions are ok.

Day 6

After the breakfast, we will go to the shore of the Lake Baikal to say goodbye and then will depart back to Irkutsk city.
๎€’

Additional Information

Single rooms accommodation and vegetarian or vegan food are possible on request.
๎„

Services

  • Guide during the whole period (english speaking on request)
  • Meals regarding the program
  • Entry fee regarding the program
  • Accommodations
  • All excursions
  • All transfers
p

Price and policies

990 EUR / Person (min. 2 Persons)
Price includes transfers, accommodations, all entry fees, assistance during the whole trip.

๎€œ

Departures February - March 2024

Book
contact me for any questions