Where is the best place to relax in comfort on Lake Baikal? How much does a vacation on Lake Baikal cost? Transport prices

The past 2016, with a general drop in the level of income of the population and a taboo on holidays in Egypt, forced many Russians to reconsider their established family vacation spots over the years and take a fresh look at domestic Russian tourist meccas. As it turned out, there are not so many such places in Russia. The Caucasus and the Black Sea coast are, without a doubt, good, but the wave of tourists that rushed into these places and the instantly soaring prices leave an indelible negative aftertaste in the memory of tourists.

But there are places in Russia that are no less amazing in their beauty and quality of recreation, which will not only delight tourists with their natural beauty and variety of recreation options, but will also breathe so much energy and positivity into any traveler that this vacation will remain a bright spot in his memories with a desire to return to these places again. This is a magical place.

Unfortunately, when mentioning a possible tourist trip to these Siberian places, many Russians often develop baseless stereotypes that immediately discourage them from getting to know them.

Let's try to figure out whether it's really worth planning your next family trip and how much it might cost. What is the truth and where are the misconceptions?

Let's consider the most common questions that arise in the mind of any tourist planning to spend their holiday on the shores of Lake Baikal:

1. Baikal is very far away.

2. There is nothing to see at Lake Baikal and it is not worth spending your entire family vacation on it.

3. A trip to Baikal is very expensive.

4. There is no tourist infrastructure on Baikal.

5. There are a lot of mosquitoes on Lake Baikal and bears walk the streets.

6. You can only go to Baikal in summer

7. Lake Baikal has cold water and summer beach holidays are impossible there.

8. Going to Baikal on your own is scary! – how to get to attractions? how to build routes? where to stay for accommodation? How to get around all the interesting things in a few days?

So, let’s debunk the myths about holidays on Lake Baikal.

MYTH 1. BAIKAL IS VERY FAR AWAY

Baikal is not at all the outskirts of Russia. Our country is so large that in fact Lake Baikal is located practically in the geographical center of Russia, exactly halfway between Kaliningrad and Vladivostok.

The distance from the capital of our Motherland to Lake Baikal is about 5000 km with a flight time of about 5 hours. This is little more than a flight to Antalya or Hurghada (3.5 and 4 hours respectively). Moreover, the time of departure from Moscow (late evening) and arrival back (early morning) was chosen very conveniently and the road was not at all tiring.

There are two ways to get to Lake Baikal:

- By plane

From Moscow– direct flight to Irkutsk or Ulan-Ude. Aeroflot, UTair, Ural Airlines and S7 fly to Irkutsk from Moscow. In Ulan-Ude - Aeroflot, Transaero, S7 and Yakutia. As a rule, flights are evening. Travel time is 5-6 hours.

From Saint-Petersburg– direct flight to Irkutsk by Ural Airlines and Rossiya airlines.

You can also fly to Baikal from other cities: Ekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Rostov-on-Don, Samara, Perm, Tyumen, Surgut, Omsk, Krasnoyarsk, Mirny, Tomsk, Barnaul, Blagoveshchensk, Vladivostok, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk and Yakutsk . Flight time is from 2 to 8 hours.

- By train

From Moscow you can travel without transfers to Irkutsk, Ulan-Ude, Baikalsk and Severobaikalsk. From St. Petersburg - only to Irkutsk. The journey from Moscow or St. Petersburg will take up to 4 days.

Stations in the south of Baikal Slyudyanka, Tankhoi, Baikalsk in the summer are used to transport tourist groups to the Khamar-Daban mountains; in the winter a ski resort operates in Baikalsk.

MYTH 2. THERE IS NOTHING TO SEE AT BAIKAL AND YOU SHOULD NOT SPEND YOUR ENTIRE FAMILY VACATION ON IT

Baikal is so multifaceted and unique in terms of options and vacation spots that it is impossible to explore all its beauties even over several vacations! There is almost everything for any type of holiday.

For those wishing to find a worthy alternative to a beach holiday, we can recommend and, where the warm and clear waters of the bays, gorgeous white sand and an abundance of sunny days will provide a great time for the whole family.

For those who want to combine travel with a medical and recreational holiday, Baikal will happily reveal its riches - after all. Thanks to the special climatic conditions and energy, holidays on Lake Baikal have a healing effect on the body, rejuvenating it.

And there are so many natural, cultural and historical attractions on Lake Baikal that it wouldn’t take even a few lifetimes to explore all its secrets! More deeply touch and explore its attractions.

And believe me, one vacation to explore all the beauty of Baikal will definitely not be enough for you!

Choose your favorite vacation option on Lake Baikal from the variety of species

MYTH 3. A TRIP TO BAIKAL IS VERY EXPENSIVE

More than half of those who come to Lake Baikal are students and pensioners whose income is quite modest!

Let's look at prices on Lake Baikal in more detail and consider vacation options on Lake Baikal.

The biggest cost component when traveling to Lake Baikal is the flight.

Currently, a flight from Moscow to Irkutsk will cost 12 thousand rubles one way. per person. By train the price is much lower (from 3.5 rubles for a one-way ticket), but not everyone wants to spend more than 3 days in a carriage.

Accordingly, the cost of a round trip flight will be within 25 thousand rubles. per person (Aeroflot provides discounts for pensioners). The rest of the costs depend on your holiday option on Lake Baikal.

Option 1 – vacation through a travel agency

Basically, Baikal tour operators include in their tour package all expenses from the moment they meet you at the airport (Irkutsk or Ulan-Ude) and board the plane back. You pay for the flight yourself.

The advantages of such a vacation are that all questions regarding the organization of your vacation are decided for you by the tour operator. At the same time, in a limited vacation time you can cover as many attractions as possible. But for this you have to pay for a tour package in addition to the flight.

The cost of a tour package depends on the time of year, the duration of the trip and the level of amenities. On average, a week's accommodation with excursions, meals and trips to attractions included will range from 15 to 40 rubles. per person. You can find out more about the prices for tours around Lake Baikal in these sections:

Option 2 – independent holiday on Lake Baikal

Those who are used to counting money and are not ready to overpay can be offered an independent holiday on Lake Baikal. And don’t be afraid of difficulties - more than 70% of tourists coming to Lake Baikal choose this particular vacation option. Obvious advantages are independent choice of routes and costs. At the same time, you can stay for accommodation either in any (prices from 500 rubles per day without meals) or in a tent on any part of the Baikal coast that you like - fortunately, there are a huge number of such picnics and places on Baikal.

The whole variety of independent recreation on Lake Baikal, attractions, contacts and places of accommodation can be explored in.

And if you want to see the route on the map and choose the appropriate one, then go to the page with.

Option 3 – traveling around Lake Baikal with a guide

4 Recreation option - volunteering

If you want to see Baikal in all its grandeur and not only not spend a penny on the trip, but also earn money, then you can come to these amazing places as a volunteer. There are a huge number of protected areas on Lake Baikal and helpers are needed here at any time of the year. Since 2003, the international project “Great Baikal Trail” has been implemented on Lake Baikal. You can choose any of them and declare your desire to come as a volunteer.

The choice of holiday option is yours!

But pay attention to the MAIN RULE OF ANY VACATION ON BAIKAL - after your stay, the vacation spot should remain at least as clean as before your arrival! Be friends with your conscience!

MYTH 4. THERE IS NO TOURIST INFRASTRUCTURE ON BAIKAL

Baikal is really not Türkiye or even the Black Sea coast. That is why these places still remain pure, sacred and full of energy and strength. But it is precisely this circumstance that attracts millions of tourists from all over the world to the shores of Lake Baikal every year.

More than half of the territory of Lake Baikal is occupied by national parks and reserves, and staying in these territories imposes certain obligations in relation to nature and the development of tourism infrastructure.

The trip to Baikal begins with arrival in regional cities (60 km northwest of Baikal) and (70 km southeast). These metropolitan merchant cities have so much originality and legendary history that it is definitely worth spending at least a couple of days getting to know them.

As for the tourist infrastructure on the coast of Baikal itself, it is no less than in Altai or Kamchatka. In any of them there will always be recreation centers, cafes, ATMs and shuttle buses.

Nevertheless, many travelers come to Baikal precisely to see its wild nature and pristine beauty. This is also enough here. But in this case, do not expect any benefits of civilization and first study the Boy Scout handbook and ;)

MYTH 5. THERE ARE A LOT OF MOSQUITOES ON BAIKAL AND BEARS WALK THE STREETS

Here the answer will be short.

There are absolutely no mosquitoes on the coast of Lake Baikal! The cold waters of the lake are unacceptable for the development of the larvae of this insect, which, as is known, develop only in warm water.

Bears often come ashore on Lake Baikal. Photo by Umar Ramazanov

Bears are found only in the northern part of the lake and are dangerous during the period after hibernation (April-May). During the rest of the period, it is a very cautious predator and tries not to catch the eye of humans. Almost throughout the entire territory of Lake Baikal, where tourist routes pass, the likelihood of meeting this owner of the taiga is extremely low. In recent years, there have been a few cases of tourists encountering a bear, and none with a fatal outcome.

MYTH 6. ON BAIKAL THE TOURIST SEASON IS ONLY IN SUMMER

You can relax on Lake Baikal all year round!

At any time of the year there is something to see and do on Baikal; you can come to Baikal all year round - in summer, autumn, winter and spring. The warmest months in the summer season are July and August, and to enjoy winter activities on Lake Baikal it is better to come in February-March, when the lake is covered with the strongest ice.
A stunning, unforgettable vacation is possible at different times of the year!

You can learn more about seasonal holidays on Lake Baikal at.

And choose a vacation option on Lake Baikal in any season

MYTH 7. BAIKAL HAS COLD WATER AND A BEACH HOLIDAY IS IMPOSSIBLE

At any time of the year at depth, Baikal has a constant water temperature of + 4 degrees. But almost along the entire coast of Baikal in the bays in the summer season (from mid-July to the end of August), the average water temperature reaches +20 degrees. And given that Baikal is one of the sunniest places in Russia, any tourist will be able to combine sunbathing and water treatments, diluting the relaxing bodily rest with visits to many cultural and ethnic attractions.

Particularly noteworthy in terms of beach holidays are such Baikal places as and, where the water in the bays warms up to +25 degrees. These are ideal places for a beach holiday on Lake Baikal.

MYTH 8. GOING TO BAIKAL BY YOURSELF IS SCARY

This is perhaps the most pressing question for all travelers who are planning an independent holiday on Lake Baikal.

More than a million wild tourists come to Lake Baikal every year, and previously they could not find detailed information about independent recreation, since most descriptions of Lake Baikal are on commercial websites of tour operators selling tours or personal pages of tourists who have visited Lake Baikal with highly emotional and subjective posts.

Seeing this situation, we launched .

Now any user of mobile devices, relaxing on Lake Baikal without access to the Internet, can find out all the information he needs about all the most interesting vacation spots, events and mapped routes to the most beautiful sights of Lake Baikal.

To do this, you just need to install our guide on your mobile phone and your personal guide-assistant around Lake Baikal will always be in your pocket!
And most importantly, from March 15, 2016, this mobile guide can be downloaded and installed on your phone absolutely free of charge!

For those who have constant access to the Internet, our section will help you choose a vacation spot on Lake Baikal, which contains detailed and reliably verified information about all the most interesting sights of the Baikal region with a detailed description of routes to vacation spots, as well as detailed Yandex- maps with the sights of Lake Baikal marked. The guide is constantly updated with new articles about this unique lake.

And since you have already read this article to the end and you are interested in the opportunity to visit the fabulous Baikal places, here is a link to help you with a free guidebook, which presents advice from experienced travelers on Baikal and has answers to all the most frequently asked questions about a trip to Baikal.

And believe me, anyone who has ever come to Baikal not only retains vivid and bright memories of this amazing vacation, but also becomes a true fan of this wonderful place and will definitely plan to return to these magical places more than once!

Independent travel is freedom. But for a trip to the deepest lake in the world to be unforgettable, it needs to be well planned. Especially if you eat Baikal like wild people, and don’t take a package tour and don’t plan to live in one of the tourist villages on the shores of Lake Baikal all the time.

There are many nuances regarding choosing a place to stay, necessary things and routes, which we will try to talk about in this article.

Tip: to plan your trip more thoughtfully, you can study ready-made tours of Lake Baikal, which describe all the points on the route (for example,) and borrow interesting ideas.

If you are traveling to Baikal with children, you will find it useful.

Detailed instructions on how to get by plane or train to the settlements closest to Lake Baikal. The further journey depends on the specific place you have chosen to visit.

And, as well as (if you are traveling through Ulan-Ude), which are worth going to, and, from which the journey usually begins.

The lake greatly influences the climate around it due to the fact that large bodies of water either absorb or release heat at different times. In spring, when the ice melts, the coast is cool until the very end of June.

But until October there is a beautiful, warm autumn here - in July and August, Baikal gets enough of the sun and slowly shares it.

Winters here are mild, but the winds constantly blow, and the temperature feels lower than it is.

The golden months for a trip are the tourist season on Lake Baikal - July and August (September is also warm, but at the height of the storm season). At this time, you can sunbathe and swim on the lake without fear of catching a cold; the temperature is usually between 20 and 30 degrees Celsius.

How to look for a deserted place

There are more and more tourists on the lake every year, so many places are crowded. Especially in places like Olkhon Island or Slyudyanka.

If anyone wants to relax alone, the solution is to take a tent, get to any tourist spot, and from there make one or two hikes along the shore.

For example, from Maksimikha along the shore to the right you can walk in four hours to a wonderful deserted beach and settle down there. It’s not far from civilization, but there are few people. Here you can swim in the warm Barguzin Bay or lie on the sand. If living in a tent is not interesting, then you can go up from the shore and rent a room from local residents, 500-600 rubles per day.

The most wild places of Baikal- this is the taiga northeast, the vicinity of Severobaikalsk: Dzelinda, Khakusy, Lake Frolikha. Dense forests, mountains, lakes preserved from the last ice age... Those for whom vacation is an adventure go here. You can stop at the Khakusa recreation center, and from there explore the surrounding area by boat.

If you get to Severobaikalsk by train, then it’s easy to get to Khakusa: a couple of hours by boat and you’re there. From Irkutsk either by plane or on a scheduled ship, you will have to pay from 5 thousand for travel.

Main tourist places

Even a savage with a tent may sooner or later need civilization or want to visit the remarkable places of Lake Baikal. We have described the attractions in detail, use it to plan your route. Below are the main points where infrastructure is developed, where you can easily rent a house, go to a cafe or shop, or find an ATM.

Where to look for housing

The tourism infrastructure on Lake Baikal is developed - you can rent accommodation in virtually any locality, prices range from 450 to 20,000 per day, depending on the level of comfort.

There are sites on the Internet dedicated to the topic:

http://baikalov.ru/ - there you can book a room, a house, a hotel room anywhere on the Baikal coast, and a room for 300 rubles, and luxury apartments for a couple of tens of thousands of rubles;
http://tvil.ru/ offers rentals not only on Baikal, but all over the world, so here you can rent a house or cottage only in the most popular places, the cost is quite high, from 8,000 per day;
http://na-ozero.ru/, prices here are low, from 500 rubles per day;
baikal-raduga.ru - guest house in Maksimikha - a proven place. It only accommodates 12 people and must be booked in advance. But the holiday will be wonderful - in the forest, not far from a wild beach, with a bathhouse. Accommodation without meals 850 rubles per day, meals 1100 (excellently prepared dishes of Buryat cuisine in a cozy dining room).

Although real savages prefer tents.

Useful online resources about Baikal for independent travelers

1. http://baikaler.ru/ - detailed guide to Lake Baikal.
2. http://www.magicbaikal.ru/ - virtual tour of the lake and its shores.
3. http://www.skitalets.ru, http://forum.awd.ru/, http://www.bpclub.ru/ are forums for independent travelers and tourists; there is a lot of useful information here specifically for planning a trip.

What you need to take with you to Baikal

1. 1. Set of warm clothes- a must even in hot July and August. At any moment, a cold wind can blow in from the mountains or from the lake; at night the temperature drops sharply, and at dawn it drops even lower.
   2. Mosquito and tick repellents- taiga forests mainly grow along the shores of Lake Baikal, so you need to protect yourself from blood-sucking insects.
   3. Ointment for burns Should be in your first aid kit, sunburns are common. The first aid kit must be fully stocked - the necessary medications are not always available even in hotels. You can read about how to collect it on any travel forum.
   4. Compulsory medical insurance policy And tick insurance.
   5. Comfortable shoes- on Baikal, most of the routes are pedestrian, so as not to kill your legs on the very first day, you need to take a pair in which you can definitely walk several kilometers in a row.

1. Cash. In many places, of course, they pay by card, but there are no ATMs in the taiga yet. If you want to go further away, take cash and do not take large bills - there is nowhere to change them.
2. If you get motion sickness, take medicine; you will have to travel a lot by bus or car, and to Olkhon and distant lakes - by ferry.

Things to know and remember

• Protect yourself and your companions by doing this before your trip. special insurance for travelers (it is issued by any major insurance company).
• Find out about everything in advance, buy tickets in advance, book accommodation - there are a lot of tourists, it’s even better to find a place to camp in a tent before the trip, at least approximately.
• Don't eat at all unfamiliar food(unless you are an extreme gourmet) and do not get carried away with Buryat cuisine - one of its main components is lamb fat; if you are not used to it, you can seriously upset your stomach and liver.
• Parking area near the water Don’t do it at night - there is a tide on Lake Baikal!

Who is still thinking about whether to go to Baikal or not, watch this educational film about the nature of the lake, the geography and culture of the peoples living around it:

Is it possible to swim in Baikal, when is the best time to go on vacation to Baikal, where are the best Baikal beaches, how to get there and which camp site to choose. There are many questions, even more answers.

This will be my first post on the topic of summer holidays on Baikal, here I will talk about the western side of Baikal from Irkutsk and its best beaches: where they are, how to get there and the best camp sites on the Small Sea, on Peschanka and on Olkhon with prices in 2019 .

The summer season on Lake Baikal lasts from May to October, but the peak season when you can swim on Lake Baikal is July-August.

As I already noted, the weather on Lake Baikal is quite capricious. The Baikal winds Sarma and Barguzin arise suddenly and can not only cause storms, but also at one moment bring with them cold and a dramatic change in weather. The Baikal wind speed can reach 60 km/h!

And even without them, the hot thirty-degree heat in July during the day and at night can tend to zero on the thermometer. Only because autumn is coming and this is Siberia. Or maybe this won’t happen, depending on your luck.

When going to Baikal, do not forget the local saying that the best clothing on Lake Baikal is a swimsuit and padded jacket.

In a certain sense, for a vacation on Lake Baikal to be a success, you must be lucky with the weather. Unfortunately, weather forecasts even for the near future on Lake Baikal rarely coincide with reality.
Although there are still some trends in the weather on Lake Baikal based on long-term observations and you can focus on them:

• In May on Baikal— the weather is changeable, the ice is not melting everywhere yet (in April, for example, it is quite possible to go and see winter Baikal and its famous ice). But the main thing is that ticks appear in huge numbers almost everywhere in May on Lake Baikal. They say that only Olkhon does not have this scourge, but I haven’t checked.
• In June on Baikal— it can be quite cool and frosty at night; there have been years when we had snow in June. And ticks continue to commit atrocities; without an encephalitis suit and vaccinations, a trip to Lake Baikal in May-June is a rather risky undertaking.
• In July on Baikal— already from the end of June, the hottest temperature of the year usually sets in (above 30-33 degrees) and the peak of the tourist season is observed with all that it entails, when several times more people come here than in any other summer months.
  The already limping tourist service on Lake Baikal is often in a state of shock in July. The tourist centers are overcrowded, the campsites are full, the ferries break down and people then queue for days to cross to Olkhon, and in general, everything is expensive and fussy to the point of disgrace.
  Because of this, I consider July generally the worst time to travel anywhere, and Baikal is one of the brightest examples of this rule of mine.
• In August on Baikal— in my opinion, the best time to visit Baikal is in the summer; the weather may not be as hot as in July, but the water warms up well and its temperature can be quite comfortable, especially in shallow coves and bays.
  There are still a lot of people, but local residents from Irkutsk try to take a vacation in July, and in August they come to Baikal for the weekend.
• In September on Baikal- usually very beautiful and if I didn’t go to Baikal in August, I usually go there in September, golden autumn, bright colors, incredibly beautiful landscapes, mushrooms, berries, pine nuts. At times I even want to become Pushkin or Aivazovsky.
• In October on Baikal— at the beginning of the month there are still hot days, and the water in the bays warmed up over the summer attracts daredevils to swim in Baikal even at this time of year. But the weather is different from year to year, you can’t guess, officially in October the high tourist season on Lake Baikal closes, at this time cold winds begin to blow even stronger and more often, the first snow may fall and in general it is already quite cold and dank. But this period of time on Lake Baikal also has a certain aesthetics.
  In general, Lake Baikal is always beautiful, but sometimes it is too cold for you to want to admire this beauty not on TV.

Beaches on Baikal where you can swim:

If icy water doesn’t scare you and you are a big fan of winter swimming, then there are no problems, this means that you can swim EVERYWHERE on Lake Baikal. 8) And almost all year round. Well, swimming in an ice hole is one of the favorite winter activities on Lake Baikal, and ice diving is a very extreme and indescribable emotion.

The maximum temperature to which the water in the bays of Baikal warms up is 24-25 degrees, but on average good water in Baikal in the summer is something around 20 degrees.

But where to go on Lake Baikal if you want sandy beaches, warm water and traditional tourist services? Let's figure it out.

The shore of Lake Baikal is unique because it is very diverse. The only thing that doesn't grow here is palm trees. Inaccessible cliffs and tall cliffs, huge boulders, centuries-old pines and Baikal larches - this is a typical Baikal landscape, which is found almost everywhere. But there are also real beaches here, no worse than on the Black Sea coast, and in other places not too inferior even to Thai beaches.

The bays or bays of Baikal, which I will talk about today, are distinguished by shallow water and sandy beaches, which means they are excellent places for swimming; camp sites on Lake Baikal are usually concentrated around these places on Lake Baikal. And as you might have guessed, all of them are not located in mega-popular areas with tourists.

There are quite a lot of wild beaches on Lake Baikal; many local residents have “their own” places, where they go with a tent in their own car from year to year. This can be much more convenient and comfortable than living in camp sites. Especially if you find a place away from noisy and not very cultured neighbors, lovers of Stas Mikhailov or Civil Defense and who believe that outdoor recreation involves immoderate libations with all that entails. Unfortunately, there are a lot of these in all Russian resorts.
But I'm not sure that's the case. how some people travel with tents to Baikal - in off-road jeeps, with a trailer loaded with the latest camping equipment - regular tents, storm-proof tents and an insect awning, electric generators, boats and all the necessary household utensils and provisions, that this format of travel can generally be called too budget and affordable for the average person. I believe that for the money that all this can cost, you can organize a real trip around the world. Here to each his own.

I’ll tell you about the largest, most famous and more or less accessible Baikal beaches, which can be reached by public transport. Still, this is the best combination of comfort and money spent on a trip to Baikal.

I marked all the best beaches of Baikal on the map, I recommend saving it to your Google account.

All Baikal beaches on the map:

A post shared by Russia Siberia(@cha_female) on Aug 5, 2017 at 10:42pm PDT

The best camp sites on the Small Sea on Lake Baikal:

You can book houses on the Small Sea directly on the spot. The average price is 500-1000 rubles. per person, depending on seasonality. Facilities are usually in the courtyard, an outdoor shower or bathhouse; there is no running water in this room. Rooms with amenities cost twice or three times more. Meals are usually offered for a fee.

Be aware that availability at resorts can be tight during the high season. Therefore, some especially popular tourist centers can be filled for many weeks in advance and it is better to book them well in advance of the travel date.

Book a camp site in Sakhayurt:

• Tourist base "Baikal Rainbow"- one of the best places in Sakhyurt according to tourists, with an excellent location. Just 3 minutes to the beach, close to Mukhor Bay, free Wi-Fi and rooms with all amenities. Price from 2160 rub. per room per day. Breakfast can be purchased separately for 280 rubles. Now there is a special promotion for this camp site - you can book places there with a -33% discount.
• "Guest house "Eldorado" it is also well located, almost on the very shore of Lake Baikal and offers everything you need for relaxation, there is even a kettle and a microwave, except that the Internet is not enough. Price from 2000 rub. per day
• Guest house "Azatey"“—appeared on the booking site recently, but the database itself has been well known for a long time and has a good reputation. Spacious rooms with a private bathroom, views of Lake Baikal and a private kitchen where you can prepare your own meals. Price from 2800 rub. per room per day.

Book a camp site on Zuun Hagun:

• Guest House "Zoon"— located in the village of Shida, there is everything you need for a good rest, even an iron and coffee maker, which is extremely rare in these places.

Book a camp site on Mandarkhan:

• Mandarkhan View— offers rooms with views of Lake Baikal. The room has a refrigerator and electric kettle, kitchen utensils for self-cooking. Price from 2600 per room

Book a camp site in Togota:

• Recreation center Togot— offers rooms of different classes, its own pier with rental of boats and catamarans, its own guide at the camp site conducts excursions for vacationers to the sights of the Small Sea and Olkhon. Prices from 3800 rub. per night

Book a camp site in Sarma:

• Recreation center Chara- has very good reviews and is very popular among tourists. One minus is that Baikal is about 200 meters from the camp site. Comfortable rooms with bath and shower, beautiful views of the lake, close location to the beach, parking for hotel guests, private transfer from Irkutsk and a restaurant with barbecue. Price from 3280 rub. per night.
• Tourist base "Da-Shi"— a very good camp site on the Small Sea with its own beach and comfortable rooms. The Sarma Gorge is only about two hours away on foot. Price from 3600 rub. for a double room.

Book a camp site in Kurma on Baikal:

• At Cape Uyuga you can book a campsite with a sauna and free parking for just 250 rubles. per night.
• At the Pier recreation center from RUB 2,160. All the benefits of civilization are available for the room and it’s only 10 minutes to the beach.
• Rancho Laguna is another one of the most popular camp sites on the Small Sea. Price from 1340 rub. for a bungalow with a shared toilet and bathroom, a room with amenities costs from 2340 rubles, and entire cottages are also available for rent here for large groups, which is quite convenient.

Beach on Olkhon:

I talked more than enough about Olkhon Island and the village of Khuzhir in my blog. True, I talked about the features of winter holidays there and shared my impressions of a trip to Olkhon in the spring. But the guide will be relevant at any time of the year:

In addition to the attractions and entertainment on Olkhon listed in my last post, you can also swim here in the summer.

Khuzhir and the entire tourist part of Olkhon are located facing the Small Sea, which means there are no such cold currents here as in Big Baikal and the water manages to warm up well over the summer.

Holidays on Lake Baikal in the summer are the dream of many. When we talk about our trip to the lake, people exclaim, “Oh, yes, I’ve been dreaming of getting there for a long time!” Today I have collected in one place useful information about holidays on Lake Baikal: prices for accommodation, transport, food, entertainment, how to get to the lake, what interesting places to visit. Here you can also find some tips, reviews and recommendations that will certainly be useful if you are going on a trip.

In the Barguzin Bay

Lake Baikal is one of the symbols of Russia, the deepest lake in the world, the largest source of fresh drinking water... many epithets apply to it. Transparent water, picturesque shores and bays covered with pine forests, secluded bays - all this attracts tourists, who are becoming more numerous every year.

Mostly, people come to Baikal in the summer (from June to September). The weather here is most comfortable at this time, when there is little rainfall and it is warm. In addition, some tourists come in winter (January-March), these are lovers of active recreation: ice skating on Lake Baikal, dog sledding, snowmobiling. There are many fans of ice fishing - avid fishermen do not need to explain why they should go to Baikal in winter;-)

Holidays on Lake Baikal in summer: nuances

We visited Baikal twice - the first time we oohed and aahed at the beauty, and the second time everything was great too, but some moments caught our eye. I’ll tell you about them.

A trip to Baikal is chosen by romantics who want to take a break from the bustle of the city and the noise of big cities, be alone with nature, and find peace in their souls. It has its own specifics, don’t expect an all-inclusive paradise holiday with first-class service, people come here for something else.

• The weather on Baikal is changeable, strong winds often blow from the lake, the ideal weather is in July and August.
• The water in the lake is generally quite cold. Although Baikal is called a sea, the water temperature in it is more like that of the northern seas, not the southern ones. There are places where it warms up well by the end of July-August, and if swimming is very important to you, I recommend choosing these places: the coast of the Small Sea, Chivyrkuisky Bay, Enkhaluk and some other places on the east coast. It’s shallow there and you can’t get out of the water for a long time on hot days. In other places you can only take a dip.
• More details about.
• During the high season, tourists leave behind a lot of garbage in especially popular places.
• Logistics. The lake stretches more than 600 km in length and it leaves its mark. For example, between Olkhon and Barguzin Bay there is no more than 50 km in a straight line, but you will have to travel around the lake by land. Yes, you can sail by ship, they rarely sail on this route, and hiring a private one is expensive.
• Ecology. We regret to admit that the ecology of the lake has been greatly damaged. On our first visit (5 years ago), we didn’t hesitate to take water from the lake and drink it, but now in some places we have to filter it because of algae. Before leaving, check the news, in recent years forests have often been burning, because of this, smog hangs over the lake, so you can’t really see anything.
• Infrastructure. Almost all coastal villages are small and cannot boast of a developed infrastructure, but you can almost always buy the necessary things, products, and rent housing.

How to get to Baikal?

The most convenient way is to first get to Irkutsk or Ulan-Ude, two large cities near the lake, and then go from there to the desired place. If you are heading to the west coast, then you will go to Irkutsk, and if you are heading to the east coast, to Ulan-Ude.

From the European part of Russia or the cities of the Far East, the best option is to fly by plane. Flights from Moscow to Irkutsk and back will cost 22-23 thousand rubles per person. From Vladivostok expect about the same amount, from Khabarovsk it is a little cheaper.

Recently, the low-cost carrier Pobeda began selling tickets from Moscow to Irkutsk and Ulan-Ude; on sale you can get them for free (999 rubles each), but this is in the off-season. Their usual price is about 7000-8000 thousand one way, which is also very good.

If time allows or you live not so far from Lake Baikal, then you can go by train.

We have detailed instructions about that, everything is described there in detail.

Traveling to Baikal by car is a separate adventure. The distance from Moscow is more than 5 thousand kilometers, and Russian roads are a brand ;-) Although now the federal highway M-53 “Baikal” is in relatively good condition, there are still unpaved sections between Krasnoyarsk and Irkutsk, but they will soon be completed. Around Baikal itself, everything is not so joyful - holes, ruts, unpaved roads on many roads.

Sights, where to go

To begin with, you can get acquainted with the main cities of the Baikal region: and. Follow the links to find descriptions of the main interesting places in these cities.

The most popular vacation spots on Lake Baikal are the coast, Olkhon Island,. These resorts have the best developed infrastructure, a large selection of accommodation, but in the high season there are many tourists, and the prices for everything are inflated.

Beach in Listvyanka

I recommend it to everyone - the perfect combination of privacy and everyday amenities. This is an island with incredible energy; it was not without reason that ancient people considered it a place of power where shamans performed their rituals.

Olkhon Island, Shamanka Rock

It is best to come to Lake Baikal with children to one of the many bays of the Small Sea. In August, the water warms up to a comfortable temperature, and the entrance to the water is gentle.

On the eastern shore they go to Chivyrkuisky Bay and Enkhaluk.

The Eastern Shore is simply a wonderful place! Sandy beaches, picturesque pine trees and fresh air. Yes, it takes a long time to get there, but all the effort is worth it, believe me. There, on the eastern shore, there is the oldest reserve in Russia - Barguzinsky.

If you prefer a real wild holiday with a tent in the taiga, then you should go to the north of the lake - to the area of ​​​​Severo-Baikalsk and Nizhneangarsk. I haven’t been there yet, so I can’t tell you specifically, but many people praise it.

Beach in Maksimikha

I recommend visiting only the west or only the east coast at a time, especially if you don’t have much time - moving from one coast to another will take time and effort.

Arshan, valley of the Kyngarga river

On the way from Irkutsk you can stop by the open-air ethnographic museum.

— a description of our two-day hike.

In winter, many people go snowboarding or skiing to Baikalsk, but in summer you shouldn’t swim on the southwestern coast - the water in this place in the lake is not very clean.

Read also:

Prices for holidays on Lake Baikal

The total cost of a trip to Lake Baikal will be no less than a package tour somewhere in a warm country with an all-inclusive beach. Be mentally prepared for this.

You can save a lot only by living in a tent, cooking over a fire and driving your own car in a large group (so that you can share the cost of gasoline) or even hitchhiking.

Accommodation prices

Prices for holidays on Lake Baikal in 2017 in guest houses and budget hotels start from 800-900 rubles. 3* hotels cost from 1800 rubles per day per room, there are also luxury complexes for 5 thousand per room per day. There are few large hotels on Lake Baikal; these are mainly private guest houses or bases. The cost of accommodation depends on the season: in July-August prices rise, and in the off-season you can book with a good discount.

Transport prices

Public transport is well developed between Irkutsk, Ulan-Ude and other popular places on the coast. In general, the cost of one km of travel is 2.5-3 rubles, which is quite expensive. To save money, you can look at the BlaBlaCar website and share the cost of gasoline with someone, and at the same time get there along the way - locals often use it themselves, those without cars.

By your car. Gasoline on Lake Baikal is slightly more expensive than in the European part of Russia and the Urals. In addition, there are almost no network gas stations far from the main highways, and the quality of gasoline is questionable; try to refuel to the fullest in big cities.

There is also horse-drawn transport

Food prices

A hearty lunch in a cafe will cost 350-450 rubles. The local cuisine is quite simple, but be sure to try the Buryat poses (buuzy), and smoked omul - the most important delicacy and wealth of Lake Baikal.

To save money, you can buy food in supermarkets and cook it yourself in a shared kitchen (if possible), or over a fire/gas if you are traveling as a savage. The cheapest supermarkets in Irkutsk and Ulan-Ude, on Olkhon and Listvyanka are all 20-25% more expensive.

Buy omul for home and souvenirs at the central market in Irkutsk - you will save twice. There you will also find herbs and much more at good prices.

Gifts of the forest and our own reserves :)

Entertainment prices

Everything here is individual and depends on the specific case. For example, entrance to the Taltsy ethnographic museum costs 150 rubles, and to the nerpinarium in Listvyanka - 500 rubles. Excursions on ships and boats are popular - from 400-500 rubles per hour. You can book a group excursion - for example, a full-day trip from Khuzhir around Olkhon Island cost me 1,000 rubles including lunch.

On the coast you can ride a banana boat, you can rent an ATV and other water things, go paragliding - demand creates supply, and now there are many options for you to choose from.

The best recreation centers on Lake Baikal

We have selected the best places to stay on the lake with the highest ratings and reviews.

— located in the place where the Angara flows from Lake Baikal, at the entrance to Listvyanka. Suitable for a relaxing family holiday; it is located away from the highway and is therefore quiet.

Cost from 1900 rubles per room (2 people) with breakfast.

- one of the most popular hotels in Listvyanka, located right next to the bus station in the very center of the village. View from the windows of the rooms on the lake, there is a restaurant-khinkalaya, friendly staff.

Cost from 4800 rubles per room (2 people) with breakfast.

— located at the very beginning of the village of Khuzhir in a quiet place among coniferous trees. Large territory, children's playground, wooden houses - simple and tasteful. You can order additional food or cook yourself, which is convenient.

— the location couldn’t be better, it’s a few minutes’ walk to Cape Burkhan. Cozy homely atmosphere, all sorts of vintage things, interesting interior.

— is located on the very shore of Lake Baikal in an area called Sarma in the Small Sea. Private beach with sun loungers and deck chairs, sauna. Gorgeous view of the lake, its own bar-restaurant, swimming pool.

Cost from 3600 rubles per room (2 people).

— is located in Gremyachinsk on the east coast. There is a sauna, children's playground, comfortable rooms, and its own restaurant.

Cost from 4200 rubles per room (2 people) with breakfast.

— located in Maksimikha, 10 meters from Lake Baikal, the lake literally splashes under the balcony. Spacious rooms with carpets and balconies, own restaurant.

Cost from 3200 rubles per room (2 people) with breakfast.

— is located in Goryachinsk on the eastern coast of the lake. Cozy rooms upholstered in wood, a chic children's playroom and area, indoor pool, sauna.

Cost from 3000 rubles per room (2 people) with breakfast.

- east coast near Enkhaluk. A large cozy area, wooden houses, delicious food, and a sandy beach nearby.

Cost from 1500 rubles per room (2 people).

You can live in a tent, that's good too

Finally

Holidays on Lake Baikal in summer are ideal for active people who adore nature, walks in the woods and sitting around a fire overlooking the sunset.

The stunning nature and beauty of Lake Baikal captures you from the first time, so you want to come back again and again. I wish you successful travels!