Tour to Listvyanka with Transfers

General information

Destination
Irkutsk, Russia

Program details

Listvyanka village, only one hour from Irkutsk, is a must-see destination for any traveller to explore the natural wonder of this region, Lake Baikal, the oldest (25 million years) and deepest existing freshwater lake in the world. The lake was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996.



This small settlement, located on the shore of Lake Baikal at the source of the Angara river, some 65 km south-east from Irkutsk, is a starting point for many Baikal routes. Many rivers carry their waters into Baikal, but the only river that flows out of it is the Angara.



Highlights



On the way we will visit the ethnographic open-air Museum "Taltsy", located on the Angara River. The exhibits of the museum are the original wooden buildings of the peoples of Siberia built in XVII – XIX centuries.

Upon arrival at Listvyanka you will enjoy a walking tour around village. You will visit the Baikal Limnological Museum, devoted to the flora and fauna of Lake Baikal. We will see aquariums with Baikal freshwater seals (known locally as the nerpa) and more than 20 species of Baikal fish.



Afterwards you will take the chair-lift up to the Stone of Chersky observation point for the most breathtaking panorama of Baikal and the source of the Angara River with legendary Shaman Rock, Baikal Port and the Circum-Baikal railway.



For travellers Lake Baikal offers not only hundreds of amazing natural sites. Also the Baikal region is considered to be a confluence of different religions. The most spread of them are the Orthodoxy, the Buddhism and the Shamanism.



You will visit the wooden Church of Saint Nicolas the Wonderworker - the guardian angel of travelers, and the local fish market where you can buy Baikal fish prepared differently: salted, dried, cold smoked or hot smoked on alder branches.