Summer mystery - Group tours
Group size: 4 – 9 people
Duration: 7 days
Day 1: Irkutsk
Meet at the railway station accompanied by our English-speaking guide. Check-in to the hotel “Victory***” (breakfast only). Shower/rest. Enjoy a 2-hour walking city tour. It starts at the historical part of the city: Epiphany Cathedral, the oldest stone-structure Church of our Saviour and the only Catholic Cathedral in Irkutsk, Polish Roman Catholic Church. The tour leads you through the Kirov Square and circus, taking you to the main street of Irkutsk, the Karl Marks Street. You’ll walk along the street to get to the Angara river embankment. Right there, where the monument to Alexander III is, all young people gather, so you’ll have a chance to see “the youth culture” of Irkutsk. Free time. Overnight.
Day 2: Listvyanka (B)
Breakfast. Car transfer to the village situated only 60km away from Irkutsk - Listvyanka. On the way visit an open-air wooden architecture museum “Taltsy”. In the museum you’ll see the settlements of indigenous Siberian people of 17th-20th centuries. Some of the buildings presented in the museum were brought there from the villages that were flooded after building hydro-electric dams in the Irkutsk region. Check-in to a mini-hotel. Guided walk to a local biological museum that also has a set of aquariums. In one of the aquariums there is the ony mammal representative – the Baikal Seal. Visit a nearby view point, where you’ll get a chance to take panoramic pictures of Baikal from above. Enjoy your visit to a local 19th century wooden St.Nicolas church and a local fish market where you’ll see a great variety of fish and different ways of cooking it. Free time. Overnight.
Day 3: Bolshie Koty (BLD)
Breakfast. Arrive at Bolshie Koty by boat, check-in to the resort “Priut Staratelei”. Enjoy an easy 2-hour hike to the lunch place on the shore of Lake Baikal. Hike back to the resort. Free time. Banya (Russian sauna) in the evening. Overnight.
Day 4: Olkhon Island (B)
Breakfast. Get back to Listvyanka by boat and catch your car transfer to Khuzhir village on Olkhon Island (Khuzhir is the main village of the Island with the population of 1500 people). Check-in to a mini-hotel in the afternoon. Shower/rest. Visit to the Buryat (indigenous people) village where the natives will tell you about their origin and open up a few secrets for you. Enjoy the sunset on the Shaman cape near the Khuzhir village. Overnight.
Day 5: Olkhon Island (BL)
Breakfast. A day long trip to the northern part of the Island by car (lunch included). You’ll be taken to the best view points of Olkhon Island where the guide will introduce you to all mysterious legends that this place holds. Return to the village. Overnight.
Day 6: Irkutsk (B)
Breakfast. Check-out from the mini-hotel. Transfer to Irkutsk. Check-in to the Victoria hotel. Free time. Overnight.
Day 7: Irkutsk (B)
Breakfast. Check-out from the hotel. End of the programme.
Price includes:
- Accommodation at the Victoria hotel for 2 nights;
- Accommodation at the mini-hotel in Listvyanka (shared facilities) for 1 night – possible upgrade;
- Accommodation at the mini-hotel in Bolshie Koty (shared facilities) for 1 night;
- Accommodation at the mini-hotel on Olkhon Island (shared facilities) for 2 nights – possible upgrade;
- Meals as listed in the itinerary;
- Transfers as listed in the itinerary;
- Full guided service for the whole trip;
- Tours and trips as listed in the itinerary;
- Museum tickets;
- Banya on Day 3;
- National park entrance fee;
- Visa registration.