Beihai Lake Baikal - Travel Guide

Here is a travel guide for Lake Baikal: Preparation • Visa: Apply for a Russian visa. You can apply for an e-visa, which usually costs around CNY 377 and takes 4 working days to process. • Flights: Direct flights from Beijing to Irkutsk are more convenient. Round-trip flights cost around CNY 1,600 in the off-season. • Clothing: Thermal underwear, down jackets, fleece pants, ski socks, Lei Feng hats, and gloves are essential. You should also bring non-slip shoes and crampons. • Other items: Power banks, cameras, and common medicines. Transportation • External transportation: Fly to Irkutsk Airport, then take a bus, chartered car, or carpool to the scenic spots around Lake Baikal. • Internal transportation: You can take a bus from downtown Irkutsk to Listvyanka. You need to take an off-road bus or hovercraft to Olkhon Island, and you can take a local small steel cannon car to travel around the island. Recommended attractions • Olkhon Island: You can visit Cape Khoboy and Khara-Nurga Bay on the north line, and see flat blue ice, icicles, and ice caves on the south line. • Listvyanka: You can visit the Baikal Museum, take a cable car to the mountain to overlook the lake, and visit the fish market to taste lake fish. • Downtown Irkutsk: Savior Church, Cathedral, and Kazan Cathedral are worth seeing. Accommodation • Irkutsk: It is recommended to stay in the city center for convenient travel. • Listvyanka: The lakeside wooden homestay is very special, such as the Belka wooden house, which is cost-effective. • Olkhon Island: Nikita Manor is a large homestay, close to the Shaman Pillar, and includes buffet breakfast and dinner. Recommended food • Russian food: Russian borscht, Russian barbecue, etc. • Lake Baikal fish: You can taste freshly caught lake fish at the local fish market. Sample itinerary • 4-day winter tour: • Day 1: Arrive at Irkutsk Airport, head to Olkhon Island, stay in a characteristic wooden house on Olkhon Island, and go to Shaman Rock to watch the sunset in the afternoon. • Day 2: One-day tour of the north line, take a small steel cannon to the northern end of Olkhon Island, such as Cape Khoboy. • Day 3: Go to the south line to enjoy flat blue ice, icicles, ice caves, etc. • Day 4: Leave Olkhon Island, go to downtown Irkutsk, and end the trip.