Example Itinerary
Lake Baikal Winter Adventures
- Duration
- 7 days / 6 nights
- Price Per Person
-
Terms & Conditions
Price is based on double or twin hotel room occupancy and includes accommodation, transfers, car/driver, English-speaking guide, activities and entrance fees, breakfasts and some casual lunches while touring. Flights and optional special activities will be quoted separately. Most personal expenses, including dinners, alcoholic beverages, spa treatments and gratuities can be paid on the spot while traveling. Prices may vary depending on season, choice of accommodation and other factors.
- Interests
- Amazing Landscapes
- Destinations
- Siberia & Russian Far East
Please note: Due to international sanctions, we are currently unable to accept bookings for Russia.
Surely the most magical time of year should be spent in a magical location. From the natural beauty of Lake Baikal to the gorgeous architecture of Irkutsk, there is nowhere quite so perfect as Siberia to immerse yourself in true winter. Stay in luxury accommodation and enjoy a thoroughly Russian experience, from traditional folk performances to home-cooked meals with local families. Sample humble regional dishes and dine on the finest authentic cuisine, sipping vodka and champagne. Discover layers of history and tradition, while taking in breathtaking scenes of a winter wonderland.
This itinerary is an example. It’s designed to inspire you and provide you with thoughtfully curated ideas. You can choose to do this exact itinerary or completely personalize it. All trips are 100% bespoke.
Highlights
- Bird's Eye Views: A hovercraft ride over scenic Lake Baikal offers gorgeous aerial views of the icy landscapes below.
- Winter Pastimes: What better way to enjoy the season than with a scenic picnic and hot tea atop the frozen lake.
- Food: In Irkutsk, you're invited to join a local family at their dacha house for a traditional dinner.
- Culture: The Buryats are an ethnic group that predates Russian Siberia and their folkloric traditions are still going strong.
Day-by-Day
Day 1
MapIrkutsk
Arriving into Irkutsk's airport, you'll meet with your guide and transfer to your hotel. In the afternoon, you'll head out into the city for a tour of one of Siberia's oldest settlements. Explore the restored historical district, enjoy lunch at a local restaurant, then pay a visit to the Museum of Decembrists, which details a failed 1825 rebellion against the emperor and the exile of rebel leaders to Siberia.
Hotel Options
Day 2
MapOlkhon Island
After breakfast at your hotel, you'll transfer to Olkhon Island, an isolated, rustic and picturesque area of Lake Baikal. Along the way, you'll pop into the Museum of Ethnolography at Ust-Orda Village to learn about the Buryats, a local ethnic group that predates Russian Siberia. The Buryats mostly follow shamanic traditions and you'll enjoy a folklore performance and shamanic show here before lunch in a yurt. Heading to your lakeside accommodation for the evening, you'll be treated to an epic sunset over the lake.
Hotel Options

Day 3
MapOlkhon Island
Today, you'll explore the region via an off-road vehicle with a trip to Khoboy, a northern cape with a splendid view. Other scenic spots you'll encounter include Uzury Bay, Bukhan Cape and Shaman Rock. Tuck into a picnic lunch atop the ice of the lake before returning to your hotel for the evening.
Day 4
MapOlkhon Island
Next, you'll head to Ogoy Island and Kobylya Golova, also known as Mare's Head Cape, which was awarded the status of natural monument in 1981. Kobylya Golova Cape is a great photography location, as is the white Buddhist stupa situated on the island. Take in your surroundings with a picnic lunch before heading back to your hotel for the evening.

Day 5
MapIrkutsk
Today you'll return to Irkutsk, stopping in a local cafe along the way for lunch. The journey takes around six hours and you'll arrive back into Irkutsk in the evening, ready for dinner and to check in to your hotel.
Hotel Options
Day 6
MapIrkutsk
Your last full day includes a trip to nearby Listvyanka, where you'll visit the Open-Air Museum of Wooden Architecture and the Museum of Lake Baikal. After lunch at a local restaurant, you'll take a two-hour ride on a hovercraft over Baikal's ice, stopping for hot tea mid-way. Upon your return to Irkutsk, you'll drop into a dacha house belonging to a local family, where you'll be welcomed for a traditional dinner.

Day 7
MapDeparture
After breakfast at your hotel and depending on your flight time, you'll transfer to the airport in plenty of time for your onward journey.

Exclusively Asia
With Remote Lands you'll travel with people who have made Asia the solitary focus of their own lifelong adventure. As our guest, you'll discover Asia on a journey that is completely, authentically your own, adapted from our own remarkable experiences and adventures over the years.
With Remote Lands you'll travel with people who have made Asia the solitary focus of their own lifelong adventure. As our guest, in the continent that our north American founders Catherine and Jay have adored and explored for decades, you'll discover Asia on a journey that is completely, authentically your own, adapted from our own remarkable experiences and adventures over the years.
Travelogues
An Asia-focused magazine brought to you by Remote Lands - a platform for adventure, luxury, and authenticity from experts and explorers around the continent.
Mongolia and Siberia: Adventure at the Edge of the World
- Author
- Travelogues
Whether it’s the frozen ice sheets of Baikal or the Flaming Cliffs of the Gobi, Mongolia and Siberia offer travelers a chance to get close to mother nature and far from everything else.
Winter Travel Season for South Siberia Approaches
- Author
- Travelogues
Next month South Siberia get a little bit whiter as the snows come to the frozen wastes. A route on two wheels and by rail from Tomsk and Tobolsk features lands of fairytale, literature, and architecture.
Baikal Marathon: The Ultimate Challenge
- Author
- John McMahon
In the frozen wastes of Siberia is Lake Baikal. Only the most hardened runners take on this marathon on ice, the challenge of a lifetime.
What Others Say
Here is a small selection of the kind words our clients have said about us recently.

Couple from New York
Every activity was coordinated to perfection and we couldn’t be more happy.

Peter, Litchfield, CT
Remote Lands arranged an absolutely flawless trip for me to Delhi, Agra and Rajasthan where I stayed in some of the world's finest hotels.

A couple from Toronto
We wanted to visit hospitals, a nursing class, and a school classroom to interact with the local people, and Remote Lands was able to arrange all of this for us.