Day 1: fly to Irkutsk
Arrive in Moscow. Overnight flight Moscow – Irkutsk.
Day 2: Irkutsk - Lake Baikal and Angara estuary
Arrive in Irkutsk in the morning. Transfer to Nikola village in the place where Angara river flows out of Lake Baikal (ca. 70 km). Accommodation in a guest house. Some time for rest. After lunch take a short drive to Listvianka. Visit to Limnological museum, walk along the Baikal embankment, take cable lift up to Chersky stone to get magnificent views of Baikal and Angara estuary. Return to the guesthouse. Russian banja in the evening.
Day 3: Lake Baikal - Irkutsk
After breakfast drive to Taltsy museum to see the wooden architecture of the Baikal area. Then continue to Irkutsk. After lunch explore Irkutsk and visit to the museum of Volkonsky family – one of the noble families exiled here by Russian tzar after the uprising of 1825. Overnight in a hotel in Irkutsk.
Day 4: Irkutsk – Olkhon Island
Drive to the largest island in the lake - Olkhon island (ca. 6-8 hours including ferry). Accommodation in guesthouse in Khuzhir or Kharantsy village in Olkhon. Picnic lunch on the way. Dinner and overnight in the guesthouse. Olknon is a sacral place for local people, the centre of Buriatian shamanism. The legend says that Genghis Khan, the world-known conqueror was buried some where in Olkhon. On the island one may observe the whole variety of Siberian landscapes: steppes gradually turn into taiga and mountains.
Day 5: Olkhon Island
Full day sightseeing on the Island. First we will meet local shaman. Then we will take a vehicle-supported trip to Shara-nur mud lake and possibly climb up to a magnificent view point over Olkhon island and Baikal lake. And finally we will visit Buriatian village, an open-air museum where we will learn more about local folklore and traditions. Overnight in the guesthouse.
Day 6: Olkhon Island
In the morning we drive to Khoboi cape, a very beautiful northern cape of the island. This is a place where so called Small and Big Seas join together. If the weather is good it is possible to see the shapes of the opposite side of the lake. En route we will have several stops: stop at beautiful sandy dunes, near picturesque “Three brother's” cape and in Uzury village. Picnic lunch. Breakfast and dinner in the guesthouse.
Day 7: Olkhon Island
Free time on the Island. It is possible to rest on the shores of Baikal lake, have some walks, explore the main village Khuzhir, see Shaman-rock, the symbol of the lake.
Day 8: Olkhon Island - Irkutsk
Drive back to Irkutsk, picnic lunch on the way. Overnight in Irkutsk.
Day 9: Irkutsk - Ulan-Ude
Transfer to the railway station and take afternoon train to Ulan-Ude. The train ride takes about 7 hours during which the train will go through Siberian taiga and along the beautiful coast of Baikal Lake. Arrive in Ulan-Ude. Transfer to the hotel hotel. Overnight in Ulan-Ude
Day 10: Ulan-Ude
City tour of Ulan-Ude including entry to the museum of Buriatian History (there is the only-in-Russia copy of the Chinese Atlas of Tibet Medicine). After lunch drive about 30 km to the foots of Khamar-Daban Range to see Ivolginsky Datsan, the main Buddhist Datsan n Russia.
Day 11: departure
Transfer to the airport. Morning flight to Moscow. Due to time difference the plane arrives in Moscow in the morning as well. So it's possible to fly out Moscow on the same day.