The taste of Lake Baikal. Gastronomic tour

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Many peoples and cultures intersect on Lake Baikal – the indigenous Buryats, the Russians who came and strengthened themselves, Baikal is separated from the Mongols only by the Khamar-Daban mountain range, and Uzbek and Chinese cuisine were brought here by merchant caravans. This tour is a rare opportunity to try a mix of dishes from Buryat, Chinese, Asian and Siberian cuisines!

Location

Russia, Irkutsk

Sightseeing tours

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Weekdays: 8am - 8pm
Weekends: 8am - 7pm (GMT +3)

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Tour highlights

Famous Buryat buuzes

We will taste the most delicious dish of Buryat cuisine and even learn how to cook it

Chinese cuisine

Let's try dishes from chefs specially invited from Shanghai and Harbin

Taltsy Museum

Let's take a walk through the ethnographic museum in the open air

Circum-Baikal Railway

Let's get acquainted with the architectural heritage of a century ago and learn about the history of its creation

Baikal fish

Let's take a walk through the local market and try fresh cold and hot smoked fish

Itinerary

Day 1 - Irkutsk
09:00 The starting point of our route from Irkutsk airport.
We recommend arriving in the city no later than 08:00.
After meeting with our esteemed guests, we will all go to the hotel together to relax after a long journey and gain strength to explore Irkutsk.
First of all, we will go to a Russian cuisine restaurant for lunch.
On the menu you will find dishes prepared according to recipes of the XVIII–XIX centuries, which recreate the atmosphere of a merchant's table.
The lunch will be truly rich and includes:
roast beef salad;
borscht with sour cream;
vinaigrette with pears;
steak;
cherry cake.
After a hearty lunch, we will start exploring Irkutsk.
In our excursion program you will see only the most significant places in the history of the city.
In the evening, we will have a real meat feast in the first smoker restaurant in the city.
It was here, in Khasanovsky Lane, since 1872, that the famous wine cellars of the Nerchinsk millionaire Mikhail Butin — an entrepreneur, public figure, philanthropist, true patriot and just a surprisingly interesting person from the history of Irkutsk - were located.
We will definitely try:
roast beef with smoked cherries;
pork knuckle with cabbage;
for dessert — mousse "White mushroom".
After a hearty dinner, we will return to the hotel to relax and gain strength before the new day.
Meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner.
As part of our gastronomic tour, we offer you a variety of meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner. Don't miss the opportunity to enjoy the best dishes of Russian cuisine in the atmosphere of Irkutsk!

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Day 2 - Ust-Orda settlement
At 12:00 we will go on a trip to the village of Ust-Orda, one of the brightest centers of Buryat culture.
There we will be met by the owner of the yurt, a traditional Buryat dwelling, and will perform a fire purification ceremony so that we can enter the world of Buryats with a pure heart.
The owner of the yurt will tell us about the life of the Buryat people and teach us how to cook the main national dish — buuz.
And the host, playing a national instrument, will perform an amazing song about the hunter Choridoi, filled with throat singing.
At the end, we will all start dancing together and dance a circular dance round dance.
After this immersion in Buryat culture, an equally fascinating gastronomic journey awaits us.
You will taste the recently prepared bouzes, khushuur with homemade cream cheese, Baikal fish soup, cherry dessert "Urme" made of farm cream with grissini, tincture on pine nuts and tea with steppe herbs.
After a hearty lunch, we return to Irkutsk and have a little rest before a new gastronomic adventure.
We will have the opportunity to walk around the city until 18:30.
At 19:00 we are going on a trip to China, and for this you do not need to cross the border or even leave the city!
We will visit a Chinese cuisine restaurant, where chefs specially invited from Shanghai and Harbin monitor compliance with the authentic recipe.
The business card of the restaurant is Peking duck, cooked according to ancient Chinese recipes in a unique marinade.
This dish will saturate you with the flavors of Oriental cuisine.
And for dessert, we'll try the Shanghai cloud.
After dinner, we return to the hotel and enjoy our vacation.
The price includes: breakfast, lunch and dinner.

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Day 3 - Listvyanka
After breakfast, we go to Lake Baikal, to the village of Listvyanka.
Just an hour on the way — and we are there!
Along the way, we will get acquainted with a unique collection of historical and architectural monuments of the peoples of Eastern Siberia of the XVIII–XX centuries — the Taltsy Museum.
This open-air museum is one of the five largest of its kind.
Then we will take a chairlift to the Chersky Stone observation deck, which offers a breathtaking view of Lake Baikal, the source of the Angara River and the opposite shore with majestic ridges.
The next stop of our cultural and educational program will be the Baikal Museum, dedicated to the study of Lake Baikal.
Here we will see the most important endemic of the lake — the Baikal seal.
At the end of the tour, we will have a virtual dive to the bottom of the lake.
After a busy day, lunch is waiting for us at the restaurant.
Fish treats and Baikal desserts are on the menu today.
At the end of lunch, we will check into a hotel located on the shore of Lake Baikal and will be able to relax while admiring the view of the lake.
In the evening, we invite you to a restaurant for dinner, where you can enjoy traditional Baikal cuisine in a modern design.
On the menu: salad with Baikal fish, Baikal fish meatballs, and for dessert — "shaman stone" - mousse cake made of white chocolate, pine nuts, stuffed with lingonberries, fir cones and almond sponge cake.
You will have free time after dinner.
Meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner.

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Day 4 - Circum-Baikal Railway
After breakfast, we will set off to explore Lake Baikal from the water (in winter, we will travel on a hovercraft on Khivus).
A guide will be waiting for us at the pier, together with whom we will go on an exciting journey through the most picturesque places of the Circum-Baikal Railway.
During the trip, the guide will share with us all the legends and legends associated with this great lake.
During the tour, we will have a delicious homemade picnic lunch.
After the tour, we will return to Listvyanka, where you will have some free time to walk around the local fish market.
You will be able to bring from Lake Baikal not only a lot of positive emotions and photos, but also Baikal souvenirs, as well as try cold and hot smoked fish.
At 16:30 we will say goodbye to Lake Baikal and go to Irkutsk.
Russians Russian cuisine restaurant, where we will be invited to plunge into the atmosphere of traditional Russian hospitality and take part in an unforgettable tea ceremony from a samovar! Upon arrival, we will celebrate the end of our gastronomic tour with dinner at the restaurant of Russian cuisine!
From 17:30 to 18:30.
You can choose a late flight and fly home as soon as possible, or check into the hotel yourself, leave your belongings in the room and stroll through the souvenir shops of Irkutsk, enjoying the atmosphere of the city.
We can also arrange a private transfer to the airport for you and provide meals.
Whichever option you choose, we will be glad to see you again — in summer, spring or autumn.
After all, the gastronomic map of Lake Baikal is very diverse!
Meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner.

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Difficulty

Suitable for everyone

Accommodation

Hotel

3 nights

Comfort

Premium

The tour includes accommodation in a hotel in Irkutsk and Listvyanka.

The cost of the tour for 1 person, depending on the size of the group, RUB.:

Number of people in the group	The cost per person in the group, RUB.
Group of 2 people	89 700

The number of participants in the group is up to 8 people.

For groups of 7 people or more, the tour is held on any convenient date.

In the tour program, we offer accommodation in a 2-bed comfortable Standard room with two separate beds/a double bed. The furniture in all rooms of the "Standard" category is made according to sketches of the interiors of the mansions of Irkutsk merchants and patrons of the 19th century. The windows in the rooms overlook the quiet pedestrian Bogdanov Lane or the courtyard of the Central Telegraph Office. The room size is 20 sq.m. Each room has a large plasma TV, air conditioning, a wardrobe, a telephone, a safe, a kettle with the necessary set of dishes and individual items for each guest.

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Tour conditions

Group

up to 8 tourists

Minimum age

3 years old

Duration

4 days 3 nights

Group meets at

Russia, Irkutsk

Included in price

2 nights at the hotel "Central" 4* (Irkutsk) standard room;
1 night at the Mayak Hotel (Listvyanka village) standard room;
transfer according to the program;
meals according to the program (4 breakfasts, lunch and dinner);
entrance tickets to museums with guided tours;
boat trip along the KBZHD;
funicular ascent;
services of an accompanying guide;
memorable gifts.

Paid extra

air and railway tickets to Irkutsk and back;
accommodation in rooms and hotels of a higher category;
early check-in/late check-out;
an additional day of accommodation;
guide services with a different language;
restaurant specialties on the main menu;
alcoholic beverages;
additional excursions not included in the itinerary;
additional transfer not included in the program;
insurance.

It's important to know

Air and railway tickets are not included in the price of the tour. You can purchase them yourself or contact us for help.

Dates and Prices

Individual dates available on request

1 Jan – 31 Dec

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from
$871

13 – 16 Feb, 2025 4 days 3 nights

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from
$871

14 – 17 Mar, 2025 4 days 3 nights

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Reviews

MB
Maria Barakova

13 Nov, 2024

about tour

Good afternoon! We’d like to extend a huge thank you to all the organizers of the “Taste of Lake Baikal” tour, which we enjoyed from July 15 to July 18. The entire experience was flawlessly arranged, with every detail thoughtfully considered! Special thanks to manager Kirill, who was always available and took excellent care of us throughout the trip. Our group was small—just five people—which was a real advantage for us as travelers! We felt like VIPs in Irkutsk! Our guides, Alyona and driver Roman Kondratiev, shared so much about the history of Irkutsk and the incredible places we visited. Their laid-back storytelling kept it interesting, giving us insights that most tourists don’t get. The choice to use a car for such a small group was perfect—flexible, comfortable, and easy to hear everything. From the initial greeting to our final departure, we were so well looked after. The program was rich and engaging without a single wasted moment! Irkutsk is a beautiful city, full of amazing people and historic sites, and we were fortunate to have enthusiastic guides who truly love what they do. We highly recommend this tour to everyone! It left us with the very best memories.

13 Nov, 2024

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MB
Maria Barakova

12 Nov, 2024

about provider

Good afternoon! We’d like to extend a huge thank you to all the organizers of the “Taste of Lake Baikal” tour, which we enjoyed from July 15 to July 18. The entire experience was flawlessly arranged, with every detail thoughtfully considered! Special thanks to manager Kirill, who was always available and took excellent care of us throughout the trip. Our group was small—just five people—which was a real advantage for us as travelers! We felt like VIPs in Irkutsk! Our guides, Alyona and driver Roman Kondratiev, shared so much about the history of Irkutsk and the incredible places we visited. Their laid-back storytelling kept it interesting, giving us insights that most tourists don’t get. The choice to use a car for such a small group was perfect—flexible, comfortable, and easy to hear everything. From the initial greeting to our final departure, we were so well looked after. The program was rich and engaging without a single wasted moment! Irkutsk is a beautiful city, full of amazing people and historic sites, and we were fortunate to have enthusiastic guides who truly love what they do. We highly recommend this tour to everyone! It left us with the very best memories.

12 Nov, 2024

5 more photos