Gastronomic tour to Lake Baikal

Today, after breakfast at the hotel, you will have free time to walk around Irkutsk or just relax in your room.

At 12:00, we will meet at the pastry shop for a tea ceremony with Siberian lingonberry pie before leaving for Lake Baikal! 

We are going to the village of Listvyanka, which will take no more than an hour to reach. 

At the entrance to the village, we will definitely climb the observation deck "Chersky Peak", which offers a stunning view of Lake Baikal! 

After the viewing room, we head for lunch to an institution that, according to the restaurant award #What's Best in Irkutsk, has become the best in the region! 

We are waiting for unique dishes from the chef, emphasizing the Siberian identity and the power of Lake Baikal. 

For an aperitif, we will be served venison tartare with cherry chips with a shot of cedar tincture.

As the main course, we'll try baked muksun with carrot cream and dry white wine made from Riesling grapes. 

For dessert, we will have the famous shaman stone mousse made of white chocolate with lingonberries and pine nuts. 

And the panoramic view of the sacred Lake Baikal is the perfect addition to our lunch! 

After lunch, we check into the cozy Larch Hotel, which is located a 4-minute walk from the embankment. 

The combination of the purest Baikal air and the scent of pine creates a unique atmosphere of unity with nature, relaxation and tranquility! 

In the evening, you can relax, stroll around the village or ride the Ferris wheel.

We have breakfast at the hotel in the morning and set ourselves up for a very eventful, beautiful day!

After breakfast, we set off on an unforgettable trip around Lake Baikal on the high-speed motor ship "Comet". 

This is the fastest motor ship on Lake Baikal!

Olkhon is the largest of the 26 islands on Lake Baikal. 

It is the geographical, historical and sacred center of the lake. 

According to legend, the Buryat people originated here. 

The island is saturated with local flavor, shamanism and ancient Buryat legends.

The journey will take more than an hour, and along the way we will have the most beautiful views and amazing places of Lake Baikal! 

We arrive on the island and go for lunch to a restaurant that has been named the best on the coast of Lake Baikal (according to The New York Times). 

The restaurant offers a panoramic view of the lake! 

We will be served the traditional Buryat soup "shulen", very hearty and rich, and a salad with roast beef and Baikal fern. 

In Siberia, as well as in the Far East, the bracken is harvested, it is considered edible. 

It is salted and added to dishes. 

For a hot meal, we'll try deer ribs baked with vegetables.

After lunch, we check into a cozy eco-hotel on the shore of Lake Baikal. 

We settle down and have a little rest. 

Then we will walk to the Shamanka Rock and to the 13 pillars of Serge, a sacred place for shamans. 

Each of the serge is tied with colorful fabrics designed to convey requests to the gods. 

It is believed that the serge symbolize the tree of life. 

We will also walk along the ecotrope to the Sarai beach surrounded by pine trees – the most beautiful and largest in Olkhon. 

The walk will take no more than an hour and does not require much physical activity. 

For dinner, we will go to the restaurant of traditional Siberian cuisine. 

For an aperitif, we will be served olivier with tartar from Baikal fish. 

For a hot meal, we will try Baikal hot smoked fish, which has a very special pleasant taste! 

The fish meat is very fatty and tender. 

We taste it with baked potatoes and a glass of frothy.

And at the end of the evening, we will taste a delicate lingonberry dessert with white chocolate. 

Enjoy it! 

While we are having dinner, a real Siberian sauna with cedar aroma is heated for us!

We warm up, drink tea on Siberian herbs and relax!

Today, after breakfast, specially prepared cars will be waiting for us, in which we will travel around the island of Olkhon and look into the most interesting corners.

We will visit the holy Buryat sites and drive to the northernmost point of the island, Cape Khoboy, along which there are numerous caves and grottos.

We will stop at cape "Three Brothers", which offers one of the most beautiful views of Lake Baikal from a bird's-eye view!

We will make a stop at Cape Lyubov and also see the very unusual sculpture "Keeper of Lake Baikal". 

On the walk there will be a hot lunch cooked over a campfire – fragrant omul ear, juicy salads and hot tortillas.

The meal is accompanied by local tinctures! 

After lunch, we will have a boat trip with access to the Small Sea.

The Small Sea is a part of Lake Baikal, conditionally separated from the Big Sea by the island of Olkhon. 

We will see Olkhon Island and other islands of the Small Sea from the water and, of course, we will make a stop on Ogoy Island. 

This is a special place with a very strong positive energy. 

There is a Buddhist Stupa of Enlightenment on Ogoe, which contains various Buddhist relics. 

They usually make a wish here, performing the traditional rite of circumambulation of the Stupa, and, according to the locals, it will certainly come true. 

We will have the opportunity to see for ourselves! 

And on the way back to Olkhon, we will admire the Baikal sunset. 

With a glass of sparkling wine! 

In the evening, we return to the village and go to a restaurant for dinner. 

We will be served one of the most popular dishes on Lake Baikal – sagudai from Baikal fish. 

For a hot meal, Buryat buuzes accompanied by a glass of dry red wine. 

And for dessert – the author's and very sweet Siberian delicacy – "bear barrel"!

After dinner, we return to our hotel.

Today we have breakfast at our hotel and say goodbye to Olkhon Island: we are returning to Irkutsk!

Our way to Irkutsk will pass through the Tagheran steppes. 

This is a unique area of the Baikal nature with hilly and picturesque terrain, steppe grasslands and an abundance of birds, which is also called the Priolkhonye.

On the way, we will make a stop at Aya Bay. 

A short word can be translated into Russian as "good, pleasant, comfortable, beautiful." 

Most of the time, silence, windlessness and tranquility prevail in this corner of Lake Baikal. 

On the way, we will stop at the colorful Golden Horde Ethnopark to get acquainted with the identity and cuisine of the indigenous population.

The Buryats will invite us to an excursion tasting of taiga drinks with Buryat delicacies! 

We will try moonshine on pine nuts with a mixed salad with wild pears, tarasun – Buryat milk vodka with smoked wild boar fat and sliced tender foal, berry tincture with ginger toast and tea with steppe herbs with sea buckthorn dessert. 

At lunch, we will taste khushuuri with homemade cream cheese, aromatic chowder with yak meat and Urme national cherry dessert made from farm cream with homemade chips. 

After lunch we return to Irkutsk.

On the way, we will stop at the market to buy farm products, smoked fish and souvenirs. 

Then we check into the already familiar Marriott hotel. 

Tonight is a free evening! 

You can stroll through the central streets of Irkutsk, have dinner at one of the restaurants or just relax in your room after a busy tour!

Today, after breakfast at our hotel, we will escort you to the airport.

Happy and full of new experiences! See you soon!