Greater Siberia. Cruise from Norilsk to Irkutsk

07:30 Breakfast. 

08:00 Transfer to the pier. 

Departure to the Putorana Plateau, Lake Lama. 

The Norilsk or Norilka River flows in the Taimyr Dolgan-Nenets district. The length is 57 km. The bridge over the Norilka River is noted in the UNESCO collection "Bridge Building of the World" as "the northernmost of the large bridges in the world beyond the 69th parallel". 

Next, our path lies along the Talaya River, we climb up to the island of Melkoe, which is located about 25 km east of Norilsk. The lake is located in a wide basin between the western spurs of the Putorana plateau.

Here is the famous Lake Lama - northern Switzerland, Taimyr Lake Baikal, the polar Ritsa. According to scientists, the lake is about 100 million years old. The name of the lake comes from the Tungusic-Manchu word "laamu" - sea, ocean; Evenk "lamu" - sea, big water. By the way, the same name – Lama – Evenks, who lived much further south, called Baikal. 

Excursion to the waterfall "Southern Neralakh". Lunch (lunch box). Excursion to the waterfalls of the Vitamin river.

There are thousands of cascading waterfalls of different heights and beauty on the territory of the Putorana Plateau. Sometimes it seems that you have entered the land of waterfalls. 

Return to Norilsk.

Transfer to the hotel.

Late dinner.

Breakfast. 

09:30 Transfer to the trail leading to the waterfall "Red Stones" - one of the most accessible waterfalls of the Putorana plateau, it is often called "Putorana Plateau in miniature" or "window to the Putorana plateau". The Red Stones got their name due to the color of the rock from which the slopes of the gorge are made. 

13:30 Lunch.

16:00 Excursion to the Talnakh branch of the Norilsk Museum. The museum has been operating for more than 40 years. Its exposition is represented by sections on the nature of Taimyr, the history of the development and construction of Talnakh, and the development of mining. Museum materials allow us to trace the geological and paleontological history of the territory of Norilsk from Archean times to the Cenozoic (present day); the history of the discovery of deposits and the construction of mines, the life of the village, the city, and today the Talnakh district, the "ore capital" of Taimyr. 

A walk along the observation deck. The observation deck is open in the upper part of the city, offering a fantastic view of the lower part and the entire surrounding tundra. The staircase leading to the fifth microdistrict has become a popular tourist route. Now they not only go up and down it, but also walk and take pictures. 

Supper.

Room release. 

07:30 Breakfast. 

08:00 Departure to Dudinka - the coldest (rarely, but sometimes up to -57 ° Celsius) and the northernmost (69°21' s) city on the planet. It is located on the right bank of the river. The Yenisei River at the confluence with the Dudinka River, named after the first Russian artisan Dudin, who settled here in the first half of the XVII century, just above the mouth of the river. 

Excursion to the Taimyr Museum of Local Lore.

Transfer to the passenger berth. Boarding the scheduled passenger ship "A. Sailors", accommodation in 2-bed first class cabins (in the cabin there are 2 upholstered sofas, a wardrobe, a washbasin). 

The ship departs at 12:00 from the river port of Dudinka.

Lunch.

Boat tour. Information on the route of the ship. 

Supper.

At night, stop in Igarka - the city is located on the shore of the Igarsky channel of the Yenisei, 1330 km north of Krasnoyarsk in a straight line (the distance along the Yenisei is about 1800 km). It is located beyond the Arctic circle, in the permafrost zone. 

In the morning, crossing the Arctic Circle (Kureika river). 

Breakfast. 

Free time. 

Lunch.

Events in the reading room. 

Supper.

Stop in Turukhansk, located at the confluence of the Lower Tunguska with the Yenisei, 1,474 km north of Krasnoyarsk. The population is 4.8 thousand inhabitants. Founded in 1607 as a winter quarters, since 1619 it has been inhabited by settlers of the burnt-out city of Mangazeya. The former Turukhansk became the village of Staroturukhansk, and the modern village with the name Turukhansk (the administrative center of the district) was previously named Novoturukhansk. In the 19th and 20th centuries, it was a place of exile (including I. V. Stalin in 1914-1916). The attraction of the village is the Trinity Church (late 18th-early 19th century). In Turukhansk there is a fish factory, an oil and gas exploration expedition, a river port, an airport, a museum of revolutionaries Y.M. Sverdlov and S.S. Spandaryan. 

Here you will see the right tributary of the Yenisei - the Lower Tunguska. 

In the 17th century, Russian explorers named the river Nizhnyaya Tunguska. Tunguska – because Tunguska (modern Evenki) lived on its shores, and the definition of Nizhnyaya distinguished it from the other two Tunguska.

Breakfast. 

Free time. 

Lunch.

Passage of the village of Verkhneimbatsk.

Supper.

A stop on the water near the village of Bakhta, named after the right tributary of the Yenisei river Bakhta. 

At night we stop in the village of Bor, here we pass another third largest tributary - the Podkamennaya Tunguska.

This is a rapid river, characterized by a kind of wild beauty. Its length is 1,865 km. It is named Podkamennaya because it makes its way to the Yenisei through many hundreds of kilometers through stone cliffs. After 40 km, the Osinovsky threshold begins - the legendary narrow canyon, which is overcome with great difficulty. The passage through the threshold is narrow (700 m) and winding. Two steamers cannot separate, and the traffic here is one-way.

The passage of the Osinovsky system. 

30 meters from the side of the ship we observe the island "Monastyrsky", then the rocky islands Korablik and Barochka, beyond them the mighty Yenisei enters the Osinovsky cheeks - the most picturesque area in the lower reaches of the river. High granite banks form a corridor with a height of 50 m. 

Breakfast. The village of Vorogovo stop was founded more than 350 years ago during the development of Siberia in the 17th century by Cossacks. The population is represented by different nationalities: Russians, Germans, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Keto. Now it has about 2,000 thousand people, local residents organize markets with a wide variety of goods and souvenirs of local craftsmen at the pier by the arrival of the ship. 

Lunch.

Stop in the village of Yartsevo - located in the middle reaches of the Yenisei River between two large left tributaries — the Kas and Sym rivers, a local market is also organized here for the arrival of the ship.

Supper.

Breakfast. 

Arrival in Yeniseisk.

Accommodation in 2-bed rooms at the Yeniseiskaya Hotel. 

The hotel is located in the city center, has a unique architecture of the 18th century and an ancient interior. The facilities are located on the floor, washbasins with hot and cold water, modern showers. The rooms are equipped with handmade pine furniture (beds, bedside tables, cabinets), the halls are carpeted. 

Lunch.

Excursion to the Museum of Local Lore. Sightseeing walking tour of Yeniseisk – the city is located on the Yenisei plain, on the left bank of the Yenisei, below the confluence of the Angara river, 330 km north of Krasnoyarsk. Yeniseisk is called an "open-air museum", the urban development includes 94 architectural monuments. The stone civil buildings of Yeniseisk are mainly two–storey houses along the main street, on the embankment and central squares. 

Supper.

Breakfast. 

Continuation of the sightseeing walking tour of the city of Yeniseisk. Visit the Yenisei Transfiguration Monastery, the Resurrection Church, the Church of the Trinity, the Tatar Mosque, as well as the Cossack Gymnasium, where Valentin Felixovich Voino–Yasenetsky, one of the best surgeons of his time, an anatomist, scientist and at the same time a clergyman of the Russian Orthodox Church, worked for a long time. 

Lunch.

Excursion to the Monastery lake, located 30 km west of Yeniseisk. Here, on the holy piece of the Yenisei land, prayer services and the sacraments of baptism are performed. A great place to relax and swim. 

Supper.

Breakfast. 

Room release. 

Departure by tourist bus to Krasnoyarsk.

On the way, stop in Lesosibirsk. The city is located on the left bank of the Yenisei, 280 km north of Krasnoyarsk. Due to the proximity of the mouth of the Angara River, the main logging artery of the Angara region, Lesosibirsk has become the largest timber industry center of the region. The river port of Lesosibirsk is the second largest in the marginal part of the Yenisei basin. The transport functions of Lesosibirsk are complemented by the Achinsk-Lesosibirsk railway, which delivers goods from the Trans-Siberian Railway to the Yenisei North. Favorable transport and geographical location is the main factor in the development of Lesosibirsk. 

A visit to the Holy Cross Cathedral is the pearl of all Siberia and the main decoration of Lesosibirsk. The construction lasted for 7 years (1995-2002). The cathedral has an 11th-grade Orthodox gymnasium, the sisterhood of Mercy, the cathedral museum, the publishing center "Krest" and the summer camp "Skit". On the territory of the cathedral there is a beautiful cedar park with an area of 5 hectares - a place of tranquility and solitude. 

Lunch at the cafe - we offer dishes from Siberian cuisine, as well as tasting delicacies from taiga game.

The continuation of the path. 

Stop at the observation deck near the Yenisei, walk, rest. 

Departure to Krasnoyarsk. 

Double accommodation in the Krasnoyarsk hotel.

Dinner at the hotel.

Breakfast. 

10:00 Sightseeing tour of Krasnoyarsk.

12:00 Excursion to the St. Nicholas Steamship Museum, a museum ship located in the eternal parking lot in the city of Krasnoyarsk. 

13:00 Lunch.

14:00 Departure to the observation deck over the Yenisei "Tsar-fish". 

Excursion to the village of Ovsyanka with a visit to the house-museum of V.P. Astafiev and the house of grandmother E.P. Potylitsyna. 

Excursion to the observation deck of the Krasnoyarsk hydroelectric power station, visit to the embankment of Divnogorsk. 

Return to the hotel.

Supper.

Breakfast. 

Excursion to the Krasnoyarsk Pillars National Park - the natural boundaries of the protected area are the right tributaries of the river. Yenisei: in the northeast is the Bazaiha River, in the south and southwest are the Mana and Bolshaya Sluznevka Rivers. From the northeast, the territory borders with the city of Krasnoyarsk. It was founded in 1925 on the initiative of the residents of the city to preserve the natural complexes around the picturesque syenite remnants — "pillars". Currently, its area is 47,219 hectares. The main attraction of the park are the rocks. The name "Pillars" is common to all rocks, although all rocks and even some stones have their own names. 

Return to the Krasnoyarsk Hotel. 

Lunch at the Krasnoyarsk Hotel.

Free time. 

Supper.

Breakfast. 

Room release. 

Transfer to Yemelyanovo airport. 

Departure to Irkutsk.

Meeting with the guide. 

Lunch.

Sightseeing tour of the city. 

Irkutsk is a unique, ancient city, an ancient crossroads of trade routes, the capital of Eastern Siberia. It was founded in 1661, received city status in 1686, and became the center of Irkutsk province in 1764. The population is more than 600 thousand people. Irkutsk is one of the five most visited cities in Russia by tourists. The main attraction is Lake Baikal, the pearl of Siberia. 

Transfer to the hotel, 2-bed accommodation. 

Supper.

Breakfast at the hotel.

Transfer to the marina. 

Departure by high-speed boat to the village. Big Cats. 

The path goes along the Angara River to the village of Listvyanka, after which the ship enters Lake Baikal at the place where the Angara leaves it. Angara annually carries about 60 cubic kilometers of water from Lake Baikal through its source, a kilometer–wide gap in the Primorsky Ridge.  The word "angara" has the semantic meaning of "mouth of an animal", "mouth", in a figurative sense – "gorge", "cleft". Words similar in sound and similar in meaning are found in the languages of all the Baikal peoples, therefore, science finds it difficult to determine which people gave the name to the Angara, and the name can be considered international. Baikal is a unique creation of nature. The lake is located in the central part of Asia, in the south of Eastern Siberia, delimits the Irkutsk region and the Republic of Buryatia. Baikal is the deepest lake on Earth and the largest freshwater body with high–quality clean water. Its maximum depth is 1,642 meters. 

Arrival in the village. Big Cats. 

This is a small village located on the western shore of Lake Baikal, 16 km northeast of Listvyanka. There are two versions of the origin of the name of the village. The first is from the word "cats", the so–called trap for fish that went into the river to spawn. The second one is from "cats" - wooden shoes for convicts who stayed here during gold mining in the 19th century. In Big Cats there is a real taiga, rich in mushrooms, berries and medicinal herbs, rare species of wild flowers: peonies, orchids, etc. 2-bed accommodation. 

Lunch.

A simple hike to the rocky cliff of Skriper. Skriper is a picturesque rocky cliff on the western coast of Lake Baikal. It is a geomorphological natural monument of the Irkutsk region. The cliff is composed of Jurassic conglomerates and has picturesque forms of weathering. Almost on the sheer part of the cliff, the entrance to the cave is visible, in which traces of a Neolithic human encampment were found. We will climb to the top, which offers a picturesque view of the surrounding area, and admire the panorama of Lake Baikal. 

Return to the campsite. 

Rest on the lake.

Supper.

Breakfast at the campsite.

Excursion to the Museum of Baikal Studies – one of the oldest museums in Russia, founded by Professor M.M. Kozhov. The museum has more than 400 different exhibits, a rich collection of insects. The museum is located near the shore, 100 meters from the pier. 

Hiking up the mountain "Scallop". 

This is an observation deck above Lake Baikal, offering panoramic views of the village and Lake Baikal. 

Return to the campsite. 

Lunch.

Rest on the lake.

Evening flight by water transport to the village. Listvyanka.

Listvyanka is the oldest settlement on Lake Baikal and a port on the only river flowing from Lake Baikal – Angara. The date of the appearance of Listvyanka is not exactly known. It is believed that the settlement arose spontaneously in 1701-1725. The first inhabitants were free settlers, free Cossacks, and fugitive exiles. Listvyanka is one of the points of attraction for tourists, the village is called the gateway to Lake Baikal. 

Transfer to the hotel, accommodation in 2-bed rooms. 

Supper.

Breakfast at the hotel.

Meeting with the guide. 

Excursion to the museum of wooden architecture "Taltsy".

The Taltsy Architectural and Ethnographic Museum is a unique collection of historical, architectural and ethnographic monuments of the XVII-XX centuries. It is located on the right bank of the Angara River. The open-air museum complex attracts visitors with the opportunity to get to know the material and spiritual culture of the peoples of the Baikal region directly.

Return to Listvyanka.

Excursion to the Baikal Museum. 

There is only one museum of the lake in Russia – the Baikal Museum. The exhibition presents stuffed fish, as well as exhibits of representatives of the animal world, including those living on the bottom of Lake Baikal, preserved by fixing liquid. A mockup of the den of a seal and a squirrel seal. You will have the opportunity to examine in detail such Baikal inhabitants as: pike, perch, bream, roach, burbot, catfish, mirror carp, crucian carp, Baikal omul, white and black grayling, Baikal sturgeon, bullfishes and crustaceans. 

Lunch.

A chairlift ride to the observation deck on Chersky Mountain.

The Chersky Stone is a mountain peak near the village of Listvyanka. Its height is not too high – 728.4 m. The unique location and the view from above give this observation deck mystery and mystery. From the top point there is a stunning view of Lake Baikal, the source of the Angara, Shaman stone, Khamar-Daban ridge. It is named in honor of Jan Dominik Czerski, a Polish patriot who was exiled to Siberia and became, by the will of fate, a famous explorer of Lake Baikal. 

Return to the hotel.

Supper.

Breakfast at the hotel.

Transfer to the marina. 

Departure by ferry to the port of Baikal. 

Boarding the train.

A full-day tour of the Circum-Baikal Railway.

The Krugobaikalskaya Railway, Krugobaikalka or KBZHD for short is a historical railway in the Irkutsk region, in the past it was part of the Trans–Siberian railway, a unique monument of engineering art, one of the picturesque sights of the Baikal region. Today, the KBZHD is not only a historical monument reflecting the heroic period of the construction of the Trans–Siberian Railway, but also an integral part of the tourist resources of the Baikal region. 

Lunch on the train. 

Arrival at the railway station in the city of Slyudyanka. 

The city is located on the western shore of Lake Baikal, 110 kilometers from Irkutsk and is considered one of the southernmost settlements of the region. In 1899, the railway settlement of Slyudyanka was founded on the site of the winter quarters, which received the status of a working settlement in 1928. The name Slyudyanka is of Russian origin. It is based on the appellative "mica" – the name of a mineral that has been mined for 350 years in the vicinity of the settlement. Slyudyanka did not change its name, being a prison, a winter quarters, a village and a city. 

Transfer from the railway station to the village of Arshan.

Arshan is located 120 km from Slyudyanka. The village appeared at the beginning of the XX century and developed thanks to the sources found at that time. In 1930, it turned into a resort of national importance. "Arshan" in translation from the Buryat language means "healing water". 

Accommodation at the hotel.

Supper.

Breakfast at the hotel.

Departure for a car tour of the Tunka Valley.

The Tunka Valley is located in the south-west of the Republic of Buryatia, located 40 km west of the southern tip of Lake Baikal. It stretches from west to east for 190 km and is bounded by the Tunkinsky Goltsy ridge from the north, the Khamar Daban mountain system from the south. 

The Nile Desert is located in the southwestern part of the republic in the Tunka district. More precisely, there is a desert in the village of Nilovka of the same name on the brisk mountain river Ihe-Uhgun. 

The word desert means a small settlement of monks. Once the mineral spring discovered here was visited by the Irkutsk Archbishop Nil Nerchinsky, he wished to make a place here where Orthodox ministers could take baths. The name Nile Desert came from his surname. 

A visit to the datsan.

The cult place of Burhan Baabai (Khair Khan Mountain). The datsan of the same name is located here – a place of power and attraction. 

Lunch.

Walking tour to the waterfall of the Kyngargi river. 

The canyon of the Kyngarga river (kyngarga – translated from Buryat as "drum") – makes a lot of noise. It is located in the Tunka valley, in the vicinity of the resort village of Arshan. It originates on the southern slope of the Tunka Loaches at an altitude of about 2000 m. It flows in a southerly direction, breaks through a steep slope, forming a canyon and 12 waterfalls. Arshan mineral springs are located at the outlet of the river into the Tunka Valley. 

Return to the hotel in Arshan.

Supper.

Breakfast.

Departure by bus to Irkutsk.