Key details about traveling to Lake Baikal (Russia)
Preparation
I decided to travel around Russia, and the first destination that came to mind was Lake Baikal. I really like places with beautiful nature, especially mountains and lakes, so this option suited me well. I also wanted to see a lake bigger than the ones I had seen in my trip to New Zealand, and Baikal is one of those places you should visit at least once in your life.
Said and done. My girlfriend and I planned the route. Since we had only a week for the whole trip, we had to cut down the number of places we wanted to see. I booked hotels in Listvyanka, Khuzhir, and Arshan. We had planned to spend just one evening in Arshan and climb a mountain there, but after visiting Olkhon Island and getting one rainy day there, we decided to cancel Arshan and spend more time on the island instead. Then I bought direct S7 flight tickets. There were cheaper options with connections, but I did not want to risk it.
I also booked a Hyundai Solaris hatchback from AVIS. That was basically it.
The road from Irkutsk to Listvyanka is no worse than the roads around Moscow and the Moscow region. The road from Irkutsk to Olkhon is also decent, except for the 12 km after the village of Elantsy where the asphalt had apparently been removed for new paving. Still, there are local bypass tracks on both sides that let you move much faster. The road on Olkhon itself is similar. From the ferry pier to Khuzhir it is about 30 km, and the main road feels like a washboard, so driving faster than 30 km/h is not safe for the car. The side tracks are smoother and you can do 60 to 80 km/h there, but before every rise in the road you have to be careful because another car can come flying toward you at the same speed. Past Khuzhir the road gets worse, and an ordinary passenger car cannot make it there.
Mobile connection
There is no mobile coverage everywhere around Baikal. The route from Irkutsk to Listvyanka has service, but Irkutsk to Olkhon does not always. I only had an MTS SIM card, though, so maybe some other operators work better in that area.
Ticks
The internet says there are lots of ticks around Baikal, but a local told me they are mostly active in May and June, and that particular year there were very few of them anyway. On Olkhon Island there had never been any. Maybe they never adapted to the almost steppe-like climate there.
Trip cost
- The whole trip for two people cost about 115,000 RUB.
- 51,000 RUB for flights
- 22,000 RUB for hotels
- 18,000 RUB for car rental
- 15,000 RUB for excursions
- 7,000 RUB for food in cafes and canteens
- 2,000 RUB for fuel
Conclusion
What can I say: I did not like Listvyanka that much. If you go there, one day is enough, and you can read more about it in a separate article. Olkhon, on the other hand, is a truly beautiful place, and I also wrote a separate article about it.
The time of year matters too. We were there from July 4 to July 12, but in my opinion it was still a bit cool. It is better to go in the second half of July or the first half of August.