Irkutsk – Port Baikal
7:42 – departure from the train station.
10:00 – arrival in Slyudyanka.
10:30 – departure from the station Slyudyanka.
On the way:
4-5 excursion stops from 20 minutes to 1 hour.
18:25 – arrival at Port Baikal.
Port Baikal – Listvyanka
19:30 – 20:00 Arrival in Listvyanka.
Сrossing by the ferry of each group takes about 20 minutes. In winter, crossing the lake by hovercraft (hivus)
Listvyanka – Irkutsk
Until 21:00 arrival in Irkutsk to the railway station by bus.
You can additionally order breakfast lunch or dinner.
The only station building on Circum-Baikal, faced with white and pink marble. By the way, marble was mined at the local quarry and there is still debate about who built this station.
Not far from Slyudyanka, the Talovskiye Boloty ornithological reserve, where you will see rare migratory birds (dry goose, black and white swans, gray and black cranes, etc.) and a red-white water lily, is pure white.
The next village along the route is Kultuk. This is one of the oldest villages on Lake Baikal.
Here begins the section of the Circum-Baikal Railway, the most saturated with engineering structures. Here you will see stone and reinforced concrete viaducts across the Angasolka River of two periods of construction. A cozy and very tiny village, which now houses a large cultural center. Nicholas Roerich and children’s climbing camp.
Landscaped complex with a gazebo and a plaque. This place was one of the most difficult sites during construction. The builders had to cut through two parallel tunnels, one of which turned out to be temporary, and an aqueduct had to be built above the second to tame the obstinate stream Kirkirei.
Two sets of engineering structures, surprisingly laconicly inscribed in the valleys of the rivers Bolshaya and Malaya Shumikh. Single-track galleries, a picturesque stone pipe, a bridge and a viaduct, retaining walls, one of which is the famous arched designed by the Italian engineer Ferrari, are a kind of visiting card of Circum-Baikal.
Relaxation on a small sandy beach, where a convenient descent to the water will allow you to swim in the holy sea, will complement your experience of the trip.
At Ulanovo station, you will go down to the shore along a perfectly preserved stone staircase, which, by the way, has been strolling along the shore of Lake Baikal for more than 100 years. Consider a 1902–1904 stone-hoisted building with a stone pipe. In the second half of summer, you can pick up a basket of mushrooms.
Baikal port is located at the foot of Cape Baranchuk at the source of the Angara River. Initially, this station was the end point of the Irkutsk-Baikal branch. Ferries – icebreakers that connected the torn Transsib before the construction of the Circum-Baikal ferry – left from here. Now you can see the preserved station complex, the restored station building, the lighthouse and visit the museum of the history of the Circum-Baikal Railway.
