2 Nights irkutsk
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extend your stay in any of the following destinations: |
Irkutsk is a major center of intellectual and social life, also, many of their wooden houses, adorned with ornate, hand-carved decorations, survive today in stark contrast with the
standard Soviet apartment blocks that surround them. The wide streets and ornate, continental architecture led to Irkutsk being called the "Paris of Siberia",
although travelers are unlikely to have a difficult time distinguishing the two today.
Irkutsk is one of the biggest cities in Siberia, with a growing population of more than 590,000 people.
It's home to several universities and a major branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, thanks to its proximity to Lake Baikal.
Irkutsk has lots of restaurants offering Russian, Siberian, Buryat, Mongolian, Japanese, Chinese and European cuisine.
For a local specialty, Omyl, Sig and Kharius are local fishes found in the Lake Baikal.
standard Soviet apartment blocks that surround them. The wide streets and ornate, continental architecture led to Irkutsk being called the "Paris of Siberia",
although travelers are unlikely to have a difficult time distinguishing the two today.
Irkutsk is one of the biggest cities in Siberia, with a growing population of more than 590,000 people.
It's home to several universities and a major branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, thanks to its proximity to Lake Baikal.
Irkutsk has lots of restaurants offering Russian, Siberian, Buryat, Mongolian, Japanese, Chinese and European cuisine.
For a local specialty, Omyl, Sig and Kharius are local fishes found in the Lake Baikal.
Lake Baikal
One of the world's most "natural" places. Irkustsk, for many people, is just a stop before arriving Lake Baikal. The weather, the water, the flora of Lake Baikal is very distinguishable than all other lakes of the world. You feel like you landed on a different planet. |
Volkonsky Museum
It’s the preserved home of Decembrist Count Sergei, whose wife Maria is the main figure in Sutherland’s book The Princess of Siberia. Mansion set incourtyard with stables, photo exhibit portraits of Maria and other women who followed their lovers into exile. |
Angara Steamship
Moored near the Angara Dam, is an ice-breaker ferry originally imported in kit form from England to carry Trans-Siberian Railway passengers across Lake Baikal (the trains went on her bigger sister ship Baikal, which sank years ago). |
Akvarium Nerpy
Nessie and Tito, two much-loved nerpa (freshwater seals), live at Akvarium Nerpy and perform 'shows'. Unlike some small 'zoos' elsewhere, experience is positive and relatively humane. Feats include singing, break-dancing, ball- tossing and even basic mathematics. |
Liverpool
This Fab Four theme pub may be a bit more Wings than Beatles, but it’s one of Irkutsk’s top watering holes, with an intercontinental beer menu. All the meals are imaginatively named after Beatles tracks, but we were assured that ‘In an Octopus’s Garden’ contains no octopus. |