Irkutsk - Listvyanka - Olkhon Island in September/October 2013
Replies: 5 - Last Post: Oct 8, 2012 12:53 AM Last Post By: littletrav
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Irkutsk - Listvyanka - Olkhon Island in September/October 2013
Hi againI am doing rough trip planning of our trip from Beijing to St Petersburg and have hit a speed bump i can't seem to decide/figure out.
We plan on arriving from Ulaanbaatar to Irkutsk which from what i can see arrives early morning. Now my first question is, is Irkutsk worth staying in for a night or two? As i have heard mixed reviews. I am a photographer so if the town is nice and the people are friendly and interesting then i can entertain myself for a day or so. But if its not overly exciting here, would I be better moving on?
Which brings me to my second question, is Listyyanka worth a night or two instead of Irkutsk? Or as well as? We are planning on spending 4 nights on Olkhon Island as I know this has some stunning things to see.
So in a nutshell or two, my questions are:
What is a better option:
Irkutsk (for a night) then transfer to Olkhon Island
or
Irkutsk then head straight to Listvyanka for a night or two(?) then to Olkhon Island (is this even possible?)
hope this all makes sense!
And anyone have a rough guess on the weather in late September/early October?
thanks :)
1
Irkutsk is worth half a day, if you dont plan any museums. Listvyanka is worthless, unless you take Krugobaikalka train - either an organised civilised trip for tourists, or "matana" for locals and walking.2
Two things might tempt you to spend a night in Irkutsk or Listvyanka. There are some lovely old wooden houses in Irkutsk and on the ride from Irkutsk to Listvyanka there is a nice wooden architecture museum which is a collection of old and new wooden structures.It is not possible to travel from Listvyanka to Olkhon island in September/October as the hydrofoil from Irkutsk to Severobaikalsk stops operating in late August.
Average highs will be about 10° C and lows about 2-3° C.
Ruth
3
thanks for the replies guys! i think i might just stay in Irkutsk for a night as the train get in early, so will have the day and night to look around then head over to Olkhon Island the next morning and spend 4 nights there relaxing and exploring as Listvyanka doesn't seem worth the trouble if we can't get from there to Olkhon IslandThanks again and Ruth thank you so much again (this is the second question you have answered for me) and hopefully you will be able to answer some more i have along the way :)
4
If you enjoy photography and architecture, I think Irkutsk is more interesting that what some reviews suggest. Nice old houses and churches, river views, "classic" russian and also typically "soviet" style buildings in contrast, a lively and large market...I also agree that since you have limited time Listvyanka is of limited interest, but Taltsy Open Air Museum of Traditional Architecture is quite good. Can be done as a half or day trip from Irkutsk.
5
Hi,i went to Irkutsk and Olkhon Island 25-28 Sept 2012. I spent a day in Irkustk and i can say i like this city. a lot of wooden houses and beautiful churches. and my favorite place was the square by the Angara river.
Olkhon island especially Kuzhir village was even more interesting. i spent 2 nights there and it wasn't enough. i stayed at Nikita's guesthouse and took excursion to nothern part of Olkhon Island. cost 600 rubles (+- 20USD).
there's bus to Olkhon Island depart from Irkutsk bus terminal at 8am. if you can, take this bus. if not stay in hotel/ hostel at Irkutsk and ask them to book minivan to Olkhon Island. if you stay at Trans Sib hostel, they can get the minivan to pick you up from hostel. cost 750 rubles. otherwise go to minivan station near Angara Hotel. cost only 600 rubles. minivan depart at 10am.
you can also get minivan in front of bus terminal cost also 600 rubles but if you are not lucky, you can only get minivan depart at 3pm!
