One of the most popular tourist attractions in the whole of Russia is Lake Baikal in Siberia in the south east. Accommodation varies from single rooms and back-packers lodges to luxurious villas and hotels. Most prices for Baikal Lake lodging are quoted in US dollars. Hotels and Villas are not cheap, although some of the back-packers lodges and hostels are very reasonable.

The main centers such as Listvyanka and Irkutsk have numerous luxury hotels. The outlying areas are rather sparse when it comes to up-market lodgings, however budget accommodation provides for a more personal touch.

Lake Baikal was declared a world heritage site by UNESCO in 1996. It contains about 20% of the worlds unfrozen fresh water and is also the world’s most voluminous freshwater lake. The massive lake is totally surrounded by mountains, contains 27 islands and has as many as three hundred and thirty rivers flowing into it.

The lake has an extremely unique ecosystem and it’s splendid natural beauty attracts travelers from all around the globe. The Baikal museum in Listvaynka attracts over fifty thousand visitors per year. This unique museum exhibits the lake’s different flora and fauna. It has an aquarium containing Baikal Fish, crustaceans, sponges and seals. These can all be viewed close-up through a special glass wall.

The most interesting experience offered by the Baikal museum is what they call an “interactive submergence”. Visitors to the museum are transported by submarine down over 1600 meters to the bottom of the lake in a submarine, where they view the fascinating underwater life of Lake Baikal through portholes.

The sheer size of Lake Baikal lends itself to boat trips and the most popular is the visit along the west coast to Olkhon Island. Weather permitting, the vessel passes as close to the Tsagan-Zaba cliff as possible. This cliff is famous for ancient rock engravings, called petroglyphs, which date back to the Bronze Age. Olkhon Island is known for its warm sandy beaches in summer, and due to the shallowness of the lake in that area, water temperatures can rise to 25 degree centigrade.

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