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Irkutsk

Travel Guide Europe Russia Siberia Irkutsk

Introduction

Irkutsk - Cathedral

On the banks of the Angara River 72 kilometres from Lake Baikal, Irkutsk is today the tourist gateway to the Baikal region and the wilds of Siberia surrounding it. Lake Baikal is the deepest freshwater lake in the world, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and has 2 national

Much of the history of Irkutsk, though, revolves around the Decembrists. In the early nineteenth century, many Russian artists, officers and nobles were sent into exile to Siberia for their part in the Decembrist revolt against Tsar Nicholas I. Irkutsk became the major center of intellectual and social life for these exiles, and much of the city's cultural heritage comes from them. Many of their wooden houses, adorned with ornate, hand-carved decorations, were built by the Decemberists, and still survive today.

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.

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Neighbourhoods

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Sights and Activities

Irkutsk wooden architecture

Irkutsk is home to a remarkable number of historic churches, among them Ascension Church (1747-51), Epiphany Cathedral (1718-46), Our Lady of Kazan Church (1885-92), and Saviour Church (1706-13). There are also a few historical museums in the houses of Decembrist exiles, or you can just wander around and look at the beautiful wooden architecture on the houses. A downloadable PDF sight-seeing map can be found at WWW Irkutsk.

Lake Baikal

The world's deepest lake is Lake Baikal 65 kilometres southeast of Irkutsk. It is 1,637 metres deep and contains roughly 20% of the world's freshwater supplies. Fed by 336 rivers and streams including the Angara, Barguzin, Selenga, Turka and Snezhnaya, the lake holds fifty species of fish including bullhead, sturgeon and omul. ^[1]

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Events and Festivals

In the winter, the central park has many ice sculptures as well as an ice castle that you can walk around in. There are ice slides in this park also. Most Russians stand up and slide on the soles of their shoes. The park is very lively at night with tourist, even though the temperatures drop well below -20 °C.

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Weather

Winter precipitation is quite light and all of it falls as snow. Winters are very cold and prolonged everywhere, but the short summers can be quite warm and pleasant by day once the winter snow has melted. Summers become shorter northwards, but even as far north as Verkhoyansk (see the table) the brief summer has some very warm days. Summer is the wettest season everywhere.

Average temperatures for the year are:

January - 3 hours of daylight, with a low of -26 °C and a high of -16 °C.
February - 5 hours of daylight, with a low of -25 °C and a high of -12 °C.
March - 7 hours of daylight, with a low of -17 °C and a high of -4 °C.
April - 7 hours of daylight, with a low of -7 °C and a high of 6 °C.
May - 8 hours of daylight, with a low of 1 °C and a high of 13 °C.
June - 8 hours of daylight, with a low of 7 °C and a high of 20 °C.
July - 8 hours of daylight, with a low of 10 °C and a high of 21 °C.
August - 7 hours of daylight, with a low of 9 °C and a high of 20 °C.
September - 6 hours of daylight, with a low of 2 °C and a high of 14 °C.
October - 5 hours of daylight, with a low of -6 °C and a high of 5 °C.
November - 3 hours of daylight, with a low of -17 °C and a high of -7 °C.
December - 2 hours of daylight, with a low of -24 °C and a high of -16 °C.

More information on the weather can be found from the BBC Irkutsk Average Weather website.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Avg Max	-13.5 °C	-9.8 °C	-0.6 °C	8.2 °C	17.1 °C	22.6 °C	24.1 °C	21.6 °C	15.5 °C	6.9 °C	-3.3 °C	-11 °C
Avg Min	-23.1 °C	-22.1 °C	-13.4 °C	-4 °C	2.6 °C	8.4 °C	12 °C	10 °C	3.6 °C	-3.5 °C	-13 °C	-20.2 °C
Rainfall	12 mm	9 mm	13 mm	19 mm	33 mm	62 mm	120 mm	86 mm	50 mm	30 mm	18 mm	19 mm
Rain Days	4	3	3	5	7	8	11	10	8	6	6	5

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Getting There

By Plane

Irkutsk International Airport (Russian: Аэропорт Ирку́тск) (Airport Code: IKT) is an airport in the centre of Irkutsk, Russia. Due to its proximity to the Angara Reservoir the airport enjoys a particular microclimate, with foggy weather being prevalent for most of the year. The airport is often closed due to bad weather conditions, with Bratsk serving as a diversion airport. Some key destinations served from Irkutsk include:

In Mongolia: Ulaanbaatar
In Russia: Moscow, Bratsk, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Perm, Vladivostok, Yakutsk, Khabarovsk, Krasnoyarsk, Ulan Ude, Chita, Krasnodar, Sochi, Rostov-on-Don, Yekaterinburg, Magadan
In Uzbekistan: Tashkent
In China: Beijing, Shenyang, Sanya
In South Korea: Seoul
In Thailand: Bangkok, Phuket
In Turkey: Antalya
In Vietnam: Ho Chi Minh City
In Tajikistan: Dushanbe, Khujand

There is also the smaller Irkutsk Northwest Airport, which mostly serves civilian aircraft.

By Train

Irkutsk - Ulaan Baatar train

Irkutsk is a station on the Trans-Siberian Railway, connecting Moscow and Vladivostok. There are numerous services running from Irkutsk on a daily basis. Branch lines also go south towards Mongolia and China, and to Ulan-Ude.

By Car

Federal road connects Irkutsk with Vladivostok.

By Bus

By Boat

From late June until late August, there are hydrofoil connections from Irkutsk all the way up north across Lake Baikal to Severobaykalsk, where you can connect to the Baikal Amur Railway (BAM). There are summer ferries to Bratsk as well across the Angara river.

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Getting Around

By Car

By Public Transport

Around Town
Buses, trolley buses (electric buses), and trams (on tracks) operate on an honour system. Tickets (called "taloni") are the same for all three and can be purchased in a 10-pack from the driver, at kiosks situtated near bus stops, and at some other kiosks. To validate your ticket, slide it into the top of one of the devices mounted on the walls, and punch it. During the day, especially in the city centre, these forms of transportation can get extremely crowded. People often pass their tickets through the crowd to someone standing near a punching device. If you are handed a ticket, please pass it along or punch it and pass it back, as appropriate.

If you travel without a ticket and an inspector catches you, you will be fined 20,000 rubles. (Make sure to get a receipt when you pay the fine.)
Tram numbers are posted on small signs hanging on wires above the street. Trams stop in the middle of the street, but you can wait on the sidewalk. When a tram approaches, cars are obliged to stop and wait for passengers getting on and off the tram.

To Suburbs and Lake Baikal
There are many bus routes between the small suburban towns and Irkutsk city. The main routes are to Angarsk (every day) and to Listvyanka/Lake Baikal (every 2 hours). You can reach any small railway station near Irkutsk via the "elektrichka" or suburban trains. There are a number of hydrofoil routes down the river Angara and up to Lake Baikal. They run only in the summer time.

By Foot

By Bike

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Eat

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Drink

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Sleep

Budget

Baikal Hostel - The hostel is situated in Irkutsk, between the train station and the dam on the River Angara. Get off at the bus and Marshrutka station Mikrochirugia Glasa, on the main street uliza Lermontova. From there it's a 1-minute walk to the hhostel.

Property	Address	Type	Popularity
Admiral Hostel	Cheremhovski pereulok ( street) Building 6, Apt 1	Hostel	86
Baikaler Hostel	Lenin street, Building #9 Apartment 11	Hostel	88
Baikalhostel	Ulitza Lermontova 136, Kvartiera 1, 1th floor	Hostel	84
Nerpa Backpackers	building 15a Gryaznova street	Hostel	87
Penguin Hostel	Yamskaya street, 5-46	Hostel	82
Trans-Sib Hostel	Sportivniy str 9 ap 8	HOSTEL	85
Auberge Théâtrale	Karl Liebknecht street 11 apartment 15	Guesthouse	-
IF Hostel	Gasheka str, 2-3	Hostel	80
Irkutsk Hostel	Zhelyabov str. 23a/1	Hostel	84
BaikalExplorerHostel	house 71, flat 6 5th Army street	Hostel	86
AlpBase	Angasolka settlement, Alpbase 1 and 2 Irkutsk region	HOSTEL	80
Nerpa Backpackers	Irkutsk, Sportivny lane building 5A apt. 1	HOSTEL	-
Home Hostel Irkutsk	Polskih Povstantsev 18 B	HOSTEL	-
DayNight Apartments	Jamskaya 5	APARTMENT	-
DayNightApartments Krasnokazachya	Krasnokazachya,21	Apartment	-
Explorer Hostel	5th Army, House 71, flat 6	Hostel	-
Irkutsk City Lodge	Baikalskaya Street 124	HOSTEL	81
Friends' house Irkutsk	Zhelyabova Str., building	Hostel	-
Irkutsk Hostel on baykalskaya str	Baykalskaya street, 253B	Hostel	-
Staryi Dvorik - Old small Yard	Polskikh Povstantsev street, building 18b. Rabotchaya street, between 15th and 17th numbers	GUESTHOUSE	-

Mid-Range

Upscale

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Work

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Learn

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Keep Connected

Internet

Phone

Post

Russian Post is the national postal service of Russia. It's English version is currently under construction, but mainly involves the track&trace system. The domestic post is reasonably reliable, and sending international mail is fairly reliable but slow, taking at least a few weeks to European countries, longer to the USA or Australia for example. The delivery of mail sent from abroad to Russia is highly unreliable, and people or companies tend to use foreign adresses, from where a private carrier sends it to Russia. Alternatives like poste restante are non-existent with Russian Post. Most cities and large towns in Russia have a Central Post Office (Glavpochtamt), which also sells stamps and envelopes, and usually has fax services and Internet availability, though the latter mostly not in smaller places. Also, many hotels have postal services, including mail boxes. Post offices tend to keep long hours, usually from 8:00am or 9:00am until 8:00pm or 9:00pm Monday to Friday, and closing earlier during weekends. The main central post offices in the biggest cities keep even longer hours. For sending parcels, you can also try services by DHL Russia and FedEx Russia. For all mail you can use the regular alphabet, though maybe include the country's name in Cyrillic. For sending post to Russia (or trying to receive it) note that addresses should be in reverse order: Russia, postal code, city, street address, name.

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External Links

The Tourism Department of the Irkutsk region runs a very sparse English website, and the WWW Irkutsk site has some numbers and contact information for a number of businesses in the area.