Baikal is not only the deepest lake on the planet, but also one of the most beautiful places in Russia. Holidays on Lake Baikal are the dream of millions, but going to Lake Baikal as savages is the lot of extreme sports enthusiasts. Picturesque mountains, crystal clear water, delicious fish - what else can compare with a holiday in the northeast of Russia? A trip here will be remembered for a lifetime, especially for those who came from afar. If you want to fully enjoy the beauty of the local nature, you should take a risk and go in search of adventure with a tent. Relaxing with savages on Lake Baikal with a tent will help you fully experience all the charm of these places. But where is the best place to stay? In which protected areas is it prohibited to organize wild recreation? What are the minimum amenities available in these parts? This is exactly what we will tell you on the pages of our publication.
Rest on Baikal by savages. How to get there and what to take with you.
In the vast expanses of our homeland, Baikal is located almost in the very middle of the country. I think not everyone will decide to travel by car from Moscow or Vladivostok to see Baikal as savages. If there are any, great! We jump into the car and after 4-5 days, you can safely cook fish soup, looking out from your tent on the shore of one of the most beautiful lakes in the world. For everyone else who dreams of seeing Baikal from a tent and going as savages to Baikal, the following advice.
If you suddenly want to visit all the places described in our article, we recommend renting a car, since there are many car rentals in Irkutsk. First of all, you need to get to Irkutsk. This is where all our adventures begin, and you can fly or come here using the service that we use, or any other.
If a person comes from afar, you don’t need to take a tent with you. In Irkutsk you can rent hiking equipment. A two-person tent will cost two hundred rubles per day or one thousand two hundred rubles per week. Renting sleeping bags will cost one hundred to two hundred rubles per day or six hundred to one thousand two hundred rubles per week. Tenants take a cash deposit from the tourist.
Due to the peculiarities of the Baikal climate, we recommend having warm clothes in your luggage. Summer on Lake Baikal is not equal to summer throughout the rest of our country. It is always colder on the lake than on the mainland. The water temperature in the lake does not exceed 20C, but in some bays it warms up to 25C, which even allows you to swim. So, swimsuits are also worth taking, and even more so if you are a walrus!
Important nuances
Before your trip, you should protect yourself and other members of the trip by taking out special insurance. Before the trip, you need to purchase tickets in advance and prepare all the necessary things, checking everything against the list. You cannot put a tent in front of the water, as there will be high tides on the lake at night, which will cause a lot of unpleasant situations. It is important to store money and documents in a safe place, pre-pack hermetically in a file or box. Children should not have access there. Many experienced travelers who have repeatedly encountered stored in different places
You can also store scanned copies on your phone. If necessary, they can be printed. Among the main nuances, we should highlight the fact that in some places on the lake cellular communication will be lost and it is important to leave your coordinates to someone close to you. For lovers of fishing and hunting, you will need to take gear and equipment. But there is an alternative option; it is convenient to rent everything you need on the lake. For example, renting a tent will cost about 250 rubles per day, a sleeping bag is three times less. The collateral is a passport or an equivalent amount of money. The best option is to travel by car, where you can put all the necessary things and hide in case of an unforeseen situation or a storm. For families with children, it is important to think through everything down to the smallest detail. In addition to books and toys, when traveling in the summer, you need to stock up on a sand set, which will be useful for building castles and other structures on the shores of Lake Baikal. This kind of entertainment is suitable even for adults.
If you prepare properly, your vacation as a savage will go without any problems, and you will be able to return to the bustling city with a lot of positive emotions.
You can admire Baikal a little more in the video:
Who goes to Baikal in the summer?
What places can savages stay on Lake Baikal? There is a lot of space, because Baikal occupies a huge territory. An excellent choice for outdoor recreation with a tent! Tent camps are set up on deserted, untouched land, as well as on the outskirts of villages. On the shore of the lake there are places for fires, wooden toilets, tables and benches. This comfort is created for those who are not ready to change their usual way of life too quickly. Experienced travelers love uninhabited territories, so they go to the northeastern coast of the lake, to the taiga part.
A large number of tourists come to Lake Baikal to go hiking. Baikal is a favorite place for hiking enthusiasts. The advantage of this type of tourism is the absence of strangers. With the onset of summer, thousands of cars rush to the beautiful lake. Where they cannot go, there is a benefit for the hiker.
How to sleep
During a wild holiday, sleeping bags and tents will become indispensable. If you don’t have a special waterproof awning, you can use regular polyethylene, which will prevent things from getting wet in the tent.
It is better to buy a rectangular or cocoon sleeping bag. The first option will replace a blanket or bedding; you can sleep comfortably in it even on the coldest night. The cocoon is not so comfortable.
Before purchasing a tent, it is important to explain to the consultant where you will have to rest; he will select a product from a certain material. When planning to purchase a sleeping bag, it is important to understand that they are produced according to the season
For the summer season, the products are light, single-layer. This option is suitable for hiking, rafting and outdoor trips.
When planning to purchase a sleeping bag, it is important to understand that they are produced according to the season. For the summer season, the products are light, single-layer
This option is suitable for hiking, rafting and outdoor trips.
Traveling in the off-season is good with a demi-season sleeping bag that can withstand frost down to minus 5 degrees. It will be great for sleeping in a tent in frosty conditions. If you use two three-layer sleeping bags, you will be warm even on snow or glaciers. For the winter season, it is worth purchasing an insulated version that can withstand frosts of up to 10 degrees. In most cases, four layers of insulation provide warmth.
Among the many options for relaxing near the lake, expedition or camping tents are more suitable. The first option is wind-resistant and perfectly protects from moisture and rain. They can be installed on the plain or in mountainous conditions. For those who like to relax with a car, a camping option with a high ceiling and a large vestibule is suitable. This type of tent also has windows and excellent ventilation; the disadvantages of this type include high price and bulkiness.
To Baikal as savages.
So, you and I found out who is going to Baikal as savages, why, and what you need to take with you. And now about the most important thing. You can go to Baikal as wild people if you prefer:
- Are you traveling to Baikal in your own car, or have you rented one?
- want to camp in a tent on the shore of a lake, and you know exactly where
- you are going on a hike and know exactly the route and accommodations
If you do not fall into any of these categories, and want to come to Lake Baikal on vacation as a wild person in the summer, be prepared to face problems.
- it is difficult to rent or book accommodation (those who are going on a trip do this in advance)
- there may also be no space in tent cities (check with the administration and tour operators)
- There may be problems with transport tickets.
Consider these points when planning your trip. Next, we will tell you about those places where you can easily accommodate and pitch a tent. Each of them has its own pros and cons. We will try to highlight the most important of them. And so, let's go!
Free tent camps.
In these places you can set up your tent and live in it for as long as you like for free.
- Wild beaches after the village of Utulik. These beaches are very popular for wild people to relax on Lake Baikal; it is difficult to find a free place.
- Babushka Bay, not far from Peschanaya Bay. These places offer wonderful views of the lake;
- Buguldeika. In the village you can not only admire Baikal, but also its tributary - a picturesque river;
- Aya Bay. A refuge for seals, picturesque nature. The only downside is that there is only one bathroom.
Service stations and gas stations
Traveling around Siberia and the Lake Baikal region, you can be convinced of the comfort of automobile tourism. In every locality there is a service station where your car’s oil will be changed, breakdowns will be repaired, etc.
If you drive along the highway, you will not have problems with fuel - there are gas stations literally at every step. But as soon as you drive away from the highway, the frequency of gas stations decreases critically - calculate the amount of fuel in advance so as not to stop due to an empty gas tank.
Small Sea
The seventy-six kilometer coastline is the crown of a beach holiday. Warm water, smooth entry into the water, wonderful nature. The coastline stretches from Sakhyurt to Kurm. Tents are permitted on campsites. The pleasure is not free - from two hundred to five hundred rubles per day. Wild recreation is also possible on the Small Sea. However, not all places are suitable for driving. Some trails are closed to vehicles. The further from the village, the fewer vacationers. The winds on the coast of the Small Sea are fierce, so you need to secure your tent well.
Enkhaluk
Enkhaluk is one of the most popular vacation spots on the eastern shore of the reservoir. Translated from Buryat, enkhe means peaceful. The place lives up to its name: a 10 km long bay with golden beaches framed by dense forest.
The easiest way to get to the village is from the capital of Buryatia, Ulan Ude, by private car or by minibus. The distance to Enkhaluk is 170 km. You can get from Irkutsk by car, covering a distance of about 400 km.
There is a tourist base on the territory of Enkhaluk, where camping is allowed for an additional fee. You can stay as a savage in the vicinity of Enkhaluk.
Be sure to visit the famous Sukhaya beach, the thermal springs of Zazga, and Proval Bay, formed as a result of a devastating earthquake.
In September it is already cold to swim, so if you are coming for a beach holiday, it is better to plan your trip in the summer months.
Olkhon
The equipped parking lot “Flower under the Snow” is located in the village area of Khuzhir, the administrative center of Olkhon. To set up a tent, you need to pay five hundred rubles (price per day). A parking space for a car costs three hundred and fifty rubles per day. Facilities provided: community kitchen, clean water for drinking, washing facilities and toilets. Wild recreation on the Sarai coast is prohibited, because it became part of the national park. Lighting a fire or leaving trash is also prohibited by law. Now tourists are forced to pay to stay in these picturesque places. The cost of living (per day) is fifty and one hundred rubles. A smaller amount is intended for local residents. There are no amenities on the coast.
Rent a Car
In Irkutsk and other cities that can serve as starting points for your road trip, cars from the latest years of production are rented out. Usually every car is insured.
Features of car rental:
- You can rent a car upon arrival by visiting the landlord’s office;
- if you book a car in advance, its rental may be cheaper;
- the cost of rental is practically no different from the average prices in the country - 2,000-2,500 rubles per day;
- if you rent a car for a week, the second and subsequent days usually cost less;
- if you rent an inexpensive car, the weekly rental amount is approximately 13,000 rubles, not counting fuel costs.
Serpentine in Kultuk
Slyudyanka
A city located on the western part of the lake. There is little comfortable housing here, so camping is the most suitable choice. The Yurta tent camp is an opportunity not only to set up a tent, but also to live in creative housing. Buryat yurts are a clever tourist trick, costing from 1,300 rubles per day. Parking spaces are free. Wild recreation is possible on the shore, there are free places for tents. As tourists say, it is better to stay thirty kilometers from the city, in Utulik. The village is surrounded by beautiful mountains. You can also admire the lake while walking on a catamaran.
Listvyanka
The village is called Baikal Anapa, probably because of its popularity among tourists. In addition to guest houses, there are paid tent cities. Rest in the paid zone will not be cheap - fifty rubles per hour. Free clearings can be found to the north. There are free places for lunch here. But there are no toilets here. You will have to dig the toilet yourself.
Goryachinsk
The famous village, on the territory of which there are healing springs. The nearest large city is Ulan-Ude (one hundred and seventy-five kilometers away). Officially, wild recreation is prohibited. However, while specialized parking lots are not equipped, tourists still set up tents on the coast. The minimum cost of housing at the “Cozy Courtyard” camping is 2100 rubles. The price includes: a parking space for a car, as well as a shared kitchen. The village has a small market, a bus stop and several shops.
Holy Nose Peninsula
Picturesque sandy beaches, not crowded with tourists. The cost of a place in a tent camp is five hundred rubles per day (summer season). Good places for a wild holiday are Myagkaya Karga beach, Okunevaya Bay and Kresty Bay. To get to the bays, you will have to walk, since there is no access for a car. If you go to Baikal as savages, this place will become one of the best.
Khamar-Daban
Fans of mountains, climbing and extreme tourism are advised to pay attention to Khamar-Daban. Khamar-Daban is a ridge located in Buryatia in the west of Lake Baikal.
You can get to the ridge from Irkutsk or Ulan Ude, starting the hike in the famous Slyudyanka. You can get to Slyudyanka by train or car. From Slyudyanka walk along a well-trodden path to Khamar-Daban. Along the way you will see a lot of interesting things: Lake Heart, Chersky Peak, 2090 meters high. Climbing the peak is a popular activity in this region. The road to the peak is serpentine and is part of an ancient caravan route from Russia to China and Mongolia.
Tents can be pitched freely along the entire route. There is unlikely to be a suitable place in Slyudyanka itself, but many tourists still arrange parking along the Circum-Baikal Railway.
The best time to visit is from June to September.
Useful tips.
Baikal is a majestic lake with amazing natural landscapes. It is worth visiting these parts at least once in your life. The best way to get acquainted with the local nature is to stop on the shore of a lake with a tent. Although basic amenities may not be available, the lack of comfort will be compensated by a pleasant pastime. Some places have free parking for cars and tents. Sometimes, on the territory of free tent camps you can find benches, tables, bathrooms, and equipped places for fires. This is a very pleasant feature of a savage holiday on Lake Baikal.
National Park.
Still, you have to pay for some amenities. Visiting national parks and reserves also costs a lot of money. However, it is still worth looking at the natural beauty. If you want to visit the Transbaikal National Park, you need to send an application in advance not by email. There is a fee to visit the protected area. There is a checkpoint at the entrance, so you won’t be able to drive through as a “hare”. You must have an identification document with you. In the absence of a special permit, you will have to pay a fine of three thousand rubles.
Precautionary measures when visiting Lake Baikal by savages.
There is plenty of clean drinking water in the vicinity of Lake Baikal. For cooking, as well as for hygienic purposes, you can take water from the lake. It is suitable for these purposes. It is unsafe to be on the coast due to the tides. Caution must be exercised.
Caution is also required when visiting the sandy beach of Vydrino. There is no place for tourists here, as the locals do not like strangers.
Robberies and robberies occur in these places. Residents of the region can rest peacefully, but visitors from afar are not recommended to stay overnight.
Savages are prohibited from staying on the territory of Buryatia.
Other parts of the coast are full of untouched areas suitable for camping. If it is not possible to bring camping supplies with you, you can rent them in the regional center. Before you build a route, you need to make sure that the places there are safe. Beautiful nature can be deceiving.
Local residents may be wary of independent tourists and even show aggression. Robberies and robberies are also possible in some settlements.
Therefore, it is better to select places for camping with a tent with caution. The weather can be changeable. It is dangerous to stand close to the water during high tides. Precautionary measures will not hurt when swimming, since Baikal is not only the most beautiful, but also the deepest lake on the planet.
Peschanaya Bay
It is located north of the village of Bolshiye Koty. The bay is often called the Baikal Riviera. Golden sand and turquoise water transport us to the serene southern islands, and only the dense taiga of the Primorsky Range, advancing on all this splendor, returns us to Baikal. Therefore, it is better to place a tent in the coastal zone. True, this cannot be done in Peschanaya Bay itself due to environmental considerations, but in neighboring Babushka and Sukhaya you can stay. Another option is to come to an agreement with the tourist centers “Peschanaya Bay” and Baikal Dunes,” they will most likely allow (not for free, of course) to erect a camp house on their territory.
The places are beautiful, but wild. The nearest village is Bolshoye Goloustnoye, 30 kilometers away. There are several ways to get to the picturesque bay:
- on the hovercraft "Barguzin" from the port of Irkutsk or Listvyanka. From Irkutsk the journey will take 4 hours, from Listvyanka – 2.40. Transport does not run every day, so check the schedule;
- There are regular buses to the village of Bolshoye Goloustnoye, from there a hiking trail leads to the bay, you can also get from Bolshoye Goloustnoye by rented boat or on the same “Barguzin”, motor ships make a stop here;
- In winter, some people drive here on frozen ice using GPS coordinates.
- In the summer, you can walk to the bay from Listvyanka or from the village of Bolshiye Koty along the same great Baikal trail, the distance is 80 and 60 kilometers, respectively. The journey with stops and rests will definitely take several days.
Stilted trees are a strange attraction of these places. The sandy soil is washed away by wind and water, exposing the roots of trees to the height of human height. Sometimes it seems that the forest is about to move, creaking with its fancy snag-legs. The trees look like futuristic wooden spiders from some science fiction film or the insidious accomplices of Baba Yaga from a fairy tale, this will suit anyone’s fantasy.
There are other wonders in the bay, not Leshy and Rusalka, of course, but still. Directly above the Sandy Bay tourist center rises the Observation Rock, where at an altitude of 260 meters, at the very top, there is an ideal observation deck; a wide, well-trodden path leads to it. 150 meters from the coast, a small rock sticks out of the water - this is the Cormorant Stone, black cormorants once lived on it, now seagulls nest.
Reviews about holidays on Lake Baikal by savages.
Maria went to Baikal as a wild person with friends. They set up a tent in a free parking lot. She really enjoyed relaxing on the shore. The water was warm and the descent was safe for children. Her children splashed in the lake with great pleasure.
Evgeniy vacations in Enkhaluk regularly. He believes that the village is the best place for tents. Although there are many people during the season, there is free space for a tent. Pine forest, cedars, delicious blueberries - there is everything for a successful holiday for savages.
We can also tell you where you can perfectly celebrate the New Year. for example on Lake Baikal. Or in fabulous Altai. Or maybe you are wondering how things are in Kyrgyzstan in the summer or in Kazakhstan? Read, everything is for you. And also subscribe to the news and leave comments.
