Bereg Bajkala Guest House

Any trip to Irkutsk on the Trans- Siberian deserves a stay at Lake Baikal. At the far end of Irkutsk Markets is a group of small mini- vans and one here will take you to Listvyanka on the shores of Lake Baikal in around 45 minutes to an hour for less than $4. The busses run to no timetable but simply wait until they are full ( 10 people and around 20 mins between trips) You can ask the driver to put you off at the bridge over the Reka Krestovka River in Listvyanka to walk to this Guesthouse or wait for the terminus which is around 100 metres further on in front of Hotel Mayak. Busses also leave from the Central Bus Station in Iskutsk and the train station. Everyone knows Sudzilovskaya Street (the first street over the bridge on Listvyanka side running off Ulitsa Gor’kogo (the street running around the waterfront.) We were recommended to this address by some fellow travellers. On arrival, we met the owner (a very kind lovely lady) who lives in the house closest to the road. She took us further down the path through beautiful gardens to where we were staying and we paid our tariff. There was 4 bedrooms in this building which looked like a wooden ski chalet and we settled into the room on the first floor with a glorious view. The room we had for just the 2 of us had 4 beds in it, and a bathroom downstairs and was exceptional value at 750 roubles per person a night. The beds were fabulously comfortable with fresh spotlessly clean linen. There was heating in the room which we didn’t require, but I guess in Winter it would be a necessity. There was a kitchenette downstairs with all utensils and well stocked. The 4 girls downstairs made good use of the kitchen but we didn’t. The bathroom was clean and the shower was piping hot. Check in is from 1pm here and check out is by midday. We stored our luggage with the owner on our last day and couldn’t fault anything at this address. The view from our window with both windows open was sublime…..simply amazing, looking out over beautiful Lake Baikal. There’s lots to see and do in Baikal, lots of museums and plenty of tourist shops. We took a cruise on the Lake for a few hours at 500 roubles per person. You can go out to Olkon Island for a few days by ferry also. On the way back to Irkutsk do stop at the Taltsy Wood Museum. It’s about 15 minutes from Listvyanka (the driver will put you off.) It’s a collection of wonderful Siberian buildings and artifacts that deserve 4 hours. Bereg Baykala Guesthouse is a top address in Listvyanka and would be perfect for singles, couples or an entire family. It’s warm and cosy and is set in beautiful gardens, has an outside area to relax in and a BBQ. The views are amazing either way from here and we were told its less than a half hours walk to the ski fields at Baikal in Winter. There’s plenty of street parking there too. We ate at The Baikal Dreams Café (beside the bridge) and walked over the bridge (away from the Listvyanka village) to Ulitsa Kulikova Street where you are spoilt for choice with good restaurants.