Catholic Christmas on Lake Baikal

Duration: 7 days, 6 nights
Availability: December 23-29

A thought-provoking journey across Russia to Siberia to catch white as it gets Christmas with gentle Russian romantics and eye-candy landscapes. This evokes endless images of Russian beauties of Anna Karenina type and endless wintery landscape from Doctor Zhivago. Troika rides and ice-cold vodka with steaming pancakes, topped with the black caviar and long and cozy fireplace evenings in our brand new chalet on the hilltop above Baikal Lake.

Learn to ride in the winter sleighs on the shore of the world deepest Baikal Lake and steam your cares away in Russian Sauna. Catch up with your mates on troika ride through winter wonderland and see Russian Orthodox churches.

Exhausted with Nordic nature eye-openers? Return to your comfortable hotel room in sophisticated Irkutsk. Once home to political exiles Irkutsk is proud with it three centuries cultural heritage. Dine out with the silver service. Dress up and pay the visit to refine Decembrist House to listen to the works of Schubert and Tchaikovsky. Enjoy champagne and music those little pleasures will banish lingering chills form winter.

Day 1 (23.12)

Arrival at Irkutsk City airport, meeting and assistance. Transfer to Listvyanka settlement ^* to your hotel. Brief stop at the Shaman Rock viewpoint where you can get hold of numerous souvenirs and see how local people smoke fish. Upon the arrival traditional greeting with vodka and “raskolotka” dish. Lunch at hotel restaurant where you can try some authentic Siberian cuisine specialties ^**

Next highlight of the day walk along the village and a guided tour to Baikal Ecological Museum ^*** displaying samples of the Lake’s unique features of flora and fauna: animals, minerals, various fish, microorganism species, pictorial and video presentations. Dinner and overnight in your Hotel

* Listvyanka is 70 kilometers away from Irkutsk. A trip to Listvyanka is the easiest and the fastest way to see the Baikal that's why the number of tourists in summer often exceeds the number of villagers. A small trading square is a kind of the village's center where one may seat in a cafe or buy the famous fish of the Baikal - omul

** Picturesquely located waterfront hilltop hotel restaurant surrounded by the localities of Listvyanka Settlement

*** The Baikal Ecology Museum exhibits include various fish and animal species, microorganisms, sponges and crustacean samples, geographical and geological data, ship models, diverse pictorial and video material as well as a number of showcases and models of the lake and marine vessels

Day 2 (24.12)

Breakfast and leisurely morning. You will be able to have a long lie-in to fresh up before the evening feasts! Beginning of the celebration starts with the transfer to Sibirskaya Zaimka Estate - a place on the Angara River bank where you will be hospitably offered a traditional Russian greeting, troika ride ^*, and feed lunch at an original Siberian design restaurant built on the bank of the famous Angara river. After the end of the program we invite you to enjoy a visit to a Russian Orthodox church of Saint Nicolas the Wonderworker ^** situated in Krestovka Hollow which gives you a unique opportunity to see a Russian Orthodox service. Return to the Hotel to get changed and prepare for the traditional carol singing and a festive roasted turkey meal and further celebrations. Overnight.

* is the famous carriage or sleigh pulled by three horses abreast, and is a symbol of Russia. It is one of the most common subjects found on lacquer boxes and other Russian art. Since early times, Troikas meant more to Russians than just transportation. Ride in a Troika could be a wild, exciting ride and a memorable event

** Build in the middle of the XIX century by Xenophont Serebryakov. Dedicated to Saint Nicolas – the guardian of all the travelers.

Day 3 (25.12)

Breakfast. Morning at leisure. Walk along the village and the visit to the Russian family with national cuisine specialties. Straight after meal an unforgettable experience – authentic winter “Rozvalni” (one horse sleighs) ride along Krestovka Hollow to see the Russian Saint Nicolas and Christmas tree (5 km) Return to the Hotel where you may experience and authentic “Banya” ^* with caviar and hot pancakes for snacks afterwards. Time to chill out after banya in your hotel rooms. (OPTIONAL SERVICE, IS NOT INCLUDED IN THE TOUR COST) Dinner and overnight

* The Banya begins in the dressing room, where everyone strips down. Towels in the form of large white sheets are available and most people grab one or two. Warm up in the Finnish-style dry sauna (heated to between 100° and 120° C). Take a small break to cool down and then check out the steam room (parilka), where you can be beaten about the body with dried bunch of tree branches (vennik), usually birch, oak or juniper. Half the people in the parilka will claim there's not enough heat and start calling for someone to throw more water on the hot rocks, while the other half feebly croak "too much, too much" - guys who want more steam usually win. This combination of heat, steam, and herbal massage purges your body of impurities and gives you a clean unattainable feeling by mere showers or baths

Day 4 (26.12)

Today after breakfast and time at leisure dress up warm and start for “Taltsy” – an open-air wooden architecture museum ^* and Russian Winter Slide Experience ^** Once in your lifetime you will slide on a bear skin from the top of the wooden slide, make racings with your mates and have a great fun! After the return to Listvyanka settlement we will dine in Proshlyi Vek Restaurant- a lovely waterfront wooden house restaurant. Walk on the shore of Baikal. Visit to Plamanevsky Art Gallery. Return to your hotel. Dinner and overnight.

* There is a numerous number of ethnographical and architectural sightseeing in the museum. The oldest building on a site is Spass Tower of Ilimsk Fortress (1667) and active Kazan Chapel (1679)

** For those who like a quick ride, the employees of the museum "Taltsy" builds a traditional Russian slide and a snow carousel. Skins are soaked in warm water and then left to freeze. Insiders of the sport confirm that it is possible to reach a speed of 50 km per hour. People are queuing up to experience sliding down the track as fast as the wind. The test rides proves the safety of the slide. For older tradition lovers, museum also constructed an old fashioned Russian snow carousel, on which you can prove your sporting spirit not only by trying to spin the carousel as fast as you can, but simply by your ability to stay straight on your feet

Day 5 (27.12)

Breakfast, packing up and a check out. Transfer to Irkutsk City Hotel ^* Lunch and a city tour to follow. Our guide will take you around the historical center, a few active and non-active Russian Orthodox churches, you visit the Cathedral of the Holly Sign ^** and drive through central streets of Irkutsk. Make a stop by the embankment of the Angara River the only river that outflows the mighty Lake Baikal. See wooden houses of Irkutsk in winter and visit the museum of the Local Lore. Return to the hotel. Dinner and overnight. For those who would like to explore the City in the evening we offer you a visit to the Music/Drama Theater (OPTIONAL SERVICE, IS NOT INCLUDED IN THE TOUR COST)

* in case there are no available rooms left the check in will be after1 pm after the city tour

** Apart from ornate and rich iconostasis the cathedral is famous with a church grave yard where you can see the tombs of Decembrist Mukhanov, Beschasnov, Trubetskaya and Russian Columbus Shelekhov

Day 6 (28.12)

Breakfast and transfer to the Fine Arts Museum ^* Leisure time for shopping afterwards followed by a lunch in a downtown restaurant. Afterwards we invite you to The Prince Volkonsky Mansion ^** to enjoy a guided tour around the mansion. Transfer to the Hotel. Dinner and final quiz night.

* situated in the hart of the city in a beautiful two-story mansion. It houses once privately owned collection of over 5 000 pieces of creative art works, table wear and sculptures by Russian and Soviet artists.

Day 7 (29.12)

Breakfast. Check out. Transfers to Irkutsk City airport.

Notes:

The tour opens on the 23d of December;
Average number of travelers – 6-9 people;
No special training needed;
East Siberia climate is the mostly continental climate in the world. Due to the changeable weather the tour itinerary may be slightly altered;
All the optional tours price stated separately from the tour price;
You may customize the tour and get an additional tour in Moscow. This price to be stated separately.
Moscow-Irkutsk and Irkutsk-Moscow plane tickets are not included due to the various incoming flights time and destinations. They are provided upon request on each group individually hence the price of the tour to be affected.

Tour budget (based on double occupancy)

Number of pax	3-5	6-9	10-15	16>
Price p/p, Rubles	54 420	45 300	40 250	39 700

Single supplement – 8 400 Rubles

Price includes

Transfers on arrival and departure;
Ground transportation as described in the itinerary;
All accommodations based on double occupancy as described in the itinerary;
All meals as noted in the itinerary;
All excursions, entrance fees, and visits as described in itinerary;
Bilingual local guides throughout your stay.

Price does not include

International and internal airfare;
passport and visa fees; medical and trip insurance;
evacuation costs;
airport taxes;
excess baggage charges;
photography and video fees;
food and beverages not included in the group meals;
tips to drivers or guides; items of a personal nature,
including alcoholic beverages,
laundry and telephone calls;
optional tours;
other items not specifically mentioned as included.

Please note that every effort will be made to adhere to the above pricing currency fluctuation beyond our control can affect final costs.