Russia Siberia
Travel to Siberia
» Siberia Accommodations - Hotels & Lodges
Countless adventures await those who travel to Siberia. A land of extremes, stark beauty and stunning wildlife, its winters are harshly cold and summers blisteringly hot. However, Siberia offers great opportunities for mountaineering, hiking, world class rafting and kayaking.
Here you can trek through hot springs and steaming volcanoes of Kamchatka, hike to a glacier in the Altai or whitewater raft down a river in some of the world’s most unspoilt environments.
A top attraction is Lake Baikal which is the world’s deepest lake with more water than all the great lakes combined. Rich in biodiversity and thought to be more than 25 million years old, its water is so clear than you can peer several hundred feet down.
For some on a Siberia vacation, March is the best time of the year to visit when the land is covered in pristine white snow and you can drive across the frozen lake in a taxi, or a motorbike.
In summer, there are lake cruisers and liveaboards from which you can spot the Siberian seal, the world’s only freshwater seal, lazing on its island preserve of Ushkaniye. Otherwise, look out for elk, moose, bear and deer on the forested shores of the lake. Baikal’s biggest island is rugged Olkhon which attracts rock climbers, hikers and fishermen.
A good staging point for visiting Lake Baikal is Irkutsk. Once known as Paris of Siberia, it has beautifully restored churches and splendid 19th century buildings. Ulan-Ude, on the historic tea caravan route from China, provides access to eastern Lake Baikal.
The Golden Mountains of Altai in southwestern Siberia are a UNESCO Heritage Site. Here are steppes, semi deserts, more than 7000 lakes and Siberia’s tallest peak, Mt Belukha. Altai is the spiritual center for Siberia’s shamans whose age-old practices are evidenced in kurgany or ancient burial mounds and kameny baba, which are stone idols with moustaches and cups bearing the souls of the dead. It is also the home of the endangered snow leopard.
Accommodations in Siberia range from budget homestays and hostels to new five star hotels. Summer is peak season for cruisers and hotels around the lake.
