Ulan-Ude

The capital of Buryatia, with the world's largest Lenin head, Ivolginsky Datsan and Old Believer villages; the gateway to the eastern shore of Lake Baikal.

Ulan-Ude is the capital of Russia's Republic of Buryatia, located where the Selenga and Uda rivers meet. Here the Trans-Siberian Railway and the line to Mongolia and China part ways, and the eastern shore of Lake Baikal is about 100 km away. The city is the centre of Tibetan Buddhism in Russia, where Buryat Mongol culture, Russian Orthodoxy and Old Believer traditions blend together. The city centre revolves around the giant Lenin head on Soviet Square, and you can walk to the Opera and Ballet Theatre, the National Museum, the pedestrianised Lenin Street, the Triumphal Arch and Odigitrievsky Cathedral; the Rinpoche Bagsha Datsan on Bald Mountain in the north of the city overlooks the whole city, and the open-air Ethnographic Museum of the Peoples of Transbaikalia sits in the pine forest at Verkhnyaya Berezovka. Top day trips include Ivolginsky Datsan, about 35 km southwest, and the Old Believer villages of Tarbagatay and Desyatnikovo to the south; about 130 km west by road is Posolsk Monastery on the shore of Lake Baikal. Barguzin Bay and the Holy Nose Peninsula on the eastern shore deserve a separate trip. Jun–Aug has the best weather; winters often reach -30°C but are sunny, and Sagaalgan (the Lunar New Year) falls in February. The city can be reached by train or plane from Beijing and Irkutsk; the train from Irkutsk takes about 7–8 hours. Get around town by minibus and taxi. Allow 2–3 days, and be sure to try Buryat dumplings (buuzy).

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Itineraries