In the 17 century the settlement at the western shore of Lake Baikal, in the delta of the Idin-Gol River, was found owing to the trade road from Russia to China. A lot of merchant wind–driven boats from Irkutsk were going in the Angara and the Baikal up to the Idin-Gol river that forms a deeply intrusive cape while inflowing into Lake Baikal. A special pier had been built at the cape. At that place all the ships were crossing the Baikal and were directed to the delta of the Selenga, rising up to the towns of Udinsk and Selenginsk.

A settlement that appeared nearby the pier was called Goloustnoye (from the Russian word “goly” -“bare”) for its woodless river shores. At the same time, the river and the cape were given name of Idin-Gol. By the last quarter of the 20th century, there were already over 30 houses and almost 200 inhabitants.

Nowadays, about 600 people live there. Everything needed to any tourist is in offer there: shops, hotels, touristic capes, cell communication. Bolshoye Goloustnoye is tied with Irkutsk by the 130-km gravel road. There is a walking path to the settlement of Bolshiye Koty (30 km along the shore line) and further up to Listvyanka.

The main sightseeing of the settlement is usually considered to be the Nikolskaya Church that possesses a very old and complicated history. As for the Baikal’s sightseeing, there are a few of them near Goloustnoye.

Due to the functioning of the timber industry enterprise in the surroundings of the settlement up to 1987, a local landscape along with the Goloustnaya river had been influenced a lot.

Last year, the government made a resolution on the creation of a special recreational zone at the Baikal, in Bolshoye Goloustnoye. The settlement will welcome the tourists all the year round. It is planned to develop diverse types of tourism: business, sightseeing, health and recreation, ecological, sport, adventure, water, and ski one. Moreover, a congress-center and aqua park for 500 visitors are included in the project along with sport and recreation complexes and numerous infrastructural objects.