info@baikalnature.com

Baikal - Magadan Winter Expedition

Easy - nothing more than normal walking while sight-seeing
Moderately Easy - 1-3 hours of physical activity daily
Moderate - 3-5 hours of physical activity daily
Challenging - 5-7 hours of challenging physical activity daily
Extreme - 7+ hours of challenging/extreme physical activity daily
Difficulty
Basic — most of nights in tents or rooms with shared WC, some nights in comfortable rooms.
Standard — most of nights in comfortable rooms, some nights in tents or rooms with shared WC.
Upgraded — all nights in comfortable rooms.
Comfort
Minimum age of the participant of this trip
16 Days
January
Highlights
  • More than 5500 km by road Moscow - Vladivostok, Lena and Kolyma (Road of Bones)
  • Crossing of republics of Buryatia, Yakutya and Magadan Oblast
  • Traveling at the temperature below -55 ° C
  • Visit of GULAGs and of ghost-towns
  • Visit of Oymyakon village - the coldest village in the world, known as pole of cold
  • Meeting with the indigenous people of Russia
  • Discovery of frozen lake Baikal
  • Opprtunity to drive the 4x4 Toyota Land Cruiser
  • Magic landscape, frosty frozen and aurora borealis
Tour Overview

Travel across the territory of permafrost, visit the capitals of Yakutia and Buryatia, undergo a ritual purification ceremony in the coldest village on Earth, visit the sites of the former Gulags and ghost towns and complete the path with observing the view of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk from the city of Magadan - how about all this combined in one trip of 16 days in SUVs? Seems challenging but.. why not ? Now imagine that the entire journey from Irkutsk to Magadan will be held under extremely cold temperatures reaching -50° and sometimes even lower! It is not very easy to decide upon this kind of adventure, right? But not with BaikalNature! Here are the reasons why: with thoughtful approach to your comfort during the stay the agency provides you with comfortable off-road cars that are fully equipped for this kind of expedition, overnight stay in cozy hotel rooms and local guest houses, heated garages to put the cars in for every overnight - and this is just a brief glance at what we provide in order to make the conditions of the tour more comfortable.

During the trip we will ride along the famous highways: Amur (R-297), Lena (A-360) and Kolyma (R-504). The Lena highway goes mainly across the territory of permafrost and the Kolyma track, also known as the "Road of Bones" was built by labor camp prisoners.

Also, every participant of this expedition will receive a certificate upon visiting the Pole of Cold from the hands of the true Yakut Father Frost - Chyshaan, undergo a ritual purification ceremony according to local traditions and participate in ice fishing.

During the course of this expedition you will not only drive for over 5000 km but also you will have an opportunity to get acquainted with the history of the Soviet Union, visit the local museums, get a closer view on the daily life of indigenous people.

This tour is held in a format of expedition. Description of the itinerary presents only a common plan of the expedition. In case of any force majeure (such as bad weather conditions or any other unexpected and unpredictable events), the organizers reserve the right to make changes to the program.

NB: This tour has no fixed group departure date. The price is available upon request.

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Tour programme
  • Day 1
    Discovery of Irkutsk
    Irkutsk
  • Day 2
    Road along the Lake Baikal
    Irkutsk — Ulan-Ude
  • Day 3
    Visit of the village of old believers
    Ulan-Ude — Chita
  • Day 4
    Amur highway Yerofey Pavlovich
    Chita — Yerofey Pavlovich
  • Day 5
    Amur-Yakutsk highway
    Yerofey Pavlovich — Neryungri
  • Day 6
    Area of permafrost
    Neryungri — Tommot
  • Day 7
    Yakutsk - capital of Yakutia
    Tommot — Yakutsk
  • Day 8
    Discovery of Yakutsk
    Yakutsk
  • Day 9
    Khandygskaya highway
    Yakutsk — Khandyga
  • Day 10
    Road of bones
    Khandyga — Tomtor
  • Day 11
    Oymyakon - pole of cold
    Tomtor
  • Day 12
    Road Starokolymskaya
    Tomtor — Ust-Nera
  • Day 13
    Ghost town Kadykchan
    Ust-Nera — Susuman
  • Day 14
    Kolyma highway
    Susuman — Magadan
  • Day 15
    Discovery of Magadan. Mask of sorrow
    Magadan
  • Day 16
    Departure from Magadan
    Magadan
  • 11:00
    Arrival in Irkutsk
    Transfer to the hotel. Check in and rest.
  • 13:00
    Meeting with your guide at the hotel lobby
  • 13:30
    Lunch at a restaurant in the city center
  • 14:30
    Stroll in the city center
    Discovery of old wooden houses, ancient orthodox churches, the central market.
  • 19:00
    Dinner at a local restaurant
  • Night in a hotel
Photo of the day
Route
Irkutsk
Accommodation
Accommodation in the hotel Imperia
-
  • 08:00
    Breakfast at a hotel
  • 09:00
    Departure to Ulan-Ude following the track named "Baikal"
    A part of our way lies through a most scenic segment of the Trans-Siberian railway.
  • 13:00
    Lunch at a roadside cafe Not included
  • 14:00
    Continuation of the way to Ulan-Ude
    Arrival in Ulan-Ude in the afternoon.
  • 19:00
    Dinner at a local restaurant serving Buryat cuisine
  • Night in a hotel
Photo of the day
Route
Irkutsk — Ulan-Ude
Note

7 h 4x4  (478km)

  (230km)

  • 08:00
    Breakfast at a hotel
  • 09:00
    Departure to Chita
    Early breakfast, departure for Chita. En route, a visit of a village of Old Believers in Tarbagatay. Old Believers are a branch of Christians who separated from the official Russian Orthodox Church as a protest against church reforms introduced by Patriarch Nikon of Moscow (17th century). You will have an opportunity to meet the locals and to listen to their singings.
  • 13:00
    Lunch at a roadside café Not included
  • 14:00
    Continuation of the way to Chita
  • 19:00
    Dinner at the resort
  • Overnight in a hotel
Photo of the day
Route
Ulan-Ude — Chita
Note

8 h 4x4  (611km)

  • 08:00
    Breakfast at a hotel
  • 09:00
    Departure for the village of Yerofey Pavlovich
    This village was named in honor of a Russian researcher and a traveler Yerofey Pavlovich Khabarov. The way lies along the railway line "Amur" (R-297), which ends in Khabarovsk.
  • 13:00
    Lunch at a roadside cafe Not included
  • 14:00
    Continuation of the way to Yerofey Pavlovich
    Arrival in the village in the evening.
  • 19:00
    Dinner at a roadside cafe Not included
  • 21:00
    Banya at the inn
  • Night in the inn (outdoor toilet)
Photo of the day
Lena Road A-360
Route
Chita — Yerofey Pavlovich
Note

9 h 4x4  (781km)

  (390.5km)

  • 08:00
    Breakfast at a roadside cafe Not included
  • 09:00
    Deparure for Neryungri village
    Neryungri is the second largest town in the Sakha (Yakutiya) Republic. The way majorly passes through the lands of permafrost and via a historical intersection of Skovorodino where the famous M-56 "Tynda - Yakutsk" track and the Lena highway start.
  • 13:00
    Lunch at a roadside café Not included
  • 14:00
    Continuation of the way to Neryungri
  • 19:00
    Dinner at a hotel
  • Night at a hotel
Photo of the day
Route
Yerofey Pavlovich — Neryungri
Note

8 h 4x4  (533km)

  (266.5km)

  • 08:00
    Breakfast at a hotel
  • 09:00
    Departure for Tommot
    This town is defined as a transportation center, because it's placed at the intersection of the Amur–Yakutsk Mainline and the Lena highway.
  • 13:00
    Lunch at a roadside café Not included
  • 14:00
    Continuation of the way to Tommot
    Arrival in Tommot in the second half of the day.
  • 19:00
    Dinner at a roadside cafe Not included
  • Night in a guest house
Photo of the day
Route
Neryungri — Tommot
Note

5 h 4x4  (348km)

  (173.5km)

  • 08:00
    Breakfast Not included
  • 09:00
    Departure for Yakutsk
    Yakutsk was founded in 1632 and is now the capital of the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic. Yakutsk, being the major city of the republic is also one of the oldest cities in Siberia.
  • 13:00
    Lunch at a roadside cafe Not included
  • 14:00
    Continuation of the way to Yakutsk
    Arrival in Yakutsk in the evening.
  • 19:00
    Dinner at a hotel
  • Night in a hotel
Photo of the day
Old Road of Bones in winter
Route
Tommot — Yakutsk
Note

  (231.5km)

7 h 4x4  (463km)

  • 08:00
    Breakfast at a hotel
  • 09:00
    Tour around the city center
    The "Old city" is a historical and architectural complex, a quarter in the city center where many buildings are recreating the appearance of old Yakutsk. Moreover, we will visit two legendary museums - World Mammoth museum and the "Kingdom of Permafrost" museum. The Mammoth museum was established in 1991 on the initiative of Peter Lazarev - the first Yakut scientist specializing in mammoth studies. As for the "Kingdom of Permafrost" museum, it was opened in 2008 and the tourists who come visit this museum witness a true ice miracle when they open its doors. In summer the temperature doesn't go above -4° and in winter it never gets lower than -10°. Both these museums are hallmarks of Yakutsk.
  • 14:00
    Lunch Not included
  • 15:00
    Free time to discover the city
  • 19:00
    Dinner Not included
  • Night in a hotel
Photo of the day
Route
Yakutsk
  • 09:00
    Departure for the village of Khandyga (ex Gulag distribution point)
    This day we enter the R504 Kolyma Highway - a famous road passing through the Russian Far East and connecting the Sakha (Yakutiya) Republic with Magadan. This is the only autoroute in the eastern Yakutiya and also western and central parts of the Magadan district that provides an access to the Pacific ocean.
  • 13:00
    Lunch at a roadside cafe Not included
  • 14:00
    Continuation of the way to Khangyda
    Arrival in the village in the evening.
  • 19:00
    Dinner at a roadside café Not included
  • Night in a guest house
Photo of the day
Route
Yakutsk — Khandyga
Note

9 h 4x4  (419km)

  (209.5km)

  • 08:00
    Breakfast Not included
  • 09:00
    Departure for the village of Tomtor
    Tomtor village is one of the contenders for the title of "Pole of Cold". Its main competitor is Oymyakon. Moreover, since 2001 the village of Tomtor traditionally gathers hundreds of people to a festival known as "Pole of Cold". The festival brings together all the Santas from the major league - from Santa Claus from Lapland to the main Russian Father Frost from Veliky Ustyug. Chyskhaan - a severe Yakut "Keeper of the cold," is present by default: it is his "home", a cave in the mountain Ebe-Khaya that is considered sacred for the local people. The village has a commemorative monument dedicated to the victims of Stalin’s repressions. It is called “The Memory Bell”.
  • 13:00
    Lunch at a roadside café Not included
  • 14:00
    Continuation of the way to Tomtor
  • 19:00
    Dinner at a guest house
  • Night at a guest house
Photo of the day
Route
Khandyga — Tomtor
Note

10 h 4x4  (472km)

  (237km)

  • 08:00
    Breakfast at a guest house
  • 09:00
    Departure for Oymyakon
    Oymyakon is a true Pole of Cold. Here you will meet the "Keeper of the Cold" - Chyskhaan, and receive a certificate from his hands for visiting the coldest permanently inhabited settlement in the world.
  • 13:00
    Lunch at a roadside café Not included
  • 14:00
    Participation in ice fishing
  • 16:00
    Return to Tomtor
  • 19:00
    Dinner at a guest house
  • Night at a guest house
Photo of the day
Route
Tomtor
Note

cultural exploration  (40km)

4x4  (40km)

  • 08:00
    Breakfast at a guest house
  • 09:00
    Drive to Ust-Nera village
    Ust-Nera - a gold mining town and the most populated settlement of Oymyakonsky District. Ust Nera was a Gulag (prison labor camp) until 1956, part of Stalin's Dalstroy organization which claimed thousands of Russian lives. The prisoners were used to provide free labour for building houses, laying the Magadan track and mining gold.
  • 13:00
    Lunch a a roadside cafe Not included
  • 14:00
    Continuation of the way to Ust-Nera
    Arrival in the evening.
  • 19:00
    Dinner at a roadside cafe Not included
  • Night at a guest house
Photo of the day
Route
Tomtor — Ust-Nera
Note

9 h 4x4  (395km)

  (164km)

  • 08:00
    Breakfast Not included
  • 09:00
    Departure for the village of Susuman
    Our way will pass through one of the depopulated urban localities - a village of Kadykchan. You will make a visit of the village with its parks, schools, libraries and hospitals - buildings that have all been left abandoned. Earlier, there were 7000 people living in the village and working at its two coal mines. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, coal mining in the area became increasingly unprofitable. An explosion at the mine in 1996 killed six people, which led to a decision to close the mines altogether. The government subsidized its residents to move elsewhere and cut off the electricity in the whole village. In spite the fact that the city is considered to be completely depopulated, travelers reported that there has been one man with his two dogs that were still living in the village.
  • 13:00
    Lunch at a roadside cafe Not included
  • 14:00
    Continuation of the way to Susuman
  • 19:00
    Dinner at a roadside cafe
  • Night in a hotel
Photo of the day
Route
Ust-Nera — Susuman
Note

5 h 4x4  (390km)

  (194km)

  • 08:00
    Breakfast Not included
  • 09:00
    Departure for Magadan
    We're off early for the final run of our trip to Magadan. This city was founded as an industrial community to develop the extraction of mineral resources in the Kolyma region.
  • 13:00
    Lunch at a roadside cafe Not included
  • 14:00
    Continuation of the way to Magadan.
    Arrival in the evening.
  • 19:00
    Dinner at a roadside cafe.
  • Night at a hotel.
Photo of the day
The "Plane-house" in Susuman town
Route
Susuman — Magadan
Note

8 h 4x4  (627km)

  (313km)

  • 09:00
    Breakfast at a hotel
  • 10:00
    Visit of the Magadan Regional Museum with its 5 exhibition halls that contain a number of informative displays on the history of the Gulag Not included
  • 13:00
    Lunch Not included
  • 14:00
    Excursion.
    A tour to the "Mask of Sorrow" - a monument perched on a hill above Magadan, commemorating the many prisoners who suffered and died in the Gulag prison camps in the Kolyma region. The design was created by famed sculptor Ernst Neizvestny, whose parents fell victim to the Stalinist purges of the 1930s. Observation of the panoramic view of Nagayev and Gertner bays.
  • 19:00
    Festive dinner at a local restaurant
  • Night in a hotel
Photo of the day
Mask of Sorrow Monument in Magadan City
Route
Magadan
  • 09:00
    Breakfast at a hotel.
  • 11:00
    Transfer to the airport
    End of the program.
Photo of the day
On the Ice of Okhotsk Sea
Route
Magadan
Detailed description
New departures available soon
Price includes
  • Russian-spaking guide
  • Accommodation as per itinerary
  • Excursions and visits as per itinerary
  • Nature reserves and parks entrance permissions
  • Bathing in springs
  • Airplane/ train tickets
  • Letter of invitation
  • English-speaking guide services
  • Meals according to the program
  • Accident insurance
Price does not include
  • Meals as per itinerary
  • Personal expenses and tips
  • Visa fees and travel insurance
  • Optional activities
For more info, please download the detailed description of the trip.
Note

The price given is for a group of 3 people (for one car) Total number of vehicles: 2 to 4. If there are less than 3 persons in the car, the price of the expedition will be recalculated. Acommodation is planned to be in hotel rooms, guest houses and inns. Meals included: breakfasts for the following days: 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 15, 16; lunch for the day 1; dinners for the days 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 10, 11, 15. All the other meals will be negotiated with the group members once on spot (additional charge). The itinerary of the expedition can be changed according to the road or weather conditions as well as unforeseen events.

Reviews
No reviews anymore or no reviews at all for this tour. Below reviews for destination:
4.83
4.83
Total score
5.00
Work of BaikalNature office before and during travel / customer support
5.00
Quality of accommodation
4.00
Quality of transport / transfers
5.00
Quality of meals
5.00
Friendliness and professionalism of guides / management
5.00
Quality and originality of visits / attractions / events
Laura
From 29 February 2024 to 10 March 2024
Destination: Lake Baikal
Custom tourGrand Nord du Lac Baïkal
Would you like to travel with BaikalNature again? Yes!
Préparation du voyage d’un grand sérieux, attention particulière à répondre aux besoins exprimés (grands espaces sauvages peu visités), disponibilité et fiabilité mêlées d’une agréable sympathie! Lors du séjour, la communication a été facile. Le voyage en transsibérien, l’accueil a Oust Bargouzin et le road-trip avec Alexander Beketov comme guide ont été mes moments préférés; son expérience est
  Read more
5.00
5.00
Total score
5.00
Work of BaikalNature office before and during travel / customer support
5.00
Quality of accommodation
5.00
Quality of transport / transfers
5.00
Quality of meals
5.00
Friendliness and professionalism of guides / management
5.00
Quality and originality of visits / attractions / events
Pierrette
From 29 February 2024 to 8 March 2024
Destination: Lake Baikal
Custom tourBaïkal Hivernal Classique
Would you like to travel with BaikalNature again? Yes!
Ce voyage, compliqué en cette période géopolitique critique, a été bien organisé en coopération avec le bureau, selon mes préférences, mes besoins. Tout a été prévu avec minutie. Accueil très chaleureux individualisé. J'ai été réellement bluffée et hyper satisfaite de toutes les prestations. Le personnel, guide et chauffeurs, est très professionnel, très attentionné, bienveillant et d'une qualité
  Read more
5.00
5.00
Total score
5.00
Work of BaikalNature office before and during travel / customer support
5.00
Quality of accommodation
5.00
Quality of transport / transfers
5.00
Quality of meals
5.00
Friendliness and professionalism of guides / management
5.00
Quality and originality of visits / attractions / events
Владислав
From 23 July 2023 to 27 July 2023
Destination: Lake Baikal
Would you like to travel with BaikalNature again? Yes!
Замечательный тур! Очень понравилось всё, начиная от организационных моментов, заканчивая самим путешествием, замечательным гидом Егором, удивительно живописными местами, супер устойчивыми байдарками и разнообразной погодой.
4.33
4.33
Total score
5.00
Work of BaikalNature office before and during travel / customer support
4.00
Quality of accommodation
4.00
Quality of transport / transfers
3.00
Quality of meals
5.00
Friendliness and professionalism of guides / management
5.00
Quality and originality of visits / attractions / events
Vanessa
From 21 February 2023 to 25 February 2023
Destination: Lake Baikal
Custom tourVoyage au lac Baïkal
Would you like to travel with BaikalNature again? Yes!
Un grand merci à Maria qui a su nous sortir de situations parfois vraiment très délicates
4.33
4.33
Total score
4.00
Work of BaikalNature office before and during travel / customer support
4.00
Quality of accommodation
4.00
Quality of transport / transfers
4.00
Quality of meals
5.00
Friendliness and professionalism of guides / management
5.00
Quality and originality of visits / attractions / events
Valérie
From 21 February 2023 to 25 February 2023
Destination: Lake Baikal
Custom tourVoyage au lac Baïkal
Would you like to travel with BaikalNature again? Yes!
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