Points of Interest & Landmarks in Irkutsk Oblast

THE 10 BEST Irkutsk Oblast Points of Interest & Landmarks

Points of Interest & Landmarks in Irkutsk Oblast

Types of Attractions
Sights & Landmarks
Sights & Landmarks
Traveler rating
Good for
80 places sorted by traveler favorites
  • Things to do ranked using Tripadvisor data including reviews, ratings, photos, and popularity.
Showing results 1-30 of 80

What travelers are saying

  • LifeIsAdventure
    New York City, NY74 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Lovely new district styled with old wooden houses with cafes, restaurants and shops. Very pleasant walk in the evening. I wish the food was better there.
    Written September 9, 2020
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
  • Takarasina
    2,101 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    It is a must-stop for everyone coming to Olkhon and a sacred place for local Buryats. That was the case for centuries until Soviet communists exterminated or incarcerated virtually all local shamans. When a boy I visited the place and I remember it just like a beautiful rock - no voodoo stuff, no posts decorated with ribbons. It was only in 1981 that the aithorities gave it a status of "natural sightseeing" but traditions of the past started to return much later, after the collapse of the communist power.
    It is a magical place - a gorgeous view, sandy beaches, deep blue waters of Baikal. It contains 19% of the world's sweet water reserves - can you imagine? Try to find a secluded place (not easy in high season) and just think of what was here, say, 500 years ago. Admire it at sunset or better at sunrise - no chirping tourists! And please - behave yourself. No climbing on Shamanka rock, no shouting, no alcohol, no littering. Local spirits shall not forgive you. (In the times passed women even were not allowed there.)
    Written August 18, 2019
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
  • Maryam N
    St. Petersburg, Russia19 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    this street is full of cafe and Restaurant, in traditional home arcitectures. in the evening enjoying of street music and nice view of the city.
    Written August 5, 2020
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
  • saronic
    Zurich, Switzerland26,274 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    From my hotel the first thing I wanted to do was to walk towards the Angara river, which was not far away. After all this is where the city of Irkutsk had its beginning, just opposite the place, easily seen, where the river Irkut flows into the Angara.

    From the Moscow Gate I first walked to the right in the direction the river flows towards the river Yenisej, with a view of the Znamensky Convent in front of me and past an interesting Monument to the Surveyors. Further on it makes no sense to keep walking, since one has to leave the river to go towards a bridge for a road with a lot of traffic.

    Thus I went back the same way and continued from the Moscow Gate river upwards in the direction of the Irkutsk Dam for the Hydroelectric Power Station. From here Lake Baikal, from where the Angara flows out, is only about 70km away.

    'Nizhnyaya Naberezhnaya Angary' means 'Lower Embankment of the Angara', but is there an upper embankment? There is definitely a nice area to walk by the river near the bridge to the Youth Island, close to the Monument to Alexander III, but this is not called 'Upper Embankment'. On the other hand the Angara flowing out of Baikal Lake was previously called 'Lower Angara', while a river flowing from the northeast into Lake Baikal was called 'Upper Angara'.
    Written April 21, 2020
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
  • saronic
    Zurich, Switzerland26,274 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    In a little square, close to a not very big park, from where a pedestrian bridge takes one to Yunost island in the Angara river, is a tall monument to Tsar Alexander III. It had been erected early 20th century and - as could be expected - dismantled after the October revolution, only to be put up again after the end of the Soviet Union.

    The statue stands on a quite tall plinth from red granite with at the front a double-headed eagle in bronze, the coat-of-arms of the Russian Empire. On the other sides of the pedestal are bronze medaillons of three men connected to Siberia. One represents the Cossack ataman Yermak, who started the conquest of Siberia in the 16th century under the reign of Ivan the Terrible. Nobody knows how he looked like.

    Another medaillon has a portrait of count Mikhail Speransky, who was governor-general in Irkutsk for 2 years early 19th century. He is less known for any big exploits in Siberia, than as the 'Father of Russian Liberation' due to his views. The third medaillon shows general-governor Nikolay Muravyov-Amursky, who thanks to the Treaty of Aigun in 1858 managed to get for Russia an over 600'000km piece of land from the Chinese by the Amur river.

    The reason for a statue in Irkutsk to Alexander III was the fact, that he gave the order in 1891 for the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway. Otherwise he is known as a reactionary, overturning some reforms of his father Alexander II, but also as 'Peacemaker', since during his reign 1881-1894 Russia was not involved in any war. In comparison to old photos of the emperor the statue looks rather idealistic, since in reality the tsar was not just a big, but also a very heavy man.
    Written April 20, 2020
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
  • Takarasina
    2,101 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    As to me, I got creeps when I saw that monument. Keep on thinking that if this communist phantasmagoria happened now my body, as that of a Russian officer, might also be dumped under the ice of a river...
    Deep respect and my profound bow to Vyacheslav Klykov, an outstanding Russian sculptor who created this piece of art just two years before his own death. Please try to understand that this is not only a tribute to a man to be remembered but also a warning memorial to the gory period in the Russian history when one part of our nation was deliriously killing the other. Look at the plinth and you'll see brothers in Red Army and White Army uniforms crossing their bayonets.
    I think every Russian coming to Irkutsk must come here to say to him-/herself - Never again!
    One can also notice a simple white cross to the left of the monument if you look into the admiral's face, across a busy street. Local people put it at the confluence of Angara and her small tributary called Ushakovka, on the place where Kolchak's body was put under the ice on a chilling February night of 1920.
    Though there's convincing evidence that he was shot dead in an inner court of Irkutsk city prison and only after that they slid his corpse into an Angara ice-hole for no-one to ever find it to administer last rites. Because this river - as her "father" Baikal - never returns her prey.
    Written August 23, 2019
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
  • Cap Chastain
    Anchorage, AK18,232 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    This is but another in a series of Train / Railway Stations (Abakan/Krasnoyarsk/Novosibirsk/Mariinsk/Tayshet/Irkutsk) that I have used here in Russia Siberia. It is the smallest station so far but this fits right in with the small size of Slyudyanka.

    The staff of the Train Station here in Slyudyanka were wonderful to work with. From purchasing my ticket to Irkutsk the day before my trip to 'holding-my-hand' on the day of my trip. They helped me by showing me a small map locating my train Coach number 1 / Wagon number 1 as being at the far end of the train and NOT next to the engines. This is critical because the stop in Slyudyanka is TWO MINUTES in duration. You absolutely MUST KNOW where your Coach / Wagon will be. I was the only passenger to board my coach number 1 so I did not have other passengers to follow as to its location. The station staff even offered me assistance with my one bag which I kindly refused with gratitude for the offer.
    Written April 12, 2019
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
  • jo-s
    Houthalen, Belgium638 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    All memorials of the war, wat ever war they stand for, is a reminder of the meaninglessness of war. It is located in a nice park.
    Written September 11, 2019
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
  • Rashid3000
    Faisalabad, Pakistan82 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    It is just beside the lower embankment. So, here you can see the beautiful views of the Angara River and admire the living places on the other side of the Angara River. We spend a few minutes there while purchasing a few snacks and drinks from the snack shop in the area. Then we took a long stroll toward the Lower embankment. We went through the children’s park and beside a couple of monuments.
    Written January 17, 2022
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
  • alexey2612
    Moscow, Russia15,936 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    It is out of the way if you are staying in downtown. From the outside you can only see a massive construction blocking a huge body of water. I stood there facing the winds from Baikal.
    Written May 13, 2017
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
  • 2131Asia
    Irkutsk Oblast, Russia13 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Shining, nice, fancy. It`s just a bridge. You can walk to Fortuna City or to the banks. In night time it is more nice than in daytime.
    Written October 26, 2015
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
  • Takarasina
    2,101 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    This is actually a monument to a Russian XIXth century folk song called "By the Wild Steppes of Transbaikalia" or "A Tramp". It tells about an outlaw who run from prison, crossed Baikal and met his mother only to know that his dad had died and his brother had also been incarcerated.
    It was inaugurated in October 2013 at the initiative of a local Olkhon region's mayor Sergey Kopylov who himself got a three-year jail term this June for allegedly "inflicting damage to the Russian Federation" (usually it means illegal deeds as a result of graft). It's remarkable, though, that not a single person we talked to during our Baikal trip believed that he really was guilty.
    In any case there's a poignant coherence between the monument and its inspirer 'coz the song says "He suffered in jail for his truth". It's even more symbolic that a stone plate with its lyrics engraved on it stays right beside the four-meter statue of that tramp.
    A beautiful monument by the road reconstructed by the same mayor a couple of years ago - it was a typical bumpy no-asphalt stuff before. Here in Russia we call it a whim of fate...
    Written August 18, 2019
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
  • Andrey N
    22 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    A nice tour hosted by local family with some stories from the past, national dances and songs. Not really professional, but performed in a very nice way, with dedication. If you don’t speak Russian - for the tour part on the story you better have someone who can translate into foreign languages, but you can still watch the performance. Some shamani souvenirs in the shop after the tour.
    Written July 24, 2018
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Frequently Asked Questions about Irkutsk Oblast