Lake Baikal

Lake Baikal, curving for over 600 kilometres through the mountains of southern Siberia, is one of the great natural wonders of the world, the oldest lake on earth at some 25 million years, the deepest at over 1,600 metres, and holder of around a fifth of all the planet's unfrozen fresh water. Its waters are famously clear, home to unique creatures found nowhere else, including the Baikal seal. Ringed by taiga forest and snow-capped peaks and dotted with islands such as sacred Olkhon, it is revered by local Buryat people. In deep winter it freezes into a vast expanse of astonishing turquoise ice, a UNESCO World Heritage site of elemental beauty.

What you actually see

• The clear waters - the astonishing clarity of the world's deepest lake.
• Olkhon Island - the sacred island at the lake's heart.
• The frozen ice - the vast turquoise ice sheet of deep winter.
• The wildlife - the unique Baikal seals and taiga surroundings.

When to go

July to September offers mild weather for boating, hiking and the villages of Olkhon, while February to March draws visitors to walk and drive on the spectacular clear ice; spring and autumn are quieter transitional seasons. Each brings a completely different face of the lake.

Honest expectations

Baikal is remote, reached by long journeys via Irkutsk, and its two great seasons demand very different preparation, mild summer travel or extreme winter cold on the ice. As the oldest, deepest and one of the most beautiful lakes on earth, a sacred Siberian sea of extraordinary clarity and, in winter, spellbinding ice, though, it is a genuine natural wonder.

Nearby

The city of Irkutsk, Olkhon Island and the Circum-Baikal Railway lie around the lake.