Buryatia can be explored through very different discoveries: protected landscapes on Lake Baikal, Buddhist culture, and museums focusing on natural history and ethnography. On the lake’s northeastern shore, Barguzinsky Nature Reserve protects taiga slopes; Ivolginsky Datsan is a large Buddhist monastery complex, and Ulan-Ude has museums with clearly distinct themes. When planning your trip, it is therefore worth asking whether nature, religious history, or insights into different ways of life should be the focus.

Lake Baikal and taiga

Since 1916, Barguzinsky Nature Reserve has protected the northeastern shore of Lake Baikal and its taiga slopes. Its natural setting is therefore defined by two specific elements: the shore and the taiga slopes are both part of this protected area. If landscape is your main interest, it offers a clear Lake Baikal and taiga focus within the Republic of Buryatia.

Routes in Tunkinsky National Park

Routes in Tunkinsky National Park offer another way to explore the region’s nature. There are eight tourist routes and four ecological trails. The tourist routes cover different ways of getting around: by car, on foot, by water, and on horseback. The choices are therefore not limited to a single way of travelling. You can consider which mode of transport interests you; the number and availability of routes may change, so check the details with the park before planning.

Buddhist culture and early history

Ivolginsky Datsan (Khambyn Sume) is a large Buddhist monastery complex in the village of Verkhnyaya Ivolga in the Republic of Buryatia. It is described as a center of Russian Buddhism. The datsan also preserves the body of Pandito Khambo Lama XII Dashi-Dorzho Itigelov, which is described as imperishable. The complex’s religious significance and a specifically named person thus emerge as distinct aspects of this cultural site.

Gunne-Gorodishche in the Ivolginsky District of the Republic of Buryatia offers a different historical perspective. The archaeological site is more than 2,000 years old. Together with the datsan, it shows how varied Buryatia’s historical themes are: one centers on a Buddhist monastery complex, the other on an archaeological site dated to more than two millennia ago. These are two distinct cultural highlights to consider—not the same kind of discovery.

Museums in Ulan-Ude

The Ethnographic Museum of the Peoples of Transbaikalia features residential and settlement complexes of the pre-Baikal and Transbaikal Buryats, Evenks, Soyots, Old Believers, and Russian old settlers. The range of communities represented makes the residential and settlement complexes a way to explore different ways of life. Visitors can also try national sports and take part in interactive tours. Activities are therefore part of the museum’s described offerings, alongside the displayed complexes.

The Museum of Nature of Buryatia in Ulan-Ude has a different focus: it displays more than 2,000 exhibits in five halls. The regularly offered guided tour «Puteshestvie po Buryatii» takes visitors through the halls and is available in Russian and Buryat. The museum also has a permanent living nature exhibition, «V gostyakh u Eroshki». It teaches children about exotic birds, fish, amphibians and reptiles, as well as mammals from Europe, Asia, the Americas and Africa. Check the current visitor arrangements before your trip.

The Museum of Nature also has the digital planetarium «Zvezdny dom Buryatii». It was the first institution in Buryatia to have its own digital planetarium. The difference in focus can help when choosing between the two museums: the Ethnographic Museum centers on the residential and settlement complexes of various communities, while the Museum of Nature focuses on exhibits, living nature, and a digital planetarium.

Discover more destinations

Kyren, Ulan-Ude, Ivolginsky District, Kurumkan, Kyakhta, Goryachinsk, Kabansk, Severobaikalsk, Turka, Vydrino, Oymur, Okhor-Shibir', Ivolginsk, Gorkogo, Istok, Ust-Barguzin, Poselye, Nizhneangarsk, Petropavlovka, Selenginsk, Zakamensk, Zhemchug, Novaya Bryan', Nizhnyaya Ivolga, Kabansky District, Pribaikalsky District, Tunkinsky District, Ordzhonikidzevsky District, Selenginsky District

For the overview of the wider region: Russia.