If You're NearbyCitiesBuddhistLocal culture

Ulan-Ude

Buryatia

Buryatia's capital east of Lake Baikal, with a giant head of Lenin and Russia's center of Buddhism at the Ivolginsky monastery.

US travel advisory: Level 4, Do Not Travel · checked 2026-11-03
Photo: Vasily Astanin · CC BY-SA 4.0
Best Time to Go
Jun–Sep
Our full guide to Ulan-Ude is being written. It's on the Siberia and the Far East list as If You're Nearby.

Go Next

1–3 of 18
Must-See
Nature · UNESCO

Lake Baikal

Irkutsk Oblast and Buryatia
About 116 miles away

The world's deepest lake.

1 Sight
If You're Nearby
Cities · Gateway

Irkutsk

Irkutsk Oblast
About 145 miles away

The Siberian gateway to Lake Baikal, a stop on the Trans-Siberian, with carved wooden houses and grand merchant mansions.

Guide Coming Soon
Must-See
Cities · UNESCO

Moscow

About 2746 miles away

Red Square, St. Basil's and the Kremlin.

Full Guide

The Full Short List

Siberia and the Far East

Lake Baikal, the Trans-Siberian and Kamchatka's volcanoes.

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