Getting to / from Irkutsk, and Irkutsk Public Transport:

Irkutsk is a major stop on the Trans-Siberian, all trains stop there. For train schedules see Trans-Siberian Train Schedules.

Getting to / from Irkutsk:
Irkutsk Raiway Station. Located in the city center, about 15 minutes by minibus from the main street – Karla Marksa. The station is quite easy to get around, though there might be many people in the daytime.
The luggage storage room (opened 24 hours, 30 R ($1) for a bag) is located in the main hall in the basement. The waiting room is opened for passengers also 24 hours a day, but you should pay about 10 R ($0.3) to get in. The room is nothing special: just chairs, big arrivals / departure schedules on the wall, small food and apparel shops on the sides. In another hall (entrance #3) there are ticket sales offices for domestic and international directions opened 24 hours a day (however, you might have to knock to wake up the cashier in the night). In the same hall, on the second floor, there’s the Servis Tsents (Service Bureau) which providers all kinds of services: train tickets booking and delivery, information, photo services, telephone, fax, taxi, excursions, hotel bookings etc. Their telephones are (3952) 29-65-01, 29-65-00, 43-29-29.
To get from the railway station to the city center you should take a tram #1 or any shuttle-marshrutka that goes in the direction of Tsentralny Rynok (Central market), for example, #61. The public transport will cost about 6 R ($0.2), if you take a taxi it’ll cost you about 50 R ($1.7). The bus and tram stops are just in front of the railway station.
To order a transfer from the railway station, you can contact our partner travel agency at Services / Airport Transfers.

Irkutsk Airport. The airport is located strangely enough in the center of the city. It is only a 15 minute ride by car from any central street by taxi (about 100R - $3). It's more expensive if you take a taxi from the airport to the city. There are many daily flights to the main Russian cities, as well as some international flights. See the websites of Aeroflot (http://www.aeroflot.ru) and Sibir Airlines (http://www.s7.ru) for plane routes and times.
The airport itself is quite old, but there are a few shops, where you can buy snacks and newspapers, a 24-hour internet cafe, a luggage storage area (50 R = $1.7 per day), and toilets.
To order a transfer from the airport, you can contact our partner travel agency at Services / Airport Transfers.

Airline tickets office:
Sayany-Trans-Service. Cheapest airline tickets in Irkutsk. The office is located in Intourist hotel (bank of Angara river). Open daily 8.00 to 20.00, sat sun from 9.00 to 19.00. Telephone: (3952) 250-010, 401-578

Bus Station. It is located about 10 minutes walking from the Central Market, in the end of Timiryazeva street. You can also get there by taking the tram #4 from the Central Market (2 stops). The bus schedule at the station is not very clear, but understandable. For some popular directions (like Olkhon island or Arshan hot springs) you should buy the ticket beforehand (a few days). Be ready to queue for about 10 minutes. The buses depart from outside the station. You can usually recognize the needed bus by reading the plate with the destination on the front window.
Here’s the bus schedule like it was in August, 2002: Irkutsk – Khuzhir (Olkhon island) 321km daily depart at 8.10 arrive at 16.10 cost 250 R ($8) plus 50 R for the luggage; Irkutsk – Arshan 215km daily depart at 8.00 arrive at 11.00 cost 180 R ($6); Irkutsk – Listvyanka depart daily 8.00, 9.00, 14.30, 16.30, 19.00 arrive 2 hours later cost 50 R ($1.7); Irkutsk – Ulan-Ude 408km depart daily 17.30 arrive 10 hours later cost 400 R ($13).
For some popular directions (listed above) there are shuttles – marshrutkas departing at the same time as the buses for the same price per person. There are also taxi drivers outside of the station proposing their services (like rickshaw drivers in India!). A car to Listvyanka costs about 400 R ($13), to Khuzhir about 3000 R ($100), to Arshan about 2000 R ($70). The more people you have, the cheaper it will be for each person. Usually the car take about twice less time. If you go by car to Olkhon island, keep in mind that there’s a parom along Baikal and the government buses don’t queue, but the normal cars and marshrutkas do. So, you’ll need to wait for your turn for about 30 minutes.

Getting around Irkutsk:
As usual there are buses, trolleybuses, and trams in the city. They cover most of the city center, but I personally prefer trams. The best thing to do is to ask the driver for your destination, before you get inside. If he/she nods, then it's ok. People are very helpful in Irkutsk, so you'll be able to find your way around.
Taxis are also quite popular in Irkutsk, it costs about $1-$2 to ride in the city center, and from $15-$20 one way to Listvyanka, which is 60 km away.

The taxi from the airport to the city center costs about 100R ($3). You can also take a bus or shuttle #20, which departs every 3 minutes or so, costs 8R ($0.25) and goes through the city center (route: airport > Dekabrskikh Sobytii st. > Karla Marksa st. > Lenina st. (Angara hotel) > Angara river > Railway station). The whole trip takes about 30 minutes.
Also, there's a train ticket office at the main railway station, that is opened 24 hours a day. The people there speak English and are very helpful and polite.

Taxi: 222-777. A ride Aeroport – Centrum is 70 R ($2.3).

Taxi service "Moe Taksi"
Phone: 209-900 or 253-285  

If you would like to order a transfer (to/from airport or railway station, or to Listvyanka), you can use a service of our partner company: click here.