Comfortable sightseeing tour

Day 1 National museum, Botanical garden, and cheese making

You will be met at the airport in Gorno-Altaysk. Before the start of the tour, you will have breakfast at a cafe.
 

The first stop on the program will be the A.V. Anokhin National Museum. The three floors of the museum house finds from the Pazyryk burial mounds, Turkic armor, paintings by Nicholas Roerich and Grigory Choros-Gurkin, and a department dedicated to the nature of Altai. You will see one of the museum's main exhibits — the mummy of the "Altai Princess," found on the Ukok Plateau. The sarcophagus with the mummy is opened according to the museum's specific schedule.
 

Afterwards, you will go to the village of Ust-Sema, where you will check into a hotel. Then you will take a trip to the botanical garden. Its territory is home to about 2,000 species of plants from various natural and climatic zones of Altai, as well as from other regions of Russia and the world.
 

You will have lunch at a cafe, and in the evening you will have a cheesemaking master class. You will be able to make your own piece of cheese with fillings of your choice — to become the creator of your own signature cheese. You will also taste village milk and the cheese you made yourself.
 

At the end of the day, you will return to the hotel to rest. Dinner will be at a cafe.
 

Route length: 90 km by bus, 1 km on foot.

Day 2 Che-Chkish Gorge and rafting on the Katun River

After breakfast at the lodge, you will drive upstream along the Katun River to the Che-Chkish Gorge. This is a narrow mountain gorge, up to 15-20 meters deep in places. A stream flows inside it, turning into a low waterfall (4 m). The streams of the waterfall break away from the rock, so you can walk under it. On the route, you will also visit a viewing platform offering a panoramic view of the Katun River valley.
 

You will have lunch at a cafe and then transfer to the village of Cheposh, where the rafting on the Katun begins. After a safety briefing, you will start the route on rafts. Along the way, you will pass the Seminsky Rapid (class II-III difficulty) and make a stop to see the cascade of the Kamyshly Waterfall, 12 meters high.
 

In the evening, you will return to the lodge and have dinner.

Route length: 145 km by car, 15 km by raft, 1 km on foot.

Day 3 Karakol Valley and Kalbak-Tash sanctuary

After breakfast, you will embark on a journey along the Chuysky Trakt — one of the most beautiful roads in Russia. In the past, this road was part of an ancient trade route — the Mungalsky Tract — mentioned in ancient Chinese chronicles.
 

Numerous famous natural and historical landmarks of Altai are located along the Chuysky Trakt. On the way, you will cross the Seminsky Pass (1,717 m) and admire the panorama of the Altai Mountains. Then you will transfer to the "Uch-Enmek" Natural Park and have lunch at a cafe, where you will try several national dishes.
 

Next, you will have an excursion to the valley of the Karakol River, where there are entire groups of ancient burial mounds and a large number of rock paintings. The Karakol Valley is one of the region's largest historical sites, preserving traces of many cultures once present in Altai.
 

Afterwards, you will continue along the Chuysky Trakt and cross the serpentine Chike-Taman Pass. You will also visit the Kalbak-Tash Sanctuary — here, more than 3,000 petroglyphs have been preserved on the rocks, the oldest of which date back to the 8th millennium BC.
 

In the evening, you will arrive at the village of Aktash, where you will check into a lodge. Dinner will be at a cafe.
 

Route length: 345 km by car, 1 km on foot.

Day 4 Altai Mars and Geyser Lake

In the morning, you will have breakfast at the lodge and set off along the Chuysky Trakt towards the border with Mongolia. From the huge intermontane basin of the Kurai Steppe, you will have a magnificent view of the peaks of the North Chuya Range — the peaks of Aktru-Bash (4,075 m) and Karatash (3,534 m).
 

Upon reaching the village of Chagan-Uzun, you will visit the valley of the Kyzylchin River, nicknamed "Altai Mars" by tourists. Due to the high content of iron oxide, manganese, clay, and limestone, the surrounding mountains are colored in various shades of red: from bright orange to dark brown. A picnic lunch will be organized for you on the route.
 

On the way back to the hotel, you will visit another famous Altai landmark — Geyser Lake. Its depth is about 2 meters, and its diameter is 25-30 meters. It has a surprisingly rich turquoise hue and does not freeze in winter. "Geysers" periodically come to life at the bottom of the lake, forming visible circles of blue color.
 

In the evening, you will return to the lodge and have dinner.
 

Route length: 180 km by car, 4 km on foot.

Day 5 Pazyryk burial mounds and Chulyshman Valley

In the morning, you will have breakfast, and then transfer to the Chulyshman River, passing by a picturesque place called the "Red Gates." The road here runs between reddish cliffs and the lakes of the Ulagan Plateau.


You will visit the Pazyryk Burial Mounds — ancient burial sites of noble nomads and tribal leaders dating back to the 7th–6th centuries BC. Next, the road will go through the mountain pass of Katu-Yaryk, which you will ascend on foot (the pass height from the base to the top is about 800 m, length 3.5 km). The pass offers an excellent view of the Chulyshman Valley and a waterfall falling from a height of 100 m. The Chulyshman Valley is included in the list of UNESCO World Natural Heritage sites.
 

A picnic lunch will be held in nature. Then you will check into double cabins at the tourist lodge in the Chulyshman Valley. In the evening, you will have dinner and a folklore program — a concert of throat singing accompanied by traditional musical instruments.
 

Route length: 120 km by car, 3.5 km on foot.

Day 6 Uchar Waterfall or day of rest

Today, after an early breakfast, you can, if you wish, set off on foot to the Uchar Waterfall (16 km round trip, 11–13 hours on the trail). This is a rather difficult route; part of the path goes over large stones and scree, across open terrain, along a gorge, with ascents and descents. You will cross several fords.
 

The waterfall is located on the Chulcha River on the opposite bank of the Chulyshman River. It is the largest cascade waterfall in Altai, with a height of 160 m. A picnic lunch will be organized near the waterfall.
 

After exploring the waterfall's surroundings, you will return to the lodge, have dinner, and visit a banya (sauna).
 

If you stay at the lodge all day, you can swim in a small pool and relax. There is also an option to participate in motor rafting on the Chulyshman River (additional charge).
 

Route length: 16 km on foot.

Day 7 Stone Mushrooms

In the morning, you will have an early breakfast and then set off along the Chulyshman Valley to the mouth of the Karasu River. You will take a round-trip hike into the river gorge to see an amazing natural object — the Stone Mushrooms. This is a very interesting natural phenomenon: cones rise above the valley slope, topped with huge rock slabs. The base of the cone is quite loose sandstone; individual "mushrooms" rise 10 or more meters above the slope. This place offers a wonderful view of the Chulyshman Valley.
 

You will have lunch in nature and then transfer to the northern part of Lake Teletskoye to Cape Kyrsay.
 

You will stop and check into a lodge, and then have dinner at a cafe. On the lodge grounds, you can relax and take a walk along the northern shore of Lake Teletskoye.
 

Route length: 90 km by car, 6 km on foot.

Day 8 By boat on the pearl of Altai — Lake Teletskoye

After breakfast at the tourist lodge, you will go on a boat excursion. Your journey will take you across the waters of Lake Teletskoye.
 

Lake Teletskoye is among the 20 deepest lakes in the world, with a length of 77.7 km; its maximum width reaches 5 km. Its area is relatively small — 223 km² — but due to its great depth, it contains a huge amount of fresh water saturated with oxygen. About 70 rivers flow into the lake.
 

Along the way, you will visit the Korbu Waterfall — the most picturesque waterfall in the vicinity of Lake Teletskoye. It is located on the territory of the Altai Nature Reserve, 100 meters from the mouth of the Bolshaya Korbu River. The drop height is 12.5 meters. Opposite the waterfall, in the middle of Lake Teletskoye, lies its greatest depth — 325 meters.
 

You will have lunch at a cafe in the village of Artybash on the northern part of Lake Teletskoye. Then you will head to Gorno-Altaysk, where you will rest and stay at a tourist complex on the bank of the Katun River.
 

Dinner will be at a cafe (paid extra).
 

Route length: 80 km by boat, 160 km by car.

Day 9 Departure

After breakfast at the tourist complex, a transfer to the airport will be arranged.