Ulan-Ude Travellers House

Top choice in Ulan-Ude


So central is this high-ceilinged apartment hostel, you might even catch a glimpse of Lenin’s conk from one of the windows. The 14 beds are divided between two spacious, ethnically themed dorms (Russian and Buryat), there’s a small kitchen where a free light breakfast is laid out daily, and heaps of UU information is pasted on the walls.

There's also a washing machine for guests to use. The exceptionally friendly owner, Denis Sobnakov, is in and out of town these days, but the place runs like a well-oiled machine and his staff are just as helpful in setting up trips to Baikal and around Buryatiya.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Ulan-Ude attractions

1. Geological Museum

0.1 MILES

This museum displays rocks, crystals and ores from the shores of Lake Baikal as well as art (for sale) made using multihued grit, sand and pebbles.

2. Lenin Head

0.13 MILES

Ulan-Ude’s main square is entirely dominated by the world’s largest Lenin head that creates an ensemble with the grey constructivist government building…

3. Opera & Ballet Theatre

0.25 MILES

UU’s striking Stalinist-era theatre reopened after lengthy renovation in 2011 (the first performance was for a group of foreign tourists from the luxury…

4. Khangalov Museum of Buryat History

0.37 MILES

Housed in a badly ageing Soviet-era structure, the historical museum has rotating exhibitions dedicated to Buddhism, shamanism and traditional costumes…

5. Ulan-Ude City Museum

0.62 MILES

Occupying the merchant’s house where imperial heir Nicholas II stayed in 1891, this small but progressive museum has exhibits examining Verkhneudinsk’s…

6. Odigitria Cathedral

0.97 MILES

Built between 1741 and 1785, UU’s largest church was also the first stone structure to appear in the city. Used as a museum store from 1929 until the fall…

7. Ulitsa Sobornaya

0.98 MILES

The pedestrianised street abutting Odigitria Cathedral preserves the spirit and the wooden lace architecture of the old downtown, populated by merchants…

8. Rinpoche Bagsha Datsan

2.05 MILES

Roosting high above the city’s far north, the inside of this new and unexpectedly modern Tibetan temple looks like a kind of Buddhist-themed bus terminal,…