Travel to Russia

Arrival in Beijing – the capital of China – with its ancient history it has always been of great interest to people all over the world. Emperors and khans always ruled this Forbidden City, unreachable for ordinary people. Our tour guides will meet you at the airport and you will be provided by the group or individual transfer to the hotel****. Welcome dinner will be held in one of the famous Beijing duck restaurants.
Accommodation in Beijing hotel****

During full day city tour we will show you Imperial Palace (“Forbidden City”), the Summer Palace. Evening transfer to the train station where your private special Chinese train will be waiting for you. Chinese train will pass through Gobi desert.
Accommodation onboard the Chinese train.

In the morning you will arrive at the Chinese border. In Erlian railway station the Russian railway gauge system (“broad gauge” 1520 mm wide) meets the China railway gauge system (“standard gauge” 1435 mm wide). The Trans Siberian Express therefore welcomes you here in Erlian. The connecting Chinese train will arrive on the same platform. While service staff transfers your luggage to the Trans Siberian Express, you will enjoy a rickshaw tour to the local market and a sumptuous Chinese welcome lunch. In the afternoon the Trans Siberian Express will pass the Chinese-Mongolian border. All passport and custom formalities will again take place in the train; you may just stay in your compartment and watch the procedure.
Accommodation onboard the Trans Siberian Express.

In the morning the train arrives in Ulan-Bator – the capital of Mongolia. Transfer to Terelj National Park (70 km) that is famous for its scenery that remembers to locations in Switzerland, Europe. Arrival at Terelj tourist camp. On arrival at the camp some time will be given to settle their 2 person gers and freshen up prior to lunch. After lunch you will have the excursion to Turtle Rock and enjoy the beautiful scenery of the surrounding area. Then there will be a short hiking tour to the top of Overlooking Hill to have a general view of Terelj National Park and then you will continue exploring the local area. You will visit a nomadic family and get introduced to the authentic lifestyle and culture of Mongolian nomads and try traditional dairy food.
Accommodation in Ger.

Horse riding, after lunch you will have a demonstration and be asked to assist in the disassembling and building of a smaller Mongolian ger. Barbecue dinner at the camp. You will meet the sunset in the wide steppe and observe night stars. Trip back to Ulan-Bator.
Accommodation in the hotel****.

During a morning city tour you will visit Sukhbaatar Square, Gandan Monastery and National History Museum. In the second part of day there will be a visit to the Bogd Khaan Palace museum, Climb to the Zaisan Hill for viewing Ulan-Bator city in the whole. Small shopping tour for buying Mongolian souvenirs. In the evening you will enjoy Mongolian traditional music and dance performance. Trans Siberian Express will leave Ulan-Bator for Russia. Enjoy the rest of the day viewing the wonderful scenery of Mongolia with gers, nomads, and horses passing by from time to time. When leaving Ulan-Bator the Trans Siberian Express switches from the Trans Mongolian mainline to the Trans Siberian mainline on its way to Ulan-Ude. In the train reaches the Mongolian border station of Sukhe-Bator and the Russian border station of Naushki. All passport and customs formalities will take place in the train. You may stay in your compartment and don’t have to leave the train.
Accommodation onboard the Trans Siberian Express.

This day we arrive in Ulan-Ude – the capital of the Buryat Republic of the Russian Federation. It’s situated at the junction of the Selenga and the Uda Rivers, on a crossroad of trading routes leading from China and Mongolia to Russia and Europe. The settlement of Nizhnyudinsk (former name of Ulan-Ude) was founded in 1666 as a winter outpost of the Russian Cossacks. Buryatia is a unique land with its wild and virgin nature, endless steppes, alpine meadows and taiga, Buddhist temples, nomad’s tents and shamans. During excursion you can visit Ivolginsky Datsan (Buddhist Monastery) that is the centre of Buddhism in Russia and also the village with old-orthodox inhabitants.
Accommodation onboard the Trans Siberian Express.

Trans Siberian Express will present you with amazing trip of this day – Circum Baikal Line which used to be a part of Tran Siberian Railroad which joins two great branches – Eastern and Western rail lines, disconnected by Baikal Lake. It was called the "Golden Buckle of Russia’s steel belt" due to the transcendental cost of the construction. The shoreline landscape which high rocky cliffs and walls made a great difficulty for construction of this railroad mostly represent. For the whole length of Circum-Baikal Line (less than 100 km) 39 tunnels were built, with a total length of 8994 meters. For the present moment this part of Trans Siberian Line is not included into general railroad line and it became an open-air museum. There is not much traffic on this railroad, only few local and excursion trains. The road starts from the dead end in Port Baikal (small settlement across Listvyanka village), goes along the picturesque southern shore of Baikal Lake and joins the main Trans Siberian Line in Sludyanka village.
Lake Baikal being invariably called “Pearl of Siberia” is a unique natural phenomenon not only of the Asia continent but also of the Planet. It’s the deepest (1620 m) Lake in the world and is estimated to contain one-fifth of all the Earth’s fresh surface water. Vegetative organisms and animal species are 60% endemic. A photo stop will be arranged at a small village where you can get off the train, put your feet into the clear and cold water of Lake Baikal. A Baikal picnic is also a part of our program.
Accommodation onboard the Trans Siberian Express.

In the morning arrival in Irkutsk, one of the oldest Siberian cities that is situated in the Eastern Siberia on a picturesque bank of the Angara River. Irkutsk was founded as a small settlement in 1661 and soon got the status of a city. At the end of the 17th century Irkutsk turned into the most important transit point on trade routes from Russia to China and Mongolia. During a city tour you will see Kirov Square, eternal flame, Orthodox Churches and Cathedrals, you will visit the bell tower from where it is a beautiful view on a city, the old wooden town, museum of Decembrists with private classical concert. On the road to the Lake you’ll visit Taltsy – an open-air museum of wooden architecture. In Listvyanka village you will admire: Limnological museum, St.-Nicholas Church and make a boat cruise on the Baikal Lake.
Accommodation onboard the Trans Siberian Express.

When the tourists are aboard the train they will be able to admire the magnificent nature of Russian Siberia, they will have the unique opportunity to learn the Russian language and songs, to take part in different competitions with small funny prizes and to listen to some interesting and informative lectures about our life, history, culture and traditions.
Accommodation onboard the Trans Siberian Express.

The next stop on Trans Siberian thoroughfare is Novosibirsk – the capital of Siberia with 1,5 million population, Russia’s third largest city and the biggest of Siberia, celebrated first centenary in 1993. Its name means “a new city of Siberia” in Russian. Novosibirsk is also the largest scientific centre in Siberia which comprises the Siberian branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences and branches of the Medical and Agricultural Academies. During a city tour you will see the Red Avenue, Lenin Square, the Theatres of opera and ballet, the geographical centre of Russia – a chapel, Aleksandr Nevsky Cathedral, subway, building of the railway station – the greatest in Siberia, scientific and technical library, embankment of Ob River, Trans Siberian bridge through Ob, central market. Also excursion in Akademgorodok (The Academic City) with visit to the museum of mineralogy (unique collection of minerals, ancient fauna and flora of Russia, decorative stones), open-air museum of railway technique (the history of the Railroad, locomotives and cars of all periods). And you will enjoy a boat cruise on the Ob River.
Accommodation onboard the Trans Siberian Express.

Yekaterinburg is a historical, administrative and economical capital of the Ural Region that forms a natural border between Europe and Asia. The city was founded in 1723 and developed as a fortress, gradually turning into the centre of the Ural. It was here that the Russian industry was born. Yekaterinburg became the place of imprisonment and tragic events in the life of the last Russian Emperor Nicholas II and his family. An excursion takes you to architectural monuments of Russian classicism of the 18-19th centuries, the obelisk there which marks this virtual border, the derelict mine Ginina Yama (in summer of 1918 the remains of the last Russian Tsar’s family were buried here. On May 29, 1979 the burial was found by geologists) and you’ll also visit Temple-on-Blood which is located in the place of Ipatiev’s house where the Tsar family lived its last days.
Accommodation onboard the Trans Siberian Express.

Arrival in Kazan – the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan – starts with a comprehensive tour of the city. The Kazan Kremlin is the chief historic citadel of Tatarstan, that was built on behest of Ivan the Terrible on the ruins of the former castle of Kazan khans. It was declared a World Heritage Site in 2000. Also we show you the Qol-Sarif mosque and minarets, the Square of Freedom, magnificent Orthodox Churches and Cathedrals, the Palace of the president of Tatarstan. In the afternoon you will enjoy a boat cruise on the Volga River.
Accommodation on board the Trans Siberian Express.

In the morning the train arrives in Moscow – the capital of the Russian Federation, one of the world biggest megapolis. The first part of the city-tour shows you Peace Avenue with Ostankino TV Tower, Garden and Boulevard Rings, Banks of the Moskva River and Newvergin convent, Sparrow Hill with Moscow State University, Bow Hill with Victory Park, Kutuzov Avenue and The House of Government (White House), New Arbat Avenue and Tverskaya Street. The second part of the city-tour shows you the Red Square – a magnificent architectural ensemble, the Kremlin with Cathedrals and the Armory Chamber – the Treasury of Russian Tsars with its unique collection. A farewell dinner at the restaurant.
Accommodation in Moscow hotel****.

Morning leisure in Moscow. Airport group or individual transfer will be provided by our service team to connect with your flight departing Moscow.