Trans-Siberian Railway

Day 1 Arrival to Moscow

After lunch you will arrive to Moscow. At the airport you will be met and taken to the hotel. Then you will have free time to explore the capital of Russia. Here, everyone chooses something to one's taste. The convenient location of the hotel let you visit night clubs or a cozy cafe. It is possible that by chance, walking through an unfamiliar capital will turn to an amazing adventure.

Day 2 Moscow city tour

After breakfast in hotel you will check out and have a Moscow city tour. You have got an excellent opportunity to learn the history of the Russian capital and see the most impressive sights of great historic and cultural value. You will see the famous Victory Park with the Triumphal Arch, drive along Kutuzovsky Avenue and will be able to observe the Mosfilm Studio. You will also visit the Vorobyovy Gory observation point, which offers a magnificent panorama of the entire capital.

Also you will visit the Novodevichy monastery that is considered to be a unique architectural sigh built more than 5 centuries ago. The next stop will be near the monument to Peter I and at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour that was demolished and then reconstructed as a symbol of the Russian faith. The city-tour will end at the Red Square, one of the most spacious squares of the world, famous for Lenin’s Mausoleum and St. Basil Cathedral, and dominated by the grand Kremlin walls of red brick.

After lunch in a cafe (not included) you will also have a chance to discover the Moscow Subway (Metro) with its elegantly designed stations decorated with marble, mosaics, sculptures and chandeliers.

At 7 pm you will move to Kazansky Railway Station, from where you will start discovering Russia by train. You will depart to Kazan by train (12.5 hrs on board).

The route length — 800 km by train.

Days 3-4 Kazan

In the morning you will arrive to Kazan. You will be met at the railway station and taken to the hotel. Next you will have a city tour with a visit to Kazan Kremlin. It is considered to be a unique historic and culture monument, which kept traces of three eras: Tatar, Russian and European. 

You will have lunch in a restaurant and then have a walking tour to old-Tatar settlement. During this excursion you will visit the oldest mosque in Kazan – Al Mardzhani. It was built in 1766-1770 years, with support of parishioners by the personal permission of the Empress Catherine the Great. In the evening you will have dinner in a restaurant with local Tatar cuisine and return to the hotel.

The next day in the morning you will check out and go to railway station for departing to Yekaterinburg by train (12,5 hrs on board). You will spend all the day on the train, enjoying the landscape of European part of Russia. Gentle moving of the wagon and sound of wheels put you and your friends to sincere conversations. At night (11:35 pm) you will arrive to Yekaterinburg. You will be met by the guide at the railway station and taken to a hotel.

The route length — 890 km by train.

Day 5 Yekaterinburg

After breakfast in hotel a city tour is waiting for you. During the excursion you will see buildings of 17th-19th centuries, theatres, as well as the dam which offers a great view to the city. Also you will visit the Russian log hut museum, here you will know, how people lived, what they ate centuries ago.

You will have lunch in a local restaurant, after that you will continue the city tour. You will visit the monument, standing on the border of Europe and Asia. According to a tradition, on the board you should drink a glass of champagne. On the way back you will visit the Ganina Yama. Here situated seven wooden churches, constructed in a memory about the killing of an imperial family Romanovs.

In the evening you will be taken to the railway station and will depart to Novosibirsk by train (22 hrs on board). Next evening you will arrive to Novosibirsk. You will be met at the railway station and taken to the hotel. Here you will have dinner and rest.

The route length — 1525 km by train

Days 6-7 Novosibirsk

After breakfast in the hotel you will check out and have a tour to the scientific city Akademgorodok (30 km outside the city) – the only scientific city in the world, where all the branches of sciences are presented. Also you will visit the Open-Air Train Museum (a collection of the old Trans-Siberian trains).

After lunch in a restaurant you will have a city tour, covering all the main attractions of Novosibirsk: Novosibirsk Railway Station – the biggest station of the Trans-Siberian Railroad, Ascension Cathedral, Krasny Prospect street, Lenin Square – city center with the biggest world’s Opera House, old wooden houses on Gorkogo Str. – the oldest part of the city, St.Nicolas Chapel – the geographic center of Russia, river Ob’ embankment and colorful Siberian farm-market.

Excursion in the Local Lore Museum will open for you the fascinating mystical history of Siberia. You will have dinner in the restaurant, located near railway station. Then you will board a train to Krasnoyarsk.

The route length — 760 km by train, 60 km by car

Days 8 Arrival to Krasnoyarsk

In the morning you will arrive to Krasnoyarsk. A guide will meet you at the railway station and will take to a hotel.

During the excursion you will discover the most interesting places of Krasnoyarsk: The Peace Square with outstanding view of the Yenisei river, the monument to Andrew Dubenskoy, Karaulnaya hill from where you can see the whole city is spreading in front of your eyes. You will also visit Praskeva Pyatnitsa Chapel and walk along the old streets. You will know where their names come from, how our city has been changing and growing.

You will have lunch in a restaurant and further will visit the Bobrovy Log Park. Here you will discover a beautiful view of the Stolby Nature reserve (Takmak rock) going up the hill by the ropeway to the observation point overlooking the magnificent views of the city and its surroundings.

Then you will visit an observation place Tsar Fish and see the Krasnoyarsk Hydro Power Station (dam). In the evening you will return to the hotel and rest.
 

The route length — 100 km by car.

Day 9 Walking tours in Krasnoyarsk

After breakfast we offer you a walking excursion on your choice:

1. Visiting the house of the Russian painter Vasily Surikov

There is a wooden house with furniture inside and courtyard kept in its original state. Vasily Surikov is known to be the outstanding artist of XX century.

2. Visiting Krasnoyarsk Regional Ethnographical Museum

This museum is considered to be one of the best museums of Russian history and ethnography and contains one-of-a-kind specimens of minerals that are found only in Siberia.

At 12:00 you will return to the hotel and check out. Then you will be taken to the railway station and will depart to Irkutsk by train (18 hrs on board).

The route length — 1100 km by train.

Day 10 Irkutsk

In the morning you will arrive to Irkutsk. After meeting with the guide at the railway station you will have breakfast in a café. Then Irkutsk city tour is waiting for you.

Irkutsk has a great number of monuments of wooden architecture. There are about 500 architectural monuments in the city, among which historically constructed ensembles are depicted. The ancient part of the city including Church of the Saviour and Znameniye Cathedral are of the greatest interest.

After lunch in a restaurant you will have an excursion to the Decembrist House Museum. It is connected with the family of Sergey Volkonsky, one of the Decembrists leaders. They have been living in Siberia for 30 years, 17 of them — in this house in Irkutsk. Original things of the Volkonsky family and other Decembrists are kept in the museum. 

Next you will move to Listvyanka village. En route you will visit the Taltsy open-air museum of wooden architecture. There is 13 architectural complexes with 36 wooden buildings. Also it exhibits the ethnographic collections which can help you to understand the agricultural and cultural peculiarities of Transbaikal people of 19th-20th centuries.

Upon arrival to Listvyanka, you will be accommodated in the hotel and have a free time.

The route length — 100 km by car.

Day 11 Baikal Lake

During a city tour in Listvyanka you will see the St. Nicholas Church, visit the fish market as well as the Chersky Mount view point by ski-lift. It offers a stunning view to Lake Baikal and Angara, which is the only river that flows out of the lake.

After lunch in a restaurant you will visit the Baikal Museum, where you can see the freshwater seals – Nerpas in the big aquariums. Baikal museum is a splendid museum where different material evidences, exhibits, in short all the information about Lake Baikal is kept, studied and exhibited: origin of the lake, representatives of the endemic flora and fauna from the surface of the lake to the maximum depth, an excellent model of the bed of Baikal.

In the evening you will return to Irkutsk and stay at the hotel.

The route length — 70 km by car.

Day 12 Arrival to Ulan-Ude

In the morning you will be taken to the railway station in Irkutsk, from where you will depart to Ulan-Ude by train (8 hrs on board). You will be surprised how different is the city in comparison with these that you have already visited. The city combines the history of the Soviet Union and Buddhism. In the evening you will arrive to Ulan-Ude and stay in the hotel.

The route length — 440 km by train.

Day 13 A visit to Ivolginsky Datsan

After breakfast in a hotel you will move to the center of Buddhism in Russia – Ivolginsky Datsan Monastery. It is a beautiful temple opened for the visitors. Nowadays it also includes a famous Buddhist University "Dashi Choikhorling" (the name derives from the Tibetan language and means "the land of Happy teaching"). Here Buddhist monks-scientists, specialists in Tibetan and Old Mongolian languages and orientalists are taught.

You will have lunch in a cafe with traditional Buryat cuisine (paid additionally). Next you will move to the Old Believer’s village. Old Believers of Buryatia are a colorful branch of Orthodox Russians exiled in Siberia in 8th century after the church reform carried out by Patriarch Nikon. They have managed to save their culture, singing art and religion as they used to be two centuries ago.

You will have dinner at the local family with traditional games, Old Believers polyphonic songs and a lot of fun. Then you will return to Ula-Ude and check in the hotel.

Days 14-16 Road to Vladivostok

These days you will be travelling by train from Ulan-Ude to Vladivostok through the cities of Chita and Khabarovsk. This time in train will let you remember all the emotions experienced over the past two weeks. Two days of tranquility and relaxation. Two days to charge your phones and cameras to the last, final trip to Vladivostok.

Day 17 Arrival to Vladivostok

You will arrive Vladivostok early in the morning. At the railway station you will meet with the guide and go to the hotel, check in and have breakfast.

Next a city tour is waiting for you. During the excursion you will see the Marine station, the Central square and the museum, located in submarine C-56, as well as will walk along the embankment.

After lunch in a local restaurant you will visit the Arseniev's museum, enjoy the magnificent view from the observation point in the fortress and walk along the pedestrian Fokin street. In the evening you will have dinner in a local restaurant and return to the hotel.

Day 18 The Russky Island

Today you will have an excursion to the Russky Island by car crossing a new bridge. Here you will visit the Voroshilov's battery (ex-fortress, now military museum) and have lunch in a local restaurant.

Then you will return to Vladivostok and have a free time. You can go shopping and buy souvenirs, as well as visit the GUM shopping mall. In the evening you will have dinner in a restaurant with the Russian cuisine. Then you will come back to the hotel and rest.

Day 19 Departure

After breakfast in the hotel you will be taken to the airport to depart home.