Trans-Siberian Railway: Moscow to Beijing

Trans-Siberian Railway: Moscow to Beijing

Day 1: Moscow

After picking you up from the airport in Moscow on your arrival, we'll take you to your hotel in the Russian capital so that you can relax in preparation for your adventure on the Trans-Siberian Train.

Day 2: Moscow

We'll pick you up from your hotel after breakfast for a guided tour that includes a visit to the KGB Headquarters, the Bolshoi Theater.

Then we'll explore the most iconic streets in Moscow and, of course, the famous Red Square and its St. Basil's Cathedral. After that, we'll visit the GUM Shopping Gallery and the Cathedrals of St. Basil and Kazan, as well as Lenin's Mausoleum.

Day 3: Moscow- Yekaterinburg 

On our third day in Moscow, we'll visit the Kremlin, where the country's power decisions are made. We'll see the four cathedrals, as well as the Armory Museum and its treasures: war objects, sacred chalices, and even the very valuable Fabergé eggs. 

In the afternoon we'll take a tour of the Moscow Metro, a real subway museum where we'll find stations decorated with mosaics, polychrome crystals, and marbles. After the tour, we'll return to the hotel to pick up your luggage and take you to the station for the night train to Yekaterinburg.

Day 4: Yekaterinburg 

You'll travel overnight on a train with bunk beds and all the amenities necessary for a good night's rest. On the fourth day, you'll arrive in Yekaterinburg in the evening and the driver will be waiting for you at the station to take you to your hotel. 

Day 5: Yekaterinburg

We'll start the tour of Yekaterinburg, on which we'll delve into this city's most tragic and shocking episode: the execution of Tsar Nicholas II and his family. We'll visit the Cathedral of the Spilled Blood and Ganina Yama, where the bodies of the Romanov family were hidden.

We'll end our tour with a stop in front of the obelisk marking the border between Asia and Europe and at the memorial erected in memory of the victims of the Stalinist repression.

Then, in the evening we'll take you to the station to take the Trans-Siberian Railway to Irkutsk.

Days 6 & 7: Yekaterinburg - Irkutsk

On this three-day journey, you can enjoy the beautiful views of the Russian steppe and relax in your comfortable compartment of the Trans-Siberian train - it'll be an experience you'll never forget!

Day 8: Listvyanka

You'll arrive in Irkutsk on the morning of the eighth day and we'll be waiting for you at the station to take you to Listvyanka. In this beautiful town on the shores of Lake Baikal.

You'll have free time for the rest of the day to take a boat ride, explore the St. Nicholas Church and the museum dedicated to Baikal at your own leisure. Did you know that it is the deepest lake in the world?

Day 9: Irkutsk

After breakfast, we'll go to Irkutsk, stopping first at the Taltsy Museum of Wooden Architecture - a real open-air museum! We'll then continue the tour to Irkutsk, also known as the Paris of Siberia.

When we get there, we'll enjoy a panoramic tour so that you don't miss any of the city's attractions- its wooden houses are definitely worth the visit.

Day 10: Irkutsk - Ulaanbaatar

After breakfast, your driver will take you to Irkutsk station, where you'll board a train to travel across Mongolia. You'll arrive in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of the country, the following morning. 

Day 11: Terelj

After your arrival at Ulaanbaatar station, we'll pick you up to take you to Terelj National Park, famous for its landscapes and rock formations. On the way, we'll stop to see the statue of Genghis Khan, the largest equestrian sculpture in the world, 40 meters high!

Once we get to Terelj, we'll take a walk to explore the iconic Turtle Rock and the Aryabal Monastery. In addition, we'll visit a nomadic family who will show us their traditional way of life.

We'll spend the night in a ger, also called yurts, circular tents covered with felt. If the weather is cold, we will stay in a wooden hut.

Day 12: Ulaanbaatar

In the morning, we'll pick you up for a transfer to Ulaanbaatar and enjoy a tour of the Mongolian capital.

We'll visit the Gandan Khiid Monastery, the largest in the country, Sukhbaatar Square, and the Natural History Museum, which exhibits archaeological finds found in the Gobi Desert. We'll end the day's sightseeing at the National History Museum, where we'll learn more about Mongolia's rich cultural heritage.

Day 13: Ulaanbaatar -Beijing

After breakfast, the driver will be waiting for you in the hotel lobby to take you to the station, where you'll board a high-speed train to cross the border to China.

Day 14: Beijing

At Beijing station, we'll meet you and take you to your hotel. After dropping off your luggage, we'll meet again for a guided tour of Beijing, a city of contrasts.

We'll tour the hutongs or traditional neighborhoods, made up of narrow alleyways. We'll then take a rickshaw, a traditional guided tricycle, which will take us through the heart of Beijing, around Shichahai Lake and the Drum Tower. The rest of the day is at leisure to continue exploring the Chinese capital.

Day 15: Beijing

In the morning, we'll visit some of the most famous places in Beijing such as Tiananmen Square, of great historical and cultural importance, as it was the scene of several key moments in national history.

Later, we'll visit the Forbidden City, the huge palace complex where the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties resided. Then we'll explore the Summer Palace, a formidable building declared a World Heritage Site.

Day 16: Beijing

We'll save the best for last. We could not leave China without visiting the Great Wall, one of the wonders of the world. We'll travel 44 kilometers north of Beijing, to Badaling, the most accessible stretch of this legendary construction.

In the afternoon, we'll visit the Olympic Park, built for the 2008 Summer Olympics. We'll also go check out the National Stadium, the Aquatic Center, and the Green Field Hockey Field.

Day 17: Beijing

We'll have breakfast at the hotel and bid farewell to the Chinese capital, and head to Beijing airport.

Itinerary without Yekaterinburg

When making your reservation, you can choose the Trans-Siberian train option without the visit to Yekaterinburg. The itinerary will be the same, but in this option, you'll not stop in Yekaterinburg and you'll spend an extra day in Moscow to continue discovering the city at your own pace.

Accommodation

The tour includes 10 nights accommodation with breakfast in the following hotels:

• Moscow (2 nights in Moscow-Beijing With Yekaterinburg, 3 nights in Moscow-Beijing Without Yekaterinburg): Moscow Ibis Bakhrushina Center 3*.
• Yekaterinburg (1 night, only for Moscow-Beijing with Yekaterinburg): Novotel Yekaterinburg Center 4*.
• Listvyanka (1 night): Listvyanka Mayak Hotel 4*.
• Irkutsk (1 night): Irkutsk Angara 3*.
• Terelj (1 night): Gers tourist tent camp.
• Ulaanbaatar (1 night): Platinum Hotel 4*.
• Beijing (3 nights): Qianmen Jianguo Hotel 4*.

The nights that you don't stay in the hotels listed above will be spent traveling on a night train. In this means of transport, you'll have a compartment for 4 people with two bunk beds. In addition, each train car has two toilets and hot water for making tea, and you will be provided with clean bed linen and cups. The train also has a restaurant car for lunch and dinner during the trip.

When making your reservation, you'll only have to indicate the kind of room you wish to stay in at the hotels, as you'll always travel in 4-people compartments on the trains.

If you don't want to share the train compartment with other people, you can pay a supplement. To do so, please indicate it in the comments when making your reservation and we'll send you the request to pay the supplement.

Guided visits

The guided tours are only included while in the cities, whereas on the train you'll travel on your own, enjoying the tour at your own pace.