Trans-Siberian Railway from Moscow to Beijing

Trans-Siberian Railway from Moscow to Beijing

Day 1: St. Petersburg

Welcome to St. Petersburg! We'll pick you up from the airport and transfer you to a hotel in the city centre, where you'll stay for the next two days.

Day 2: St Petersburg

You'll have the morning at leisure, and in the late afternoon you'll be picked up from your hotel for an evening tour of St. Petersburg. On this panoramic route, which will be done by car, we'll pass by such outstanding monuments as the Peter and Paul Fortress, St. Isaac's Cathedral and the Aurora Cruise. At the end of the tour, you'll be driven back to your hotel.

Day 3: St. Petersburg

After breakfast at your hotel, we¡ll pick you up to head to the former Winter Palace where the Tsars used to live. There we'll take a guided tour of the Hermitage Museum, which houses pictorial gems by artists such as Da Vinci, Raphael and Caravaggio.

You can spend the rest of the day exploring the city at your leisure. In the late afternoon, you'll be picked up from your hotel and transferred to St. Petersburg station. There you'll take the night train to Moscow on the Grand Express.

Day 4: Moscow

We'll pick you up at the station and embark on a panoramic tour of Moscow, where we'll pass by significant sites such as the KGB Headquarters and the Bolshoi Theatre. We'll then enjoy a guided walking tour of the Russian capital and walk along the Tverskaya shopping street and Red Square.

After seeing St. Basil's Cathedral, Lenin's Mausoleum and the GUM Shopping Gallery from the outside, we 'l take you back to your hotel in Moscow and you'll have the rest of the afternoon at leisure.

Day 5: Moscow

We'll pick you up from your hotel and drive to Red Square, where we'll take a guided tour of the Kremlin to see its four cathedrals and the Armoury Museum. We will then embark on a tour of the Moscow Metro, where we'll discover its most luxurious stations.

You'll have the afternoon free and, at the end of the day, we'll pick you up from your hotel in Moscow and take you to the station, where your journey on the Trans-Siberian Railway begins! The first journey through Russia is the route to Ekaterinburg.

Day 6: Moscow - Ekaterinburg

You'll be met at Ekaterinburg station and transferred to a centrally located hotel in Ekaterinburg, where you'll have the rest of the day at leisure.

Day 7: Ekaterinburg

After breakfast at your hotel, we'll embark on a sightseeing tour of Ekaterinburg, stopping at such famous landmarks as the Cathedral of the Spilled Blood. We'll also visit the Ganina Yama area, where the bodies of Tsar Nicholas II and his family were hidden in 1918.

Another stop will be the Memorial to the Victims of Stalin and the monolith on the border between Asia and Europe. You'll have the rest of the day at leisure and in the afternoon we'll take you to the station to continue your journey on the Trans-Siberian to Irkutsk.

Days 8 and 9: Trans-Siberian to Irkutsk

During these 2days, you'll enjoy the Trans-Siberian journey from Ekaterinburg to Irkutsk - a unique route across the Siberian Steppe!

Day 10: Irkutsk - Listvyanka

After welcoming you at Irkutsk station, we'll drive to Lake Baikal, the deepest lake in the world. You'll be dropped off at a hotel in Listvyanka, a beautiful lakeside town where you'll have the rest of the day free to visit the Lake Baikal Museum or St. Nicholas Church.

Day 11: Listvyanka - Irkutsk

We'll pick you up from your hotel in Listvyanka and depart for the Taltsy Museum of Wooden Architecture. Continue to Irkutsk for a panoramic tour of the "Paris of Siberia". After seeing the elegant buildings of the city, we'll take you to a centrally located hotel and you'll have the afternoon free to wander around at your leisure.

Day 12: Irkutsk - Ulaanbaatar

From your hotel, we'll transfer you to Irkutsk station, where you'll continue your journey on the Trans-Siberian Railway to Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia awaits you!

Day 13: Ulaanbaatar - Terelj

After welcoming you, from Ulaanbaatar station we'll head into the Mongolian countryside to see the gigantic equestrian statue of Genghis Khan, which is no less than 40 metres high.

Our journey will continue through Inner Mongolia to the Gorkhi-Terelj National Park, where the turtle rock and the Aryabal Monastery stand out. At the end of the day, we'll travel to a camp in Terelj, where we'll share the experiences of the journey with a Mongolian steppe family.

Day 14: Terelj - Ulaanbaatar

We'll bid farewell to the Mongolian family and depart for the capital of the country, to enjoy a tour of Ulaanbaatar. We'll visit Gandantegchinlin, the largest monastery in the country, and the Natural History Museum, which houses a large collection of dinosaur fossils from the Gobi Desert.

Our next stop will be the National History Museum and drive to a hotel in the centre of Ulaanbaatar, where you'll have the rest of the afternoon at leisure.

Day 15: Ulaanbaatar - Beijing

After a free morning in the Mongolian capital, we'll take you to Ulaanbaatar station for your onward journey to China. You'll travel on board Night Train 24, a comfortable high-speed train that will take you to Beijing.

Day 16: Beijing

Welcome to the capital of China! From Beijing station, we'll head to the city centre for a tour of the Hutongs, the most traditional neighbourhoods. We'll continue the tour in the heart of old Beijing. There, we'll board a typical rickshaw to visit the Shichahai Lake area and the Drum Tower.

Finally, we'll take you to a centrally located hotel in Beijing and you'll have the rest of the day at leisure.

Day 17: Beijing

We'll pick you up from your hotel and head to Tiananmen Square for a guided tour of Beijing's Forbidden City, a Unesco World Heritage-listed architectural gem! After seeing the various palaces and their outbuildings, we'll take you back to the hotel and you'll have the rest of the day at leisure.

Day 18: Beijing

After breakfast at your hotel, we'll pick you up and drive to Badaling to visit a section of the Great Wall of China. We'll then return to Beijing to visit the Olympic Park where the main sporting competitions of the 2008 Games were held.

We'll finally drop you off at your hotel, and you'll have the rest of the day to have lunch and explore the fascinating capital of China at your leisure.

Day 19: Beijing

You'll be free to explore Beijing on your own until we pick you up from your hotel in time for your transfer to the airport.

Accommodation

The tour includes 11 nights' accommodation with breakfast in the following hotels:

• St. Petersburg (2 nights): Hotel Nevsky Grand 3* or M-Hotel 3*
• Moscow (1 night): Moscow Ibis Bakhrushina Centre 3*
• Ekaterinburg (1 night): Novotel Yekaterinburg Center 4*
• Listvyanka (1 night): Listvyanka Mayak 4*
• Irkutsk (1 night): Irkutsk Angara 3*
• Terelj (1 night): Gers Tented Tourist Camp.
• Ulaanbaatar (1 night): Platinum Hotel 4*
• Beijing (3 nights): Qianmen Jianguo Hotel 4*

The nights that you don't sleep in the above hotels will be spent travelling by night train. On this means of transport, you'l have a 4-person compartment with two bunk beds. In addition, each train carriage has two toilets and hot water for making herbal teas, and you'll be provided with clean bed linen and cups.

When booking, you'll only need to indicate the type of room you want to sleep in at the hotels, as you will always travel in 4-person compartments on the trains.

City guides

The guide service is only included in the cities, while on the train you'll travel on your own, enjoying the tour at your own pace.