A Trans-Siberian train en route

Have you ever been curious about visiting the world’s longest railway? Covering 5,600 miles, crossing seven time zones, 12 regions and passing through 87 towns and cities is a feat for anyone. But now all you need is a computer or smartphone and an internet connection to experience the Trans-Siberian tour of Russia.

The Google Maps project allows you to embark on the 150-hour virtual journey beginning in Moscow at the Yaroslavsky Rail Terminal and ending in Vladivostok, a port on the Pacific Ocean. The amazing train window footage that unfolds from Google Russia was created in partnership with Russian Railways.

There are no short cuts here – you get the full six-day journey, and all to the soundtrack of your choice. Using the multi-platform portal you can watch the view and simultaneously plot the train’s virtual progress eastwards on a Google map, from either a satellite view or tracking the actual mountains and terrain.

Google’s Trans-Siberian Railway page provides sounds to accompany the epic journey. You can choose from the rumble of wheels, cutesy Russian pop on the radio, or the authentic sound of the balalaika – the characteristically triangular, stringed instrument.

Alternatively, online passengers can listen to readings of Russian classics, including Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace, Nikolai Gogol’s Dead Souls and Ilya Ilf and Evgeny Petrov’s The Golden Calf – in Russian, naturally. The site also includes an interactive map that will show you where exactly you are during the course of the trip and bookmarks for you to jump to different sections of the locomotive’s path.

Google Russia decided to bring the journey to people who have always been interested in making the voyage, but never got round to booking it. They say few people travel on the Trans-Siberian railroad yet so many travel buffs are enthusiastic about it; so this is an opportunity to demonstrate how fascinating, unusual and vast the country is. Google Russia’s marketing director, Konstantin Kuzmin told the Telegraph last year: “That’s why we hope that this project will become the starting point not only for the virtual but also for the real trips across Russia.”

The vast journey was filmed by two camera crews in August 2009, during the hot Russian summer. Instead of the usual week-long journey, the video team took 30 days, staying overnight at destinations along the way, to allow them to film the entire journey in daylight.

The Moscow Times praised the site’s use of Google’s latest technical advancements, including the geo-tagged video allowing the trip to be plotted on a map in real time and the new YouTube support for high-definition video footage.

Alla Zabrovskaya, a spokesperson from Google Russia, also told the Guardian last year that her favourite view from the footage was Lake Baikal: “It made a big impression on me. It was a beautiful day when the video was shot with brilliant sun and blue sky.”

I took a virtual trip to the world’s largest freshwater lake myself and the views are indeed breathtaking. It earns its name of the “Pearl of Siberia” with its mirror-like surface, all without having to queue for the restroom or sharing a cabin with a snorer.

Google has unlocked a taste of discovery travel for areas such as Russia’s far east, which is rarely visited. Past Baikal you travel into Ulan Ude which is the capital city of the Republic of Buryatia, close to the Mongolian border and the focal point of Russian Buddhism. It offers the opportunity to see some beautiful temples. The city’s rich architecture was closed to foreigners until 1991; now people can visit and see buildings like the old merchant’s mansions with decorative woodcarvings which exemplify Russian classicism.

The tour gives you the chance to hop on and off the train to dive into highlights of the voyage. Key cities come with a three-minute tour if you click on a television-shaped icon, given by your very own virtual guide, DJ Yelena Abitayeva. If you alight at the virtual Ulan Ude, you can follow Yelena as she visits temples and spins prayer wheels as well as pointing out the statue of Lenin’s head (the largest in the world) in the central square. It towers over the main plaza at 25 ft, weighing 42 tons.

Other views include the Volga river, clouds over Barabinskaya steppe, the Barguzin mountains, Karymskoye village on a foggy morning and the Hingansky reserve. All at your fingertips, without having to pack a single bag!

[Photo by Martha de Jong-Lantink]