Booking With Us

Ready to book?

The booking process is as simple as we can make it, given the slightly bureaucratic nature of some of the stops along the way!

Firstly, we ask you to complete a Booking Form so that we can be sure to book exactly the trip you want.

• You can complete the form online We do not charge your credit card online – it will be charged by our staff once we’ve received and checked over your booking form first. Please credit cards attract 2% handling fee on the balance not the deposit.

Or you can phone us on 0845 521 2910 if you need any help with the booking form.

Once we have received the booking form, a member of the team will email or phone you to arrange payment of the deposit of £250 per traveller on all Classic Trips or 20 % of the tour cost on all Rail Cruises. Golden Eagle Luxury Rail Cruises require the following deposit payment: Imperial Suites; £3,500 per traveller Gold Class; £1,500 traveller Silver Class; £1,000 per traveller.

As soon as we have received your deposit we will mail out:

• Receipt for your deposit payment.

• Certificate from the TTA confirming and protecting your payment

• Confirmation of your entire booking for you to check, showing your trip details, dates and costs.

•Full day-by-day trip itinerary in detail

For Classic trips the invitation to travel to Russia which is sent via e-mail in PDF format as an attachment for you to print out.

Rail Cruise and Luxury Rail Cruise are group invitations are sent quite a lot nearer to the start of the tour – we will advise you at time of booking when to expect these.

You can lodge all your visas directly to each specific embassy or for UK based clients we can recommend;

www.uk.cibt.com/therussiaexperience

• For Classic Trips our Trip Info pack – 82 pages packed with the latest practical and background info forgetting the most out of your trip… with everything from eating-out listings in our destinations to the history and context that helps makes sense of the vast geographical area covered by our trips.

• For Rail Cruises and Luxury Rail Cruises you will receive a full itinerary and invoice, also a copy of the Lonely Planet Trans Siberian Guide The final documents when they are sent before departure will hold more specific day to day advice.

Meanwhile, you can be getting ready by:

• Checking your passport has at least six months validity left to run after your trip is over, and has a minimum of three blank pages where the visas will be entered (some specialised itineraries may require more than three)

• Getting hold of four passport-sized photos, which are needed for your visa applications

• Confirming you have Travel Insurance for the trip (it’s a condition of the Russian Visa that you have this - quite apart from being basic common sense for anyone travelling).

Final Travel Documents

The balance of your trip is needed 60 days prior to departure or if you book within this time full payment at the time of booking. Once final payment has been received final travel documents will be compiled and sent out in good time prior to the start of the trip. Again we ask you check these to make sure everything is correct.

We have a team of staff based in the UK and Russia with first hand knowledge of all the trips and destinations you have booked. Our staff are frequently consulted for advice by guidebooks and travel magazines. We want this trip to exceed your wildest dreams so please do not hesitate to contact us at any point by e-mail or phone and we are only too happy assist with any questions, however large or small that might be concerning you. We are not a conglomerate or a holding company – these trips are the core of what we do, and we want to share our enthusiasm for them with you so that your own trip is better than even your highest expectations