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The world's greatest train journey is surrounded in myth and legend, most of it completely fictitious! Here are some famous misconceptions and pieces of out-dated information worth discarding....
"The Trans-Siberian Express is a Tourist Train". No, all the trains working the Trans-Sib network are the regular timetabled services of Russian, Chinese and Mongolian Railways, and they make no concessions to tourists at all!
"It starts in Berlin/Budapest/Athens/Istanbul..." Sounds like some confusion here! In the C19th it started from St Petersburg, and later this was switched to Moscow. It's never started anywhere West of Russia, nor are there any directly-connecting services. Maybe they were thinking of the Orient Express, a completely different train?
"You can get on and off as you like". Sadly, two things stop you doing so. (i) the Russian and Mongolian visas are itinerary-specific and are only issued to travellers with a final, confirmed, city-specific itinerary, and (ii) the trains are usually full - get off and get stranded with no onward reservations! We can pre-book Siberian and Mongolian stops for you, no red tape! See our Suggested Itineraries for details.
"It's like the Orient Express on board". Only in your dreams! The Orient Express is a DeLuxe, Tourist Train for very wealthy passengers who want every done for them. Although the Trans-Sib trains are flagship services of Russian and Chinese Railways, they are just regular trains in the end. Agatha Christie did not write about the Trans-Sib, and it's Murder On The Orient Express - so they say
"Sidetrips along the way are very expensive." This one's worth a special explanation.....
"Champagne & Caviar, every night!" Well, they're on the menu if you want them, but the Dining Car is more like a Cafeteria than a plush night-club! Having said that, Russian "Champagnskoye" is quite drinkable if you get the "sukhoye" (dry) stuff, and a bargain at the price. And the caviar is 75% cheaper than in the West too. Food's not included in the ticket price, you can order a la carte, Dinner averages around US$5-worth of local currency.
"You can buy the tickets cheap in Budapest". Maybe in 1978 you could, but you might have noticed a few changes in Eastern Europe since 1989....? Time to buy a new Guidebook...
"It's very dangerous". There are no special dangers to travelling on the Trans-Sib, and it actually has plain-clothes security staff on board. Technically, it's one of the safest ways of travelling too, statistically safer than western airlines.
"Female Travellers get hassled". Quite the opposite - according to the reports of our female passengers and staffers, Russia is one of the most laid-back destinations for the solo female traveller . Travellers of both sexes might get some pestering to buy postcards and guidebooks outside the Kremlin - but that's not a serious problem, or one confined to Russia, either. In fact, it's the boys, for a change, who might get hassled - by the extremely aggressive hookers who work Moscow's nightclubs and casino-bars.
"Westerners are grouped together". This is just plain wrong info. Of course, we will book you in the same compartment as your travelling companions, but that's all the regimentation you'll face. If you'd wanted to be in a group, you'd have joined a Group Tour, right?
"There are showers on the train". Not really. The 1st-Class compartments of the Chinese-Railways-operated Trans-Mongolian Express have a shower-head instead of a hot tap in the bathroom, but there's only enough water pressure to wash your hair anyhow, and there's no shower cubicle. True travellers will need little ingenuity to wash all over with a face cloth or sponge - there are two bathrooms per wagon, equipped with wc and hand-basin.
"They have Hard Class and Soft Class". Hmmmm, you've been watching Doctor Zhivago again, haven't you? These days, the two classes are called Second Class - which has four berths per cabin, "two-up, two-down" - and First Class, which has two "down" berths on Russian Railways, or "one-up, one-down plus a chair" on Chinese Railways. Your fears about the "muddy bits" from Doctor Zhivago are a long way from reality!
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