The idea of this one is to combine the “top stops” into one astonishing itinerary. It’s a nice balance between three “Asian” stops (Beijing, Ulaanbaatar, Ulan-Uday). and four “Russian” stops (Irkutsk, Ekaterinburg, Moscow and St. Petersburg). This one’s highly customisable – your stops include one set of options that feature the active outdoors, or another set profiling local culture and tradition. Like most of what Russia Experience does, the only herds you’ll see are sheep or goats – these are side-trips that couldn’t work for big groups even if we wanted to (which we don’t)… we springboard you into the remoter locations away from the railway which have “what you came to see”.

 

Map

 

 

Trip overview

 

DAY 1 – Arrival in Beijing

Make your own way to the hotel. Free time to explore one of the world’s fastest growing capital cities.

 

DAY 2 – Departing Beijing

Own transport to Beijing Central Station where you will  board the Ulaanbaatar bound train.

 

DAY 3 – Arrival in Ulaanbaatar

Transfer to a hotel where you have the opportunity to freshen up and have a light snack before departing on your city tour, then transfer to Elstei Ger Lodge.

 

DAY 4 – Free time at Elstei Ger Lodge

Throughout the day you will have the opportunity to partake in optional activities.

 

DAY 5 – Depart for the Bayangobi region

After breakfast depart for the Bayangobi region. Picnic lunch en-route. Arriving at herdsmen encampment late afternoon. Tonight you are the guests of the herdsmen, and you’ll stay in a nomadic ger tent.

 

DAY 6 – Onwards to Harhorin

Depart after breakfast for a day trip through the countryside of Övörkhangai Province in the direction of Harhorin. Our route takes us into the Orkhon Valley, a World Heritage Site. This afternoon we arrive at modern Harhorin – the settlement Genghis Khan would have known as Karakorum. Nothing is left of the ancient settlement, but on its site is the (rather later) monastery of Erdene Zuu, one of the most important Buddhist centres in Mongolia. Returning back to our nomad host family.

 

DAY 7 – Return to Ulaanbaatar

After breakfast transfer back to Ulaanbaatar, and check into the Bayangol Hotel. Balance of day at leisure in the capital.

 

DAY 8 – Departing Ulaanbaatar

Before your evening transfer to the station where you will board the Ulan-Uday bound train.

 

DAY 9 – Arrival in Ulan-Uday

Arrival late evening in Ulan-Uday, transfer to home-stay..

 

DAY 10 – Guided trip to Atsagatsky Buddhist Lamasery

After the monastery, try cuisine of Buryatia lunch with a village family.

 

DAY 11 – Visit to the Ivolginsky Datsan

Excursion to Tarbagatay a village with traditional brightly painted house. Home to the "old believers". Some have called them "Russia's Amish" . Late evening transfer to the station where you will board the Irkutsk bound train.

 

DAY 12–14 Baikal programmes

Here we give you the option to make a choice of either Siberian Village which is staying in Listvyanka Village on the shores of Lake Baikal. OR Adventure Trek, which is available for two or more passengers travelling together, for arrivals between 1st June until 1st September. This is a camping expedition and requires a good level of fitness.

 

DAY 15 – On board The Trans-Sib

Heading for Ekaterinburg.

 

DAY 16 – Arrival in Ekaterinburg

Transfer to the hotel. City tour with local expert guide.

 

DAY 17 – Your choice of Ekaterinburg activties

Please make a choice of one of the day trip options, it is all include in the price.

(A) Romanov Graves & Europe Asia Border (B) Siberian countryside and historic village (C) Mountain biking in the Urals (D) Siberian wilderness adventure

 

DAY 18 – Departing Ekaterinburg

Transfer to the station where you will board the Moscow bound train.

 

DAY 19 – Arrival in Moscow

We transfer you directly to your hotel. Today there’s a three hour walking tour,  to introduce the city (and its public transport system) and to get your sightseeing off to a flying start.  The rest of the day’s your own. 

 

DAY 20 – Explore Moscow

The day is free to explore Moscow independently.

 

DAY 21 – Departing Moscow

A full day to continue your sightseeing. Own transfer this evening to Leningradsky Station where you will board the St. Petersburg bound train.

 

DAY 22 – Arrival in St. Petersburg

We transfer you directly to your hotel. Today one of our St. Petersburg local expert guides will meet you at your hotel in the lobby, for a three hour walking tour. The rest of the day is your own. 

 

DAY 23 – Explore St. Petersburg

After breakfast the day is free to explore St. Petersburg independently.

 

DAY 24 – End of Trans-Siberian journey

You will need to check out of your room by 12 noon. Own transport to the airport or station on departure.

 

The above description is just a brief outline of the journey. To see a detailed account of our trip and find out essential trip information, we recommend you download the trip itinerary - the link can be found at the right hand side of this page.

 

	1 person	2 people	3-9 people
Full On
24 days full on	£3760	£2633	£2502
25 days full on	£3845	£2688	£2554
Extra night Beijing	£75	£40	£40
Extra night Moscow	£90	£60	£60
Extra night St. Petersburg	£85	£60	£60
Hotel upgrade Ulan-Uday	£130	£65	£65
2-berth upgrade Beijing-Moscow	£625	£625	£625
2-berth upgrade Moscow-St. Petersburg	£90	£90	£90

*Please note a seasonal supplement of £50 per person is applicable on all St. Petersburg "full on" trips between 01 MAY  – 30 SEP inclusive

 

For full details of what's included in the trip price please download the trip itinerary - the link can be found at the right hand side of this page.

 

Extras

 

The journey you have chosen has some “extras” that are necessary and then “extras"  that will enhance your trip. We cannot re-iterate too much that at Russia Experience we pride ourselves on making the trip you have chosen the best it can be – so if we don’t mention something you want, ask us and we’ll try our best to make it happen! In return, we try to inform you about any great “extras” along the way, so that you have the chance to try them if you want! Visas are a necessary extra and needed for all the countries you travel through and the current costs and what is needed can be found under Visas.

 

Upgrading to 2- berth compartment

Upgrading to 2- berth compartment on the train is also an option, you will see under Prices. This service is becoming more popular every year and not helped by the train operators only confirming this request 30 days or less prior to your departure. We have however devised a workaround for this that’s proving very reliable. We request a 2-berth at the time of booking but if this comes back not possible we block out a 4-berth compartment for 2 person occupancy. The standard of these cabins remains the same, and you get the extra space and privacy one way or the other.

 

Upgrading to a Hotel stay in Ulan-Uday

Upgrading to a Hotel stay in Ulan-Uday is an option instead of a home-stay. Again you will find this under Prices. At Russia Experience we pride ourselves on sourcing all types of accommodation for our clients, however we understand that for some people a hotel would be more suitable and therefore we offer this option in these areas, as well as the standard homestay. The difference is more a question of ethos and genre than “quality” – it’s a different approach, so perhaps “upgrade” isn’t exactly the right word… but it does cost a little more, so we retain the term “upgrade” for this kind of swap-out. Also we have additional night prices if you would like to arrive prior to the official start date of your trip or extend your stay at the end of the journey. Make sure you have decided this at the time of booking though, so your visas application reflects your length of stay. Although we will always look at requests to extend the stops along the way (or add new ones) these can very often result in a mismatch that make your connections further along the trip fail (since some services operate once-weekly, or on even more unusual timetabling “rules”). If they are possible at all, the usual result of mid-trip extra nights is that your start-date moves earlier to “make room” for them. If you are interested in this kind of alteration please let us know before firming-up your booking, so that your visas can be issued to match the new itinerary. Our expert staff have fourteen years in setting-up complex itineraries, utilising all operating services to achieve your desired result, whilst keeping you advised of undesirable outcomes (ie services known to be poor or unreliable, that we ordinarily never utilise) that might arise from making extreme alterations.

 

We offer a range of unique day trip options

We offer a range of unique day trip options in and from St. Petersburg and Moscow which we recommend you pre-book prior to departure to avoid disappointment. We cannot guarantee them as an option to book locally in Russia (as the specialist local guides will probably already be allocated to pre-booked clients). The options and costs be will found under Russian Cities.

 

Starting or ending in China

We have a range of services for passengers wanting to stay or continue their journey into China at the start or end of their journey.

 

2010 – 24 Days

2010 –  25 Days