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.

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.