Trans-Siberian. Avanti - DMC Russia.

Trans-Siberian

Travel destinations Nizhny Novgorod Yekaterinburg Novosibirsk Krasnoyarsk Irkutsk Vladivostok

Crossing Eurasia with a Trans-Siberian tour is probably the ultimate adventure-of-a-lifetime and a bucket list item for many globetrotters. Unforgettable experiences from seeing breathtaking sights and getting to know the life of the locals are what make any Trans-Siberian tour a journey-of-a-lifetime. However, choosing one of the luxury Trans-Siberian trains out there is an entirely different mode of travel. It’s like taking a ride through Russia, Mongolia and China in a posh ‘Ritz-Carlton’ like ‘hotel-on-wheels’.

The Trans-Siberian Railway is a network of railways connecting Moscow with the Russian Far East. With a length of 9,289 kilometres (5,772 miles), it is the longest railway line in the world. There are connecting branch lines into Mongolia, China and North Korea. It has connected Moscow with Vladivostok since 1916, and is still being expanded. The Trans-Siberian Railway is featured in the “ Guinness Book of Records” for three categories: total length, number of stations, and construction time.
It was built between 1891 and 1916 under the supervision of Russian government ministers personally appointed by Tsar Alexander III and his son, the Tsarevich Nicholas (later Tsar Nicholas II). Even before it had been completed, it attracted travellers who wrote of their adventures.

Trans-Siberian Tours

Tours on the Trans Siberian Railway.

Trans-Siberian trains

A luxury tour through Siberia is something unrivaled in the world of tourism. While cruises are 5-star hotels on water, these trains are 5-star hotels on the rails. Sliding across the tracks in the privacy and luxury of a train through Siberia is like entering a new world.

The city of Kazan is located on the left bank of the Volga River in the European part of Russia, 800 kilometers to the east of Moscow. A fast-growing city with a population of 1,200,000 people, it is the home of a great variety of nationalities and is famous for its ethnic and religious diversity. In 2005 Kazan celebrated its 1000th anniversary, making it one of the oldest cities in Russia. Kazan, the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan, is a city whose cultural heritage is made up of several layers and where different religions are intertwined in unusual ways. This is reflected not just by the centuries of coexistence of Orthodox Christians and Muslims, or by the eclectic Temple of All Religions, but also by the bilingual (Russian-Tatar) street signs.

Nizhny Novgorod

Nizhny Novgorod (420 km from Moscow) is the fifth most populous city in Russia, the capital of Nizhny Novgorod region. Known affectionately as “Nizhny” by russians. During the Soviet period Nizhny Novgorod was a closed city, but now it offers plenty to do for architecture aficionados, lazy pedestrians and sun worshipers. Nizhny attracts tourists from across the globe. And for good reason, since it packs in a host of sights, including the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin, plus churches and shrines of various eras and architectural styles.

Ekaterinburg, 33 hours east of Moscow by train, beyond the Ural Mountains, is Russia’s first city in Asia. During the Soviet era, Ekaterinburg (then known as Sverdlovsk) was a center of industry. Today it is probably best known as the place where the last tsar, Nicholas II, and his family and servants met their end at the hands of the Bolsheviks in 1918. Yekaterinburg was a closed territory for several decades, but today it has transformed into a strange metropolis, full of mysteries, which seems to live in several dimensions at once. Ultramodern buildings stand side-by-side with 18th-19th centuries and Soviet era houses.

Novosibirsk is the principal transportation hub on the Trans-Siberian Railway. The city was built on the Siberian Steppes at the beginning of the 20th century and thrived during the Stalin era. Novosibirsk’s historic city centre is a collection of assorted buildings that almost all have the Soviet look about them. Novosibirsk has a colossal opera theatre with top performers, enormous railway yards, a beautiful bridge across the River Ob, a well-known zoo, a monument to engineering achievement in Czarist-era Russia, the University, and Akademgorodok.

The Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk (current population around 975,000) is the capital of one of Russia's largest administrative regions, stretching from the Republic of Tuva , which shares a border with Mongolia, all the way to the Kara and Laptev Seas in the Arctic Ocean. Krasnoyarsk is located near the midway point on the Trans-Siberian Railroad between Moscow and Vladivostok. It’s an ideal city to stop in if you’re traveling overland across Russia, and there’s more than enough to keep you occupied for several days. Among tourists, the city is known as a destination for extreme sports.

On the banks of the Angara River lies the Siberian city of Irkutsk. This one of the great travel-hubs on the Trans-Siberian route and the point from which it is possible to explore the great Lake Baikal . Lake Baikal is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site and was also voted as one of Russia’s Seven Wonders.

Vladivostok is the first major city in Russia to greet the new day and the New Year: 9,000 kilometers and seven time zones lay between this city and Russia's capital. Vladivostok is home to the Russian Pacific Fleet, and the most easterly terminus of the famed Trans-Siberia Railway, which links it to distant Moscow. Being close to the United States, Japan and China, Vladivostok is popular among foreign tourists. National Geographic lists this cosmopolitan city among the 10 most beautiful oceanfront cities in the world, on the streets of Vladivostok it is common to see sailors from all over the world, hear the yelps of seagulls and see foreign tourists get into the wrong side of Japanese-made cars.