Train Trips Around Russia
Possible routes for Trans-Siberian crossings plus trips through Bela
If you love train travel and want to visit Russia and its former republics like Belarus, Ukraine and Moldova, check out some of these itineraries.
The Trans-Siberian crossing from Vladivostok to Moscow is one of the most well-known train journeys in the world. But it’s not the only possibility for taking a big train trip through Russia and Eastern Europe. Here’s look at the various common itineraries offered by tour companies.
Trips Along the Trans-Siberian Route
The classic Trans-Siberian route from Vladivostok takes seven days to get you to Moscow, if you don’t make any stopovers along the way. Most tour companies offer a minimum trip of 12 days, with a stopovers in Irkutsk and Lake Baikal. But probably the most commonly taken route is in fact the Trans-Mongolian railway, which heads south just east of Lake Baikal and takes you into Mongolia, rather than continuing on to Vladivostok. The far east of Russia is a bit of a dead end, unless you plan to continue to Japan or Korea, so the Trans-Mongolian is often a good route to take – plus you get to experience the Mongolian Steppe.
Extend Your Russian Holiday to China
And if you’ve got to Mongolia, many routes will take you down into China, too. Many tour companies offer a typical Trans-Mongolian itinerary leaving from Moscow and arriving two weeks later in Beijing, with Lake Baikal and Ulaanbaatar stopovers. But there are other versions, for example a Vladivostok to Beijing route, using some of the lesser known rail routes to Khabarovsk, Tynda, Severobaikalsk via the BAM Railway, a hydrofoil trip across the lake, and then trains to Irkustsk, Ulaanbaatar and finally Beijing. Or if you have a whole month to travel, you could start in Hong Kong, travel via Xian (home of the Terracotta Warriors), Beijing, Ulaanbaatar, the Mongolian Steppe, Irkutsk, Yekaterinburg and Moscow to end the journey in St Petersburg.
Ride the Crimean Express
Yet another great alternative to a typical Trans-Siberian journey is to explore Russia and its immediate western neighbors on the Crimean Express. A typical trip here would take you from Moscow to Minsk in Belarus, Lvov in Ukraine, across the border to Kishiniev in little-visited Moldova, then back into Ukraine to travel through Odessa, Yalta, Sevastopol and finally Kyiv.
Whichever version of a train holiday you choose to explore Russia and its neighbors with, you’re guaranteed to see new sights, eat new foods and to learn to love the constant clickety-clack of the train.
