Western Trans-Sib Stopovers
Choosing stopovers between Omsk and Moscow on your Russian train jou
Oct 19, 2006
Starting east in Vladivostok – romantic version of the Trans-Siberian trip, straight across Russia to Moscow – there are interesting stops in Siberia, like Irkutsk or Krasnoyarsk. The western half of this long line across Russia also offers a wide variety of stopover options so that you can have a complete experience of this remarkable (and huge!) country.
Possible Trans-Siberian Stops Between Omsk and Moscow
There are more than just half a dozen choices for stopping off between Omsk and Moscow, but these are the most common or interesting:
- Omsk: Temporary (and reluctant) home to exiles like Dostoyevsky, Omsk is close to the Kazakhstan border; look beyond the unsightly apartment blocks to find museums and sculptures.
- Yekaterinburg: Boris Yeltsin’s hometown, more than 20 museums and a memorial site and impressive new church in honour of the Romanovs (Tsar Nicholas II and his family) who were murdered here. Note that train timetables usually use its Soviet-era name, Sverdlovsk.
- Perm: More industrial town but with a cool (and pronounceable) name; most who stop here use it as a base to visit ice caves in Kungur. An important note, though: Doctor Zhivago was written here!
- Kazan: A kremlin, mosques, markets – Kazan is buzzing. A very old Tatar city with interesting museums, too.
- Nizhny Novgorod: After Moscow and St Petersburg, it’s Russia’s third largest city, and sits on the famous Volga River. Museums and a Volga cruise are its main attractions.
Our Recommended Trans-Siberian Stops
Yekaterinburg is a personal favourite, and there’s much more to do here than my Irkutsk guide friend suggested. Its new Church of the Blood is impressive, and I also enjoyed the Museum of Photography, both for the building that houses it and the varied exhibitions inside. For the chance to cruise the Volga, Nizhny Novgorod is also an interesting stop, and Dostoyevsky fans must stop at Omsk to get a feel for how far away he was sent when in exile.
Choosing stops between Vladivostok and Novosibirsk? Read our article on Eastern Trans-Siberian Stops.
Want to decide which direction to travel? Check our Trans-Siberian Directions article.
