International Railroad Discussion > Looking for advice on riding the Trans-Siberian

Hi everyone-

My wife and I are interested in riding the Trans-Siberian Railway in the next couple of years, and we're looking for pointers on when to go, where to stop, and who offers the best tours.  Any feedback is greatly appreciated.  You may respond on the forum or by PM.  Many thanks!

Stan Hunter
Fair Oaks, CA

Golden Eagle Trains Siberian Express Company. An English company that offers high end tours on the line in both directions with frequent off train tours but no actual stop overs. The train is nice with spacious bedrooms and attractive diners. But no open windows or platforms. Crews were acceptable at best. Food marginal but I'm told has improved since the employment of an English restaurant manager. I rode in 2011 before that happened. Scenery is rather boring but it is a bucket list event especially if you are a mileage collector. No insight on direction. We rode westbound. The train does (or at least did) use steam for the last few hours into Moscow. Hope that's of some help. Others here have probably ridden the normal service train and can provide insight. 

The problem with tours is they really increase the cost. There's really no reason to take a tour unless you enjoy the social side of group travel, and that can really depend on the type people that end up on the tour. 
Making reservations you self is very easy through the RZD's website or by using a booking company like realrussia.co.uk, you'll pay a sight premium but the make it very easy and will deliver the tickets to your hotel in Moscow. 
Take a look at the Man in Seat 61's website on Trans-Siberian travel. [www.seat61.com], a very good resource. 
Also consider the Trans-Mongolian instead of the Trans-Siberian, it's by far the most interesting to the three routes and the one that you'll find the largest number of western tourists on. The least know route the Trans-Manchurian is of interest only if you're out to bag all three routes, it's a great choice if you like aggressively rude and larcenous Chinese restaurant car staff, the car mostly seems to serve as a place for the train crew to congergate and smoke like fiends, while the waiters try every trip in the book to make their western customers overpay for their meager meals. Also you'll probably find that flying home from Beijing is cheaper than from the Russian Far East. 
As for stopovers, Irkutsk is would a good choice. It's a very interesting Siberian city and close to Lake Baikal. Take a look at the website for the Baikal Chalet at Listvyanka on Lake Baikal. http://baikalchalet.com It's a short walk from the lake. The babushkas that run the dining room are excelent cooks, rooms comfortable, the location is beautiful, the price is very good, they provide transportation from Irkutsk, and both times I've stayed the other guests were very interesting 
Yekaterinburg and Perm would also be interesting stopovers. On the west side of Lake Baikal is Ulan-Ude, capital of the Buryat Republic and home of the worlds largest Lenin head. 
To wet your appetite for travel to Russia take a look at Bald and Bankrup's YouTube videos https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxDZs_ltFFvn0FDHT6kmoXA.
This is probably a good time to visit Russia, the country has gone from being a seldom visited country by tourists to one of the fastest grown tourist destinations in the world. I susp[ect even the most remote areas are probably going to be overrun by tourists.
Feel free to PM me if you would like.
These ladies aren't going to be pampering anyone.  Provodnitsa
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/08/19 10:10 by GettingShort.

Stan - I'm planning to ride the Trans Siberian April-May 2021 if you want to coordinate.
Duncan

A case of whisky is mandatory.

Bob Wilcox
Charlottesville, VA
My Flickr Shots

I rode it twice in the 70's both times west to east.
picture 1.  Cover of the timetable then
Picture 2.  Inside. Train 1 is fron east to west, and Train 2 left Moskow at 10;05 and arrived in Vladivostok at 6:40 on the 8th day.
Picture 3.  The Train 2, in an unelectrified section in Siberia.  One of the 16 cars was going to Krasnoyarsk

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Picture 4.  On the seventh day at Yerofey-Pablovich Station in Siberia, when I returned to the train after buying a bottle of goat milk (sure to be very fresh whose producer was tied to a vender's table)  and a newspaper cone of what looked like bluebarries but terribly sour, I saw this type of engine instead of the epected diesel.
    It was P36 (4-8-4) in the last days of active duty.  Picture 4 was taken in 1993 when retriction on railroad picture-taking was lifted.
    I have no advice other than: When in Rome, do what Romans do.  Have fun.

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I visited Novosibirsk, Irkutsuk, and Lake baikal.  Havarfsk was the last stop for foreigner (Vladivastok being a secret miliraru port then). And Havarofsk is a very interestin place if you are interested in markets.
Picture 5.  P36 comes in various colrs.
Picture 6. But the light green of 070 was what was used in Siberia.

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Stan,

Get the 10th edition of "Trans-Siberian Handbook" by Bryn Thomas & Daniel McCrohan.
https://www.amazon.com/Trans-Siberian-Handbook-Longest-Railway-Mongolia/dp/1912716089

Over 500 pages, published in October 2019. I'm about 1/3 the way thru.

Also see: https://www.seat61.com/Trans-Siberian.htm

There's no need to book a tour when visiting Russia, save money and enjoy more flexibility by booking the big stuff yourself. The RZD website is easy and more efficient than Amtrak's. You can still book day tours (Baikal, etc).

You could spend a little (platskart 54-bunk open sleepers) to a lot for luxury tour trains. There's also alternate routes like the BAM railway, Mongolia, locals...

I'll echo everything GettingShort wrote. We haven't done the Tran-Siberian but I've been researching for two years. Maybe do it in in 2021.  I went to Moscow, Saint Petersburg & Volgograd in May 2018. Had a great time, pax trains were nice. I took a lot of photos including many transit and some passenger & freight photos. No hassles except our provodnitsa did not want to be photographed. People are quiet & respect other's "space" (opposite of Italy & especially Barcelona). Civilized people. As long as you have a credit card, getting around is easy. Getting a Russian SIM card for my phone took 10 minutes. For about $10 and I had unlimited cell and WiFi almost everywhere for 15 days. Etc.. We're going again (Moscow & probably Sochi) next May in part for the May 9 Victory Day 75th anniversary of WWII. Should be massive.

Big plus: everything is relatively inexpensive compared to the US or western Europe.

As for getting visas, this is the best site I've seen. Not perfect, but easier to follow than most guides.  The process isn't nearly as difficult as most people think:
https://russiable.com/getting-russian-visa-usa-canada/
The 3-year tourist visa allows for multiple entrys & exits.

Those P36s are good-looking locos. The Russian version of Facebook (probably less spying) is VK. Here's two groups with lots of railfan photos. No registration necessary:
https://vk.com/rzd_pid
https://vk.com/railplanet

Learning some Russian will help. Outside of the big cities, not many people over 30 will speak English.

Three music videos that are maximum Russian:
Alexandrov Ensemble - The Sacred War (scene is Belorussky train station, 4 days after Operation Barbarossa began) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQT_YpRVpdU
Kino - Cuckoo Bird (circa 1990 as the USSR was falling) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1Nx3SU2izA
Otava Yo - Russian Couplets While Fighting  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JQ0xnJyb0A

Dobryy vecher,
Rob Simpson

 



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 12/18/19 19:05 by Duna.