TRANSSIB, SILK ROAD, TIBET, CHINA

Transsiberian tours by regular Transsiberian trains

Eastbound

Moscow - Irkutsk - Ulan-Ude - Khabarovsk - Vladivostok
 

Duration: 12 days. 
Local time everywhere.

As you can see below, we don't have special dates the tour to start. The dates can be on your possibility and wish, just see the days of train departures but the majority of them are daily. In any case, we'll do our best to find a train to let you leave this or that town according your plans.

Day 1. Moscow
Arrive in Moscow by international flight.  Transfer to the 3-star hotel for a one-night stay. City tour  with the Sparrow Hills, pedestrian Arbat Street, Victory Park, Christ the Savior Cathedral. Free time. 
Lunch & Dinner (optional).

Day 2.  Moscow
Morning check-out. City tour with the Red Square & Alexander's Garden.  Visit to the Kremlin with its territory and cathedrals, Armoury Museum and Diamond Fund. Lunch in the city. Afternoon transfer to the Sheremetyevo-1 airport. Departure at 19.20 (daily) by flight SU# 749 to Irkutsk.

Day 3. Irkutsk (+ 5 hours to the Moscow time)
You arrive in Irkutsk early in the morning at 06.00. Irkutsk is the capital of Irkutsk Region, one of the biggest and most interesting regions in Russia, the whole world in Eastern Siberia which is not far from the famous Lake Baikal. Irkutsk stands at the crossroads of the trade routes between the East and West.  Arrive in Irkutsk early in the morning (at 07.33). And we have to go further by a car or by minivan leaving Irkutsk for the Lake Baikal. It takes about 1 hour to cover 70 km, the distance between Irkutsk city and the Lake Baikal. Baikal differs from the other lakes in the world by virtue of its unique depth, volume, the quality of its water and age for lakes exist usually for no more than of thousands of years, and finally, by virtue of its wildlife. If you dream about seeing the whole lake you are welcome to make a cruise. 

You'll walk around Listvyanka village, have a visit to St. Nicholas Church, get known the flora and fauna of the Lake Baikal after visiting Baikal Museum. Lunch at the restaurant at the Lake Baikal. After checking-in you'll have free time to walk along the lake Baikal by yourselves. 
Dinner at the hotel or at the lake (optional).

Day 4. Irkutsk 
Departure transfer back to Irkutsk. And on your way you'll visit the Museum of Wooden Architecture 'Taltsy'. Taltsy Museum represents a real Siberian village! You'll see unique monuments of the Russian wooden architecture of the XVII - XIX cc: the passing tower and the church of the Mother of God of Kazan from Ilimsky Burg (the exhibit of the 17th c), the parish school, farmsteads of peasants with plank bed, Russian oven and the 'red corner' with icons in it. 

You'll see the oldest point of the city, the place where Irkutsk began and the modern part of the city with its unforgettable architecture and atmosphere during the city tour. 

You probably heard of the Decembrists, the Russian noble men -revolutionaries who instigated and uprising against autocracy and serfdom in St. Petersburg in December 1825 (their names are derived from the name of month of uprising). Some of them were hanged, the rest were imprisoned and exiled to Siberia. The Decembrists spent thirty-odd years in Siberia, first doing penal servitude in prison and then in exile in remote areas of the severe region. Many of the Decembrists' wives voluntarily followed their husbands into exile. They had to leave not only their former way of lives in St. Petersburg but they had to leave their children also. And you'll get known about it during the visit Decembrists' Museum.  Later some of the Decembrists' families were given permission to move to the town towards the end of their term of exile. Their houses are still there. They are museums now. Lunch in the city. Accommodation at the hotel. Free time for exploration of the city.

If you'd like to feel the life of the city, to try to understand its soul you'd better to stay here for more time to walk by yourself and watch, and look, and see. 
Dinner at the hotel (optional).

* If you'd like to stay at the Lake Baikal or in Irkutsk city for 1-2 nights write us about it please and we'll make changes in the programme according your wishes. 

Day 5. Irkutsk, on board, Ulan Ude
Morning departure transfer to the train station. Departure at 07.20 by train# 02 to Ulan-Ude (odd dates only). Early morning departure by train will allow you to see the shore line of the Lake Baikal.  We arrive in Ulan Ude on the same day at 14.09 by train# 02. Ulan -Ude is a capital of the Buryat Republic. Arrival transfer to the 3-star hotel. City tour. Visit village of Old Believers with a folk show and dinner in the village. 
Lunch in the city or at the hotel (optional).
And pay attention please that 1-st class on this very train is not available as a rule cause the distance is short and it can happen so that we'll have to take 2 tickets of the 2-nd class to let people be just two in a compartment as in the 1-st class.

Day 6. Ulan-Ude
After breakfast we'll go to the Ivolginsky Datsan, a center of Buddhism in Russia. Lunch in the city. Departure transfer to the train station. Departure at 14.39 by train# 02/ 08 daily to Khabarovsk.  

Day 7. On board
Enjoy the peaceful pace on board the train. Beautiful scenery.

Day 8. Khabarovsk (+7 hours to the Moscow time)
You arrive in Khabarovsk at 19.08 by train 02/ 08. Arrival transfer to the 3-star hotel. Free time.
Dinner at the hotel (optional).

Day 9. Khabarovsk
City tour will allow  you to see the central part of the city, it's main attractions, different city squares, Cathedral of Transfiguration of the Savior, the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin, walk along the quay and Muravyov-Amursky street, the most popular place for leisurely walking. Visit Museum of History named after Gradekov. 

If you are 2 persons or more you'll go further for a tour to Bolsheheretsky Nature Reserve where you'll visit local museum and get known with the flora and fauna of the Far East, walk ecological path and have lunch at the wooden house. Evening transfer to the train station. Departure at 19.00 by train# 06 daily to Vladivostok.  

Day 10. Vladivostok  (+7 hours to the Moscow time)
At 07.01 we arrive in Vladivostok, Primorye. Arrival transfer. City tour with a visit Arsenyev Primorsky Krai Museum, Vladivostok Fortress Museum. Accommodation at the 4-star hotel. Lunch in the city. Memorial Submarine S-56 Museum, Vladivostok Aquarium (Oceanarium). 
Dinner at the hotel (optional).

Day 11. Vladivostok
Full day tour “Come to see tigers – it’s a family affair”! A visit to a family of Siberian tigers, master of Ussuri Wilderness, in the next best thing to their natural habitat: a large enclosed woodland in Spassky County 250 km north of Vladivostok. The area is part of a Russian Academy of Sciences biological research reserve. Your guides will be the biologists who manage the project. Lunch is included.
Dinner at the hotel (optional).

Day 12. Vladivostok
Breakfast at the hotel & transfers to the airport for departure by international flights. 

Included: accommodation at the 3* hotels as per itinerary; meals mentioned in the programme as included; arrival & departure transfers, all guided programmes;  entrance fees, train tickets acc the class; air ticket MOW - IKT. The tour language is English & German. Other languages speaking guides are available on request and at a supplement. 

Not included: airfares; charges of a personal nature; any optional excursions; drinks; meals as optional; visa and excess luggage charges; insurance and laundry services, banks charges for money transfer.

All prices are subject to change without notice. Exact rates are confirmed at the time of booking. . 

You are welcome to travel by regular trans-siberian trains along the Great Transsiberian Way!