Day 1: Arrival in Moscow Arrival in Moscow. After a special welcome dinner, enjoy a city sightseeing tour of “Moscow by night”. Tonight you spend the night in a hotel in Moscow.
Day 2: Moscow Enjoy a whole-day city sightseeing tour through this Russian metropolis including a visit to the Kremlin, Red Square, the famous shopping mall ”GUM”, the old “Arbat Street” and the Bolshoi Theatre. In the evening you board the legendary “Trans-Siberian-Express” which awaits you for your onward journey to Beijing via Erlian. Overnight stay in your allocated sleeping car compartment.
Day 3: Kazan The morning finds you arriving in Kazan, the capital of the Tatarstan. This unique city, situated on the River Volga, celebrated its 1000-year anniversary in 2005. Kazan is a multicultural city where the Russians, Tatarstan and Cossacks live in a peaceful coexistence. Kazan is famous for its masterpieces in Islamic and orthodox buildings. At the end of your stay in Kazan, you will enjoy a boat trip on the Volga - Europe’s longest river. While you are sleeping the train continues its way through the Ural Mountains tonight. Overnight stay in your allocated sleeping car compartment.
Day 4: Jekaterinburg Only a few kilometres outside Yekaterinburg, the train passes the geographical border which divides Europe from Asia. Today, you will see a very special location: the obelisk which marks this geographical border between Europe and Asia. In the heart of the city, you will find some architectural monuments of the late 19th century and you will visit a cathedral which was recently built in honour of the murdered Tsar family. Tonight our special train runs its way through the Taiga while you are sleeping. Overnight stay in your allocated sleeping car compartment.
Day 5: Novosibirsk Today on a sightseeing tour you get to know Novosibirsk, West Siberia’s largest city with 1.5 million inhabitants. Worth seeing is the big opera house in the city centre and the typical farmer’s market which offers a huge variety of unexpected goods. Afterwards you visit the scientific village of Akademgorodok which aims to become Russia’s “Silicone Valley”. You then visit the main sights of Akademgorodok, including the mineralogical museum and the railway museum which houses a number of locomotives and cars of the “Trans-Siberian Express”. Overnight stay in your allocated sleeping car compartment.
Day 6: Krasnoyarsk Today, Krasnoyarsk awaits your visit. The city is located on the Yenisei River. Enjoy a boat trip on the Yenisei River and discover the power of Russia’s second largest river. On a city sightseeing tour you get the opportunity to explore Krasnoyarsk which was totally isolated to foreigners during the time of the Soviet Union. After this exciting day, you again board the train for the evening. Overnight stay in your allocated sleeping car compartment.
Day 7: Irkutsk The morning starts with a city sightseeing tour of Irkutsk which is famous for its active trade with China. Lunch is included in Irkutsk and after lunch you visit the local market and undergo one of the cultural highlights of this journey: an exclusive private classical concert at Prince Volkonsy’s house. In the evening the “Trans-Siberian Express” continues on its journey. Overnight stay in your allocated sleeping car compartment.
Day 8: Lake Baikal Today is the scenic highlight of the journey. The train travels slowly for several hours along a disused track of the Trans-Siberian route, directly along the shores of Lake Baikal. Breathtaking views of the deep blue lake and the picturesque mountains make this trip an unforgettable experience. Known as the “Pearl of Siberia” and with a depth of 1,620m, Lake Baikal is the world’s deepest lake containing the largest fresh water source on earth. In the afternoon you cross the lake on a ferry boat from Port Baikal railway station to the village of Listvyanka, a typical Siberian timber village and visit the renovated orthodox church of St. Nicholas. Dinner takes place in a romantically located restaurant in the Taiga accompanied by a local folklore performance. After dinner, a ferry will take you back to the train which will continue its journey into the night. Overnight stay in your allocated sleeping car compartment.
Day 9: Ulan Ude Today you reach Ulan Ude and visit the largest Buddhist convent in Russia. It is here that the centre of Buddhism in Russia is represented as well as being visited by the Dalai Lama three times since 1991. After a short sightseeing tour of the city, the special train continues its journey during the evening along the south shore of Lake Baikal. While travelling through the night, you cross the Russian border at Suche Bator. All border formalities are handled easily in your compartment. Overnight stay in your allocated sleeping car compartment.
Day 10: Ulaan Baatar When the sun rises you reach the Mongolian capital Ulaan Baatar. Today is spent enjoying a full day sightseeing tour where you will visit the Buddhist Ghandan Temple, the Suche Baatar Square in the city centre, the summer palace of Bogd Khan and the viewpoint Zaisan. The day ends with an unforgettable acrobatic and folklore show before spending the night at your hotel in Ulaan Baatar.
Day 11: Ulaan Baatar Today you take an excursion to see the nomads in the turtle valley before visiting the national park “Terelj” (also known as “ Mongolian Switzerland”) which is situated approximately 70 km outside of the city. In the afternoon you board the train again and travel through the night. Overnight stay in your allocated sleeping car compartment.
Day 12: Erlian & Gobi Desert This morning you wake up within the Gobi Desert and you arrive at the Mongolian- Chinese border. At the border station in Erlian, a Chinese special train awaits you for your onward journey to Beijing. Your luggage is reloaded by our service staff while you undertake an excursion into the Gobi Desert and to a typical Mongolian market. Tonight is spent on board in your allocated sleeping car compartment while the train slowly runs through the Gobi Desert.
Day 13: Beijing Today Beijing welcomes you. Enjoy a whole-day city sightseeing tour with a visit to the Summer Palace (“Yiheyuan”), the Emperor’s Palace (also known as “The Forbidden City”) the Tiananmen Square and the Temple of Heaven in the south of the city. You spend another night in Beijing after a wonderful day.
Day 14: Beijing – Great Wall and Ming Tombs This day starts with a full day excursion to the famous Great Wall. After breakfast, you will drive to the Great Wall, 60 km north of Beijing. The whole morning you have time to climb the wall, recently voted as one of the Seven New Wonders of the World. After lunch you will visit the Ming Tombs and in the late afternoon you will return to Beijing.
Day 15: Departure from Beijing Today your wonderful journey ends with the flight back home.
