Trans Siberian Railway

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PAGE ON THE YOUR COMPLETE DESTINATION GUIDE In-depth reviews, detailed listings 56 ROAD and insider tips

St Petersburg p93

Moscow p58 R U S S I A The Baikal-Amur Moscow to Yekaterinburg to Mainline (BAM) Yekaterinburg Krasnoyarsk p144 p250 p119 Ulan-Ude to Lake Baikal: Vladivostok p216 Krasnoyarsk to Ulan-Ude p176 The MONGOLIA Trans-Manchurian The Route p290 Trans-Mongolian Route p265 B›ij¸ng p301 C H I N A

PAGE SURVIVAL VITAL PRACTICAL INFORMATION TO 377 GUIDE HELP YOU HAVE A SMOOTH TRIP

Directory A–Z ...... 378 Transport ...... 394 Language

Russian belongs to the Slavonic language Health ...... 403 family and is closely related to Belarusian kak vas za·vut and Ukrainian. It has more than 150 million speakers within the Russian Federation and mi·nya za·vut ... is used as a second language in the former republics of the USSR, with a total number of speakers of more than 270 million people. vi ga·va·ri·tye Language & Glossary ..... 407 Russian is written in the Cyrillic alphabet pa·an·gli·ski (see the next page), and it’s well worth the eՖ ort familiarising yourself with it so that you ya nye pa·ni·ma·yu can read maps, timetables, menus and street signs. Otherwise, just read the coloured pronunciation guides given next to each Russian ACCOMMODATION Index ...... 430 phrase in this chapter as if they were English, ...? gdye ... and you’ll be understood. Most sounds are ɩɚɧɫɢɨɧɚɬ the same as in English, and the few di pan ences in pronunciation are explained in the phabet table. The stressed syllables are ɤɟɦɩɢɧɝ ated with italics. ɝɨɫɬɢɧɢɰɚ Map Legend ...... 438 ɨɛɳɟɠɢ S hostel ɚɜɫɬɜɭɣɬɟ

THIS EDITION WRITTEN AND RESEARCHED BY Anthony Haywood Marc Bennetts, Greg Bloom, Marc Di Duca, Michael Kohn, Tom Masters, Leonid Ragozin, Mara Vorhees “All you’ve got to do is decide to go and the hardest part is over. So go!” TONY WHEELER, COFOUNDER – LONELY PLANET Get the right guides for your trip

PAGE PLAN YOUR PLANNING TOOL KIT Photos, itineraries, lists and suggestions 2 YOUR TRIP to help you put together your perfect trip

5 6 Welcome to the CREDIT Trans-Siberian Railway .. 2 16 Top Experiences ...... 6 7 Need to Know ...... 14 COUNTRYCOUUNTRYTRY & CICITYTY What’s New ...... 16 • TheTheorigina originalii l • Comprehensive If You Like ...... 17 Mongolian Stations & Watching the Landscapes Stopovers World Unfurl • Adventurous Mongolia is a beauti- The glue between the The swaying of the train 5 ful country. Get into a 6 interior world of the train 7 as it crosses a subcon- Russian 4WD or van and your and the towns and cities tinent, the landscapes that Month by Month ...... 20 Mongolian travel mates will along the track is the myriad unfurl outside the window: be crooning about the blue stations, some little more steppe, taiga, farmed clear- 14 waters of Lake Khövsgöl, the than a ramshackle platform ings, fallow land and swamps, Singing Sand Dunes of the with a telltale name such as and all those Siberian settle- Gobi Desert and the glaciated ‘73km’ to signify their exist- ments of just a few wooden peaks of the Altai Mountains. ence, others ambitious piec- peasant houses fenced oՖ Choosing Your Route ..... 22 Need toCloser to Ulaanbaatar, it’s es of architecture beÀ tting and staking a dwindling claim easy to make day or over- one of the world’s greatest to existence in the burlesque night trips to Gorkhi-Terelj Languagerailway achievements. And proportions of Siberia’s land- Know National Park (p285 ) amidst all along the route at Russia’s scape. Part of the pleasure Currency » Mandarin, Cantonese the glorious rock formations stations, sellers ply a busy of the Trans-Siberian are the » Yuan (Y; China), (China); Mongolian, and green valleys. For a won- trade for travellers – smoked rituals of feeding time and tögrög (T; Mongolia), Kazakh (Mongolia); Itineraries ...... 28 derful experiencerouble (R; that Russia) com- RussianÀ sh, berries, (Russia) nuts, sausages, sleeping, and simply gazing bines natural landscapes and anything that will still a through the glass as time wildlife viewing, visit Khustain traveller’s hunger or make a and motion gradually À ll the National Park (p285 ), where journey more comfortable. space. wild takhi horses roam across Booking Tickets ...... 32 When to Go the pristine grasslands of Your Daily Budget

Budget less than US$50 # Moscow Arranging Your Visas ..... 42 GO May–Jun » Dorm beds and meals in simple restaurants or cafe and street stalls BAM Midrange US$50–

PLAN YOUR TRIP TRIP YOUR PLAN 210 Life on the Rails ...... 46 Irkutsk MOSCOW # GO Jun » Eating in decent #_ É Ulaanbataar restaurants and staying RUSSIA # Kazan GO Aug–Sep # in hotels with private #• Tobolsk Komsomolsk- Vladivostok •# GO Jun facilities; in Mongolia Tynda É na-Amure #• #• #• expect a maximum Yekaterinburg #• Severomuysk B›ij¸ng Bratsk É #• # GO Sep– midrange of US$120, in Tyumen É #• #• early Nov Routes at a Glance ...... 53 Krasnoyarsk É #• Severobaikalsk #• China US$160 and in

Tayshet ITINERARIES #• É Desert, dry climate Novosibirsk Russia US$210 #•Irkutsk Warm to hot summers Mild summers, cold winters High End over KAZAKHSTAN Mild summers, very cold winters Cold climate US$210 MONGOLIA » Russia is the most High Season Shoulder Low Season expensive (US$210); in (May–Sep) (May & Oct) (Oct–Apr) Mongolia you find high- CHINA » China: accom- » China: shoulder » China: bitterly end places (starting at modation prices February–April and cold in the north; US$120) in only a few peak first week May September–October domestic tourism areas; in China dining holiday period ebbs (except around and higher comforts » Mongolia: May and begin at US$160 Three Weeks 15 Days » Mongolia: peak September some ger Chinese New Year) Volga & Lake Baikal BAM June–August; rain camps closed, fewer » Mongolia: some ger late July–August; tourists, weather camps and smaller SHOESTRING PHRASEBOOKP book everything early changeable guesthouses closed From Moscow enjoy an overnight The 3400km Baikal-Amur Mainline around Naadam trip to Kazan, perhaps taking the (Baikalo-Amurskaya Magistral, » Russia: beautiful » Russia: plan indoor premium train with showers and or BAM) travels through some of » Russia: peak June– but can get chilly pursuits or winter double beds. Spend two to three days the most rugged and unforgiving early September sports; take saunas Big trips, exploring the capital of Tatarstan with its Siberian landscapes. The line o՗ cially starts • splendid kremlin and museums; allow at in the drab town of Tayshet, but the closest least a full day for the city and another day big city, Krasnoyarsk, has an airport if you for an excursion on the Volga. From Kazan wish to skip all points further west. small budgets continue to Yekaterinburg in the Urals At Bratsk the train crosses a 1km-long and spend À ve days visiting the Romanov dam. The town also has an excellent open- sites and Urals attractions. Siberia begins air ethnographic museum where you can after that, with a night in Tyumen and see many of the traditional Siberian build- Multicountry side trip north to , which can be • Tobolsk ings rescued when the dam was built. Sev- completed comfortably in three to four erobaikalsk, on the northern tip of Lake days. The journey continues with two days Baikal, is the best base for exploring this in Novosibirsk, the uno՗ cial capital relatively unvisited end of the lake and it fibi d i’hidl i Looking for other travel resources?

PAGE UNDERSTAND GET MORE FROM YOUR TRIP Learn about the big picture, so you 325 YOUR JOURNEY can make sense of what you see ONARIES wn in the n rth. The line wa later altered to accommodate Railway was built, ntial economic lobbies by including Perm, Yekaterinburg and it was quicker to travel from the railroad across a formidable landscape posed ongoing St Petersburg to Vladivostok History of the Railway .... 326 of engineering, supply and labour. The railroad cut through by crossing the s crossed countless rivers, scaled rocky mountains and tra- Atlantic, North y uagmires. Work brigades were poorly outÀ tted. The heavy America and the arried out using shovels and picks, while horses and humans Pacific than by ling going overland. Siberian Travellers ...... 342 were recruited, or conscripted, from all over the empire as m abroad. Some of these were imprisoned exiles being held in ers labour recruits from China or Italian stonemasons, who Russia Today ...... 346 1860 1876 1886–89 of Peking China’s À rst railroad, Following Tsar Alex- na cede all the Woosung Railway, ander III’s approval Russia ...... 349 belief systems if Russia were east of the connects ShànghŴi of the idea of a Trans- (% of population) 100 people s far south with Woosung (now Siberian Railway, an border Baoshan District). topographical surveys LONELYPLANET.COM APPS EBOOKS MAGAZINE ssia loses However, the private are taken along part the newly project, constructed of the proposed route 75 nded port. without government between Tomsk and For travel information, Location-based Guidebooks For travel stories, Mongolia Today ...... 356 CREDIT approval, is demolished Sretensk, and around 5 the following year. Vladivostok. advice, tips & digital guides for the street for your reader inspiration & ideas Orthodox Christianity Islam » Tsar Alexander III Mongolia ...... 358 80 would be Russian 1 would be Bashkir chapters 4 would be Tatar 1 would be Chuvash lonelyplanet.com/mobile lonelyplanet.com/ebooks lonelyplanet.com/magazine 1 1 18 2 would be Ukrainian 12 would be other China Today ...... 364 Buddhism Catholicism Other

otherwise – that the Russian authorities use to intimidate bloggers and those who dare to speak their mind. Suspicious deaths include that of China ...... 366 Anna Politkovskaya, the human-rights activist and writer gunned down on her doorstep in 2006. STAY IN TOUCH Russia for Russians! Landscapes & Wildlife ... 372 A major issue in Russia is the rise in extreme nationalism, ungentl lonelyplanet.com/contact illustrated in 2010 when 5000 soccer sup orters ram aged through cen AUSTRALIA Locked Bag 1, Footscray, Victoria 3011 twitter.com/ %03 8379 8000, fax 03 8379 8111 lonelyplanet ISBN 978-1-74179-565-3 5 2 1 9 9 Paper in this book is certified USA 150 Linden Street, Oakland, CA 94607 facebook.com/ against the Forest Stewardship % lonelyplanet Council™ standards. FSC™ promotes 510 250 6400, toll free 800 275 8555, fax 510 893 8572 environmentally responsible, socially lonelyplanet.com/ beneficial and economically viable UK Media Centre, 201 Wood Lane, London W12 7TQ 9 781741 795653 management of the world’s forests. %020 8433 1333, fax 020 8702 0112 newsletter

ttrans-siberian-railway-4-cover.inddrans-siberian-railway-4-cover.indd 2 115/12/20115/12/2011 1:47:051:47:05 PPMM Every listing is recommended by our authors, and their favourite places are listed first

Look out for these icons: Our author’s top A green or No payment o recommendation S sustainable option F required See the Index for a full list of destinations covered in this book.

On the Road

MOSCOW ...... 58 South Baikal & the THE TRANS- Tunka Valley ...... 204 MANCHURIAN ST PETERSBURG . . . .93 Ulan-Ude ...... 206 ROUTE ...... 290 Around Ulan-Ude ...... 213 Mănzhōulǐ ...... 294 MOSCOW TO Eastern Baikal ...... 213 Hā’ěrbīn ...... 295 YEKATERINBURG . . . 119 Chángchūn ...... 300 Vladimir ...... 123 ULAN-UDE TO Shānhǎiguān ...... 300 Bogolyubovo ...... 125 VLADIVOSTOK . . . . . 216 Suzdal ...... 126 Chita ...... 223 BĚIJĪNG ...... 301 Nizhny Novgorod ...... 131 Around Chita ...... 227 AROUND BĚIJĪNG ...... 321 Perm ...... 137 Nerchinsk ...... 227 Great Wall of China ...... 321 Around Perm ...... 141 Blagoveshchensk ...... 228 Kungur ...... 142 Birobidzhan ...... 229 Khabarovsk ...... 231 YEKATERINBURG TO Vladivostok ...... 238 KRASNOYARSK . . . .144 Around Vladivostok ...... 249 Yekaterinburg ...... 148 Around Yekaterinburg . . . . 155 THE BAIKAL-AMUR Tyumen ...... 156 MAINLINE (BAM) . . 250 Tobolsk ...... 160 Bratsk ...... 254 Omsk ...... 164 Severobaikalsk ...... 255 Novosibirsk ...... 165 Around Severobaikalsk . . .258 Tomsk ...... 169 Tynda ...... 259 Komsomolsk-na-Amure . .261 LAKE BAIKAL: Around Komsomolsk-na- KRASNOYARSK TO Amure ...... 264 ULAN-UDE ...... 176 Krasnoyarsk ...... 180 THE TRANS- Around Krasnoyarsk . . . . .186 MONGOLIAN ROUTE ...... 265 Irkutsk ...... 187 Kyakhta, Russia ...... 269 Around Irkutsk ...... 197 Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia . . .270 Western Lake Baikal . . . . . 197 Around Ulaanbaatar . . . . 284 Listvyanka ...... 197 Èrlián (Erenhot), China . . 286 Port Baikal ...... 201 Dàtóng, China ...... 286 Bolshie Koty ...... 202 Olkhon Island ...... 202 › Trans-Siberian Railway

20°E 70°N

60°N A R C T I C A R C T I C

0 1000 km 40°E 0 600 miles 60°E 80°E Moscow O C E ASvalbard N N O R T H Norwegian CultureSea and the ancient S E A Franz Josef Kremlin (p58) Land NORWAY St Petersburg Oslo Grand masters on SWEDEN the Neva (p93)

Novaya Zemlya Murmansk Stockholm B A R E N T S S E A Kola K A R A S E A I FINLAND Peninsula Baltic Helsinki Sea Tallinn Dikson LATVIA Vyborg R‹ga Yamal RUSSIA ESTONIA Lake Petrozavodsk Peninsula Ladoga Arkhangelsk Amderma Kaliningrad Gydansky LITHUANIA Pskov St Petersburg Peninsula Vilnius Novgorod Vorkuta Dudinka Gulf BELARUS Veliky Norilsk Ustyug Ob Minsk Vologda Salekhard A R C T I C Igarka Dnieper Tver Severnaya Pechora Siberian Dvina Ural Mountains Kyiv Moscow Yaroslavl Syktyvkar Ob Lowland Suzdal Volga Bryansk R U S S I A Tula Vyatka Vladimir Oryol (Kirov) Yenisey Nizhny Novgorod Ryazan Surgut Kursk Cheboksary Khanty-Mansiysk Kama Perm Kazan Ob Voronezh Nizhny Tagil Nizhnevartovsk Ulyanovsk Izhevsk Tambov Irtysh UKRAINE Syzran Yekaterinburg Tyumen Tobolsk Yeniseysk Volga Samara Ufa Saratov Chelyabinsk Sea of Kurgan Azov Volgograd Ural Magnitogorsk Rostov- Petropavl Tomsk Mariinsk on-Don Volga Orenburg (Petropavlovsk) Omsk Sochi Caucasus Orsk Novosibirsk Kemerovo Black Astrakhan Ishim Irtysh Sea Mountains Tobolsk Barnaul Novokuznetsk Mt Elbrus (5642m) Grozny Magnificent kremlin and Astana Gorno- atmospheric lower town (p160) GEORGIA Lake BaikalKaraganda Altaisk Tbilisi Semey Altai Russia’s sacred Mountains ARMENIA Caspian (Semipalatinsk) Sea Syr Darya sea (p176) Belukha Yerevan (4506m) Aral Balkhash AZERBAIJAN Sea KAZAKHSTAN Aktogay Baku Nukus 40°N Lake Turanian Balkhash Tashauz Plateu

Amu Darya UZBEKISTAN AlmatyUlaanbaatar Urumqi Traditional Mongolian culture Tashkent Ashkabad meets the modern (p270) Zagros Mountains Bukhara Bishkek Tehran KYRGYZSTAN TURKMENISTAN I R A N Dushanbe TAJIKISTAN Tarim Basin AFGHANISTAN CHINA Kabul PAKISTAN Top Experiences ›

Wrangel 160°E E A S T S I B E R I A N O C E A N Island S E A RAIL ROUTES 80°N 140°E Trans-Siberian 70°N Trans-Mongolian 120°E 100°E Trans-Manchurian Baikal-Amur Mainline Ural Other Novosibirskie Severnaya Islands Zemlya L A P T E V Kolyma Indigirka

S E A Kolymsky

Taymyr Tiksi

Peninsula Nordvik Mountains Shelekhov

Khatanga Lena R U S S I A Gulf Klyuchevskaya Magadan (4668m) CENTRAL SIBERIAN Barguzin Valley Remote and romantically Kamchatka PLATEAU Peninsula timeless valley (p214) s n C I R C L E i a Sea of V t Okhotsk e a Yakutsk n Okhotsk Putorana r o u Plateau k i M h o y S r a n s k y Nizhnyaya i b e Gorkhi-Terelj National Park Tunguska Glorious rock formations and Olekminsk green valleys (p285) Lensk 50°N Olkhon Island Tatar Strait Neryungri Sakhalin Spellbinding landscapes and Island epic myth (p202) Amur Vanino Tynda Novy Sovetskaya Severomuysk Stanovoy Mountains Ugal Komsomolsk- na-Amure Gavan Amur Yuzhno- UDOKAN Khabarovsk Sakhalinsk Bratsk Lena MOUNTAINS Birobidzhan Tayshet Blagoveshchensk Severobaikalsk Nerchinsk H‰ihé YeniseyKrasnoyarsk Olkhon Fuyuan Chita Island Lake Ussuri

Mountains Argun Irkutsk Baikal Manchurian Zabaikalsk Abakan Slyudyanka Ulan-Ude Plain Kyzyl Yablonovy M†nzhŸul¨ Kyakhta Suifenhe Naushki Sikhote Alin Mountains Sükhbaatar Hƒ’›rb¸n Ussuriysk WesternMountains Sayan (Harbin) Darkhan Nakhodka Vladivostok Ulaanbaatar Chángch¥n 40°N M O N G O L I A Sea of Sainshand C H I N A Japan Gobi NORTH Desert Sh›nyáng Zamyn-Üüd Èrlián KOREA Shƒnh†iguƒn Shƒnh†iguƒn Pyongyang The Great Wall meets Zhangjiakou Hohhot Seoul JAPAN the sea (p300) Baotou Tiƒnj¸n SOUTH Dàtóng B›ij¸ng Yellow Sea KOREA Great Basin B›ij¸ng Qingdao Vladivostok YumenExploreJiayuguan China’s capital Russia’s principal city by bike (p301) Huang He of theEast east China (p238) OUR STORY A beat-up old car, a few dollars in the pocket and a sense of adventure. In 1972 that’s all Tony and Maureen Wheeler needed for the trip of a lifetime – across Europe and Asia overland to Australia. It took several months, and at the end – broke but inspired – they sat at their kitchen table writing and stapling together their fi rst travel guide, Across Asia on the Cheap. Within a week they’d sold 1500 copies. Lonely Planet was born. Today, Lonely Planet has offi ces in Melbourne, London and Oakland, with more than 600 staff and writers. We share Tony’s belief that ‘a great guidebook should do three things: inform, educate and amuse’. OUR WRITERS Anthony Haywood Coordinating author; Moscow to Yekaterinburg, Yekaterinburg to Krasnoyarsk Anthony was born in the port city of Fremantle, Western Australia, and pulled anchor early on to mostly hitchhike through Europe and the USA. Aberystwyth in Wales and Ealing in London were his wintering grounds at the time. He later studied comparative literature in Perth and Russian language in Melbourne. In the 1990s, fresh from a spell in post-Soviet, pre-anything Moscow, he moved to Germany. Today he works as a German-based freelance writer and journalist and divides his time between Göttingen (Lower Saxony) and Berlin. His book, Siberia, A Cultural History, was published in 2010.

Marc Bennetts Yekaterinburg to Krasnoyarsk Marc moved to Russia in 1997 and immediately fell in love with the country’s pirate-CD markets. Since then, he has written about Russian spies, Chechen football and Soviet psychics for a variety of national newspapers, including the Guardian and the Times. In 2008 his book Football Dynamo: Modern Russia and the People’s Game was released. He is currently working on a book about Russia’s fascination with the occult.

Greg Bloom Ulan-Ude to Vladivostok, The Baikal-Amur Mainline (BAM) Greg cut his teeth in the former Soviet Union as a journalist and later editor-in-chief of the Kyiv Post. He left Ukraine in 2003, but returns frequently to the region. In the service of Lonely Planet he has been detained in Uzbekistan, taken a shlagbaum to the head in Kyiv, swum in the dying Aral Sea, snowboarded down volcanoes in Kamchatka, and hit 100km/h in a Latvian bobsled. These days Greg lives in Cambodia.

Read more about Greg at: lonelyplanet.com/members/gbloom4 Marc Di Duca Lake Baikal: Krasnoyarsk to Ulan-Ude, Ulan-Ude to Vladivostok, The Baikal-Amur Mainline (BAM) Marc has spent nigh on two decades crisscrossing the former communist world, the last seven years of them as a travel-guide author. Stints on previous editions of LP’s Russia and Trans-Siberian Railway were preceded by other guides to Moscow, St Petersburg and Lake Baikal. During research on his stretch of the Trans-Sib this time around, Marc somehow found himself freezing extremities in Lake Baikal, attending Ulan-Ude opera in hiking gear and facing a starter of frozen horse liver. Read more about Marc at: lonelyplanet.com/members/madidu OVER MORE PAGE WRITERS Published by Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd ABN 36 005 607 983 Although the authors and Lonely Planet have taken all reason- 4th edition – Apr 2012 able care in preparing this book, we make no warranty about ISBN 978 1 74179 565 3 the accuracy or completeness of its content and, to the maxi- © Lonely Planet 2012 Photographs © as indicated 2012 mum extent permitted, disclaim all liability arising from its use. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed in Singapore All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be copied, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, except brief extracts for the purpose of review, and no part of this publication may be sold or hired, without the written permission of the publisher. Lonely Planet and the Lonely Planet logo are trademarks of Lonely Planet and are registered in the US Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries. Lonely Planet does not allow its name or logo to be appropriated by commercial establishments, such as retailers, restaurants or hotels. Please let us know of any misuses: lonelyplanet.com/ip. Michael Kohn The Trans-Mongolian Route, The Trans-Manchurian Route, Běijīng Michael ﬁ rst rode the Trans-Mongolian Railway in 1997, stepping oﬀ the train in Ulaanbaatar on a chilly -30°C December day. That was the start of an extended stay in Mon- golia, where he worked for an English-language newspaper and various interna- tional media. He has since chugged along most of northeast Asia’s rail routes, including the remote train journey from Choibalsan to the Russian border. Michael has updated three editions of Lonely Planet’s Mongolia guide, and two editions of Lonely Planet’s China. He is currently based in Ulaanbaatar.

Tom Masters St Petersburg Tom ﬁ rst came to St Petersburg in 1996 while studying Russian at the School of Slavonic & East European Studies in London. He loved the city so much that he came back after graduating and worked as a writer and editor at the St Petersburg Times. Since then he’s been based in London and Berlin but returns regularly to ‘Piter’ to take on documentary work and write freelance articles and Lonely Planet guides.

Leonid Ragozin Moscow, Moscow to Yekaterinburg Leonid devoted himself to beach dynamics when he studied geology in Moscow. But, for want of really nice beaches in Russia, he helped gold miners in Siberia and sold InterRail tickets before embarking on a journalist career. After eight years with the BBC he became a foreign correspond- ent for Russian Newsweek – a job that took him to such unlikely destinations as Bhutan and Ecuador. Back at the BBC he plunged into the turbulent sea of TV news.

Mara Vorhees Moscow Mara has been travelling to Moscow since it was the capital of a diﬀ erent country. The pen-wielding traveller has worked on dozens of Lonely Planet titles, including Moscow and St Petersburg. When not roaming around Russia, Mara lives in a pink house in Somerville, Massachusetts, with her husband, two kiddies and two kitties.

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FINLAND

MOSCOW #_ RUSSIA É

KAZAKHSTAN #_ ULAANBAATAR É CHINA MONGOLIA #_ BĚIJĪNG

Two Weeks The Trans-Mongolian Route

This highly popular journey between Moscow and Běijīng goes via the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar, allowing you to compare and contrast the landscapes of three countries. A nonstop itinerary is best suited to travellers who want to see Mos- cow and Běijīng, enjoy the changes of landscape, and experience life on the train as it rolls across Asia. It can be covered in either direction, but if you wish to spend time in Moscow at the start of the journey, a transit visa will not suﬃ ce. The train journey in itself takes almost six days, which allows several days in Moscow and several in Běijīng to explore two of the world’s most dynamic capitals. In Moscow, spend three days visiting Red Square and the Kremlin, and taking in at least one large gallery. At the other end of the line, the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, the Summer Palace and Tiananmen Square will each take a day. Between these two very diﬀ erent geographic points, taiga, steppe and desert unfold in a mesmerising landscape panorama, with views of iconic Lake Baikal, the Gobi Desert and the Great Wall of China. 29 PLAN YOUR TRIP ITINERARIES

. , É # •

• É Vladivostok St Petersburg Khabarovsk CHINA , a lively city on the, a lively city , a bustling historic Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny the premium train 1/2, Island Olkhon Ulan-Ude # • # • • # or, better still, better or, Rossiya, # • # • Khabarovsk Lake Datsan own in from other time zones. It’s It’s own in from other time zones. Baikal

MONGOLIA ﬂ

Yekaterinburg Ivolginsky RUSSIA É Irkutsk Moscow , at the far eastern end of Russia, so you, at the far eastern end of Russia, # • , one of the Trans-Siberian’s most important , one of the Trans-Siberian’s weeks, and can easily be tailored to your own ords the opportunity for scenic cruises along ve days to see the lake, visit the equally lovely to see the lake, ve days ﬀ ﬁ Krasnoyarsk Irkutsk Vladivostok

, both packed with onion-domed churches, and a million with onion-domed churches, , both packed É Suzdal . Allow at least Yekaterinburg . Just west of Ulan-Ude the railway hugs the southern shores of hugs the southern the railway west of Ulan-Ude . Just # • , a fascinating city where Russian and Buryat Russian where , a fascinating city cultures mingle, and KAZAKHSTAN and/or and/or , on the Yenisey River, a River, , on the Yenisey and spend time in , situated on a stunning natural harbour, merits several days to enjoy Rus- merits several days , situated on a stunning natural harbour, ow by starting in fl Nizhny Novgorod Lake Baikal Suzdal # • nish up with a grand party in either Ulan-Ude fi ## • • St Petersburg # • # • c seaboard and rest from jetlag if you have c seaboard and rest from jetlag if you have Vladimir # fi • # • #_ #_ cent can Although this route can be done in either direction, suggest we going against the general The route takes six days without stopovers on the without stopovers The six days route takes FINLAND fi Ivolginsky Datsan Ivolginsky Vladimir Vladivostok Krasnoyarsk MOSCOW which means the absolute minimum required for this itinerarywhich means the absolute minimum required for is one week. It is best done, three to four with stopovers over however, schedule. also worth or more at of a couple of days taking a break another couple Vladivostok. an overnight hop from Save banks of the Amur River that’s for of days sia’s Paci sia’s from where you can venture into the steppes to visit Russia’s principal Buddhist monas- principal Buddhist visit Russia’s from where you can venture into the steppes to tery, magni Olkhon Island rail junctions. stopover waterways most pleasant on a two-day and can easily be visited one of Siberia’s Reserve an excursion If you want to visit the Stolby Nature or take itself. to see the city Crossing the Ural to do this comfortably. plan on four days however, River, on the Yenisey schedule a stop in into European Russia, Mountains city stocked with interesting museums and sites connected stocked to the murder of the last tsarcity in cities such as the choice of pausing you have Finally, and his family. miles away from the pace of the megacities to come. miles away One to Weeks Four Route Trans-Siberian The which has some good museums and restaurants, or stopovers in the tranquil Goldenwhich has some good museums and restaurants, Ring towns of rst fi # • . If you’re . If you’re n’s cosmo- n’s ǐ ī ul rb either at the ō ě ’ Hā’ěrbīn on the Russian , famous for the ā ng ī . This part of the n

ī É nzh ij ă ě rb

É B ě M ’ ā H Zabaikalsk CHINA . you can immediately branch #_ . This is a great pleasant city . BĚIJĪNG Olkhon Island , which is certainly worth at least Chita Mănzhōulǐ through the Gobi Desert. and Zabaikalsk Ulan-Ude # • # • ng ī ij ě

Tunka Valley Tunka É B . From . From Ulaanbaatar É Siberian Tiger Park Siberian Tiger Listvyanka # • . Apart from Ulan-Ude, possible bases for exploring possible bases . Apart from Ulan-Ude, , Chita # • Aginskoe t in a short walk on a section of the Great Baikal Trail, ﬁ Aginskoe on the Circumbaikaly walk along the lakeshore Railway ﬂ

É RUSSIA Irkutsk , ULAANBAATAR Lake Baikal to brie Ulan-Ude #_ Olkhon Island # • Listvyanka Lake Baikal # • # • É ‚ É

# • Slyudyanka ‚ # • ng Loop Slyudyanka # • ī Port # • Port Baikal Port Baikal MONGOLIA ij ě An excellent service overnight connects the capital with Irkutsk # • start or end of the trip. A day each is needed to see the Forbidden City and Tianan- City see the Forbidden start each is needed to or end of the trip. A day and the Summer Palace. men Square, the Great Wall You will want to schedule plenty of time in historic, dynamic plenty will want to schedule You

Valley After that, board one of the trains to The Chinese–Russian border lies an overnight train ride away at The train ride away border lies an overnight Chinese–Russian Tunka base for exploring a relatively unvisited area of Siberia where you’ll area of Siberia where base for exploring a relatively unvisited discover a couple of beautiful Buddhist monasteries at line. While in Listvyanka, also try also line. While in Listvyanka, to in the spend a couple of days or from Irkutsk a couple of days. Its highlight is the lively and colourful Gandan Khiid monastery. From Its highlight is the lively and colourfula couple of days. Gandan Khiid monastery. journey back to a two-night it’s Ulaanbaatar, not on one of the weekly Trans-Manchurian services that continue across the border and not on one of the weekly Trans-Manchurian a process of hopping on a bus across to it’s through to Moscow, side, where you can reconnect with trains through to but since you’ve come this far it would be a great shame not to down towards Mongolia, venture further see west to include the lake ice sculptures of its midwinter Ice & Snow Festival. Russians came here at the end of the came here at the end of Russians & Snow Festival. ice sculptures of its midwinter Ice and handsome architectural lies at evidence of their stay 19th century the railway, to build to enjoy H a couple of days Take heart close to the Songhua River. the city’s politan atmosphere and visit the nearby journey is where where travellers spend the most time, and it’s well worth crossing from spend the most time, and it’s journey is where where travellers to Listvyanka

The B Four Weeks

ITINERARIES

PLAN YOUR TRIP 30 31 PLAN YOUR TRIP ITINERARIES . #• na-Amure

Komsomolsk- É Severomuysk the largest city

, #• cially starts in the ﬃ Tynda , on the northern tip the line climbs over , but the closest big city, Baikal-Amur Mainline Baikal-Amur Mainline CHINA

#• É Tynda Severobaikalsk , has an airport to if you wish #• the train crosses a 1km-long Tayshet Severomuysk Irkutsk #• (bathhouse). Continue working RUSSIA #• The 3400km or Magistral, (Baikalo-Amurskaya through some of the travels BAM) most rugged and unforgiving Siberian Bratsk Sev erobaikalsk Bratsk MONGOLIA Tayshet ces and achievements made by hardy

É ﬁ #•

At En route to É Home of the BAM construction company’s construction company’s of the BAM Home is a must-stop for its headquarters, Tynda museum and goodcomprehensive BAM banya east to the St Petersburg–styled your way Komsomolsk-na-Amure Krasnoyarsk skip all points further west. dam. The town also has an excellent open- air ethnographic museum where you can of the traditional Siberian build- see many ings that were rescued when the dam was built. and burrows through mountains, the long- est tunnel being 15.3km at on the line and a great place to ponder the sacri Soviet pioneers. 15 Days 15 BAM landscapes. The line o drab town of of Lake base for exploring Baikal, is the best and end of the lake this relatively unvisited museum. it also has a small BAM #• #•

Krasnoyarsk #• is clos- Tyumen Novosibirsk , which can

É in the Ural in the Ural , where at least cial capital of ﬃ • # Tobolsk ve days visiting theve days #• Tobolsk ﬁ enjoy an overnight Krasnoyarsk , perhaps taking the Tyumen Irkutsk #• #• KAZAKHSTAN , the uno Kazan Yekaterinburg Moscow #• Kazan Volga & Lake Baikal & Lake Volga BAM Yekaterinburg

From From É trip to premium train with showers and three days to double beds. Spend two

Novosibirsk #_ MOSCOW ve days can be scheduled in for the sights can be ve days Three Weeks & Lake BaikalVolga exploring the capital of Tatarstan with its exploring the capital of Tatarstan splendid kremlin and museums; allow at and another day for the city least a full day Kazan From for an excursion on the Volga. continue to Mountains and spend Mountains Romanov sites and Urals attractions. Siberia attractions. Romanov sites and Urals begins after that, with a night in Siberia and Russia’s third-largest city, situ- third-largest city, Siberia and Russia’s ated on the Ob River. be completed comfortably four in three to The days days. journey continues with two in the title of for ing the gap on Novosibirsk capital, and is well worth a couple of days and perhaps visitin order to explore the city Reserve a boat tripthe Stolby Nature or take the Krasnoyarsk From River. on the Yenisey route continues to and side trip north to ﬁ of Lake Baikal.

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