21 days/ 20 nights
Trans-Siberian tour «Summer adventure»
4150 €
From 4450 € | details
Duration:21 days
Start:
Type: Private | Trans-Siberian tours
Country: Russia
Highlights
The Trans-Siberian railway is 9288 kilometers of railroad, 146 railway stations, and 146 hours and 22 minutes ride on a train, but for you it would become the greatest journey of a lifetime that will be filled with your own numbers and emotions.
During this travel you’ll be able to:
- get acquainted with the Trans-Siberian Railway - the most important of Russia's modern wonders
- learn about cultures and religions of 5 nationalities living on the territory of Russia
- explore Moscow city through the eyes of local residents
- have an adventure in Altai, its stunning pristine nature and breathtaking landscapes.
- get amazed by charming Baikal lake
Itinerary
Day 1. Welcome to Russia!
We will meet you at the airport and take you to your hotel, where you'll get some rest before you start your Trans-Siberian journey!
Day 2. Moscow
The Moscow Kremlin is the main symbol of Russia. This is where you start to explore the largest country in the world. Once the home of the Russian Tsars, it's now the residence of the President.
Throughout Russian history, the most beautiful buildings have been built around the Kremlin. After seeing some of them, we will take you to a local restaurant where you can enjoy traditional Russian cuisine.
After lunch, we'll continue our walk around the city centre and you'll see Red Square, Lenin's Mausoleum, St Basil's Cathedral (from the outside), the GUM department store and the State Historical Museum. We'll also take you through the alleyways and courtyards that are full of real city life.
Day 3. Moscow
The main art gallery of Moscow is the Tretyakov Art Gallery. The most famous Russian paintings and masterpieces are exhibited here. The guide will meet you at the hotel to give you a tour.
The next attraction points of the day are the amazing Moscow metro stations (photos of these stations are known all over the world). A few times we will step out of the underground to see the skyscrapers of Stalin's era.
In the evening you’ll enjoy dinner with a native family (local products, the traditional meal, and friendly chat).
After dinner we will drive you to the railway station where you’ll take a night train to Kazan.
Day 4. Kazan
One of the great things about the Trans-Siberian journey is the opportunity to see different cultures, religions and arts coexisting peacefully within the borders of one country.
Yesterday you were in Slavic Moscow with its Orthodox churches. Today you'll get to know Tatar Russia: the architecture of its Muslim mosques, Tatar traditions different from those of Moscow.
Our guide will meet you at the station and help you check in. Your Kazan city tour begins here. First you'll walk along the pedestrian Baumana Street, paved with multicolored bricks.
Then you'll visit the Kazan Kremlin area (Don't be confused. Yes, Kazan has its own Kremlin. And a very interesting one at that). It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2000.
The Kremlin is surrounded by fascinating buildings: Suyumbike Tower, Kul-Sharif Mosque, Annunciation Orthodox Cathedral.
Our guide will tell you their history and help you to understand the special historical path of Tatarstan.
Day 5. Kazan — TransSiberian
Photographer Ruslan Galeev
One of Russia's most famous tsars, Ivan the Terrible, built the Sviyazhsk fortress on a small island near the confluence of the Sviyaga and Volga rivers. It took only four weeks to build. The Tsar used it to launch the attack and successfully conquer Kazan.
Today, Sviyazhsk is a historical site that commemorates the annexation of Tatarstan to Russia. There are several white stone monasteries on the island.
Sviyazhsk is absolutely in the must-see list of any Trans-Siberian journey.
Attractions to visit today:
- John the Baptist (Ioanno-Predtechenskiy) Monastery from 1551. On the monastery grounds is the temple of St Sergius of Radonezh, where the icon of the Mother of All Sorrows is exhibited.
- The Uspensky Monastery with the Chapel of St. Nicholas.
- Monument to the Victims of Political Repression (during the Soviet era Sviyazhsk was used as a detention centre for political prisoners).
- Lazy Torzhok amusement park, where you can try on tsar attire or prisoner's clothes, try yourself on axe throwing and enjoy a local cuisine after.
In the evening we'll take you to the railway station where you'll catch a train to the next Trans-Siberian station: Yekaterinburg.
Day 6. Yekaterinburg — Trans-Siberian
Today is a special day. You’ll cross the invisible border that separates Europe from Asia. This border is located in Yekaterinburg city - the fourth-largest in Russia.
Our city tour starts with a visit to the Church on the Blood. There are seven wooden churches that were built there in memory of the assassination of Tsar Nicholas' family. Our guide will tell you the story of the last Russian Tsar.
After you’ll visit the most fascinating places of the city:
- the panoramic view of the Iset River,
- the historic Grand Square of 1905,
- the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral and the Holy Trinity Cathedral,
- the Europe-Asia monument.
In the evening you will take a Trans-Siberian train to the Novosibirsk city.
Day 7. Trans-Siberian - Novosibirsk
Photographer Ruslan Galeev
Today you will ride from the Ural part of Russia to the Western Siberia, passing through many small towns. The largest and most famous are Tyumen and Omsk.
In the evening you’ll arrive in Novosibirsk city. Here we will meet you, take you to your hotel and recommend some nice places to eat local food for dinner.
Day 8. Novosibirsk - Gorno-Altaisk
There are many interesting places along the Trans-Siberian railway. The Altai Mountains are one of them. Early in the morning we'll drive you to Novosibirsk airport, where you'll take an S7 Airline flight to the city of Gorno-Altaisk. Here you'll explore one of the most beautiful wilderness areas in Russia.
Our Altai guide will meet you at the airport and drive you to your hotel in the Chemal area.
After lunch, you’ll have an excursion to the Chemal area, where you'll visit the picturesque Island of Patmos and walk by the mountain trail along the Katun river. Then we'll drive you to the place called Chech-Kysh, where you will be able to see the prehistoric petroglyphs (cave paintings) and visit the viewpoint over the Katun river valley.
Day 9. Chemal - Inegen
Today you'll get to know the Chuyskiy Trakt, or Chuya Highway. The Chuya Highway is one of the most scenic roads in the world. The landmarks along the way are breathtaking. And over the next three days, you'll get to see it in all its glory. We will drive almost to the Mongolian border (from low mountains to glacier covered mountains).
After an early breakfast, we'll cover 230 kilometres a day.
- We will go through Seminsky mountain pass (1717 m high) and Chike-Taman mountain crossing. The latter one is not as high as the former; however, its steep hillside is impressive.
- Visit the Karakol Valley. Here you'll see the Pazyryk burial mounds and learn about the skiff culture.
- Enjoy the view of the confluence of the Chuya and Katun rivers. These rivers are of different colours; at the place where they meet you can enjoy picturesque turquoise swirls.
Tonight you'll stay in a small hotel on the Katun river bank, at the very bottom of a mountain, where it is calm and quiet.
Day 10. Inegen
After an early breakfast at the hotel, you'll have a radial road trip. Today you’ll see 3 amazing landmarks:
- multicoloured mountains of the Kyzyl-Chin known as ‘the Martian mountains’;
- the colourful patterns at the bottom of the Geyser lake;
- a panorama of Kurai steppe and glacier mountains of the North-Chuya range;
Day 11. Inegen - Ust-Sema
The Chuya highway has many dirt roads adjacent to it that could lead you to amazing places. These places are known only to the locals. There are many discoveries waiting for us. Today we will show you some of them:
- The first one is called Kalbak-Tash. It’s a rock with 5 000 paintings made by ancient humans who inhabited these places thousands of years ago. These paintings will tell you about the insights of ancient artists about the human soul, hell and paradise and many many other things.
- The second stop will be to visit the Ilgumen river rapids, the exciting and powerful place.
In the evening you’ll stay in a hotel near the Ust-Sema village.
Day 12. Ust-Sema - Novosibirsk - Trans-Siberian
After breakfast we will drive you to the Gorno-Altaysk airport, where you’ll have a flight back to Novosibirsk.
Novosibirsk is called “The Capital of Siberia”, the cultural and scientific centre of Siberia. The city was developed after the construction of the Trans-Siberian railway and has grown to be the third-largest city in Russia.
To get to know the city, we will take you to its main tourist attractions:
- The locomotive museum, where you’ll learn the history of the Trans-Siberian railway, see the steam engines and locomotives of different eras and different types of train cars (including the Royal family carriages).
- Lenin square - the main city square of Novosibirsk.
- The Chapel of St Nicholas — the geographical centre of Russia
- A Monument to the Heroes of the Revolution (a memorial of the Soviet age)
- The Monument of the Bridge, which is a part of the real old Trans-Siberian rail bridge
In the evening you’ll get on a Trans-Siberian train to the next railway station.
Day 13. Trans-Siberian day
Photographer Ruslan Galeev
The next stop of the itinerary is Irkutsk city. But a train will arrive there only tomorrow morning. So today you enjoy a whole day of Trans-siberian railway ride.
Day 14. Irkutsk - Baikal
Early in the morning you will arrive in Irkutsk city. Our guide will meet you at the station.
Today you’ll get to the village of Taltsy, where you’ll visit the open air museum of wooden architecture. Here you’ll see a unique collection of historical, architectural and ethnographic Siberian monuments of the last six centuries. Next we’ll drive you to Listvyanka, where the Baikal Museum is located. Here you’ll learn everything about lake Baikal: the origin of the lake Baikal, its plants and animals, underwater exhibition, etc. A funicular will take you up to Chersky Stone, where you'll have a wonderful view of Lake Baikal.
Tonight you'll stay in Listvyanka.
Day 15. Circum - Baikal Railroad
Early in the morning we will drive you to the starting point of the all-day Circum Baikal Railway Tour. Arrival at the Listvyanka Hotel around 8 am. In the evening we'll return to Irkutsk, where you'll take a train to Ulan-Ude.
Day 16. Ulan-Ude
We'll meet you early in the morning and drive you to your hotel, where you'll have some time to rest. Then your tour of the Ulan-Ude area will begin.
This area is populated by Buryats - another nationality in multi-ethnic Russia.
The most interesting objects of Buryat culture and religion are located in the countryside.
Today we will guide you to the Ivolginsky Datsan and the village of Tarbagatay. The patron of the Datsan is Lama Dashi-Dorzho Itigilov.
In 1927, Lama Itigelov fell into deep meditation and reached nirvana. He sat in the Lotus position and abandoned his body, telling his disciples to bury him, but to take him out of the grave 70 years later. The disciples followed his instructions and now, so many years after the "death", Lama Itigelov’s mummified body still sits in the Lotus pose in the main Dugan (temple) of the Ivolginsky datsan.
It still shows the signs of a living body: soft skin without signs of decay, preserved nose, ears, closed eyes (his eyeballs are intact), fingers and elbow joints are still flexible.
In the evening you’ll have some free time.
Day 17 Ulan-Ude - Trans-Siberian
Photographer Ruslan Galeev
After breakfast we continue the Ulan-Ude city tour. You’ll see the beautiful Opera and Ballet theatre, powerful monuments of horse riders of Buryat history, Mother-Buryatia monument.
After lunch you’ll have a train to Vladivostok city.
Day 18, 19 Trans-Siberian days
You'll spend two days on a train travelling through the eastern part of Russia. There will be many villages and small towns along the way. The largest are Khabarovsk and Chita.
Day 20 Vladivostok
A train arrives in Vladivostok in the morning. This is the last stop on your Trans-Siberian journey (today you'll visit "the last milestone of the Trans-Siberian Railway"). The city is located in the hills on the coast of the Sea of Japan.
During the day tour you’ll see the Central Square and the Monument to the Fighters for Soviet Power in the Far East. You’ll visit the S-56 Submarine and Pacific Navy War Memorials, Arsenev Regional Museum, Yul Brynner’s House and the Public Garden. The last sight of the day will be the Eagle’s Nest Hill (the highest point in the city). From here you’ll take a look at Vladivostok in all its glory!
Day 21 Depart
Your Trans-Siberian Express journey is over.
We hope that our tour has helped you to explore the diversity of Russian culture and that the memories and emotions will stay with you for many years to come.
We will drive you to the airport according to your flight departure time.
The cost includes:
- Rail tickets (2nd class compartments, 4 people per compartment),
- 3* or 4* hotel accommodation with breakfast,
- Private guide services,
- Cultural visits,
- Air ticket Novosibirsk - Gorno-Altaisk - Novosibirsk,
- Transfers as per programme,
- Russian Visa supporting documents, including an official visa invitation letter.
The tour price is per person for a group of 4 people.