Trans-Siberian accompanied from July 26 to August 10, 2019: Moscow - Vladivostok.

Trip Description

Accomodation

Stay program

• day 1

  Moscow

  Welcome at Moscow airport and transfer to your hotel. Meeting with the guide Olivier. Night at the hotel.

• day 2

  Moscow

  The driver and the guide will pick you up for a tour of the Russian capital. You will discover Moscow in red and gold, with its historic avenues featuring "Stalinist imperial" architecture, the Bolshoi, and the impressive Red Square where the mysterious Saint Basil's Cathedral stands alongside Lenin's Mausoleum. Lunch in a Russian cafeteria. Your guide will then accompany you to visit the Kremlin, former residence of the tsars and current seat of power. You will explore the grounds, where palaces and cathedrals stand, some dating back to the 11th century, and discover the rich Armoury Palace where treasures gathered over the centuries are displayed. After dinner at the restaurant, you will head to Kazan station for your great 9298 km journey across seven time zones and two continents. Departure around 11 p.m. Night on the train.

• day 3

  KAZAN

  You can take a breakfast on the train. Hot water will always be available from your carriage manager. Arrival at Kazan station around 11am. Your guide and your driver will welcome you. The luggage is deposited at the luggage office. You set off to discover this city founded around the year 1000 by the Tatars of the Golden Horde and attached to Russia under the reign of Ivan the Terrible, five centuries later. You will find the domed churches that give the great Russian cities their charm, but also monuments reminding that the city is today the main Muslim center of Russia. Lunch in a local restaurant. You then continue to the Kazan Kremlin, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The Qolsharif Mosque raises its impressive turquoise minarets. You will discover the Blagoveshensk Cathedral, the Syuyumbuke Tower, the Cannon Yard, the Spasskaya Tower, the Presidential Palace... After the visit, you continue on foot with your guide to the "Arbat" street of Kazan. You then have a little free time to do some shopping for the following meals. Dinner in a local restaurant. At the end of the day, you return to the station where your escort awaits you. Around 8pm, your accompanied Trans-Siberian train sets off again. Night on the train.

• day 4

  Yekaterinburg

  Arrival around noon in Ekaterinburg, where your guide and driver will be waiting for you for a city tour. The city was named "Catherine's city" in honor of Peter the Great's wife, but also in reference to the patron saint of miners, who is especially revered in the Urals, rich in minerals. As you step into this lovely station, you remember that Ekaterinburg remained closed to foreigners until 1990. Ekaterinburg is also an essential city for the history of Russia, as it is here that the last Tsar, Nicholas II, and his family were executed by the Bolsheviks. You pass by the Church on the Blood, which has become the symbol of the city: it was built on the site of the Ipatiev House where the massacre took place on July 17, 1918. Check-in at the hotel. Free time. Dinner and overnight at the hotel.

• day 5

  Yekaterinburg

  In the morning, your guide will accompany you for an excursion dedicated to the Urals as the border between East and West. Since the founding of Ekaterinburg by the geographer Vassili Tatishchev in 1723, it has been considered that this mountain range, stretching over 2000 km (and no longer the Don), marks the separation between the two continents. A small monument has been erected to materialize it... You will take part in the ritual of crossing between Europe and Asia and discover the history of the people of the Urals. Lunch box lunch (or picnic if the weather permits). After lunch, you will go on an excursion to Ganina Yama, the abandoned mine where the bodies of the imperial family were buried: a small monastery of the Holy Martyrs has been erected there. Back in Ekaterinburg, you will stroll along the Vayner pedestrian avenue and enjoy your free time to discover the city and do some shopping. Meet at the station around 6 p.m., your Trans-Siberian train heads to Irkutsk. Night on the train.

• day 6

  TRANSSIBERIAN

  Day and night on the train. The Trans-Siberian makes small stops at the stations it passes through, between 5 and 20 minutes. You then have time to get out to stretch your legs and observe the life of the train, its staff, as well as the comings and goings of the travelers. The provodnitsa uses her red flag to communicate with the locomotive. Some of your Russian carriage companions get off and are replaced by others. Families traveling across the country, business travelers, merchants... Quickly, the passengers make themselves comfortable. Some do not hesitate to put on slippers.

• day 7

  Krasnoyarsk

  In the morning, you reach the vast and modern Krasnoyarsk train station. Your guide will be waiting for you at the station, in front of the carriage. After breakfast in a café, you set off for a city tour to discover the Yenisei River. You end the visit with the Surikov Museum, the greatest Russian painter of historical scenes. Transfer to the station. Departure at 13:10. The journey continues towards Irkutsk, halfway along the Trans-Siberian route. In the small towns you pass through, you discover the diversity of Siberian populations. Little by little, the grandmothers in headscarves you see on the platforms display the Asian features of the Buryat ethnic groups. They offer local goods that you can buy at the stops, or through the window: blueberries and cranberry juice, fermented milk, eggs, flowers... and also smoked omul, an endemic fish from Baikal that is particularly appreciated in Russia.

• day 8

  IRKUTSK

  Arrival in Irkutsk, capital of Eastern Siberia. Founded in the 17th century, the city developed thanks to the trade in sable furs. In the 19th century, this Siberian town mainly attracted gold seekers. The arrival of the railway, under the impetus of Alexander III, changed everything. You visit its center, with its old houses, the Cathedral of the Theophany, and the Decembrists Museum. In this house-museum belonging to the family of the rebel prince Sergei Volkonsky, you learn the history of these liberal officers who opposed Tsar Nicholas I in December 1825, were defeated, then executed or exiled to Siberia. Your driver then takes you to the village of Listvyanka, on the shores of Lake Baikal. After an hour's drive, the largest freshwater reserve in the world is revealed to you: immense and wild, in a majestic setting of steppes and green hills. Lunch with the guide, then check-in at the inn. The guide introduces you to Listvyanka, a small holiday village that comes alive in the beautiful season. You will enjoy its port and fish market, where omul, the ubiquitous local fish, is sold fresh, smoked, or dried. You discover the Church of Saint Nicholas, a charming wooden building dedicated to the patron saint of sailors. In the evening, you try at the inn a great classic of Russian popular tradition: the banya, a humid steam sauna.

• day 9

  BAIKAL

  The day begins with a visit to the Baikal Museum of Fauna and Flora. A virtual dive into the depths of the lake allows you to get to know the nerpas: these Siberian seals that live in fresh water swim in the museum's aquarium. You then set off for a one-and-a-half-hour excursion on Tchersky Hill. You cross meadows dotted with ephemeral flowers and larch forests, and you come across "wish trees" covered with multicolored ribbons tied by the Buryats who practice shamanism... Once at the top, you discover a magnificent panorama of the lake's dark and sparkling waters, the mouth of the Angara—the only river flowing from Baikal—and the small village of Port Baikal. After lunch on the shores of the lake, you set off for an excursion to the Taltsy Museum. This open-air site brings together wooden buildings typical of the architecture of the peoples who lived around the lake in the 18th and 19th centuries: Russians, Buryats, Evenks, and Tofalares. At the end of the day, you return to Irkutsk. Check-in at the hotel.

• day 10

  Ulan-Ude

  Transfer to the station. Departure around 8am towards Ulan-Ude. Through the window, the landscapes of Eastern Siberia pass by: rolling steppes stretch out endlessly with their green carpet of short grass where wild horses graze, forests of aspens and birches line up their parades of black and white trunks... In the lush clearings, you can spot dachas with carved wooden shutters and small peaceful villages. Their succession marks the rhythm of the train's progress. Arrival in Ulan-Ude in the early afternoon. The guide will be waiting for you on the station platform. A city tour allows you to discover the capital of Buryatia, whose population is highly diverse both ethnically and culturally. Check-in at the hotel. Dinner in a local restaurant and overnight at the hotel.

• day 11

  Ulan-Ude

  Visit of religious centers: the Ivolginsky Datsan, the Hodigitria Cathedral, and the Holy Trinity Church. Lunch with your guide. Transfer to the train station. Dinner on your own on board the train. Journey towards Khabarovsk. Overnight on board the train.

• day 12

  TRANSSIBERIAN

  You get to know the other passengers and begin to understand how the Russian population "experiences" their Trans-Siberian journey. Your guide takes advantage of this quiet time to give you some cultural and contextual insights. The "provodnitsa", responsible for the passengers, takes care of your carriage. She provides you with boiling water ("kepitok") to prepare infusions or instant soups. You are approaching Khabarovsk.

• day 13

  KHABAROVSK

  Arrival in Khabarovsk around 7:00 pm. Less than thirty kilometers from the Chinese border, Khabarovsk still has the feel of a European city. There are monuments from the Tsarist era and beautiful buildings from the early 20th century. This is the case, for example, on Muravyova-Amurskovo Street, which is named after the diplomat who founded the city in 1858. Transfer and check-in at the hotel. Dinner and overnight at the hotel.

• day 14

  KHABAROVSK

  In the morning, you visit the Territorial Museum, which offers an immersion into the history of Russia: each decade is illustrated with historical documents, posters, film excerpts, and costumes. There is also a presentation of the fauna and indigenous peoples. You stroll along the right bank of the Amur, very pleasantly laid out with beautiful walkways and many flower-filled parks, dotted with statues and monuments. You come across skaters, cyclists, families... You sunbathe on the beaches, perhaps try a swim with the Russian bathers or taste the potato cakes offered by the vendors. You continue on to the Transfiguration Cathedral. After lunch, a cruise on the Amur River allows you to discover the largest waterway in Russia, marking the border with China for over 1600 km. You finally reach the pretty yellow and green Khabarovsk station for the last leg of your journey. Departure of your Trans-Siberian around 9 p.m. Night on the train.

• day 15

  VLADIVOSTOK

  8:30 am: You have arrived in Vladivostok, the terminus of the Trans-Siberian railway line, which the young Tsarevich Nicholas II inaugurated in 1891. Your local guide welcomes you and takes you on a panoramic discovery of this city at the end of the world, founded in 1860. You discover its history reflected in the architecture and admire the beauty of the Amursky Gulf. You gaze at the city's maritime gates and its ships, the Zolotoi Rog Bay (Golden Horn), Bortsov Revoloutsi Square, the White House, and the triumphal arch built in 1902. Lunch. You continue with a visit to the S-56 submarine, which took part in the Second World War: you discover the officers' room, placed under the patronage of Stalin, and the room where the torpedoes are kept. The funicular then allows you to quickly reach the top of the hill, from where you discover a superb view of the bay. You continue with a visit to the Vladivostok fortress, built in the 19th century, which dominates the Sportinvnaia port with its impressive artillery pieces. Check-in at the hotel. Free time. Dinner and overnight at the hotel.

• day 16

  RETURN FLIGHT

  Your great journey on the accompanied Trans-Siberian comes to an end. Olivier, your guide, helps you with the few departure formalities. Transfer to Vladivostok airport for your return flight. End of your trip.