“S Priezdom! Welcome to Moscow!” Our driver will be there to meet you from whichever flight, train or boat you arrive. You’ll then be transferred to the Irbis 3H Hotel. The facilities available at this hotel include a Restaurant, Lobby Bar, Lobby Wi-Fi access, Luggage Room, Safety deposit boxes and an ATM machine. At check-in, (after 2pm) the hotel reception will advise you they will need your passport for visa registration. This process takes 1–2 hours. Your complimentary InfoPack is full of ideas for getting the most out of your free time.

Please check out our " St. Petersburg Add On" if you wish to commence your trip in St. Petersburg
No meals.

After breakfast one of our local expert staff will meet you at the hotel to take you on a three hour walking tour round the highlights – you’ll use public transport around the centre to avoid the traffic jams and get the hang of the system for when you come to use it independently. Our staffers are full of ideas for this walk but are flexible about other ideas if you have your own. Your walk ends in the city centre around lunchtime. If you haven’t prebooked any of our range of city excursions the rest of the day is your own to explore further. Some of our top suggestions (please check opening times/days before setting off) would include visiting the Moscow Kremlin, the Tretyakov Gallery, the Pushkin Fine Arts Museum, or a boat trip along the Mosvka River… perhaps locate some tickets for ballet, opera, circus or a concert this evening? As well as famous classical music traditions Moscow features on the touring schedules of world names in jazz, rock, pop and world music.

Breakfast.

You’ll need to check out of your room by 12 noon today but the hotel offers a left luggage service for a small fee. Your day is free until 2pm when a driver is scheduled to take you to the station. This morning you can continue sightseeing – the Lenin Mausoleum is only open in the mornings, and getting there early (it’s in Red Square) helps beat the queues. Although there’s a restaurant car service on board your train you may want to supplement this with some snacks, treats, and fresh fruit that you could buy today. Your transfer from the hotel to Yaroslavsky station is scheduled for 2pm, so please be at the hotel reception where your driver will meet you and will assist your boarding of the Ekaterinburg bound train.

Breakfast.

Your first full day on board the Trans-Sib... travelling through the Ural Mountains. There will be plenty of time to meet fellow travellers and hang out in the dining car which serves a variety of drinks, snacks and reasonably priced meals. Evening arrive in Ekaterinburg where our driver will meet you at the end of the platform and will be holding a meeting-board with your name on. Transfer to Hotel Suite which is centrally located.

No Meals.

(Geographical note: Ekaterinburg has borders on both the Western and Eastern sides of town… to the West is the official border between Europe & Asia, and to the East of Ekaterinburg is where Siberia officially begins.) The Siberian border was more than symbolic in the C19th – it delineated an area where a more rough and ready system of justice operated, where escaped serfs who had run away from their masters could legally claim sanctuary. For oppressed religious minorities, escaped serfs and others, the one way trip to Siberia was, ironically, the “highway of hope”.

Please make a choice of one of the day trip options. They’re included in the trip price! ( please note the Siberian weather puts seasonal limits on some activities – details below).

A. ROMANOV GRAVES (Europe/Asia Border Monument en-route). Car excursion to site where the Romanov bodies were hidden. Duration; 5–6 hours. No physical exertion involved. Light lunch provided. Year round.

B. SIBERIAN COUNTRYSIDE & HISTORIC VILLAGE Visit to an old village (145 km each way) now under a Preservation Order. Includes home-cooked lunch, exhibitions of local craft, horse cart riding. Duration; 8–9 hours. No physical exertion involved. Year round.

C. HIKING TRIP IN THE URALS Outdoor adventure in an area which is a designated nature park. Car transfer, then 18km walk where you will see a variety of flora and fauna and learn about the indigenous species of wildlife. No special equipment needed. Duration; 8 hours. Lunch provided. 15 June–15 September. Weather permitting.

D. SIBERIAN WILDERNESS ADVENTURE Combined soft raft (6km) and Forest Hike (12km) – optional cave visit. Good fitness required. Duration; 9-10 hours. Lunch provided. 15 June–15 September. Weather permitting.

E. SKIING At Ezhovaya Slopes Ski Resort. Skis/Poles/Lift-Pass package purchasable locally approx £35 payable in roubles. No instruction is included – this program is for those who can already ski. Duration; 6 –7 hours. Lunch provided. 01 December– 28 February. Weather permitting.

F. ICE-FISHING Yes, you saw the cartoons, now you can try it yourself. Tackle, angler’s hints & fur coat provided. We don’t guarantee you’ll catch anything! Duration; 8 hours. Lunch provided. 15 November– 15 December. 01 February–15 March. Weather permitting.

G. SIBERIAN HUSKY DOG SLEDDING Exactly what it says! 3–4 hours sledding
following a made track through the forest. No special fitness required, but be ready to fall-off in the soft snow a few times, they’re pretty fast! At the end of your trip you will visit the famous Europe-Asia border. Duration; 7–8 hours. Lunch provided. 15 November–28 December. 16 January–28 February. Weather permitting.

Check out of your room around midnight. Transfer to the station.

Breakfast, lunch.

Early morning arrival in Irkutsk. Our driver will meet you at the end of the platform, holding a meeting-board marked with your name. Transfer to “U Ozera Hotel” (the name translates as “At the Lake Hotel”, although it is not directly at the lake shore) situated in Listvyanka Village (70km) travelling by road through the forest. The facilities available at this hotel include; cafe-bar, Russian “banya” (sauna), safe at the reception. The nearest ATM-machine in the Baikal Hotel (Listvyanka remains a village, and doesn't have the range of banking services you could expect in a city). The official check-in time is 12 noon, the hotel reception will advise you they will need your passport for visa registration formalities. However if your room is available this will - of course - be allocated to you on arrival. (If your room is not available you will be able to leave your luggage with the hotel reception). You will have a chance to have breakfast before setting off on your walking tour around Listvyanka Village. This will include a visit to the Limnological Museum (this is an exhibition about the Lake, its formation, wildlife etc - it includes multimedia presentations, information about creatures which live in the darkest depths, and also an aquarium with living aquatic species, including the unique freshwater Baikal seals) and also a small wooden village Russian Orthodox Church dating back to the C18th. You return to your hotel at the end of the walk, with time to relax and enjoy your lakeside surroundings, maybe experience real Siberian "banya" (sauna -small payment locally at the hotel).

Breakfast.

Choose one activity from the list, it’s all included in the trip price! You’ll need to inform us of your choice before commencing your journey, so that we can have the right staff on hand for when you arrive (please note the Siberian weather puts seasonal limits on some activities – details below). Want to extend your life? Local legend claims that you can get anything from five extra years of life (paddling up to your knees) up to twenty years if you manage to go swimming!

A. SIBERIAN TREK through the Taiga Forest with a local guide who will explain the wildlife, eco- system and lore of the Taiga (May-Oct).

B. CIRCUM BAIKAL PICNIC Take the Ferry from Listvyanka to Port Baikal which takes around 15 minutes. Walk around Port Baikal, where you will see the train station of the old Circumbaikal rail line. Then you will walk along the rail line to the nearest tunnel (2-3 km). Stopping for a picnic lunch on the shore of Lake Baikal. Return to Port Baikal, ferry back to Listvyanka (Jun-Sep).

C. TALTSY WOODEN MUSEUM A three hour trip which includes a driver, and English speaking guide to the Taltsy open air wooden museum on the shore of Lake Baikal. This picturesque area shows how life was and has been sympathetically restored as a tourist attraction where you can ride Troikas and also buy authentic souvenirs. There is a tea house here also to refresh you after a busy morning sightseeing. (Year round)

D. DO YOUR OWN THING maybe take off on a cliff side walk, or mosey around the village, or take a dip in Lake Baikal! (Weather permitting!)

Balance of day free time to explore the village at your own pace. Maybe try a local bar?

Breakfast.

Around 10am you make the return trip to Ulaanbaatar. Check into the Bayangol 4Hhotel. This is a great centrally located property and facilities include 5 restaurants (including a real Indian-run restaurant managed by Mr Baboo and his wife), fitness centre, sauna and a minimarket. The balance of today is free to explore more of the city. You can choose to return to the heady atmosphere surrounding the Gandan Monastery (which you’ll have already visited when you were in the capital last time), or visit the Choijin Monastery Museum, or the Bazaar… log on and pick up your email in one of the numerous internet cafes on Peace Avenue, have a latte and French pastries in the new generation of new-age coffee stores, go souvenir shopping in the peculiar grandeur of the Central Department Store, or pick-up some snack food for the train in the Store’s food department… in the evening a wide range of traditional and new style Mongolian eateries are vying with European style places, Irish pubs and German beer halls to enjoy, usually with live music later on.

Breakfast.

Don’t oversleep today, as it’s possibly some of the most spectacular scenery of the entire route, as you leave the desert scenery behind and pass by mountains and rice paddy fields. Afternoon arrival at Beijing Central Station. For services in China and beyond please click here.

No Meals.