‘Best of all, he would tell me of the great train that ran across half the world ... He held me enthralled then, and today, a life-time later, the spell still holds. He told me the train’s history, its beginnings ... how a Tzar had said, ‘Let the Railway be built!’ And it was ... For me, nothing was ever the same again. I had fallen in love with the Traveller’s travels. Gradually, I became possessed by love of a horizon and a train which would take me there ...’
Lesley Blanch Journey into the Mind’s Eye
ROUTE OPTIONS
Travellers crossing Siberia have a choice of three main routes: the Trans-Siberian, Trans-Manchurian and Trans-Mongolian. The Trans-Siberian is the most expensive route as it crosses the entire length of Siberia to the Pacific terminus at Vladivostok. The Trans-Manchurian travels through most of Siberia before turning south through Manchuria and ending in Beijing. The Trans-Mongolian also terminates in Beijing but travels via Mongolia which gives you the chance to stop off in Ulan Bator.
If you want to travel on to Japan after your trip you have several options. From Vladivostok there are ferries (mid-May to December) and flights. There are also cheaper ferry services from various Chinese ports including Shanghai, Tianjin and Qingdao, all of them within easy reach of Beijing.
Trans-Manchurian and Trans-Mongolian travellers can continue from Beijing by train round China, which has an extensive rail system and also direct rail links into Vietnam. You can even travel back to Europe along the Silk Road on the Turkestan–Siberia (Turksib) railway.
COSTS
Overall costs
How much you pay for a trip on the world’s longest railway line depends on the level of comfort you demand, the number of stops you wish to make along the way and the amount of time you’re prepared to put into getting hold of a budget ticket.
Although the cheapest tickets for rail travel between Moscow and Beijing (and purchased in these cities) currently cost around £160 (US$310/€230), this does not reflect what you’ll end up paying for your trip. Among other big costs to factor in are transport to your departure point, transport back at the end of your journey, accommodation in Moscow, Beijing and any stopover towns, and of course food. If you want to buy your own tickets en route you must budget for the extra time that this will take. In this light the independent package deals offered by many travel agents can be better value than they might appear. Packages on the Trans-Siberian between Moscow and Beijing, including transfers and one night’s accommodation in Moscow, start at about £360/US$700.
One-way flights from London cost around £180 to Moscow or £270 to Beijing. The cheapest fully inclusive Trans-Siberian holidays cost from around £1300 including flights to and from London.
From New York, one-way flights cost around US$450-700 to Moscow or US$450-1000 to Beijing, depending on the season. The cheapest fully inclusive Trans-Siberian holidays cost from around US$2500 per person in high season, including flights to and from New York.
From Australia, single flights cost around A$1400 to Beijing or A$1500 to Moscow, depending on the season. The cheapest fully inclusive Trans-Manchurian trip costs around A$3200 per person including two nights in Moscow. A 10-day Vladivostok to Moscow budget package costs from about A$3400 with flights.
If a super-luxurious two-week guided rail tour from Moscow to Vladivostok with en suite accommodation in private saloon cars pulled by a restored steam locomotive is more your idea of travelling, be prepared to part with around £5000/US$10,000 (see p25).
Communist-era travel in Russia
Travel in Russia is much better value and far less restricted than it was in the communist era. It’s now easier to get a visa (see p18) and relatively easy to travel independently. You are no longer obliged to deal with state-run travel agencies and you needn’t pre-book hotel rooms. Train tickets are easy to buy on your own, although long-distance tickets can still be problematic in the summer season. Still, it’s useful to know a bit about how tourism worked in the Soviet Union, because some attitudes and even organizations from that era endure today.
In Soviet times all travel arrangements for foreigners were handled by the monolithic organizations of Intourist (general travel), Sputnik (youth travel) and CCTE (business travel). All charged monopoly prices, and travellers’ options were restricted. In the 1990s these organizations were broken up and the travel market opened up. There are still Sputnik offices in many cities. Mainly they book budget transport for Russian students, although they can be useful to foreigners for information and, in some cases, cheap transport and accommodation.
Intourist was the real giant. Most foreign travellers in the country had to book rooms and tours through them. Today, outside the capital, where it still has a faint presence, Intourist is almost extinct. Some hotels built in the communist era still say ‘Intourist’, but they’re now privately owned and most have officially taken the word out of their name. Many locals, and even the owners of some small hotels, mistakenly believe that the former Intourist places are still the only hotels that can accept foreigners. They will invariably try to send you there. Likewise, the old Intourist travel desks, which used to be in all the big hotels, have been all but wiped out by lean young Russian and foreign travel agencies.
Accommodation costs
The price and value of accommodation in Russia varies wildly. As a foreigner, you’ll sometimes be offered the most expensive rooms first, so get in the habit of asking for something cheaper.
Moscow and St Petersburg are the only places with genuinely five-star hotels (US$400/£200/€300 or more per night) although a number of Trans-Siberian cities, including Khabarovsk and Vladivostok, have good four-star places. Hotel prices in Moscow and St Petersburg are higher than anywhere else in the country.
Most visitors still stay in former Intourist hotels, paying US$40-100/£20-50/€30-80 for a single or US$60-140/£30-70/€45-105 for a double with attached bathroom. Independent travellers who search out basic rooms in cheaper hotels can expect to pay US$14-40/£7-20/€10-30 for a single or US$16-50/£8-25/€12-40 for a double. Breakfast is sometimes included in the price.
Hostels and guest-houses have sprung up in Moscow, St Petersburg and Irkutsk, charging about US$25-40/£11-20/€16-30 for bed and breakfast. Homestays are an option available in most larger Trans-Siberian towns, at about US$30-50/£16-25/€24-36 per person per night including some or all meals.
For more information on accommodation see p67.
Train classes and prices
Most Trans-Siberian train carriages intended for foreigners are classed as either kupé (coupé; also called 2nd, hard or tourist class), with four-berth closed compartments; or SV (also called 1st or soft class), with comfortable two-berth compartments, sometimes with washbasins.
On Trans-Mongolian train Nos 3/4, however, SV compartments are four-berth and identical in layout to all other services’ kupé compartments except a bit wider, so they are poor value. But these trains also have an additional ‘de luxe 1st’ class, whose carpeted two-berth compartments have armchairs and attached bathrooms, and are the only ones with showers.
Compartments are not single sex. Foreigners may find themselves sharing with other foreigners if they’ve booked through an agency that deals mainly with non-Russians. For further details on train classes see p71.
Approximate sample prices (including any booking fees) are shown below for a non-stop, no-frills, single (one-way) journey on each of the main routes across Siberia. They range from the cheapest ticket bought over the counter in Moscow or Beijing to those offered by some Western travel agents.
- Trans-Siberian route (Moscow–Vladivostok)
kupé (2nd) US$350-1400/£180-700/€260-1020
SV (1st) US$600-2000/£300-1000/€450-1500
- Trans-Manchurian route (Moscow–Beijing)
kupé (2nd) US$450-800/£230-400/€330-580
SV (1st) US$700-1220/£350-620/€520-900
- Trans-Mongolian route (Moscow–Beijing)
kupé (2nd) US$310-750/£160-370/€230-540
SV (1st) US$550-950/£275-480/€400-730
deluxe 1st class US$625-1100/£320-550/€470-800
WHEN TO GO
‘The mode of life which the long dark nights of winter induce, the contrivances of man in his struggle with the climate, the dormant aspect of nature with its thick coverage of dazzling snow and its ice-bound lakes now bearing horses and the heaviest burdens where ships floated and waves rolled, perhaps only a fortnight ago: – all these scenes and peculiar phases of life render a journey to Russia very interesting in winter.’
Murray’s Handbook for Travellers in Russia, Poland and Finland (1865)
For most people ‘Siberia’ evokes a picture of snowy scenes from the film Dr Zhivago, and if they are not to be disappointed, winter is probably the best time to go. It is, after all, the most Russian of seasons, a time of fur coats, sleigh-rides and chilled vodka. In sub-zero temperatures, with the bare birch and fir trees encased in ice, Siberia looks as one imagines it ought to – a barren, desolate wasteland (the train, however, is well heated). Russian cities, too, look best and feel most ‘Russian’ under a layer of snow. St Petersburg with its brightly painted Classical architecture is far more attractive in the winter months when the weather is crisp and skies clear. But if you want to spend time in any Siberian city you’ll find it more enjoyable to go in late spring, summer or autumn, when there is more to do.
In Siberia the heaviest snowfalls and coldest temperatures – as low as minus 40°C (minus 40°F) in Krasnoyarsk and some other towns the train passes through – occur in December and January. From late January to early April the weather is generally cold and clear. Spring comes late. In July and August it is warm enough for an invigorating dip in Lake Baikal. The birch and aspen provide a beautiful autumnal display in September and October.
In Moscow the average temperature is 17°C (63°F) in summer and minus 9°C (+16°F) during the winter; there are occasional heavy summer showers.
Tourist season
The tourist season runs from May through September, peaking from mid-July to early September. In the low season, between October and April, some companies offer discounts on tours; you’ll also find it much easier to get a booking for the train at short notice at this time. During the summer it can be difficult to get a place on the popular Moscow–Beijing route without planning several weeks ahead.
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