Private Trans-Siberian Journey: Moscow - Vladivostok with Mongolia Extension

Day 1: Arrival
Welcome to the legendary capital of Russia - Moscow! Upon arrival, your private driver transfers you to the hotel for check-in.

The rest of the day is free to relax in your cozy room, dine in one of the nearby restaurants or start exploring the amazing city center on your own.

Please note, that due to the specific schedule of international trains, this tour starts every Wednesday and Saturday.

Day 2: Exploring the Kremlin, Armoury Chamber & the Heart of Moscow 
This day is dedicated to the exploration of one of the most outstanding Moscow icons - the Kremlin and the heart of Moscow - the Red Square.

Following breakfast, you meet your guide in the hotel lobby and walk to the Kremlin territory where you have a chance to explore the gems hidden behind the Kremlin walls such as the Cathedral Square and the Assumption and Annunciation cathedrals. 

Then you visit the famous Armoury Chamber that houses a unique collection of crown jewels, stunning coronation finery, hand-forged armor and weapons, royal carriages and sleighs, and world-famous Fabergé eggs.

After a short break for coffee, you take a walk through the beautiful Red Square, go inside the colorful St. Basil's Cathedral and explore the famous GUM department store. 

After the tour, you walk back to your hotel and have the rest of the day free.

Day 3: Tretyakov Gallery, Subway Ride & Panoramic Tour
This morning is free for you to continue exploring the magnificent Moscow city center on your own. 

In the afternoon you check out from your hotel, meet your guide and enjoy a guided tour of the world-famous treasure trove of the Russian fine art, the Tretyakov Gallery, where you have amazing time viewing the gems of its collection, including the famous masterpieces of Ivan Aivazovsky, Mikhail Vrubel, and Viktor Vasnetsov.

After the tour of the Tretyakov gallery, you have a quick subway ride to explore the most beautiful stations of Moscow Subway, which is known to be one of the most beautiful and efficient metro systems in the world. Then you see the spectacular Cathedral of Christ the Savior and learn the story of its destruction and reconstruction.

Today you also have a chance to enjoy one of the best city views at Sparrow Hills and see the grand building of Moscow State University, the highest of seven Stalinist skyscrapers of Moscow.

After the tour you are transferred to the train station.

Day 4: Arrival
Upon arrival in Yekaterinburg, your driver meets you at the train station and transfers you to your centrally located hotel for overnight. 

Day 5: Exploring the Highlights of Yekaterinburg
After breakfast you meet your guide and enjoy a sightseeing tour around the most remarkable city landmarks.

During the tour you take a walk through the historical city center, visit Ural Craftsman Lane where you can buy some traditional hand-made souvenirs, see the magnificent architectural ensemble of the Rastorguev - Haritonov House, admire Sevastyanov's House - the symbol of the city, and take a trip to the famous Europe-Asia monument where you can happily experience being at two places at once putting one foot in Europe and the other in Asia.

The second part of your tour is dedicated to the last days of the Russian Imperial Family. You visit the Church on Blood built on the site of the notorious Ipatiev House, where the last Russian Emperor, Nicolas II, and his family were executed by the Bolsheviks in 1918.
Your guide also takes you to the first burial place of the tsar’s family - the Monastery Complex “Ganina Yama” that now consists of seven chapels - one for each member of the royal family.

The day is crowned with a visit to the famous observation platform of Vysotsky hotel - one of the tallest buildings in Yekaterinburg, where you enjoy the bird's-eye panoramic views of the city.

Note: you may choose to visit Boris Yeltsin Presidential Center instead of Vysotsky observation platform and explore the museum dedicated to the first Russian president and contemporary history of Russia (please confirm with your destination specialist at the time of booking). The museum is closed on Monday.

After the tour you return to your hotel and have the rest of the evening free.

Day 6: Departure
Early in the morning (about 3 am) you check out from the hotel and depart from Yekaterinburg.

Day 8: Arrival
In the morning you arrive in Irkutsk. Upon arrival, you are transferred right to the Lake Baikal shore.

Day 8: Listvyanka Village Tour & Baikal Museum
Upon arrival, you check in to your hotel. After some rest you enjoy a guided tour around Listvyanka Village. During the tour, you visit the Baikal Limnological Museum and Aquarium that houses an interesting display of the unique flora and fauna of the lake.

Then you take a chair-lift* to the nearby viewpoint to take some magnificent panoramic pictures of Baikal, view the Chersky Rock and visit the 19th century wooden St. Nicolas Church and spend some time at a local fish market where you see a great variety of fish and different ways of cooking it.

After the tour, you return to your hotel and have the rest of the day free.

Please, note: chair-lift is not available on Monday

Day 9: Trip to Taltsy Village
After breakfast, you check out from your hotel and say "Good-bye" to Lake Baikal! Your guide and driver take you on a trip to the open-air museum of wooden architecture located in Taltsy Village.

This reconstructed Siberian village consists of a number of buildings that were threatened with flooding when the Irkutsk Dam was constructed on the Angara River. All the buildings at the Taltsy museum were rescued from the rising waters and brought here to serve as models of Irkutsk regional architecture.

Your driver takes you then to Irkutsk.

Day 9: Irkutsk City Tour
Upon arrival, you have a guided tour around the most remarkable city's attractions. You first walk along Angara River embankment - the most popular meeting place among the locals - to an eternal flame and the monument to explorer Yakov Pohabov, the founder of the city. You proceed to the only Catholic Cathedral in Irkutsk, the beautiful Polish Roman Church, located in the historical part of Irkutsk.

You are then driven to one of the main monasteries in Siberia - Sign Monastery (also known as the Znamensky Monastery). You also explore the Kazan Church, which with its Byzantine-style decorations looks like a fairy tower, and Block 130, the historical zone with many colorful wooden houses and buildings constructed in the 17th century.

After the tour, you are transferred to a centrally-located hotel for check-in.

Day 10: Departure
Following breakfast, you check out from your hotel and your driver transfers you to the station.

Day 11: Visiting the Gandan Monastery
In the morning you arrive in the capital of Mongolia - Ulan Bator. Your driver meets you at the train station and takes you to your hotel to freshen up and have breakfast.

Later you meet your guide and explore the legendary Mongolian Buddhist Gandan Monastery in Ulan Bator.

Day 11: Gorkhi-Terelji National Park Tour
In the afternoon you arrive to the camp and enjoy traditional lunch.

You then take a tour of the picturesque Gorkhi-Terelji National Park and visit its most popular attractions, including the famous Turtle Rock and the Aryabal Temple located on a steep hill. At the entrance to the temple’s grounds there is a long walking path leading to the set of 108 steep stairs that symbolize the elephant’s elongated trunk. You can rise up to the temple and enjoy the magnificent view of surrounding valleys.

In the evening you enjoy dinner at the camp. You spend this night in a traditional Mongolian yurt.

Additional meals: Lunch, Dinner

Day 12: Meeting a Nomadic Family
Following breakfast at the ger camp, you meet your guide and start the day with a visit to a nomadic family to learn more about their culture, authentic lifestyle and traditions. 

Later you depart from the park.

Day 12: Arrival
In the evening you arrive in Ulan Bator and have the rest of the day free.

Day 13: City Tour & Folk Show in Ulan Bator
After breakfast you meet your guide in the hotel lobby and go on a walking city tour around the most interesting attractions of Ulan Bator. 

During the tour you visit the National Museum of Mongolia, one of the leading museums in the whole country and the one which is responsible for preserving Mongolian cultural heritage. You also stroll along the main streets of the city, see the Parlament house and walk through the central Sukhbaatar Square formerly known as Genghis Khan Square.

After the tour you return to the hotel to take some rest or continue exploring the city center on your own.

In the evening you attend an amazing Mongolian folk show at the National Academic Drama Theatre (transfers are included). After the show the rest of the evening is free.

Note: Folk show in Ulan Bator is available from the middle of May to the beginning of October.

Day 14: Departure from Ulan Bator
In the afternoon you check out from the hotel in Ulan Bator. Your private driver takes you to the main railway station and you depart from Mongolia to Ulan Ude, Russia.

Day 15: Enjoying Ulan Ude
Your train arrives in Ulan Ude early in the morning. A private driver meets you at the train station and transferes you to your centrally located hotel, where you check-in, have breakfast and some rest before the city tour starts.

In the afternoon you meet your guide and driver and head for Ivolginsky Buddhist monastery complex, considered as the center of Buddhism in Russia. Located 40 km from Ulan Ude in the picturesque valley of the Ivolga River, the complex is home to the Buddhist institute Dashi Choinkhorlin, translated from Tibetan as “the land of happy learning”. Here monks, the future lamas, study oriental and Tibetan culture, medicine, Old Mongolian and Tibetan languages and philosophy of Buddhism. During the tour you make a sacred circle (“goroo”) around the territory, enter the temples, see the altar with many golden statues of Buddha, Buddhist stupas, Buddhist books, tankas and even the sacred Bodhi tree.

Upon return to the city, you take a tour around the most interesting city landmarks. You enjoy the views from Rinpoche Bagsha Datsan rising high above the city (if time and weather conditions allow), see the world’s largest head statue of Lenin, take a walk at Lenin Street abundant in former merchant houses, explore Soviet Square and admire the beautiful Odigitria Cathedral.

After the tour you return to your hotel and spend the rest of the day at leisure.

Day 16 - Departure for Khabarovsk
In the afternoon you check out from your hotel and have some free time before a private transfer to the railway station. Today you board a train, that is heading to the capital of Russian Far East - Khabarovsk. 

Day 18: Arrival in Khabarovsk
Today you arrive in Khabarovsk. Your driver meets you at the station and transfers you to your centrally located hotel for check-in.

Day 19: Khabarovsk City Tour
After breakfast you have free time to explore the city on your own or relax in your comfortable room. 

Following lunch you meet your private guide and driver in the hotel lobby and set off on a tour of Khabarovsk. You start sightseeing from the Monument to Nikolay Muravyov-Amursky, a Russian general, statesman and diplomat. Continue to Amur Cliff which offers exciting views on the Amur River and hills. The river had a special historical significance as a route much used by the Russians when exploring and opening up eastern Russia. Nowadays it forms a part of the Chinese–Russian border.

You then make a riverside walk along picturesque Nevelsky Embankment, witness the Spaso-Transfiguration Cathedral, the third tallest church in Russia, and see the eternal flame memorial.

Finally you ride across Khabarovsk Bridge. The railway bridge over the Amur River is the longest, at 1.6 km (5,250 ft), on the Trans Siberian Railway. The bridge, as well as Muravyov-Amursky Monument, is famous for being depicted on a 5000-ruble banknote.

After the tour you return to the hotel and have some free time for dinner. In the evening you are transferred to the train station.

Day 20: Vladivostok City Tour
Welcome to Vladivostok - the easternmost city of Russia and its largest port on the Pacific Ocean informally known as "Russia’s San Francisco" due to its numerous bays and beautiful bridges. Your guide meets you at the railway station and the sightseeing tour of Vladivostok starts right away. 

You first explore the Eagle's Nest observation point to get a magnificent bird’s-eye view over the city and Golden Horn Bay.

You then drive across the Russky Bridge, the world's longest cable-stayed bridge, to reach Russky Island. An integral part of Vladivostok's history, the island attracts numerous tourists with charming Primorye nature, dozens of picturesque bays, majestic coastal rocks and a number of unique military fortifications. While being on the island, you have a great chance to visit one of them - «Novosiltsevskaya battery» fortification. A beautiful panoramic view of the bridge opens from there.

You continue with visiting Submarine S-56 which successfully fought against a fascist’s fleet during WWII. You end the tour with exploring the Vladivostok Railway Station that is the terminus of the Trans-Siberian railroad.

After the tour you are taken to your hotel to check-in. The evening is yours to enjoy the city on your own. 

Day 21 - Departure
This is the final day of your amazing Trans-Siberian train tour!
Following breakfast you check out from the hotel and your driver transfers you to the airport for your flight back home. We wish you a safe flight and hope to work on your future trips!