TRANS SIBERIAN RAILWAY JOURNEYS

Differences??

Independent / Weekly departure: Designed to depart any week and includes the bare minimum of transport and budget accommodation, with arrival transfer and visa requirements. The minimum required to obtain legal visa.

Set Departure Date Independent: Same inclusions as above, but targeting set dates so that you maximise the chance of being with fellow travelers. It also means you can team up for any extra sightseeing you decide to take along the route. Some dates (Christmas and Easter periods) are designed to allow you to be able to sample these important times for the Russian people. Other dates (Autumn) are set so that you are there at the best possible time for the seasonal uniqueness.

Set Departure Date Guided: A step up to where you are guided at every stop. Also many more inclusions and different accommodation level choices.

Private Train fully Guided: A big step up to the most luxuries train available in Russia. Set dates and a private train dedicated to the group.

The Great Railway itself

The Trans Siberian Railroad, or the Great Siberian Way (its historical name) connects European Russia with Siberia and the Russian Far East. The term Trans Siberian not only denotes the true route (Moscow to Valdivostok), but has become the generic term for the other two routes – Trans Mongolian, Trans Manchurian and the BAM route. During this grand rail journey you can pass through eight time zones, 14 provinces of Russia, 3 regions, 2 republics and one autonomous region of the Russian Federation. You can also cross 16 of the largest Eurasian rivers:

River Names - Volga: Vyatka: Kama: Tobol: Irtysh: Ob: Tom: Chyulym: Enisey: Oka: Selenga: Zeya: Bureya: Amur: Hor: Ussuri:

All routes (except the BAM) follows the shores of Lake Baikal for a short distance. Lake Baikal is the worlds deepest lake (1637 meters) and also the largest fresh water reservoir on the planet. There is a ‘Train Spotters’ delight on this section of the route. Near the lake shore is a train station called Slyudyanka-1, which is unique in that the building is made entirely of marble. It was built in 1904 as a monument to work effort of railway labourers who built this train route.

The Trans Siberian is also famous for its many bridges, the largest of which crosses the Amur River and is 2612 meters long. Then there are the tunnels (the longest is 7 km), and of course the many train stations, the most famous of which is the Novosibirsk Station. For some time this was the largest within the old USSR. The actual length of the traditional Trans Siberian Railroad (from Moscow to Vladivostok) is over 9,288 kilometers, covering nearly all of Eurasia and being the longest railway route on earth. It transepts two continents, Europe being 19.1% of the total journey and Asia absorbing the other 80.9%. At the 1778th km of the route (from Moscow) you have what is considered to be the actual border between Europe and Asia. At the foot of the Ural Mountains is a monument noting the border between two continents.