Grand Trans-Siberian Express (Westbound): China - Mongolia - Russia

Beijing –Ulaanbaatar – Ulan-Ude – Lake Baikal – Irkutsk – Krasnoyarsk – Novosibirsk – Yekaterinburg – Moscow

Day 1: Arrival Beijing

• Arrival in Beijing. You will be met at Beijing airport and transferred to your hotel.
  
• Accommodation in Beijing.
  

Day 2: Beijing

• In the morning you visit the Great Wall of China, which is often called the “8th world wonder”. The Great Wall stretches 6.000 km from East to West. In the afternoon you explore the Summer Palace in the western part of the city. The day ends in one of the famous Beijing Roast Duck restaurants where you will taste what many believe is the most typical Chinese meal.
  
• Accommodation in Beijing.
  

Day 3: Beijing & flight to Ulaanbaatar

• In the morning you visit the Imperial Palace (“Forbidden City”) and the huge Tian An Men Square. In the afternoon you walk through the Temple of Heaven, before you board the aircraft for a 2 hours evening flight to Ulaanbaatar.
  
• Accommodation in Ulaanbaatar.
  

Day 4: Ulaanbaatar

• An unforgettable full day excursion will take you to the Terelj National Park which is famous for its nature. A stone formation called the “turtle” and the beautiful mountainous scenery will fascinate you. In the park area you will have the chance to meet a herder family inside their yurt. A Naadam show specially arranged for the participants of the Grand Trans-Siberian Express demonstrates 3 disciplines of the Mongolian National Naadam festival: Wrestling, Archery and Horseracing. In the evening you experience a traditional Mongolian Hot Pot dinner.
  
• Accommodation in Ulaanbaatar.
  

Day 5: Ulaanbaatar

• During a sightseeing tour you will visit the famous Ghandan Monastery, the Bogd Khan Palace which used to be formerly the winter and sometimes also the summer palace of the Khan’s, as well as the Zaisan monument at a viewpoint high above the city. From there you will have an excellent view of the city which is surrounded by large areas of nomadic yurt settlements.
  
• In the afternoon you board your private train which will be your home for the trans-continental journey to Moscow.
  
• Accommodation on board the Grand Trans-Siberian Express.
  

Day 6: Ulan Ude

• In the night you reach the Mongolian border station Suchbaatar and the Russian border station Naushki. The Mongolian and Russian immigration formalities will take place in the train. You may stay in your cabin and don’t have to leave the train.
  
• In the afternoon the Grand Trans-Siberian Express arrives at Ulan Ude, the capital of the so-called “Buryat Autonomous Republic” of the Russian Federation. Buryats are an ethnic group close to Mongolians with an amazing mix of cultures. Ulan Ude is a meeting place between East and West. Like Irkutsk, the city still has large areas with typical Siberian wooden houses.
  
• Your sightseeing excursion goes to one of the villages of Orthodox “Old Believers” still practising their live like people did it centuries ago. You will be hosted for a typical Russian homemade lunch.
  
• In Ulan Ude the Grand Trans-Siberian Express switches from the Trans Mongolian mainline to the traditional Trans-Siberian mainline on its way to Moscow.
  
• Accommodation on board the Grand Trans-Siberian Express.
  

Day 7: Lake Baikal

• Today one of the top highlights of the tour with the Grand Trans-Siberian Express will amaze you for the rest of the day. Lake Baikal holds the biggest fresh water reserves in the world. It stretches up to 26 miles from east to west and more than 370 miles from north to south. Lake Baikal is the deepest lake of the world, reaching 1.620 meters at its deepest part. The mountain ranges around Lake Baikal and the deep blue water of the lake, you will never forget.
  
• In the morning the private train is running at low speed along the scenic Circum Baikal Railway line between Port Baikal and Sludyanka, which for many years is used only by a few of local trains and tourist trains. A photo stop will be arranged at a small village where you can get off the train, put your feet into the clear and cold water of Lake Baikal and also visit the typical wooden houses of local people. A Baikal barbecue is also a part of the program.
  
• In the afternoon a boat takes you on a short cruise from Port Baikal to the small village of Listvyanka. A walk through the village shows you to St Nicholas church, a typical orthodox wooden build church beautiful renovated in the 1990’s. On a great Siberian lunch in a restaurant on the shore of the lake you can taste the famous Omul fish which is living only in Lake Baikal. In the evening a one hour bus drive takes you from the Lake Baikal to your hotel in Irkutsk city.
  
• Accommodation in Irkutsk.
  

Day 8: Irkutsk

• Irkutsk is famous for its trade with Mongolia and China and used to be called “Paris of Siberia” because of its colourful life style during the time of the Tsars. You visit the old town with its large quarters still consisting of wooden houses only, before invited to the cultural highlight of the tour, a private classical concert in a palace of historical background. In the evening you re-join the private train.
  
• Accommodation on board the Grand Trans-Siberian Express.
  

Day 9: Krasnoyarsk

• Krasnoyarsk, like Yekaterinburg and Ulan-Ude used to be a “closed city” during Soviet times – closed to foreigners and also to most Soviet citizens at that time. It is located along the Yenissei River which is the greatest river system flowing to the Arctic Ocean. A sightseeing tour shows you several view points and the main shopping street which is fascinating as the local mayor decided to decorate it with palm trees in summer time – in the middle of Siberia! During a boat cruise on the Yenissei River you will have a great view on the city and the huge railway bridge crossing the river.
  
• Accommodation on board the Grand Trans-Siberian Express.
  

Day 10: Novosibirsk

• In the morning a city sightseeing tour shows you some remarkable orthodox churches which have survived the Soviet period and see the famous Opera House which is the largest of Russia, situated in the centre of the city at Lenin Square. In the afternoon, an excursion takes you out of the city into the Taiga, the “real Siberian forest”. About 30 km out of the city you have the opportunity of visiting the largest open air railway museum of Russia, a collection of more than 60 showpieces of steam, diesel and electric locomotives as well as several historical passenger cars – a perfect insight into the development of the trains on the Trans-Siberian Railway.
  
• Accommodation on board the Grand Trans-Siberian Express.
  

Day 11: Yekaterinburg

• Today the train arrives in Yekaterinburg, capital of the Ural Mountains. The city was founded in 1723 by Czar Peter I as the center of metallurgical industry. By the 20th century it had become one of the largest and the most important financial, industrial and cultural centers of Russia. Yekaterinburg is located at the geographical border defined by scientists between Europe and Asia.
  
• On your sightseeing tour you visit a place of remarkable importance for Russian history: the “Cathedral on The Blood” which was built at the place where Czar Nicholas II and his family were executed by the Bolsheviks in 1918. An excursion into the Ural forests takes you to Ganina Yama, which today is considered by Russians as a “holy place”. It is an assemble of small wooden chapels which were erected in the 1990’s to honor the last Czar’s family of the Romanov dynasty who were then buried in Ganina Yama.
  
• Accommodation in Yekaterinburg.
  

Day 12: Full Day on the Train

• Today you leave Yekaterinburg in the morning and enjoy a typical day on the Trans-Siberian Railway. Your private train passes through the Ural Mountains and an endless scenery of forests, lakes and small settlements. A day to relax, watch the landscape and listen to lectures about the country and its people.
  
• Accommodation on board the Grand Trans-Siberian Express.
  

Day 13: Moscow

• Today the almost 8000 km long journey from Beijing to Moscow terminates. In the afternoon you visit the Red Square and the Kremlin grounds. The sightseeing tour shows you the all the many highlights of Moscow: the Bolshoi Theatre, the GUM department store, the Red Square, Moscow River, the Sparrow Hills, Novodevitchy Monastry. You will forget old stories about Moscow being grey and dark. It has become a vibrant city, comparable to Paris or Rome and full of life.
  
• Accommodation in in Moscow.
  

Day 14: Moscow

• Airport transfers are provided by our service team to connect with your flight departing Moscow.