Epic Trans-Siberian: St. Petersburg - Moscow - Yekaterinburg - Irkutsk - Baikal - Vladivostok (TS-16)

On arrival in St. Petersburg, you’ll be met in the airport arrival sector with a Go Russia sign board for your transfer to the hotel.

Without question one of Russia’s most elegant cities, calm St Petersburg is often referred to as the “Venice of the North”. We’ll explore this museum city at a leisurely pace, taking in the Peter and Paul Fortress, St. Isaac's Cathedral and the Church of Christ's Resurrection (The Saviour of the Blood). We’ll also take you to see the famous cruiser Aurora; the legendary ship whose cannon gave the signal, on the order of Lenin, for the beginning of the Great Social Revolution more than 90 years ago.

The Hermitage Museum (Winter Palace) is the number one tourist attraction in the city and with good reason. This stunning palace, an architectural masterpiece in itself, features over three million pieces of art, spanning a period from the Stone Age to the 20th Century. You’ll be able to admire iconic works by the likes of Leonardo Da Vinci, Titian, Raphael and the French impressionists. We’ll drag ourselves away to collect our bags and head to the train station to catch the Grand Express. This train gives you the chance to travel in style in a luxury compartment fully equipped with toilets, showers, air-conditioning, sofas, television, DVD-players and Wi-Fi. Standard first and second class accommodation is also available if preferred.

On reaching the Russian capital, our driver will collect you from your train and take you to the hotel. We’ll take a walking tour through the streets of Moscow, passing through Lubyanka Square where the KGB was headquartered in Soviet times, Teatralnaya Square where you’ll find the Bolshoi Theatre and along Tverskaya Street, the busiest street in Moscow. We’ll end our walk in Red Square to explore St Basil’s and Kazan Cathedrals, the imposing Kremlin towers, Lenin’s Mausoleum and the expansive facade of GUM department store.

Today we dip into the past with our guided tour of the Kremlin’s grounds and cathedrals. The fascinating Armoury Museum is housed in a building that’s stored weaponry for over five centuries and has been a museum since 1813. It contains such exhibits as the chalice of Yuri Dolgorukiy, Boris Godunov’s armour, Faberge’s fabulous eggs, and a plethora of golden and silver works of art. From there we’ll transfer to a modern metro that could just as easily be a work of art itself, adorned with marble, mosaics, stained glass panels and bronze sculptures.Our train tonight will carry us to Yekaterinburg, so we return to the hotel and then transfer to the station in the company of our reliable driver. On the train, both 1st (2 berth) and 2nd (4 berth) compartments are available. Clean linen, including sheets, towels, blankets and pillows are provided. The train also has a dining car that serves good meals.

Arrival in Yekaterinburg will be late in the evening next day, but our driver will collect us at the carriage and take us safely to the hotel.

Today, we’re off to the majestic Memorial Cathedral on the Blood in the name of all Saints, which was built on the place of execution of the last Russian tsar Nikolay II together with his family. We visit Ganina Pit, a unique orthodox monastery built on the site of the initial burial place of those imperial remains. Later, we offer an included excursion to the obelisk marking the border between Europe and Asia. On the way to the border, we stop for a visit to the Memorial honouring the victims of the Stalin’s repressions of the 1930-1950s. At the end of the day, it’s back to the railway station to connect with our train to Irkutsk.

Onboard

Our train will take three days to cross Siberia as far as Irkutsk. A guide will meet you with a sign board upon your arrival and take you to Listvyanka (approx. 70 km away). There, you’ll enjoy free time in this charming village where you can choose to visit the St. Nicolas Russian Orthodox Church or the Baikal Lake Museum, where you will learn Siberian traditions, history, flora and fauna of the deepest freshwater lake in the world. Instead, perhaps take a boat trip out on the lake.

Our guide will meet you at your Listvyanka accommodation and return to Irkutsk where we shall take a city tour. Irkutsk is often referred to as the Paris of Siberia on account of its elegant boulevards, but Paris can’t compete with its quirky wooden log cottages with their fretwork designs which you’ll also see in the city. Before we arrive, we make a stop to visit the open air Wooden Architecture Museum in Taltsy, situated in a picturesque forest on the bank of the river Angara. This museum has a large collection of original wooden houses equipped with old-style furniture and domestic utensils, and “wooden tents” belonging to the various ethnic groups which inhabited this region.

Our driver will meet you at your accommodation with a sign board with your names and take you to the railway station to pick up your comfortable train to Vladivostok.It’s a three day trip, so settle back and enjoy the ride.

Onboard

Our driver will meet you at the carriage with a sign board with your names and transfer you to your accommodation. Later, when we’ve freshened up, we’ll take a city tour of this interesting city, encompassing the City Fortress, the Intercession Church and the Catholic church. In the KorabelnayaNaberezhnaya (the Warship Embankment) visitors can get acquainted with the history of the Russian Fleet, including the period of the Second World War and visit a Soviet C-56 submarine.

Our driver will meet you at your accommodation with a sign board with your names. You’ll transfer to the airport for your flight home.