Tsar's Gold Best of Trans-Mongolian East - West: Beijing - Moscow Tour by Private Train (TS-23)

On arrival in Beijing, our driver will meet you in the arrival sector, waiting to transfer you to the hotel. We’ll begin our sightseeing programme with a sightseeing tour in Beijing.

The iconic symbol of China and an unmissable place to visit, today's destination, the Great Wall of China, is another of the area's UNESCO-listed sights. On our way, we shall make a stop to see the Ming Tombs, the burial site of 13 Ming Dynasty emperors. In the evening you enjoy a dinner of world-renowned Peking Duck.

Infamous Tiananmen Square is a must-see when in the Chinese capital; it’s the largest city square in the world, boasting an impressive 440,000 m2 of space. Besides its cultural significance, it’s the location of events in 1989 when government tanks rolled in to stop pro-democracy protestors. To the north of the square lies the Forbidden City, listed by UNESCO for its collection of ancient wooden structures. We visit the Imperial Palace which dates from the Ming and Qing dynasties. At the end of the day, it’s time to begin our epic rail adventure, pulling out of Beijing station on a modern Chinese train which will take us to the Mongolian capital, Ulan Bator. Note that Nostalgic Comfort and Bolshoi cars are not available for this part of the journey.

By lunchtime, we’ve reached the Chinese-Mongolian border and will change to our private train. At Erlian, there will be a chance to wander in the colourful border market before the train makes its way across the vast Gobi desert and the Mongolian steppe.

The train pulls into Ulan Bator station in the morning. The city, whose name translates as “Red Hero”, occupies a site on the banks of the River Tuur surrounded by four sacred mountains. We’ll have time for a guided city tour before our evening transfer to a ger camp for an overnight stay in one of the country’s traditional felted yurts (overnight in a ger camp is optional).

The Mongolian countryside has been described by some as an Asian Switzerland. You’ll be able to decide for yourself as we take a bus trip through the beautiful landscapes and have a typical lunch at a nomadic herder’s ger camp. There, you’ll watch a display which showcases the incredible horsemanship of the local people. Later, we reboard our private train and continue onto Russia.

Today, we reach Ulan Ude, capital of the Buryat Republic of the Russian Federation. The city, located at the confluence of the Selenga and Uda rivers, was an important trading post between Europe and Asia. Make sure you look out for Lenin in the main square; this is the largest head of the former Russian leader anywhere in the world.

We reach Lake Baikal, the world’s deepest freshwater lake and our train pulls in around noon to the old station of Port Baikal, right on the lake shore. We’ll make a lengthy stop, enough time to capture some memorable shots of the lake or take a dip in its waters. There’ll be the opportunity to take a boat trip out on the lake and if it’s warm enough, we’ll picnic by the water’s edge before reboarding our train bound for Irkutsk.

Beautiful Irkutsk is the capital of Eastern Siberia. On a city tour you’ll see the contrast between the elegant stone buildings of the centre and the quaint wooden cottages with their intricate fretwork decoration. Look out for the statue of Alexander III and also the lively market hall. After lunch we will visit the open-air museum "Life and Work in the Time of the Tsars” before transferring to our centrally located hotel for the night.

Today’s train journey gives you the opportunity to appreciate the vast scale of Siberia as we head west. From your train window you’ll pass mountains, crystal clear water and evergreen forest. On board, you can choose to hear our entertaining lectures about Siberia and enjoy a Tsar’s feast prepared by the train’s talented chefs. Enjoy the legendary Russian hospitality during a vodka and caviar tasting while passing these impressive landscapes.

On arrival in Siberia’s largest city you’ll receive a traditional bread and salt welcome. Novosibirsk is the largest city in Siberia and its true cultural and scientific centre. This is the non-official capital of the Western Siberia.

Yekaterinburg is today’s stop. The city dates from 1723 and was developed as a fortress. These days it’s a key city in the Ural region of Russia. Our afternoon city tour explores the recently renovated city centre as well as the Cathedral-on-the-Blood, a memorial to the Tsars that were executed here. Reboarding our train, we continue west towards Kazan.

This old Tatar capital, sited on the banks of the River Volga occupies a picturesque setting. The coexistence of Russians and Tatars in the city for centuries has given this place a unique culture with traditions not seen elsewhere in the country. You’ll enjoy a guided tour of the city’s Kremlin before resuming your private train journey in the evening.

Having crossed two continents and three countries, our train journey ends as we pull into Moscow station. Our driver will meet you off the train ready to transfer you to your hotel. At noon you visit the Kremlin grounds. Once the residence of the Tsars and now home to the Russian president. The Kremlin is also home to several beautiful orthodox cathedrals and Cathedral Square still retains the aura of early Tsarist Russia, where the spirits of Ivan the Terrible, Boris Godunov, and the early Romanovs loom large. Finally today, we head underground. No visit to Moscow is complete without a trip on its beautiful subway system, embellished with marble, mosaics, stained glass panels and bronze sculptures to make it more like an art museum than a mere transit system.

It’s our last day in Moscow and we take a tour of some of the Russian capital’s major cultural and historic sights, including Lubyanka Square, the world-famous KGB centre during the Soviet era, and Teatralnaya Square next to Bolshoi Theatre. We reach Tverskaya Street, a busy shopping thoroughfare, by way of some interesting back lanes, before reaching Red Square. In Red Square, you’ll marvel at the coloured domes of St Basil’s Cathedral, a feature on the Moscow cityscape since the 1550s. After the tour our driver will accompany you to the airport for your flight home.