Saturday, March 26, 2016

Trans-Siberian Railway

Could it be fun to cross Russia by train? The research begins ...

  • The main trans-Siberian line runs from Moscow to Vladivostok; according to Seat61.com, most westerners travel on either the Trans-Mongolian line or Trans-Manchurian line. Demand usually exceeds supply. 
  • Trans-Mongolian line leaves Beijing for Moscow every Wednesday night. The trip is 4735 miles and takes 6 nights. $1130 for 1st class 2-berth (2x prices of 4-berth). Slight price increase for stopovers along the way.
  • Trans-Manchurian line leaves Beijing every Saturday night. 
  • Can be fully booked in summer, so have to book through an agency, like Real Russia. Some agencies mark price up according to market demands. Shop around for quotes.
  • As a general rule, quality trains have low numbers; slower, low-quality trains have 3-digit train numbers.
  • Most hassle-free way to arrange the trip is through a western travel agency, who can arrange visa, hotel, train reservations, stop-overs and tours, connecting trains to China or a ship to Japan. After 20 minutes of reading about this, THIS OPTION APPEALS!

Sites visited
Seat 61 -- the map is from this site and it is filled with useful information.


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