TRANS-SIBERIAN IMPERIAL RUSSIA TRAIN ROUTE (Westbound):

Visiting Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, Ulan Ude, Lake Baikal, Irkutsk, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Kazan, Moscow
The most iconic rail journey in the world. Travel the 9,289 km (5,772 miles) with us on this luxury escorted train journey.

Day 1:  – Vladivostok
Welcome to Vladivostok!
Arrive at the international airport and you will be transferred to your hotel to check in for 1 night.

Day 2:  – Vladivostok
Breakfast at the hotel.  Today we have a city tour of Vladivostok, where you will see many of the sights of the city: the view point at Egersheld and Lighthouse at Egersheld cape, Railway station and Marine station, Central square with the Monument to Fighters, Historical Centre of Vladivostok, Svetlanskaya Street, Nikolai Triumph Arch, Korabelnaya Nabereznaya, C-56 submarine museum, Nabereznaya of Tsesarevicha, Funicular, View point “Orlinoe Gnezdo”, Sports Harbour. We also include visits with our guide to the Fortress museum, the Regional lore museum and the Orthodox Church.

Lunch in a seafood restaurant.

Following lunch, we enjoy an excursion to Russky Island. We cross the two enormous bridges across the Golden Horn Bay and Eastern Bosporus strait.  Russky Island is open for Primorye capital’s residents and guests, due to the proximity to the city and convenient transportation it became one of the most popular recreation areas. The island was significantly transformed after holding the APEC Summit on its territory in autumn 2012. Now you have a chance to see the large international business centre, where the summit’s main activities took place, the Far Eastern University’s campus, which has united Vladivostok’s four largest universities, view points from where you can see Primorye shores with fantastic hills, ancient forests, beaches with picturesque coastal landscapes and azure bays.

Tonight we have dinner in a local restaurant, before transferring to the train station to join the Imperial Train for your iconic journey to Moscow!  Welcome onboard!

Day 3  – Khabarovsk
After breakfast onboard, we arrive at Khabarovsk, a city located just 30 kilometers (19 miles) from the Chinese border and once part of the Qing Empire. Now a thriving business city, perhaps as unlike Vladivostok, the city has never been closed to foreigners. Enjoy a sightseeing tour of the city, which includes a visit to the Museum of Regional Studies.  After lunch in a local restaurant, we take a Boat trip on the river with a folk concert.   Today, have fun learning the traditional art of Matrioshka doll painting and take your work home with you!
After dinner in a restaurant, we rejoin the Imperial Russia train to continue Westwards on our journey.

Day 4:  – On board
Enjoy activities onboard.

Meals on board.

Day 5:  – On board
Enjoy activities onboard.

Meals on board.

Day 6:  – Ulan Ude
Breakfast onboard, before arriving to Ulan-Ude.

Our sightseeing tour shows us this unique city, a convenient location in both strategic and economic ways on the cross-roads of Russia with China and Mongolia.  The ethnic and cultural diversity of this area results in a unique understanding of its heritage and of world religions. We will visit functioning churches: Ivolginsky Datsan, Odigitria Cathedral, Holy Trinity Church.

You will also be welcomed in a Buryat family with a warm reception in a traditional Buryat Yurt and a folklore programme. Hospitable Buryats will teach you how to cook the traditional Buryat dish ‘pozy’, how to play dice, use a bow, wear a traditional Buryat costume, assemble and disassemble a felt yurt.

We return to our Imperial train for dinner onboard and we depart Ulan Ude.

Day 7: – Lake Baikal
Breakfast onboard as we arrive to Port Baikal.

Our excursion today includes a ferry trip to the Listvyanka village, the closest one to Irkutsk of all the settlements on the shores of Lake Baikal. We visit the observation platform, Chersky Stone observation point with a beautiful view on the southern part of the lake and the source of the Angara River – one of the most memorable places for tourists and photographers.

We enjoy lunch in a local restaurant, before our visit to Baikal Museum, which has interesting exhibits of the flora and fauna of the lake.

In Listvyanka, our exploration includes a visit to the local fish and souvenir market before we rejoin the Imperial Russia Train.

Tonight dinner in a form of a picnic.

Day 8:  – Irkutsk
Breakfast onboard, before our train arrives at Irkutsk railway station.

Our tour to the historical city centre includes a visit to the Decembrist House, the “wooden lace” house, also called the “House of Europe”, and some of the most beautiful and amazing streets of the city – Bolshaya Prospektnaya, today – Karl Marx street.

Before our afternoon tour we have lunch in a city restaurant.

Our visit this afternoon is to the Ethnographical museum Taltsy in a picturesque location on the right bank of the Angara River.  There is some free time at the “130 quarter” – “Irkutskaya Sloboda”, a quarter with reconstructed city buildings of the 19-20 c.

Dinner this evening is at a city restaurant, before we rejoin our train for departure from Irkutsk.

Day 9:  – On board
Enjoy activities onboard.

Meals on board.

Day 10:  – Novosibirsk
Breakfast onboard as we arrive in Novosibirsk.

This region has a great history and unique examples of Siberian architectural monuments and nature.

Our sightseeing tour will include the impressive Railway museum, the Ballet and Opera House, the city’s ancient streets and the Ob river esplanade. Lunch is included today

We depart from Novosibirsk and enjoy dinner onboard.

Day 11:  – Ekaterinburg
Breakfast onboard before we arrive in Ekaterinburg railway station.

The City Tour is dedicated to the Last Days of Last Russian Tsar. As part of the excursion, you will see the Church on Blood erected to commemorate the tragic historical event, plus the orthodox monastery with temples that are considered to be pearls of Russian construction.

We enjoy lunch in a local restaurant and later you will visit the memorial built at the boundary of two continents (the Europe and Asia).

Departure from Ekaterinburg on board the Imperial Russia train.

Dinner onboard.

Day 12: – Kazan
Breakfast onboard before arrival at Kazan Railway Station.

Enjoy a Grand City Tour of Old Kazan. The Tartar capital is situated on the picturesque banks of the Volga river.  Included is a folklore program “Tugan Avalim” a Tartar epic!  We also include a visit to the Kazan Kremlin, where you will see the famous mosque.

Lunch today includes a master class revealing the secret of Tartar Cuisine.

Rejoin our Imperial Russia train and we depart from Kazan.

Dinner tonight onboard.

Day 13:  – Moscow
Arriving at our epic journey’s end – in Moscow Railway Station. Today we visit the Moscow Kremlin, which is a symbol of the Russian State, one of the greatest architectural complexes in the world, a treasure house of magnificent relics and monuments of art.

After enjoying lunch in a local restaurant continue your exploration with a walk along the Arbat Street, visit to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior and a sightseeing tour of Moscow’s beautiful metro stations.

Dinner this evening and check-in at the hotel for 1 night.

Kremlin Walls Moscow

Day 14:  – Moscow
Breakfast at the hotel.  Check out by 11.00hrs

Your driver will collect you for your transfer to the airport or rail station for your homeward or onward journey.