Trailblazer Guide Books

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PLANNING YOUR ROUTE

Routes and costs
‘Best of all, he would tell me of the great train that ran across half the world ... He held me enthralled then, and today, a life-time later, the spell still holds. He told me the train’s history, its beginnings ... how a Tzar had said, ‘Let the Railway be built!’ And it was ... For me, nothing was ever the same again. I had fallen in love with the Traveller’s travels. Gradually, I became possessed by love of a horizon and a train which would take me there ...’
Lesley Blanch Journey into the Mind’s Eye

ROUTE OPTIONS
Travellers crossing Siberia have a choice of three main routes: the
Trans-Siberian, Trans-Manchurian and Trans-Mongolian. The Trans-
Siberian is the most expensive route as it crosses the entire length of
Siberia to the Pacific terminus at Vladivostok. The Trans-Manchurian
travels through most of Siberia before turning south through
Manchuria and ending in Beijing. The Trans-Mongolian also termi-
nates in Beijing but travels via Mongolia which gives you the chance
to stop off in Ulaanbaatar. Out of the three, the Moscow–Beijing
route is the most popular, but all three have a lot to recommend them.
Another alternative to the Trans-Siberian is the road less travelled –
the Baikal Amur Mainline (BAM) – that runs parallel to the former,
only 600km to the north of it, between just west of Lake Baikal and
the eastern coast of Russia.

If you want to travel on to Japan after your trip you have several
options. From Vladivostok there are both ferries (mid-May to
December) and flights. There are also cheaper ferry services from
various Chinese ports including Shanghai, Tianjin and Qingdao, all
of them within easy reach of Beijing.

Trans-Manchurian and Trans-Mongolian travellers can continue
from Beijing by train round China, which has an extensive rail sys-
tem and also direct rail links into Vietnam. You can even travel back
to Europe along the Silk Road on the Turkestan–Siberia (Turksib)
railway.

COSTS
Overall costs
How much you pay for a trip on the world’s longest railway line
depends on the level of comfort you demand, the number of stops

you wish to make along the way and the amount of time you’re prepared to
put into getting hold of a budget ticket. At times Russian Railways offer seri-
ously discounted tickets for those prepared to ride in the less popular top
berths. If these are on offer when you want to go, and you don’t mind being
in a top berth, consider it a bonus; see p14 for sample fares – from £144/
US$226 – on the main routes.

Among other big costs to factor in are transport to your departure point,
transport back at the end of your journey, accommodation in Moscow, Beijing
and any stopover towns, and of course food. If you want to buy your own
tickets en route you must budget for the extra time that this will take, though
it is possible to purchase them online (see p120).

The independent package deals offered by many travel agents can be better
value than they might appear. Packages on the Trans-Siberian between Moscow
and Beijing, including transfers and one night’s accommodation in Moscow,
start at about £700/US$1145, though if you travel independently, you can get by
on around £45/$73 per day if travelling platzkart (3rd class in an open-plan
dorm carriage). If a super-luxurious two-week guided rail tour from Moscow to
Vladivostok with en suite accommodation in private saloon cars pulled by a
restored steam locomotive is more your idea of travelling, be prepared to part
with around £6000/US$9813 (see p29).

One-way flights from London cost around £200 to Moscow or £350 to
Beijing. The cheapest fully inclusive Trans-Siberian holidays cost from around
£1700 including flights to and from London.

From New York, one-way flights cost around US$650-900 to Moscow or
US$650-1200 to Beijing, depending on the season. The cheapest fully inclusive
Trans-Siberian holidays cost from around US$3500 per person in high season,
including flights to and from New York.

From Australia, single flights cost around A$1800 to Beijing or A$2500 to
Moscow, depending on the season. The cheapest fully inclusive Trans-
Manchurian trip costs around A$4500 per person including two nights in
Moscow. A 10-day Vladivostok to Moscow budget package costs from about
A$4700 with flights.

Accommodation costs
The price and value of accommodation in Russia varies wildly. Moscow and St
Petersburg are the only places with genuinely five-star hotels (US$600/£380/€450
or more per night) although a number of Trans-Siberian cities, including
Khabarovsk and Vladivostok, have good four-star places. Hotel prices in
Moscow and St Petersburg are higher than anywhere else in the country.

Mid-range hotels cost around US$80-140/£50-90/€60-105 for a single or
US$100-200/£65-125/€75-150 for a double with attached bathroom. Independent
travellers who search out basic rooms with shared bathrooms in cheaper hotels
can expect to pay US$30-50/£19-30/€22-38 for a single or US$35-60/£22-38/
€26-44 for a double. Breakfast is sometimes included in the price.

Youth hostels have sprung up in Moscow, St Petersburg, Irkutsk, Vladivostok,
Tomsk, Suzdal and Yekaterinburg, charging about US$16-32/£10-20/€12-24
per dorm bed or US$63-95/£40-60/€47-71 for a private room. Some hostels
include breakfast in the price. Homestays are an option available in most larger
Trans-Siberian towns, at about US$35-60/£22-38/€26-45 per person per night
including some or all meals. If travelling independently, you can cut costs by
CouchSurfing. For more information on accommodation see pp61-3.

Train classes and fares
Trans-Siberian train carriages are classed as either platzkart (3rd class), an open-
plan dorm on rails, kupé (coupé; also called 2nd, hard or tourist class), with
four-berth closed compartments; or spalny vagon (SV, also called 1st or soft
class), with comfortable two-berth compartments, sometimes with washbasins.

On Trans-Mongolian train Nos 003/004, however, SV compartments are
four-berth and identical in layout to all other services’ kupé compartments
except a bit wider, so they are poor value. But these trains also have an addi-
tional ‘de luxe 1st’ class, whose carpeted two-berth compartments have arm-
chairs and attached bathrooms, and are the only ones with showers.

Compartments are not single sex. Foreigners may find themselves sharing
with other foreigners if they’ve booked through an agency that deals mainly
with non-Russians. For further details on train classes see pp120-1.

Approximate sample fares (excluding any booking fees) are shown below
for a non-stop, single (one-way) journey on each of the main routes across
Siberia. They are what you would pay for a ticket, were you to buy it over the
counter in Moscow or Beijing; those offered by some Western travel agents may
cost substantially more. Prices are also subject to increase, particularly in times
of high demand. At the time of writing you could get significant discounts on
upper berths in platzkart and kupé, as they are less popular than bottom ones.
 The fares below which show a range of prices reflect seasonal variations,
the lower ones being in the winter months.

● Trans-Siberian route (Moscow–Vladivostok)
 platzkart (3rd) US$226/£144/€170
 kupé (2nd) US$260-520/£165-330/€195-390
 SV (1st) US$1025-1146/£650-727/€770-860

● Trans-Manchurian route (Moscow–Beijing)
 platzkart (3rd) US$290/£180/€220
 kupé (2nd) US$450-700/£300-550/€350-620
 SV (1st) US$1000-1400/£670-950/€780-1200

● Trans-Mongolian route (Moscow–Beijing)
 platzkart (3rd) US$300/£200/€240
 kupé (2nd) US$480-800/£320-570/€370-640
 SV (1st) US$1100-1400/£750-980/€870-1200
 de luxe 1st class US$1200-1500/£800-1000/€900-1250

When to go
The mode of life which the long dark nights of winter induce, the contrivances of man in his
struggle with the climate, the dormant aspect of nature with its thick coverage of dazzling
snow and its ice-bound lakes now bearing horses and the heaviest burdens where ships
floated and waves rolled, perhaps only a fortnight ago: – all these scenes and peculiar
phases of life render a journey to Russia very interesting in winter.
Murray’s Handbook for Travellers in Russia, Poland and Finland (1865)

For most people ‘Siberia’ evokes a picture of snowy scenes from the film Dr
Zhivago, and if they are not to be disappointed, winter is probably the best time
to go. It is, after all, the most Russian of seasons, a time of fur coats, sleigh-rides
and chilled vodka. In sub-zero temperatures, with the bare birch and fir trees
encased in ice, Siberia looks as one imagines it
ought to – a barren, desolate wasteland (the train,
however, is well heated).

Russian cities, too, look best and feel most ‘Russian’ under a layer of snow.

St Petersburg with itsbrightly painted Classical architecture is far more attractive

in the winter months when the weatheris crisp and skies clear. But if you want to

spend time in any Siberian city you’ll find it more enjoyable to go in late spring,

summer or autumn, when there is more to do.

In Siberia the heaviest snowfalls and coldest
temperatures – as low as minus 40°C (minus 40°F)
in Krasnoyarsk and some other towns the train
passes through – occur in December and January. From late January to early
April the weather is generally cold and clear. Spring comes late. In July and
August it is warm enough for an invigorating dip in Lake Baikal. The birch and
aspen provide a beautiful autumnal display in September and October.
 In Moscow the average temperature is 17°C (63°F) in summer and minus
9°C (+16°F) during the winter; there are occasional heavy summer showers.

Tourist season
The tourist season runs from May through September, peaking from mid-July
to early September. In the low season (October to April) some companies offer
discounts on tours; you’ll also find it much easier to get a booking for the train
at short notice at this time. During the summer it can be difficult to get a place
on the popular Moscow–Beijing route without planning several weeks ahead.