Transsiberian Guide

On my last big trip I had two great adventures listed in my bucket list and this was one of them. So much had been said and written that I needed to experience it by myself. Some years ago in Belize, I met a girl from Argentina that told me she had created a Facebook group about transsiberian and that I should join if I decided to take that adventure one day. In that moment it wasn’t part of my plan but as soon as I figure out I wanted to go, I joined the group and started learning how could I make it happen. One guy on the group posted he was planning to do it around April-May 2016 in case anyone wanted to join. I contact him and we kept in touch until we organized to meet in Beijing the 13th of April. From that point on we started an amazing journey all the way up to Saint Petersburg.

Strictly said Transsiberian consist of the biggest network of railways that connect Moscow with Vladivostok in the far east. There are connecting branch lines with China and Mongolia. You should speak about Transmongolian if you are reaching Russia from this last coutry or vice versa but actually everyone still calls it Transsiberian. You can connect to europe in one end and to China, Japan, Korea or even south east asia by the other side. There is not a fixed route, you can arrange where to go and where to stop as you like.  The trip has turned into a tourist attraction but it’s actually the way locals travel so you must consider that.

When is the best time to go?

The famous Baikal Lake in Listvyanka

As I said before, is the way locals travel so it’s possible to go at any time. You should make you decision considering the weather and the tourist or busy season. Most popular months are May to September because the weather is better and the days are longer. I went on April-May and the weather was ok. A bit chilly but nothing too bad. On winter it will be cold everytime you get off the train but inside it will be nicely heated. The good part of travelling in this period is that it’s easier to get tickets and the landscape will be amazing with the snow.

What route should you take? Eastbound or westbound?

Typical train in Russia

What route to take depends on what you are looking for. The most common routes are:

Transsiberian: Moscow to Vladivostok through Siberia. The 9.300 km journey takes 6 nights

Transmongolian: From Moscow to Beijing through Mongolia. The 7.600 km journey takes 6 nights

Transmanchuria: From Moscow to Beijing through the region of Manchuria (China). The 8.986 km takes 6 1/2 days.

You have to consider that there are plenty of different ways to plan your journey. There are trains that do the complete routes mentioned before and also shorter sections. Consider you are taking trains that locals use so there is not a fixed route for tourist. It´s your choice how you plan your itinerary. If you buy a ticket from Moscow to Vladivostok for example you will certainly want to make some stops on your way. You are not forced to wait for the same train to take it again when it pass. You can buy a ticket from another train that just goes to the next stop you planned. Spending at least one section of your route in a train that makes the complete transsiberian route will be a great experience because you will share with locals that will make it all the way without getting off in between as usual tourists do.

Eastbound route is way more popular than the westbound route so it’s harder to find tickets. Beside that, all the routes are the same.

The decisions you have to take to plan your route are the following:

1.- Where do you want to start and where do you want to finish.

2.- Which stops do you want to do on your way and for how long.

With this info you can make your train reservations or at least find out what options you have on the trains still available.

Organzing the trip by yourself is way cheaper and exciting. To make it from China to Mongolia in a cheaper way you can take a train to Erlian and cross the Mongolian border by yourself. Check here how to go from Beijing to Ulaanbaator by yourself without buying an expensive train ticket.

How much time does it take?

Mongolian train

The time it will take you will depend on the two things mentioned before:

1.- Where do you want to start and where do you want to finish.

2.- Which stops do you want to do on your way and for how long.

If you do a complete route, the time spent on trains will be at least 6 days. Then you must add the time spent on every stop. Consider at least 20 days for a total route. In my case, I spent 26 days from Beijing to my last day on St. Petersburg.

Which class to travel? – What berth to choose?

2nd class on a brand new train. We were lucky

It’s a personal choice. 1st class is a 2 berth compartment. 2nd class is a 4 berth compartment and 3rd class is a 4 berth open train. Not all trains have the 3 classes. The most popular for travelers is 2nd class because you have your privacy and is not as expensive as 1st class. I travelled on both 2nd and 3rd class without any problem. The decision should be on taking upper or lower berths rather than what class. Lower berths are more popular and more expensive because during the day you want a place to sit and you can’t do that on upper berths. If you are a solo traveller it worths paying more for the lower berth because if not you will depend on locals and their hospitality to let you sit beside them. If you are traveling as a couple it’s a smart idea taking both upper and lower berth to save some money but still have a place to stay during the long days. I travelled with a friend for 3 days in a row and the only berths we could find where both upper ones in 3rd class. It’s a good story to remember but not a nice experience being forced to lay on your bed for so many days.

How do you buy your tickets?

You can buy your tickets in an agency that will arrange everything for you. It will be way more expensive and you will lose the spirit of doing it by yourself. If you want to do it on your own you got 2 options. The first one is buying the tickets online. First try in http://pass.rzd.ru/main-pass/public that is the oficial russian railways website and if it doesn’t work try in http://www.tutu.travel. The second option is buying your tickets directly on the russian railways office on each station. I tried buying online on both websites but it didn´t work aparently because of my foreign credit card. I was forced to buy the tickets personally. I would recomend to check availability in the russian railways website in advance to get some choices in case your first option is already booked. You should write down or take a picture of date, train number, departure station, arrival station, coach, berth and price so you can check it’s the same you finally buy. Remember that few people speak english and it’s not easy communicating so sometimes a picture it’s your best way of making them understand you. Book your tickets with days or weeks in advance specially on most popular season from May to September and if you are traveling westbound.

It’s really important you notice that all trains in Russia run to Moscow time so have that in mind when you book your tickets and when you go to take your train. Always consider this time difference that can be up to 7 hours ahead than Moscow depending on the timezone because if not, you are probably losing your train.

How much does it cost?

Classic mongolian ger

As I always say, how much it cost depends on the budget you got. I can give you references on the different class tickets and other cost you must consider.

Visas: Will vary on every passport

Train Tickets: Check Table (I added some routes with their prices as reference)

Accomodation: From $10 USD / Night (Hostels)

Food: From $10 USD / Day (buying from supermarkets and cooking your own)

Activities: $20 USD – $70 USD / Day

Others: $ 5 USD – 15 USD / Day

In a really low budget I spend the following on my trip:

Do you need visas?

Russia, Mongolia and China will ask for a visa depending on your passport. Russia seems to be the hardest and longest to get so keep that in mind and prepare before starting your trip or at least get info so you are prepared to get them on your way. I didn’t need one for Russia so I can’t give you much info about it. China visa was supposed to be hard because you where asked to give details of your itinerary and cities you where visiting but I just print them a fake plane ticket reservation and I got it without any problem. Mongolian visa was similar to Chinese. Got it on Beijing and had to wait a couple of days to pick it up. To know if you need a visa you can check at www.doyouneedvisa.com and after that you should check by yourself how to obtain it depending on your country.

How is spending so many days on a train?

Avoid spending time on the upper berth as much as you can

I have to be honest about this. At the beginning you feel great being able to experience this magic trip but as soon as you realize there is not much to do, days on board start getting long and boring. The magic fades away and you just want to get down. The train just stops for a couple of minutes on small towns and not more than 20 minutes in bigger cities. As I mentioned before, transsiberian is not a tourist meant route. It is the way locals travel so basically they don’t do it for fun, they do it because they need to. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to disappoint you  because I loved the journey but it’s better you know what to expect about it. My recommendation is not spending more than 2 nights on board before getting down on your next stop.

Tips and considerations

1.- You can buy food on the train at a higher price or you can get something to eat whenever the train makes a stop. Every train has free hot water for passengers. To save money and kill some time I would recommend bringing food with you, specially noodles or food you can cook with hot water. Coffee or tea is a must. Cups can be renten, bought on board or you can bring your own. Don’t feel embarrassed on bringing your stuff with you, that’s the way locals do and soon you will discover you are the one bringing the least amount of stuff inside the train.

2.- It’s hard to find plugs to charge your electric devices inside the coach and if you find one, locals are not very polite in taking turns to let you use it so an external battery is highly recommended. Take entertainment material with you because as I said before as soon as you realize you are spending so many days on board, it’s starts getting boring and you will want to keep busy.

3.- It’s hard finding locals that speak english. Even though some locals make great efforts, it’s still hard to communicate so I recommend having an offline map like maps.me or buying a sim card so you know where you are and when to get off.

4.- Toilets are closed when the train is stopped on a station because the material is directly dumped on the track so don’t get surprised if they don’t let you use them. At least, you know the reason. We just heard a train attendant screaming at us in russian for trying to open the door. Afterwards, we figure out why.

Enjoy the journey, share with locals and make the most of your time. It´s a great experience that you will enjoy!