Have you ever wondered what it feels like to sleep on a train? To watch the world go by as you race through the countryside? Have you ever wondered what -30 degrees really feels like? If the answer to any of this questions is YES, you might want to consider this Trans Siberian Railway Itinerary!
Our 50 day journey across Europe and Asia, through the depths of Siberia and Northern China, was the ultimate epic adventure!
London – Paris : Eurostar
From: London Kings Cross St Pancreas
To: Paris Gare du Nord
Journey Length: 2 hours 15 minutes
Cost: £67 (cost varies dependent on how far in advance you book and the times you choose)
Booking: You can book online on the Eurostar website.
Our first train ride was something of a luxury. The first stint on our epic Trans Siberian Railway journey. We drank prosecco and ate chocolates for the entire ride and arrived in Paris tipsy and excited for what the future held.
Paris – The Hague
From: Paris Gare du Nord
To: Den Haag Centraal
Journey Length: 3 hours
Cost: £65
Booking: We booked online at the Trainline website but you can also go directly to the Netherlands website.
This journey had some charming scenery. The train was comfortable but quite busy. Standard train in Europe!
The Hague – Amsterdam
From: Den Haag Centraal
To: Amsterdam Sloterdijk
Journey Length:
Cost: £12
Booking: You can just buy this at the train station. The trains are very regular.
A very short ride of only 45 minutes!
Amsterdam – Berlin (Bus)
From: Amsterdam Sloterdijk
To: Berlin Central Bus Station
Journey Length: 10 hours
Cost: £39 (cost varies dependent on how far in advance you book and the times you choose)
Booking: You can book on the Flixbus Website. It is advisable to book well in advance for cheaper travel. Night buses are also cheaper if you are on a budget. For a fee you can book a particular seat as well as other extras, which I would recommend.
I had read a lot about Flixbus and wasn’t particularly thrilled about having to spend a whole night on one. However, I was pleasantly surprised! On this specific route Amsterdam Sloterdijk appears to be the first stop. We were there early and managed to get on the bus first and get front row seats on the top deck. Lots of leg room and space to put our bags. There also didn’t appear to be many reserved seats as we weren’t moved from this prime position the whole night!
Berlin – Warsaw (Bus)
From: Berlin Sudkreuz Train Station
To: Warsaw Dworzec Zachodni
Journey Length: 8 hours
Cost: £23 (cost varies dependent on how far in advance you book and the times you choose)
Booking: You can book on the Flixbus Website. It is advisable to book well in advance for cheaper travel. Night buses are also cheaper if you are on a budget. For a fee you can book a particular seat as well as other extras, which I would recommend.
This Flixbus journey was less luxurious than the last. The stop was not the first, so the bus was very full when we got on. Luckily someone was kind enough to swap seats and James and I got to sit together. There was a short game of musical chairs before we settled in, however I found this ride to be far more uncomfortable and cold than the other. Flixbus is a bit of potluck to be honest, but is one of the cheapest ways to travel around Europe.
Warsaw – Moscow
From: Warsaw Zachodnia
To: Moscow Belorusskaya
Journey Length: 20 hours
Cost: £150
Booking: You can book from the state owned Russian Railway company website. There is an option to go through an agency but they will typically add a large fee to the ticket.
Train Number: 453
Warsaw to Moscow was our first overnight train ride on our Trans Siberian Railway trip. The people we met on this train were the nicest companions we had the pleasure of sharing a cabin with throughout our entire trip. However, we had quite a serious issue with our visa which nearly saw us deported from Belarus! I wrote a short travel story about it here!
Moscow – Irkutsk
From: Moscva Yaroslavskaya
To: Irkutsk Pas
Journey Length: 88 hours (3.5 days)
Cost: £90
Booking: You can book from the state owned Russian Railway company website. There is an option to go through an agency but they will typically add a large fee to the ticket.
Train Number: № 070Ч
This was a monster journey and the longest on our Trans Siberian Railway trip. We spent 4 nights straight on the train and only stepped off during the occasional half an hour stops. We stayed in third class which was basically a dorm bed on wheels, minus showers. Despite all of this, it was a magical journey. I wrote about the experience here!
Irkutsk – Baykalsk
From: Irkutsk Pas
To: Stantsiya Baykalsk-Pass
Journey Length: 3 hours 30 minutes
Cost: £4
Booking: You can book from the state owned Russian Railway company website. There is an option to go through an agency but they will typically add a large fee to the ticket.
Train Number: 362ИА
This was a comparatively short trip so it wasn’t a sleeper train. We had booked this train to the station that was not the main town station, as it was close to our hostel. It meant we had to get a much later train and resulted in us wandering around a very dark, rural Siberian town in the middle of the night. Did I mention it was well in the minus degrees too?! A very sketchy first night in Baykalsk.
Baykalsk – Ulan-Ude
From: Baykalsk
To: Ulan-Ude Train Station
Journey Length: 4 hours
Cost: £8
Booking: You can book from the state owned Russian Railway company website. There is an option to go through an agency but they will typically add a large fee to the ticket.
Train Number: № 008У
Another short ride! We went from the main Baykalsk station this time and joined up to the Trans Siberian Railway train line again. We got third class seats in a train almost identical to the Moscow – Irkutsk train. This train however, was noticeably older and much more dirty and smelly.
We also had a group of men who kept smoking in between carriages. They thought it couldn’t be detected but it really smelt bad! Amusingly, the fierce carriage attendant, known as provodnitsas gave them a very stern talking to. Funny as it was, it didn’t stop them from doing it…
I am forever grateful that we did not have a train like this during our epic 88 hour journey! Not sure I could have brushed my teeth in that toilet!
Ulan-Ude – Harbin
From: Ulan-Ude Train Station
To: Harbin Railway Station
Journey Length: 45 hours (2 days)
Cost: £235
Booking: You cannot book these tickets online. (Any Chinese Train tickets need to be bought in the station). As this train only comes once a week (on Wednesdays) we went through an agency to ensure we got a ticket. The agency we used was called Real Russia. You can get the tickets sent to your hotel or pick them up from one of their many offices in major cities. We got ours from Moscow.
Train Number: Rossiya 002
This was another lengthy one. We got a second class carriage and were very lucky to have the carriage completely to ourselves for the majority of the time. I really enjoyed this journey; second class really seemed a luxury. However, we actually spent the larger part of this journey crossing borders!
First, we sat in a room for 4 hours in Russia waiting for the train to be swapped from Russian to Chinese railway tracks. Then, we were all bundled back onboard to be greeted by armed border guards, dogs and some very intense cabin searching and passport examining. Complete with a metal detector!
And that was just for leaving the country!
The train moved on for all of 5 minutes before stopping in China. Cue customs all over again! This time we had to not only pull out our bags, but half empty them for the officials. Less dogs and metal detectors but still extensive and fairly tedious. Once that bit was over it was time to traipse back off the train and have our passports checked. Not forgetting the fingerprints and facial recognition technology that is also required and takes an incredibly long time.
We didn’t set off from the Russian / China border properly until 12 hours after we arrived!
Harbin – Beijing
From: Harbin West Railway Station
To: Beijing Railway Station
Journey Length: 7 hours
Cost: £35
Booking: You cannot buy tickets for Chinese trains online unless you have a Union Pay Credit Card or you go through an agency. You can buy at the station though. This is what we did, as these trains are frequent and regular.
Train Number: D102
This train was our first experience of a Chinese bullet train! Normal trains can take between 10 and 19 hours so it was well worth getting the hugely faster high speed one! There was spacious and comfortable seating with enough room to recline your chair without pissing off the person behind you! I spent the day working on my fold out table and admiring the beautiful scenery whizzing past the window.
Beijing – Shanghai
From: Beijingnan (Beijing South)
To: Shanghai Hongqiao (next to the airport)
Journey Length: 5 hours
Cost: £61
Booking: You cannot buy tickets for Chinese trains online unless you have a Union Pay Credit Card or you go through an agency. You can buy at the station though. This is what we did, as these trains are frequent and regular.
Train Number: G119
This train was much the same as Harbin to Beijing. I was incredibly ill though so spent the entire time trying to sleep.
Shanghai – Hangzhou – Shanghai
From: Shanghai Hongqiao (next to the airport)
To: Hangzhoudong
Journey Length: 1 hour
Cost: £
Booking: You cannot buy tickets for Chinese trains online unless you have a Union Pay Credit Card or you go through an agency. You can buy at the station though. This is what we did, as these trains are frequent and regular.
We neglected to book a seat due to unavailability so had to sit on the floor for an hour. Not enjoyable at 8am with next to no sleep under your belt.
Shanghai – Hong Kong
From: Shanghai Hongqiao (next to the airport)
To: Hung Hom Station (Jiulong)
Journey Length: 19 hours
Cost: £100
Booking: You cannot buy tickets for Chinese trains online unless you have a Union Pay Credit Card or you go through an agency. This journey was just before Chinese New Year therefore it was wise to book in advance to secure our tickets, rather than wait until the day of travel. Transport can become completely booked up during this time of year. We used China Highlights Agency to book these and had them sent to our hostel in Beijing.
Train Number: Z99
This was quite possibly the worst journey of the I have ever experienced, and certainly the worst train ride of the Trans Siberian Railway trip so far. We neglected to book the bullet train in advance so had to get a slow overnight train. Frankly, that was a huge mistake. Chinese trains unbeknownst to us at the time, are not like Russian trains. Similar granted, but the differences made this a bit of a shock to the system! I wrote about it here.
And Relax…
Trans Siberian Railway Itinerary – Conclusion
Our Trans Siberian Railway itinerary was certainly fast paced and action packed; we squashed loads into our 50 days on the tracks.
This is just our version of an itinerary though.
There is so much to consider when embarking on this kind of adventure. This post contains a few tips but if you plan on taking this trip you need to check out Seat 61. It has such an extensive amount of information on specific timetables and train types as well as detailed info on what the trains are like and a break down of the Class systems.
You can totally book everything yourself.
(Especially with the help of Seat 61.) It takes research and organisation but I promise is way cheaper than going through an agency. The two times we used an agency we ended up paying twice as much for our tickets.
You do need to take care though. Especially with Visas! But hey, that’s what spreadsheets are for right?
Take a look at my other blogs: Exactly What To Expect on the Trans Siberian Railway and All the Things You Need to Pack on the Trans Siberian Railway.
Do you like the look of our journey?
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