Trans-Siberian Railway

A continent-spanning rail ride across Russia, best done with time for a few stopovers.

Journey Time: Around 7 days end to end on the fastest through trains, longer if you break the trip.

Best Time to Go: May-Sep brings the most daylight for scenery and generally easier conditions for travel planning.

Tickets & Costs: You can buy a single through ticket or book the journey as separate legs. Prices vary a lot by class, train type and how early you book, so check current fares when dates are fixed.

Classes: Typically sold as open-plan third class (platskart), four-berth compartments (kupe), and two-berth sleepers (SV). Facilities and comfort also depend on the specific train.

Boarding: In Moscow most departures use Yaroslavsky railway station - arrive early for platform access and carriage numbers. In Vladivostok the terminus is Vladivostok railway station near the centre.

The Trans-Siberian Railway is Russia’s main east-west rail artery, built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to bind the empire together and open up Siberia to settlement, trade and administration. Today it remains a working long-distance railway first and a famed journey second.

As you roll east, the landscape shifts gradually rather than dramatically: European Russia gives way to the Ural Mountains, then broad plains, river crossings, taiga forest and, further on, hillier country toward the Pacific. One of the most memorable sections is near Lake Baikal, where the line skirts the world’s deepest lake and the views open wide between water and forested slopes.

The rhythm on board is part of the engineering story: long block sections, frequent station stops for servicing and crew changes, and dining car life that turns the train into a moving neighbourhood over multiple days.

• Moscow - Depart from Yaroslavsky railway station and watch apartment blocks thin into forests and small towns as the train gathers speed.
• Nizhny Novgorod - A common early milestone on many services, with broad river country and big-sky views as you move deeper into the Volga region.
• Yekaterinburg - Cross into the Ural Mountains, where low ridges and birch forests mark the notional boundary between Europe and Asia.
• Novosibirsk - The line swings across the Ob River and into a major Siberian city; the approaches often feature long flat stretches broken by industrial sidings.
• Krasnoyarsk - Look for the wide Yenisei River crossing, one of the great river moments of the route.
• Irkutsk - Gateway to Lake Baikal; the scenery becomes more varied with wooded hills and clearer views of rivers and valleys.
• Lake Baikal - The railway hugs the shoreline in places - have your camera ready whenever the water appears between trees and rock cuttings.
• Ulan-Ude - A cultural shift as the route nears Buryatia and the landscapes feel more open again beyond the lake.
• Khabarovsk - A major Far Eastern stop with another large river crossing over the Amur River.
• Vladivostok - Finish at the Pacific in Russia’s port city, where the terminus sits close to the waterfront and central streets.

“Trans-Siberian” covers three routings out of Moscow. Two of them leave the main line in eastern Siberia and run to Beijing instead of the Pacific:

• Trans-Siberian (Moscow to Vladivostok, about 9,289 km): the main line described above, entirely within Russia.
• Trans-Mongolian (Moscow to Ulaanbaatar to Beijing): splits off near Ulan-Ude, crosses Mongolia and the edge of the Gobi Desert, and enters China at Erlian.
• Trans-Manchurian (Moscow to Harbin to Beijing): splits off east of Chita and enters China at Zabaikalsk-Manzhouli, skipping Mongolia.

Current status: the through trains between Moscow and Beijing on both branches have been suspended since early 2020. Russian domestic trains, including Moscow to Vladivostok, still run, a weekly Irkutsk-Ulaanbaatar train runs again, and a weekly Ulaanbaatar-Beijing train resumed in 2025, so a Trans-Mongolian trip now means separate tickets on separate trains. The US and UK governments advise against all travel to Russia, and many travel insurance policies will not cover a trip there, so check current advice before planning.

For most travellers, May to September is the sweet spot: long daylight hours make it easier to appreciate the scenery, and it is simpler to plan stopovers in places like Irkutsk and around Lake Baikal.

Winter trips are possible and can be striking, but days are shorter and weather disruption is more likely. Timetables and train patterns can change during the year, so confirm departure days and journey times when you book.

International travellers usually reach the start via flights into Moscow, then connect to Yaroslavsky railway station by metro or taxi. If you are already in Europe, overland rail routes into Moscow depend on current border and service conditions, so check close to departure.

At the eastern end, Vladivostok has flights onward within Russia and limited international options depending on season and schedules. Many travellers break the journey with stopovers, but whether you can do that on one ticket depends on the fare rules - booking separate legs is the simplest way to build in multi-day stops.

Tickets are typically sold by train and by class - open-plan platskart, compartment kupe, and higher-grade SV sleepers. Facilities (including air conditioning and showers) vary by carriage and by specific service, so read the carriage description carefully before paying.

For popular dates and higher classes, booking ahead is wise, especially if you want specific berths together. If you plan stopovers, consider buying each segment separately so you can choose exact trains and avoid restrictions on breaking a long-distance ticket; seat and berth reservations are usually tied to a specific departure.