Despite all the books, games, and diaries you will have taken with you, most of
the journey will be about getting back to the origins of life. You will eat and
sleep all days through. You will feel the pleasure of pure biological life
again. The philosophical question of what to eat first - either “pirozhki”
(cakes) bought from an old lady at a station, or hard boiled eggs presented by
your neighbor - will be the most important to solve for six days.
And this peculiar, magnificent, and expanding feeling of freedom when you are rushing to the
platform to have a five-minute solid ground brake after the endless hours of life-on-board.
Your compartment may become your second house after two days spent in the train.
Moscow |
0 km |
0h 0m The capital of Russia. A vibrant historical center.
|
Vladimir |
209 km |
2h 30m A small ancient city along the Golden Ring.
|
Nizhny
Novgorod |
461 km |
6h 30m A big vibrant industrial center of Volga region (Povolzhie). |
|
790 km |
The end of Nizhegorodskaya region, start of Kirov region. |
Kotelnich |
830 km |
11h 20m Here Trans-Siberian meets with the old track that was going through Yaroslavl. |
|
831 km |
Crossing Vyatka river |
Kirov |
917 km |
12h 50m A small industrial northern city. Center of Kirov region. |
|
1041 km |
Crossing Kosa river |
|
1062 km |
The end of Kirov region, start of Udmurtiya republic |
Glazov |
1125 km |
15h 50m |
Belezino |
1154 km |
16h 20m |
|
1185 km |
Crossing Cheptsa river |
|
1230 km |
The end of Udmurtiya republic, start of Perm region. Start of Urals region. |
|
1396 km |
Crossing Kama river |
Perm |
1397 km |
20h 10m A big industrial town in the beginning of Ural mountains. The main attractions are a few museums in the city, and old prehistorical caves. |
|
1570 km |
The end of Perm region, start of Sverdlovsk region |
|
1730 km |
Crossing Chusovaya river |
Ekaterinburg |
1778 km |
1d 2h 20m Ekaterinburg was founded in 1797, and now it is the unofficial capital of Ural region — the most industrial (and polluted) region of Russia. However, Urals are most known as the mountains that divide Europe and Asia.
Ekaterinburg itself is a nice and real (unvarnished) industrial city of modern Russia with many interesting buildings and sights. |
|
|
The end of Sverdlovsk region, start of Tyumen region (2070 km). The end of Ural, start of Western Siberia. |
Tyumen |
2104 km |
1d 6h 30m The center of Tyumen region — the oil & gas center of Russia. |
Ishim |
2393 km |
1d 10h 10m |
|
2395 km |
Crossing Ishim river |
|
2485 km |
The end of Tyumen region, start of Omsk region. |
Nazyvaemskaya |
2520 km |
1d 12h 30m The closest place to Kazakhstan of the route: about 100 km. |
|
2674 km |
Crossing Irtysh river |
Omsk |
2676 km |
1d 13h 50m |
|
2800 km |
The end of Omsk region, start of Novosibirsk region. |
Barabinsk |
3000 km |
1d 17h 38m |
|
3168 km |
Crossing Chulym river |
|
3300 km |
Crossing Ob river |
Novosibirsk |
3303 km |
1d 21h 30m The biggest city in Siberia region with 1442000 inhabitants, it was founded in 1893. Novosibirsk is the third main cultural and scientific center in Russia (after Moscow and St. Petersburg), the university of Novosibirsk is quite famous too. The city is developing quite rapidly, and is considered to be the capital of Siberia. The area around Novosibirsk is very good for camping and trekking. Besides, Novosibirsk is a great place to start discovering Altai mountains, which are not far. |
|
3440 km |
The end of Novosibirsk region, start of Kemerovo region |
Taiga |
3532 km |
2d 1h 0m |
Mariinsk |
3680 km |
2d 3h 0m |
|
3745 km |
The end of Kemerovo region, start of Krasnoyarsk region. |
Bogotol |
3813 km |
2d 5h 20m |
|
|
Crossing Chulym river (on 3880 km) |
Achinsk |
3881 km |
2d 6h 20m |
Krasnoyarsk |
4065 km |
2d 9h 20m If you have a goal to stop at all the main Trans-Siberian stations, then you should stop in Krasnoyarsk, which is an important Siberian industrial center. But frankly, we personally find there's nothing interesting, except for Stolby National Park, which is outside of the city. |
|
4067 km |
Crossing Enisey river |
Ilanskaya |
4344 km |
2d 14h 0m There's a nice market at the station - eggs, potatoes, fish, sausages, tomatoes, ice cream, salted cucumbers, fresh stuff. Train stays 20 mins usually. |
|
4430 km |
The end of Krasnoyarsk region, start of Irkutsk region. |
Taishet |
4483 km |
2d 16h 30m Here you can change to BAM train line. Check beforehand if there's a train. |
Nizhneudinsk |
4647 km |
2d 19h 20m Shops with beer, babushkas sell food in big bags - they walk with their bags and they open the bags to show you what is inside (there it looks like they're hiding). The air is warm and there are many mosquitoes. |
|
4650 km |
Crossing Uda river |
Zima |
4902 km |
2d 23h 10m A weird place with very hot climate in summer. |
|
4904 km |
Crossing Oka river |
Angarsk |
5113 km |
3d 2h 20m All the chemical and machinery productions are concentrated in this city. It was built by prisoners, so the landscapes are not very welcoming. Also, it is considered to be quite dangerous. |
Irkutsk |
5153 km |
3d 3h 20m Irkutsk is a nice city with unusual atmosphere and interesting architecture. Baikal lake is just 60 kilometers away, and there are also Sayan mountain range quite close. Irkutsk is a good starting point for various outdoor activities and for exploring the western side of the lake Baikal. |
Baikal Lake |
from 5266 km |
Here you start seeing Baikal lake
A truly amazing and beautiful lake. There are a lot of places to enjoy pristine nature, and swim in the lake. It is worth making the Trans-Siberian just because of this lake only.
Spend a few days there and you'll feel as if you were born again. You can either go there by yourself, or join in various outdoor activities offered by tour operators. |
Slyudyanka |
5279 km |
3d 5h 50m
A village on the shore of Baikal. It's more like a port, so it's not interesting
to stay in there.
It is a good starting point for exploration of Circum Baikal railway (which
starts there), or going south to Arshan (3 hours), which is
just next to Sayan mountains — a great place for camping,
walks, and various activities. By the way, you can buy great smoked fish from Baikal lake - Omul - there. Highly recommended.
|
|
5345 km |
The end of Irkutsk region, start of Buryatia republic.
|
Ulan-Ude |
5609 km |
3d 12h 20m
Overlooked by many travelers, this is a great place to stop for a few days (or
even weeks - for Baikal). Ulan-Ude is the first place along the Trans-Siberian,
where you feel like you're in Asia finally (after more than 2 days travel in the
Asian part of Russia!). It has a feel of a calm, friendly Asian town (quite
close to Mongolia, in fact), and there are a lot of interesting things to
discover. Start with a local History Museum, visit a Buddhist Datsan, go to the
open-air Ethnographic museum, and then go on to explore the Eastern shore of
Baikal lake, which is much less tourist than the opposite Irkutsk side.
In
Ulan-Ude the Trans-Siberian splits into two directions: to the south
through Gusinoye Ozero, Djida, Naushki (Russia) to Ulan-Bataar (Mongolia) to
Beijing (China) - Trans-Mongolian, and to the east through
Chita to Vladivostok (Trans-Siberian).
|
|
5730 km |
The end of Buryatia republic, start of Chita region |
Mogzon |
6022 km |
3d 19h 0m |
|
6055 km |
Crossing Khilok river. |
Chita |
6166 km |
3d 21h 50m. The center of Chita region. A big industrial city. 100 km after Chita (in Karymskaya) the Trans-Siberian splits into two routes: to the east to Vladivostok, to the south through Manchuria to China (Trans-Manchurian). Below the Eastern route to Vladivostok is shown. |
Karymskaya |
6262 km |
4d 10h 0m |
Zabaikalsk |
6555 km |
4d 05h 40m |
Mogocha |
6876 km |
4d 11h 40m |
|
7045 km |
The end of Chita region, start of Amurskaya region. |
|
7079 km |
Crossing Urka river |
Skovorodino |
7275 km |
4d 19h 40m. A few kilometers before Skovorodino there's a train line to BAM (Tynda). |
Belogorsk |
7835 km |
5d 04h 20m |
|
8150 km |
The end of Amurskaya region, start of Evreiskaya region |
Birobidzhan |
8320 km |
5d 13h 20m |
|
8481 km |
The end of Evreiskaya region, start of Khabarovsky krai |
|
8482 km |
Crossing Amur river via the longest Trans-Siberian bridge - 2612 meters. After - a long tunnel. |
Khabarovsk |
8493 km |
5d 15h 40m. A city, which is located on Amur river, China is just on the other shore. A nice and friendly town, and an important break from the train journey as well. |
Vyazemskaya |
8621 km |
|
|
8750 km |
The end of Khabarovsky krai, start of Primorsky krai |
Guberovo |
8809 km |
|
Ruzhino |
8902 km |
|
Ussuriysk |
9147 km |
6d 2h 57m |
Vladivostok |
9259 km |
6d 5h 19m. The last stop of Trans-Siberian. In the 1860, an army squad landed on the
bank of Zolotoy Rog (Golden Horn) bay and built the barracks, it was the first
building in the Vladivostok. Soon after that Vladivostok became the main Russian
port on the Pacific ocean.
|
If you travel on Trans Siberian from the east to the west (Vladivostok -Moscow or Beijing
- Ulaanbaatar - Irkutsk - Moscow) you also can make stops on these cities. You
also can look Moscow, Saint Petersburg and then to go home.