Itinerary Overview: 

Day-By-Day Program: 

From Moscow to Beijing, via Mongolia 

Day 1: Welcome to Moscow

You are greeted at the airport by your friendly tour director and accompanied to your hotel. Our “City of Lights” tour shows you around the exquisitely illuminated Russian capital.

You notice that Moscow is clearly on a par with Europe’s other great metropolitan cities such as Madrid and Paris. You stroll across the famous Red Square with your travel director and take a short trip of Moscow's Metro to view several of city's particularly beautiful metro stations. After sightseeing, you retire to the comfort of your 4-star hotel for an overnight. Dinner included (D)

Day 2: Moscow: Must-See For Everyone 

In the morning you take an informative tour of Moscow, including the imposing Kremlin Grounds with its three principal cathedrals, two churches, countless towers, palaces, museums and galleries. The Kremlin is also the beating heart of Russia’s political world and the President’s official residence.

In the evening, you are greeted aboard your private train. Enjoy a relaxed get-together in the dinning car where you meet your fellow travelers and learn more details about your private train. You spend the night aboard the train. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are included (B,L,D)

Day 3: Kazan

Morning arrive in Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan. You take a tour of the Kazan Kremlin (UNESCO World Heritage site) with its wonderful panoramic view over the Volga, where you learn about the history of how the Tatars, Cossacks and the Russians peacefully coexisted on this land.
In the evening your train resumes its journey eastwards. Overnight aboard the train (B,L,D)

Day 4: Yekaterinburg
Around noon your train arrives in Yekaterinburg, the historical capital of the Urals. The city is remembered as the place where the Russian czar Nicholas II, - the last of Romanov dynasty, - and his family were murdered in 1918. During a brief tour you see the Cathedral of the Savior on the Spilled Blood, built in 2003 to commemorate that tragic event. You will also explore the city centre that was so carefully restored in 2009.

Back on board, you continue on your journey through the vast steppes of western Siberia. Overnight  on board the train (B,L,D)

Day 5: Novosibirsk

Arrive in Novosibirsk, the heart of Siberia, where you are welcomed in the traditional Russian fashion with bread and salt. During an orientation city tour, you experience the most Soviet of all cities during your journey. You see the enormous Trans-Siberian Monument and the mighty Ob River. Overnight aboard the train (B,L,D)

Day 6: Trans-Siberia

Your train crosses the wide Yenisei River and rolls on through Siberia. The train’s chefs once again demonstrate their skills as they serve the guests Russian specialties in a “czar’s feast”. A vodka tasting accompanied by clever toasts offers you a very enjoyable opportunity to combine pleasure and Russian hospitality. Your train passes by villages with their typical wooden houses and through birch forests set against the background of impressive mountain scapes and, hopefully, ample sunshine. Overnight aboard the train (B,L,D)

Day 7: Irkutsk

Today your train arrives in Irkutsk, the capital of Eastern Siberia in czarist times. During your city tour you see, among other things, the picturesque Siberian wooden houses and a memorial to Czar Alexander III (the initiator of the Tran-Siberian Railway), which was erected in 2003 where the Trans-Sib Obelisk previously stood. After lunch you take an excursion to an informative open-air museum with a focus on life and work in historical Siberia. You spend the night in a 4-star hotel in Irkutsk (B,L,D)

Day 8: Lake Baikal

Today you drive by coach to Listvyanka, a Siberian village on the shores of Lake Baikal, the largest reservoir of non-frozen freshwater in the world. From the village, a boat brings you across the lake’s deep waters to Port Baikal, where your private train is waiting. You then travel for several hours directly alongside Lake Baikal, on the original route of the Trans-Siberian Railway. Your train halts for several hours at a particularly scenic spot, for you to truly enjoy the majestic calm of this unique natural wonder. Dinner is served as a picnic on the shores of Lake Baikal, weather permitting. You spend the night aboard the train (B,L,D)

Day 9: From Lake Baikal to Ulan Ude and on to Mongolia

The journey continues along the banks of the seemingly endless Lake Baikal and then through the splendid Selenga River Valley and the wild solitude of eastern Siberia’s mountainous steppes. You take a tour of Ulan Ude during an intermediate stop there.

Ulan-Ude is located on the main line (Trans-Siberian line) of the Trans-Siberian Railway at the junction of the Trans-Mongolian line which begins here and continues south through Mongolia to Beijing in China. 

Border formalities at the Russian-Mongolian border are an easy matter carried out on board. Overnight aboard the train (B,L,D)

Day 10: Ulan Bator

Today early risers are treated to central Mongolia’s spectacular scenery, set in a mountain landscape dotted with colorful yurt camps and inhabited by solitary riders on horseback. In the morning you arrive in Ulaanbaatar (Ulan Bator), the capital of Mongolia. As always, you can leave your main luggage safely in your compartment. During your City tour you see the impressive Gandan Buddhist Monastery and the odd Choijin Lama Temple, among other things. Beer gardens are very popular in Mongolia, and your evening includes a visit to the city’s best.

Afterwards, you have the unique chance to attend a performance of traditional Mongolian folk arts, including throat singing, horse-headed fiddle playing, national costumes, and dances.
You spend the night in a 4-star hotel in Ulaanbaatar (B,L,D)

Upon request, we are able to arrange for alternative lodging in a yurt in the beautiful landscape of the Mongolian Alps. This is a unique experience and a dream come true for nature lovers

Day 11: Ulan Bator and the Mongolian Alps

After breakfast a bus brings you to Terelj National Park, east of Ulaanbaatar. Here you get to see the nomadic herdsmen’s exotic settlements of tradition tents, horse herds, and scraggly yaks, a type of wild Tibetan cattle. A small Mongolian horse-riding demonstration is put on especially for you and you enjoy a picnic lunch served in these splendid surroundings. In the evening you continue on aboard your train towards China. Overnight aboard the train (B,L,D)

Day 12: Crossing the Gobi Desert

At noon your train arrives at the Mongolian-Chinese border, where you change your Russian private train for a chartered Chinese train. This change is necessary because of a different track gauge that is used in China. Your train reaches the Chinese capital in approximately 16 hours. The Chinese train does not include wagons in the Nostalgic Comfort or Bolshoi categories. Overnight aboard the train (B,L,D)

Day 13: Beijing

In the morning arrive in the hustle and bustle of Beijing. You are transferred to the hotel. Balance of the day is at leisure. Overnight at the hotel ****, Beijing (B,L)

Day 14: Temple of Heaven and Tiananmen Square

A tour lasting several hours takes you to Beijing’s most beautiful and important sights, including the photogenic Temple of Heaven with its park, the huge Tiananmen Square, and some of the city’s contemporary architectural achievements, such as the new “Bird’s Nest” Olympic stadium and several futuristic sky scrapers. In the afternoon, you are able to enter the Forbidden City, the former imperial palace, and view its numerous temples and halls. Overnight at Beijing hotel (B,L)

Day 15: The Great Wall of China and Peking Duck

Your tour today takes you to the Great Wall, the eighth wonder of the world. The giant wall extends for more than 6000 km through the countryside. Today you also visit the Ming Tombs, the burial site of 13 Ming Dynasty emperors, with its impressive Spirit Way. In the evening enjoy a Farewell dinner of world-renowned Peking Duck. Overnight (B,L,D)

Day 16: See You Again. Departure from Beijing 

After breakfast, transfer to airport for your flight home (B)

Dates and Prices, 2020: 

 Tour Prices: 

Based in a Standard Cat. I compartment:         $ 7,925 per person, share basis   (4 persons per cabin)
Based in a Classic Cat.II compartment:             $ 11,315 per person, share basis (2 persons per cabin)

Based in a Superior Cat. II compartment:       $ 11,715 per person share basis   (2 persons per cabin)

Based in Nostalgic Comfort Cat. III:                   $ 14,755 per person share basis  (2 persons per cabin)
Based in Bolshoi Cat. IY compartment:            $ 19,975 per person share basis