Trans-Siberian Express: Stopping along the way?
I'm planning a trip on the Trans-Siberian Express. I've already received excellent advice on a related post, but I've got a couple more questions.
My plan is to head from Moscow to Beijing. It's six solid days of train travel, and I'm looking to break up the trip with a few stops along the way.
Any recommendations as to where?
Since I'd like to travel in either a Spalniy or Kupe compartment, it appears that I would need to book well in advance. How can I best book my tickets if I plan to break my journey into three or four legs?
Are there different visa requirements if I plan to stop off in, say, Mongolia for a few days, rather than making the trip in one stretch? (See also: What is the best way to obtain visas for the Trans-Siberian/Trans-Mongolian Railway?)
Best Answer
A couple of friends made the full trip from Moskow to Vladivostok some years ago. They stopped at least at Yekaterinburg and Irkutsk, possibly Novosibirsk as well.
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Can you stop on the Trans-Siberian Railway?
Although the trains do stop at different stations along the route, the longest stop is barely 20 minutes long, so not very conducive to sightseeing. If you want to explore different cities along the way, you'll have to buy separate tickets for each stopover.Can you hop on and off the Trans-Siberian Express?
Remember you need to have a reservation for every train on the Trans-Siberian \u2014 you cannot simply jump on and off. For this reason, if you are planning on sightseeing, make sure you have planned all the separate legs of your journey.Where do you stop Trans-Siberian?
The main stops on the Trans-Siberian and Mongolian railways are Beijing, Ulaanbaatar, Irkutsk, Ekaterinburg & Moscow with St Petersburg being a popular add-on. Other worthy stops if time or budget allows are Kazan, Perm, Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk, Ulan Ude and Vladivostok.How many stops does the Trans-Siberian Railway?
10 stops on the Trans-Siberian railway.More answers regarding trans-Siberian Express: Stopping along the way?
Answer 2
When I did the trip a few years back, I stopped in Yekaterinburg, Irkutsk (side trip to Baikal is definitely worthwhile), and Ulan Bator. Yekaterinburg is not a particular exciting city, but it provides a very nice (practically necessary) stop over. My general advice is to stop frequently enough that you don't spend more than 48 hours at a time on the train. You'll start to go a little nutty otherwise.
Answer 3
I did the Trans-Siberian a couple of years ago, I can definitely recommend Irkutsk and Ulan Bator (for the Beijing section), they are great cities and areas to stop and also very unique. Novosibirsk I found less interesting, there wasn't much to see or do, I would not stop there again. I heard good things about Tomsk, but you need to plan extra time, it's not on the main Trans-Siberia track, but 50km off. Other possible stops are Omsk and Yekaterinburg, but I have not stopped there.
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