Trans-Siberian Tour via Golden Ring / 18D

18 Days

via Golden Ring

Countryside

Eastbound

All year

►Tours ►Trans-Siberian Railway tours ►Trans-Siberian tour via Golden Ring

Moscow → Vladimir → Suzdal → Perm → Kungur → Yekaterinburg → Irkutsk → Listvyanka → Vladivostok

The Golden Ring of Russia, which combines some of the most beautiful ancient Russian cities, is one of the most popular tourist routes in the country. The Trans-Siberian Railway is also a popular route offering tourists the opportunity to undertake the longest railway trip in the world. In this one trip we have combined the both, and on it you will see the nation’s capital, important cities of ancient Rus, Siberia, Lake Baikal and the Russian Far East.

In Moscow you will visit the city centre and the main sight of the city - the Kremlin. In the Golden Ring you will look around two of the main cities on the route - Vladimir and Suzdal. Then you will set off on the Trans-Siberian for Perm - one of the most Soviet cities in Russia and where you can visit the country's only museum dedicated to the Gulag situated in a former prison camp. From Perm you will also travel to visit a wonder of Russia in the form of the Kungursky Ice Cave and the Europe-Asia border. Of course no trip on the Trans-Siberian is complete without making a stop in Irkutsk to visit Lake Baikal - the deepest lake on the planet.

1 DAY / ARRIVAL IN MOSCOW

Moscow

Arrival in Moscow. Transfer to your hotel. Free time in the city: although if you arrive in the morning and have energy we can organise an excursion for this day.

2 DAY / MOSCOW TOUR - KREMLIN - METRO

Moscow

Breakfast at the hotel.

Walking tour around central Moscow. The highlights of the tour:

Red Square – the most famous square in Russia where many famous events have taken place.
GUM – the main shopping centre of Soviet Russia and today its Soviet architecture and atmosphere is a joy for visitors.
Ulitsa Vavara - this street has retained its historical look with various churches, cathedrals and mediaeval chambers.
Lenin’s Mausoleum – the resting place of the founder of the USSR.
Aleksandrovsky Gardens – pretty gardens running along the Kremlin with several interesting monuments.
St Basil's Cathedral (exterior) – one of the most recognisable symbols of Russia which was built during the reign of Tsar Ivan the Terrible in commemoration of the conquest of Kazan.
Christ the Saviour Cathedral - the largest cathedral in Russia with a capacity of 10000 people.
Bolshoi Theatre - this theatre needs no introduction as the home to the world's most famous ballets.
Aleksandrovsky Gardens – a favourite place for Muscovites and tourists alike to stroll around. It is situated alongside the Kremlin wall and has several interesting monuments.
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier – one of the more sombre monuments to the Soviet Victory in the Second World War. Next to the tomb stands a ceremonial guard.

The tour will also include visits to:

The Moscow Kremlin is one of several kremlins around Russia and today it still performs one of its original functions as the residence of the head of state, although now it is of course the president who lives here and not the grand prince. It is the main sight of Moscow and a must-see.
Tour of the Moscow Metro - you will see the most beautiful stations of the metro which it is no exaggeration to call underground palaces.

Duration: 8 hours | Transportation: by metro

Night in Moscow.

3 DAY / VLADIMIR | 0km - 191km

Vladimir

Breakfast at the hotel.

Morning transfer to the railway station from where your Trans-Siberian trip starts.

High-Speed train to Vladimir.

Duration: 1h50

Arrival in Vladimir and transfer to the starting point of the excursion.

City tour of Vladimir – Vladimir was once the mediaeval capital of the Russian state and so is an important city in terms of Russian history. The highlights of this tour include:

Dormition Cathedral - the main cathedral of the city. For over 200 years this cathedral held the revered Our Lady of Vladimir Icon, which Prince Andrey Bogolyubsky brought from Vyshgorod in Ukraine to Vladimir. The icon was later transferred to Moscow and can now be seen in the Tretyakov Gallery. According to legend, the icon was created by Luke the Evangelist.
Golden Gates - a rare monument of Russian 12th century defensive architecture and all that remains of the walls which once surrounded Vladimir.
St Demetrius’ Cathedral - one of the most remarkable monuments of mediaeval Rus. It was built in the 1190s as a palace temple of Grand Prince Vsevolod the Big Nest of Vladimir and is decorated on the outside with engravings of plants and animals, while the interior still retains fragments of frescos by Andrey Rublev.

Duration: 2 hours | Transportation: by car

Transfer from Vladimir to your hotel in Suzdal.

Distance: 40km

Night in Suzdal.

4 DAY / SUZDAL

suzdal

Breakfast at the hotel.

City tour of Suzdal - Suzdal is perhaps the highlight of the Golden Ring, as the whole city is an open-air museum thanks to it being practically unspoiled by modernisation and industrialisation. On this excursion you will visit:

Suzdal Kremlin - this is the oldest part and historical core of the city. Although the kremlin's walls no longer stand, parts of the earthen mound fortifications do remain. The buildings inside the kremlin are now used as museums.
Nativity Cathedral (1222) – the kremlin’s cathedral is the Nativity Cathedral and the current version stands on the place of an 11th century version which was built on the orders of Vladimir Monomakh. The interior features stunning frescos as well as a necropolis where the sons of Yury Dolgoruky have been interred along with several members of various noble families from Suzdal.
Museum of the Wooden Architecture and Peasant life – this collection of wooden buildings, including churches and windmills, from various parts of European Russia is one of the best of architectural museums in Russia. It now resembles a village in itself made up of beautiful examples of 17th - 19th century wooden buildings which have been brought here to protect them from fire or from being dismantled.
Trading Rows (1812) – Suzdal’s set of trading rows are still used for their original purpose and a souvenir market is held outside where you can buy a whole range of souvenirs, including bottles of the mead for which Suzdal is famed.

Duration: 3½ hours | Transportation: by a private car

Transfer to Vladimir Railway Station.

Overnight train to Perm. Night on the train.

5 DAY / PERM | 191km - 1,378km

Arrival in Perm. Transfer to your hotel to leave your luggage.

Tour around Perm - the highlights of the tour include:

Perm Art Gallery – one of the most interesting art galleries, not just in Perm but the whole of Russia. The gallery has a rich collection of wooden sculptures made in Perm between the 17th and 19th centuries.
Sergey Dyagilev Memorial Museum (exterior)– a museum dedicated to the man who played a vital role in bringing Russian ballet to the world’s attention, thanks to his organisation of the Russia Seasons in Paris which showcased the Russian art.
Museum of Ancient Perm - this museum is dedicated to the Permian Period which is named after an ancient kingdom which once existed in the vicinity of Perm. It also details the development of life on Earth over the course of 650 million years. On display are skeletons of a mammoth and a selection of dinosaurs.
Perm 1 Railway Station – the oldest railway station in the city and a great example of 19th century architecture.
Permskie Gates – one of the most famous and controversial pieces of modern art in Perm.
Salty Eared Permian Monument – one of the strangest monuments in Russia based on a name given to people from Perm due to the region being formerly known as a major centre for salt production.
Perm Rotunda – another symbol of Perm, it is situated in the city’s Gorky Park.
Griushin House - the most beautiful building in the city which may have been described by Boris Pasternak in Doctor Zhivago as the “house with the figures”.

Duration: 4 hours | Transportation: by private car

Night in Perm.

6 DAY / PERM - PERM-36

Breakfast at your hotel.

Tour of the Perm-36 Gulag Museum. It is the only museum of its type in Russia located in a former high-security prison camp for those convicted of especially dangerous crimes against the state. Although the prison is now a museum, there are still debates and controversy about its existence.

On this tour you will see:

Work zone of the high-security area – here the prisoners worked in the repair workshop, boiler room, sawmill and forge.
Punishment cell – a small stone cell for solitary confinement where prisoners were held for committing various violations of the regime, usually for up to 15 days, although in cases of repeat offences they could find themselves being held here for up to six months.
High-security area – barracks intended for 30-40 prisoners. Here state criminals considered especially dangerous served out their sentence.

Duration: 5-6h | Transportation: by a private car

Night in Perm

7 DAY / KUNGUR | 1,470km - 1,750km

Breakfast at the hotel.

Check out from the hotel and transfer to Kungur.

Distance:100km

City tour of Kungur - the highlights of the tour include:

Museum of the History of the Merchant Class - Kungur was once a very developed merchant city and a lot of history about its merchant past has been preserved at this museum. There are lots of expositions on the various trades performed in the city – the leather and footwear trade, the ceramic trade, bread and tea production - as well as charitable causes and the everyday life of the merchants. A separate exhibition details the main trade route through the city from European Russia to Siberia and China.
Trade Arcade – an architectural monument built in the second half of the 18th century.
Dubinin Estate – the largest merchant estate in the city, dating from the end of the 19th century and consisting of a whole complex of buildings. It is a shining example of merchant architecture of the time. Among the famous people who have visited the state are Princess Victoria of Hesse-Darmstadt, the sister of Empress Aleksandr Fyodorovna.
Kuznetsov Mansion - this is the mansion of leather magnate Grigory Kuznetsov which up until 1917 was considered the most expensive private house in the city.

Excursion to the Kungursky Ice Cave - this is a unique geographical monument and one of the largest caves in the European part of Russia. It is the seventh-largest gypsum cave in the world by a length at 5700 metres long, of which 1500 metres are equipped to be visited by tourists. The average air temperature in the centre of the cave is +5°C, with a relative degree of humidity of 100%. The Kungursky Ice Cave contained 58 grottos, 70 lakes and 146 so-called organic chimneys – tall shafts rising almost to the surface (the tallest in Grotto Efirny is 22 metres).

Duration: 3½h | Transportation: by a private car

Transfer to Kungur Railway Station

Train to Yekaterinburg.

Arrival in Yekaterinburg and transfer to the hotel.

Night in Yekaterinburg.

8 DAY / YEKATERINBURG

Breakfast at the hotel.

Сity tour of Yekaterinburg - the highlights of the tour include:

Church on the Spilled Blood – one of three churches in Russia which are said to have been built "on blood". At this location the Ipatiev House previously stood, which was the site of the execution of Emperor Nicholas II and his family. Today they have been canonised as saints.
Ural Stone Museum – minerals and stones are the pride of the Urals and one of its brands. The museum has a collection of unique crystals, minerals and semi-precious stones.
Ganina Yama – a wooden monastery founded on the site where the remains of the last imperial family were found. The remains themselves are now buried in Ss Peter and Paul's Cathedral in St Petersburg.
Europe-Asia Border – one of several monuments marking the border where Europe ends and Asia begins. This spot was fixed by German scientists in 1829.

Duration: 5h | Transportation: by a private car

Night in Yekaterinburg.

9 DAY / TRAIN TO IRKUTSK

Breakfast in the hotel.

Transfer to Yekaterinburg Railway Station

Train to Irkutsk. Night on the train.

10 DAY / SIBERIA | 1,750km - 3,800km

Day and night on the train.

On this day you will pass through Omsk – the second largest city of Siberia. Here the great Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky spent four years of his life in prison.
You will also stop in Novosibirsk which is considered the capital of Siberia and Russia’s third city by population. It is a real modern megalopolis in the heart of Siberia. Local time is Moscow time plus three hours, but on your train it is still Moscow time! The route between Omsk and Novosibirsk is one of the busiest stretches of railway in the world.

11 DAY / IRKUTSK | 3,800km - 5,125km

Day on the train. During the way you will pass:

Krasnoyarsk (4098km) – a major Siberian city situated on the banks of the beautiful River Yenisey surrounded by picturesque hills.
The train will stop at the small station of Taishet, where the Baikal-Amur Railway, another great railway line of Russia, starts.
On the day you will stop at the Zima station which is translates as winter, and was a place of exile for members of the Sectarian sect.

Arrival in Irkutsk and transfer to the hotel.

Night in Irkutsk.

12 DAY / IRKUTSK

Breakfast in the hotel.

City tour of Irkutsk the highlights of the tour include:

130th Quarter – one of the oldest districts of Irkutsk where are a large concentration of historical buildings remain.
Epiphany Cathedral – the second oldest stone building in Eastern Siberian and the Far East. It dates from 1718.
Znamensky Monastery – one of the oldest monasteries in Siberia. Admiral Aleksandr Kolchak, a leader of the Whites during the Civil War, was executed just outside the monastery.
Sukachev Estate – a beautiful estate of Vladimir Sukachev – a local patron of the arts and the creator of the first public art gallery beyond the Urals.
Angara Icebreaker Museum – one of the oldest surviving icebreakers in the world. It was constructed in England in 1900 especially for navigation on Lake Baikal.
Our Lady of Kazan Church - one of the most beautiful churches in the city. It was built in 1892 out of red brick in the Byzantine Revival architectural style.
Triumphal Arch of the Moskovskie Gates - this arch was built on the site of the original arch which was erected to mark the 10th anniversary of Alexander I becoming emperor.

Duration: 3h | Transportation: by a private car

Transfer to Listvyanka. Check-in at the hotel.

Distance: 77km

Night in Listvyanka.

13 DAY / LISTVYANKA

Breakfast in the hotel.

Free day in Listvyanka. You can explore the city yourself or order some of our optional tours.

Night in Listvyanka.

14 DAY / BURYATIA | 5,125km - 6,166km

Breakfast in the hotel.

Transfer to the Irkutsk railway station.

Distance: 76km

Premium train Rossiya to Vladivostok. Night on the train.

Day and night in the train.

Your train on this day will pass through the Republic of Buryatia and its capital Ulan Ude, which is a centre of Buddhism in the Asian part of Russia. The Buryats have their own language, culture and cuisine.
In the day there will be a short stop in Chita, which is associated with the Decembrists who were exiled here for their participation in the uprising of 1825. The train then continues through steppe and then between small hills.

15 DAY / ZABAIKALIE | 6,166km - 7,463km

Day and night in the train.

On this day you won't pass through any large cities as you continue travelling through the part of Russia known as Zabaikalye, which literally means ‘beyond Baikal’. One of the more interesting stations your train will stop at here is Mogocha – a settlement situated on permafrost. It is one of the oldest centres of gold-mining in Russia – in the mid-1960s almost 500kg of gold was being extracted a year from the region. The local time now outside your train is Moscow time plus six hours.

16 DAY / FAR EAST - VLADIVOSTOK | 7,463km - 8,845km

Day and night in the train.

This is the last day of your train trip. You will pass through Birobidzhan – the interesting centre of the Jewish Autonomous District. In 1928 this area was chosen to become a new homeland for the world's Jews and over 43,000 Jews relocated here from all over the Soviet Union and even from the USA. However today only 6% of the city’s population is now Orthodox Jews.
Next up is Khabarovsk which was founded in 1858 as a fortress to defend against the Chinese. Today the city is the centre of Russia's Far Eastern Federal District. You will be just 17km from the Russia-China border.
Closer to the evening you will see on the horizon the Pacific Ocean as the train travels close to the coastline.

17 DAY / VLADIVOSTOK | 8,845km - 9,259km

Arrival in Vladivostok!

Transfer to the hotel.

A city tour of Vladivostok. The highlights of the tour are.

Golden Bridge – one of the five largest bridges in the world and a modern symbol of the city.
Eagle's Nest Hill – the highest point of the historical city of Vladivostok. From here there are amazing views of the city and of Zolotoy Rog Bay.
Vladivostok Railway Station – the final point of the longest railway journey in the world. The exterior of the station resembles Yaroslavsky Railway Station in Moscow which symbolically connects the two ends of the country.
Ulitsa Svetlanskaya - the main historical street in the city which has a mix of architectural styles of different eras.
Korabelnaya Naberezhnaya (Ship Embankment) – the construction of the port and the city began here in 1860.
C-56 Submarine Museum - during the Second World War the C-56 became the most effective of all Soviet submarines and was the first in history to circumnavigate the world. The excursion includes a visit inside the submarine.
Nikolaevskie Triumphal Gates – these were erected on the site of the original ones commemorating the visit of Emperor Nicholas II, which were destroyed in 1927.

Duration:4h | Transportation: by a private car

Night in Vladivostok.

18 DAY / DEPARTURE VLADIVOSTOK

Breakfast in the hotel.

Transfer to the airport, or to the seaport if you are planning to continue your trip to Japan

DATE OF CANCELLATION	CANCELLATION CHARGES
FROM 60 TO 45 DAYS BEFORE THE DEPARTURE	10%
FROM 44 TO 15 DAYS BEFORE THE DEPARTURE	30%
FROM 14 TO 7 DAYS BEFORE THE DEPARTURE	50%
LESS THAN 7 DAYS BEFORE THE DEPARTURE	100%