Moscow – Yekaterinburg – Novosibirsk – Krasnoyarsk – Irkutsk – Lake Baikal – Ulan Ude – Ulaanbaatar

Day 1 (Saturday)               Moscow                            D

Arrival in Moscow. You will be met at the Moscow airport and transferred to your hotel.

Accommodation in Moscow.

Day 2 (Sunday)                 Moscow                            B, L, D

A full day sightseeing tour shows you the magnificent Red Square, the Kremlin grounds and other highlights of Moscow. You will forget old stories about Moscow being grey and dark. It has become a vibrant city, full of life, comparable to Paris or Rome. In the afternoon transfer to the railway station where your private train Grand Trans-Siberian Express is ready for you to board for the first leg of the almost 8000 km long journey to Ulaanbaatar. Welcome dinner and accommodation on board the Grand Trans-Siberian Express.

Day 3 (Monday)                Full day on the train         B, L, D

Today you enjoy a typical day on the Trans-Siberian Railway. Your private train passes through endless scenery of forests, lakes and small settlements, followed by the Ural Mountains. A day to relax, watch the landscape, and listen to lectures about Russia and its people. In the evening you arrive in Ekaterinburg, the “Capital of the Ural Mountains”.

Accommodation in Ekaterinburg.

Day 4 (Tuesday)                Ekaterinburg                     B, L, D

Ekaterinburg – “Capital of the Ural Mountains”. The city was founded in 1723 by Czar Peter I as the center of the metallurgical industry. By the 20th century, it had become one of the largest and the most important financial, industrial, and cultural centers of Russia. Ekaterinburg is located at the geographical border defined by scientists between Europe and Asia.

In the morning a sightseeing tour shows you the city center, and you visit a place of remarkable importance for Russian history: the “Cathedral on The Blood” which was built at the site where the Bolsheviks executed Czar Nicholas II and his family in 1918.

In the afternoon an excursion into the Ural forests takes you to Ganina Yama, which today is considered by Russians as a “holy place.” It is an assembly of small wooden chapels which were erected in the 1990s to honor the last Czar’s family of the Romanov dynasty who were buried in Ganina Yama.

Accommodation onboard the Grand Trans-Siberian Express.

Day 5 (Wednesday)          Novosibirsk                       B, L, D

Again an almost full day of relaxation and lectures on the train, today you are passing through the plains of Western Siberia and reach Novosibirsk in the late afternoon. With 1,5 million inhabitants Russia’s third-largest city and the biggest of Siberia, it is widely regarded as the center of Siberia. It was founded in 1893 as the future site of the Trans-Siberian railway bridge crossing the Siberian River Ob.

Accommodation in Novosibirsk.

Day 6 (Thursday)               Novosibirsk                       B, L, D

In the morning a city sightseeing tour shows you some remarkable orthodox churches which have survived the Soviet period, and you see the famous Opera House which is the largest in Russia, situated in the center of the city at Lenin Square. In the afternoon, an excursion takes you out of the town into the Taiga. About 30 km out of the city you have the opportunity of visiting the largest open-air railway museum of Russia, a collection of more than 60 showpieces of steam, diesel and electric locomotives as well as several historical passenger cars – a perfect insight into the development of the trains on the Trans-Siberian Railway. A boat tour on the River Ob shows you one of the mightiest rivers which are crossed by the Trans-Siberian Railway.

Accommodation onboard the Grand Trans-Siberian Express.

Day 7 (Friday)                   Krasnoyarsk                      B, L, D

Krasnoyarsk, like Ekaterinburg and Ulan-Ude, used to be a “closed city” during Soviet times – closed to foreigners and also to most Soviet citizens at that time. It is located along the Yenissei River, which is the greatest river system flowing to the Arctic Ocean.

Accommodation onboard the Grand Trans-Siberian Express.

Day 8 (Saturday)               Irkutsk                               B, L, D

Irkutsk is famous for its trade with Mongolia and China and used to be called “Paris of Siberia” because of its colorful lifestyle during the time of the Tsars. You visit the old town with its large quarters still consisting of wooden houses.  One of the of the cultural highlights of the tour will be a private classical concert in a Mansion of historical background.

Accommodation in Irkutsk.

Day 9 (Sunday)                 Lake Baikal                        B, L, D

Today one of the top highlights of the tour with the Grand Trans-Siberian Express will amaze you for the rest of the day. Lake Baikal holds the biggest freshwater reserves in the world. It stretches up to 26 miles from east to west and more than 370 miles from north to south. Lake Baikal is the deepest lake in the world, reaching 1.620 meters at its deepest part. The mountain ranges around Lake Baikal and the deep blue water of the lake, you will never forget.

In the morning a one-hour bus drive takes you from the hotel to Lake Baikal. A walk through the village of Listvyanka shows you to St Nicholas church, a typical orthodox wooden build church beautifully renovated in the 1990’s. On a typical Siberian lunch, you can taste fresh fish from Lake Baikal. In the afternoon a boat takes you on a short cruise on Lake Baikal to the small village of Port Baikal where the private train is waiting for you.

Today the private train is running at low speed along the scenic Circum Baikal Railway line between Port Baikal and Sludyanka, which for many years has been used only by a few of local trains and tourist trains. A photo stop will be arranged at a small village where you can get off the train, put your feet into the clear and cold water of Lake Baikal and – with some luck – also visit the typical wooden houses of local people. A Baikal barbecue is also a part of the program.

Accommodation onboard the Grand Trans-Siberian Express.

Day 10 (Monday)              Ulan-Ude                           B, L, D

Ulan-Ude is the capital of the so-called “Buryat Autonomous Republic” of the Russian Federation. Buryats are an ethnic group close to Mongolians with an amazing mix of cultures and religions. Ulan-Ude is a meeting place between East and West. Like Irkutsk, the city still has large areas with typical Siberian wooden houses. Your sightseeing excursion goes to one of the villages of Orthodox “Old Believers” still practising their live like people did it centuries ago.

When leaving Ulan-Ude, the Grand Trans-Siberian Express switches from the Trans-Siberian mainline to the Trans Mongolian mainline on its way to Ulaanbaatar. In the evening the train reaches the Russian border station Naushki and the Mongolian border station Sukhbaatar. Russian and Mongolian immigration formalities will take place in the train. You may stay in your compartment and don’t have to leave the train.

Accommodation on board the Grand Trans-Siberian Express.

Day 11 (Tuesday)              Ulaanbaatar                      B, L, D

In the morning the Grand Trans-Siberian Express arrives in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia. During a sightseeing tour you will visit the famous Ghandan Monastery, the central Sukhabaatar Square, the Bogd Khan Museum which used to be formerly the winter and sometimes also the summer palace of the Khans’, as well as the Zaisan monument at a viewpoint high above the city. From there you will have an excellent view of the city which is surrounded by large areas of nomadic yurt settlements. An amazing cultural music and dance show will introduce Mongolian folk music and culture to you. In the evening you experience a traditional Mongolian Hot Pot dinner.

Accommodation in Ulaanbaatar.

Day 12 (Wednesday)        Ulaanbaatar                      B, L, D

Today an unforgettable excursion will take you to the Terelj National Park which is famous for its nature. A stone formation called the “turtle” and the beautiful mountainous scenery will fascinate you. In the park area you will have the chance to meet a herder family inside their yurt. A Naadam show specially arranged for the participants of the Grand Trans-Siberian Express demonstrates 3 disciplines of the Mongolian National Naadam festival: Wrestling, Archery and Horseracing.

Accommodation in a **** hotel in Ulaanbaatar.

Day 13 (Thursday)            Ulaanbaatar                      B

End of the tour. Transfer to the airport and departure.