How to Travel the Trans-Siberian Railway

From a brief history of the railway system to tips for booking train tickets and obtaining a visa, this post shows you how to travel the Trans-Siberian Railway so you can start planning your epic journey across Russia.

Introduction to the Trans-Siberian Railway System

The “Trans-Siberian Express” is romanticized as a single train that traverses the expanse of Russia, but actually, it’s a system of trains. The Trans-Siberian Railway encompasses all the trains that cross Siberia and beyond. The system includes both domestic and international trains, like the Trans-Mongolian which departs from Beijing bound for Moscow via Ulaan-Bataar.

The railway between Moscow and Vladivostok in the far east of Russia was completed in 1901. Up until 1904, you had to hop off the train to catch a ferry to cross Lake Baikal and continue by train on the other end. Nowadays there’s a Baikal-Amur-Maestral (BAM) line that passes north of Lake Baikal (a stunning ride I’ve added to my bucket list), so you don’t need a ferry.

Some travelers take the Moscow-Vladivostok route to catch a ferry to Japan, but more popular is the Trans-Mongolian train connecting China and Russia.

Construction of the Trans-Mongolian line started in 1940, reached Ulaanbaatar 9 years later, and was completed in Beijing in 1956. This route between Beijing and Moscow is a 4,735 mile (7,621 km) journey that takes 6 nights, 7 days. The westward-bound train, K3, departs Beijing every Wednesday morning. The eastward bound train, K4, leaves Moscow every Tuesday night. 

There’s also a Trans-Manchurian line that departs weekly from Beijing to Moscow via Harbin in Northeast China, a region formerly known as Manchuria. I heard this route was not as scenic as the Trans-Mongolian, though, so I opted for the K3. 

How to prepare for the long train rides

My train from Beijing to Ulan-Ude was the K3 westward-bound train, so keep in mind these photos are particular to my train. To read more about my experience on the train from Beijing to Ulan-Ude, click here.

There are different trains that depart on different days of the week from either Moscow or Beijing. The K3 train departs every Wednesday from Beijing Railway Station and heads to Moscow. For an updated timetable, click here.

I booked a second-class, 4-berth hard-sleeper with sliding, lockable doors. I traveled in January which is low-season so I had a cabin all to myself. 

Clean sheets, a pillow, and a blanket are provided. Each cabin also provides a thermos for hot water that you can dispense from the samovar available in each carriage, a metal tray for food scraps, coat hooks, reading light and shelf for personal belongings above each berth, a mirror, a table with tablecloth, and space for luggage under the bottom berths.

There are fold-down seats in the narrow hallway, but otherwise, your cabin-mates share the bottom berths when you’re not sleeping (if you have the bottom berth, that is, which I recommend). 

The bathroom was super clean and supplied toilet paper and hand-soap. I didn’t know it was included in my ticket but I was given vouchers for lunch and dinner in the Chinese dining car. The meal in the Mongolian dining car, however, was not included.

The food changes from Chinese to Mongolian to Russian as you pass through each country, and while I can’t speak for the Russian meals (as I hopped off in Ulan-Ude before one was served) the Mongolian and Chinese meals were filling, hot, and tasty. 

For charging devices, I had to ask the attendant to charge my phone in his cabin. There are outlets in the first-class cabins. However, there’s only enough power to charge one laptop at a time. Bob, my retired American friend in first class, was unable to sleep with his breathing machine because it blew the fuse!

I visited Bob and Terry’s first-class cabin with 2-berths and a separate seating area. They have their own tiny bathroom with a western toilet and a shower-head, but there is so little space it’s a struggle to bathe.

While the Chinese train was chilly, the temperature on domestic Russian trains was cranked up. I wish I’d brought shorts and flip flops like the locals because the heat (up to 29 degrees Celcius) would get so stuffy, I was forced to cool off in between train cars, which was of course freezing.

Russian trains (and all accommodations across Russia for that matter) were very, very clean. The provodnitsa (Russian for carriage attendant) even mops the floors between major railway stations. You are provided starched, bleached sheets, and as in Russian hostels, you make the bed yourself. And before you depart, you must strip and return all sheets to the provodnitsa. 

On one of the longer journeys between Russian cities, I bought a delicious savory pastry, so, if the provodnitsa passes through your carriage selling snacks, try one!

Like the Chinese train, there is a samovar for hot water and you must ask the provodnitsa to charge your devices. 

How to Apply for a Russian Visa (as a US citizen)

I’m not clear on the visa situation for non-US citizens, sorry!

US Citizens need to obtain a visa for Russia in advance, and to be on the safe side, do it in your home country. I couldn’t apply for one at the Russian Embassy in Beijing.

If you plan to stop in China for more than 72 hours, you also need to apply for a Chinese visa. If you plan to stop in Mongolia for more than 30 days, you’ll need a visa for Mongolia, too. 

The Russian visa application requires support documents (i.e. an invitation letter) that you can get through RealRussia for USD24 (at the time of my application in March 2017). You are required to disclose your whole itinerary, including accommodations, but I didn’t have any of that planned so RealRussia made one up for the sole purpose of obtaining a visa. 

After getting my support documents, I filled out the application for a 3-year multi-entry tourist visa.

Because I don’t live near any visa centers (New York, Washington D.C., Houston, and San Francisco), I applied by mail through ILS. It cost USD353 but is significantly cheaper if you can apply in person.

For complete information on how to obtain a Russian Visa, check out the ILS website by clicking here. 

How to Book Trans-Siberian Railway Tickets

I bought my ticket from Beijing to Ulan-Ude through CITS via email. I had contacted them while I was still in the States and could pay with PayPal.

The ticket cost USD326 (in late 2017).

I had to pick up the train ticket in person at the international train-booking office on the ground floor of the Beijing International Hotel. 

YOU CANNOT BUY TICKETS AT BEIJING RAILWAY STATION!

You can also buy tickets online from RealRussia. At the time of inquiry in late 2017, the fare from Beijing to Ulan-Ude was USD490 for a 4-berth, second class hard sleeper… that’s much pricier! 

TravelChinaGuide is also a well-known service and offers cheaper prices. Check out their rates here.

The only tickets I bought in advance were for the first legs of my journey from Beijing to Ulan-Ude and from Ulan-Ude to Irkutsk because I wanted to stop at different places along the route. I didn’t have a fixed itinerary and winter is low-season, so I had the flexibility to purchase the rest of my train tickets at each destination.

I could do so easily online at the official Russian Railways website, available in English.

Other helpful resources for planning your Trans-Siberian travels

Seat61 is the most comprehensive website for planning your Trans-Siberian adventure. From train schedules and detailed photos of the train’s interior to arranging visas and booking tickets, the man in Seat61 is the guru of teaching you how to travel the Trans-Siberian Railway!

The Trans-Siberian Handbook by Bryn Thomas was my guidebook companion. There’s a great introduction to the history of the Trans-Siberian Railway, and it was nice to refer to during the train rides so I could identify what I was seeing out the windows.

Where I Stayed in Russia

I won’t go into detail describing each accommodation. Instead, I’ll give a rating of 1-10.

1 = the sketchiest dump, and 10 = a clean and comfortable accommodation with good vibes

Ulan-Ude – Ulan-Ude Travelers House Hostel (8)

Irkutsk –  52°17′ Travelcenter & Hostel (10 — My favorite hostel of all for its coziness, good company, and its central location near commercial areas and cool local bars)

Lake Baikal/Olkhon Island – Nikita’s Homestead (9.8 — This is a magical place, both the island and the homestead. Food is provided and the rooms are charming and warm. The only reason I’m not giving them a 10 is because I don’t like waking up in the middle of the night to find mice stealing my snacks.)

Vladivostok – Airbnb (10 — This was the only Airbnb I stayed in. I just liked the host so much because she picked me up when I was freezing outside and drove me home. Also, the bed had a leopard print cover–an authentic Russian experience!)

Tomsk – Eco Hostel (7 — Clean and conveniently located, but at the time of my stay, the guests were all Russian students and professionals working on their laptops. It felt more like a co-working space than a hostel, which could be great if you just want to work.)

Yekaterinburg –  RedLine hostel (8)

Kazan – Kazanskoye Podvorye Hostel (9 — A multi-story hostel in the center with their own café…fancy!)

Moscow – El Coffee House and Hostel (5 — Nice location but the room was TINY and not at all soundproof.)

St. Petersburg – Sasha’s Hostel (1 — The sketchiest hostel I have ever been to that I actually left. I’m so glad I met a male friend on the train to accompany me to this hostel because for the first time on this trip, I felt unsafe. Not only did the host not respond to my messages, but when I arrived he walked out of his room disheveled, followed by a few other men looking equally disheveled. What did me in was when he showed me my room. I can’t remember what it was, but I was so horrified that I turned around and left. Thankfully, he let me cancel without payment.) 

St. Petersburg – Baby Lemonade (10 — After the Sasha scandal, we found Baby Lemonade–what a name! Months later, I bumped into one of the staff in Beijing. She was couch-surfing through China and playing music on the street. I hosted her for a few days. I also befriended a traveler from Macau that I met up with when she visited Beijing. And since I’m on the topic of meeting people I met in Russia in Beijing, I also met up with someone I met at Nikita’s Homestead. Small world, eh?)