Trans-Siberian Railway

Every list of the world's great railway journeys has the same name at the top. The Trans-Siberian is the longest railway on earth — 9,289 kilometres of track from Moscow to the Pacific — and to ride its full length is to cross a continent the slow way, watching a fifth of the way around the planet slide past the window over the better part of a week.

It is less a scenic ride than an epic. There is no single killer view to wait for; instead there is scale — day after day of birch and taiga, of wide Siberian rivers and remote wooden towns, of stations where the clocks stubbornly keep Moscow time even as you cross eight time zones on your way east. And then, roughly halfway, the payoff: Lake Baikal, the deepest lake on the planet, with the line threading its shore.

The flagship service, the Rossiya, runs the whole way in about seven days without a change of train. But the Trans-Siberian is really a family of journeys — including the Trans-Mongolian to Beijing — and the great pleasure of it is to break the trip, stepping off into Siberia for a few days before climbing aboard the next train east.

The classic journey begins under the great departure boards of Moscow's Yaroslavsky station and ends, seven days later, on the Pacific at Vladivostok — though it can be ridden either way.

Out of Moscow the train crosses the plains of European Russia and climbs, almost imperceptibly, over the Ural Mountains — the low, forested range that marks the boundary between Europe and Asia, near the city of Yekaterinburg. Beyond it lies Siberia proper: the industrial hub of Novosibirsk on the mighty Ob, then Krasnoyarsk on the Yenisei, then the long haul to Irkutsk, the elegant old exile city that is the jumping-off point for the journey's centrepiece.

That centrepiece is Lake Baikal. The line curves down to the water and runs along its southern shore for miles — the oldest, deepest lake in the world, so vast it holds a fifth of all the unfrozen fresh water on earth. From Ulan-Ude, capital of Buddhist Buryatia, the rails fork: south to Mongolia and China, or on eastward through Chita and Khabarovsk to the end of the line.

Between the landmarks, the journey is about the train itself. Life settles into the rhythm of the carriage — the ever-boiling samovar at the end of the corridor, the provodnitsa (car attendant) who rules it, tea in glass holders, shared meals, and the scramble onto the platform at longer stops to buy smoked omul fish, dumplings and berries from the babushkas who meet the train. By the time Vladivostok appears, the marker on the platform — 9,288 km from Moscow — feels thoroughly earned.

The Trans-Siberian is a year-round, everyday railway, not a seasonal tourist train — a network of long-distance services rather than a single departure. The one to know is the flagship Rossiya (trains №1 and №2), which runs the full 9,259 km Moscow ⇄ Vladivostok route in about six days and two hours (~60 stops), leaving Moscow around 00:35 on alternate days in each direction.

A quirk worth knowing: for most of its history the entire network ran on Moscow time, whatever the local hour outside — so timetables, and the clocks on stations, could be hours out of step with the daylight. Always check whether a schedule is quoted in Moscow or local time.

The great decision is through or in stages:

Trains and berths book up in the summer peak, so reserve well ahead — a berth is effectively your bed for the nights on board.

Schedule as of 2026. Confirm current times (and whether they're quoted in Moscow or local time) with the operator — see the Tickets section below.

Tickets are sold by Russian Railways (RZD) and, for a mark-up and a lot less hassle, by specialist agencies who will also handle stopovers and, if you need it, visa support. Fares depend on the class, the specific train and how far ahead you book, so we point you to the operator for live prices.

There are three classes, and choosing between them shapes the whole experience:

• 1st class — Spalny Vagon (SV) — a two-berth compartment; the most space and privacy for the long nights.
• 2nd class — Kupe — a four-berth compartment with a lockable door; the popular middle choice.
• 3rd class — Platskart — an open-plan carriage of bunks with no compartments; cheapest, most sociable, and for many travellers the real Trans-Siberian.

A few tips:

• Book ahead, especially June–September; berths on the best trains go early.
• Lower berths cost a little more and give you the seat and the window by day.
• Riding in stages? Buy each leg as a separate ticket, and leave buffer time — miss a connection and the next train might not run until tomorrow.

Before anything else: check your government's travel advice. The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office currently advises against all travel to Russia, citing security incidents, the absence of direct flights home, a heightened risk of detention for foreign nationals and very limited consular support. Other governments say much the same. What follows describes the route as it stands; whether it is a route you can responsibly take right now is a separate question, and one worth answering before you plan anything.

The whole point of riding in stages is the places you can step off into, west to east: Moscow, Yekaterinburg, Irkutsk and Lake Baikal, Ulan-Ude and finally Vladivostok. Two things worth doing that are not cards below — ride the Moscow metro before you board at Yaroslavsky, where the deep Stalin-era stations are a museum you pay a flat fare to walk through, and stand in front of the enormous bronze Lenin head on Ulan-Ude's main square, which is exactly as strange as it sounds.

On the train, your berth is your bed — one of the two, four or many bunks in your carriage, made up with bedding handed out by the car attendant. Choosing your class (SV, kupe or platskart) is choosing your accommodation for the nights between stops, so pick with the sleeping in mind: a lower berth in a two- or four-berth compartment is the most restful.

Off the train, where you overnight depends on how you break the journey:

• Cities (Moscow, Yekaterinburg, Irkutsk, Vladivostok) — a full range from hostels to grand hotels; the old railway hotels near the stations are convenient for early departures.
• Lake Baikal — trade a city hotel for a lakeside guesthouse in Listvyanka or a homestay on Olkhon Island for a night or two by the water.
• Homestays & guesthouses — across Siberia these are often the warmest, best-value option, and a window into local life.

Book city hotels and the popular Baikal guesthouses ahead in summer, when the whole route is busy.