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Overview

Trans Mongolian Rail adventure

A new take on an old favourite - this exciting rail journey takes us from post-Olympics Beijing to the understated elegance of St Petersburg. This epic tour combines staggering architecture with nomadic cultures, breathtaking landscapes with the lure of long-distance rail travel. Joining together the three ancient capitals of Beijing, Ulaanbaatar and Moscow, with spectacular scenery and warm welcomes in between, this classic rail journey offers something for all travellers.
Our program is unique as, after following the rail line in China, we catch a local train into the Gobi desert and enjoy several days at an ecotourism ger camp, mixing with the community. Using local train services and breaking our journey in Inner Mongolia too, we get to see Mongolia at its unspoilt best. Next stop is Siberia where we enjoy some Russian hospitality in Irkutsk and at Lake Baikal, traversing this huge land and witnessing its gradual metamorphosis from Asia to Europe. Finally, the last stretch of our rail odyssey leads us to the cosmopolitan St Petersburg and Moscow, to witness the former grandeur of past czars and their imposing monuments and palaces.

Feel free to contact our specialist at Uniktour for more information about this great rail adventure throughout Asia!

Itinerary

Day 1| Departure from Montreal

Days 2 to 4| Beijing
Beijing will prove unforgettable, all senses assailed - colour and sound, smell and taste - leaving indelible memories of continual contrast, history and tradition alongside 21st century technology. Over our three days here the 'Scheduled Sightseeing' will begin with some of the city's greatest highlights, the Temple of Heaven, Tiananmen Square and of course 'The Wall' stretching 10,000 Li across the distant hills.

Day 5| Trans Mongolian Railway
At last to Beijing Station and aboard the first of the trains that will carry us across Asia. We're off! Following the Great Wall northwest towards Mongolia. We settle in to our comfortable compartments and watch from the window as the towns and villages and the scenes of local life of Inner Mongolia go by. In the evening we settle down to our first night aboard as we cross the Gobi Desert.

Day 6| Ulaanbaatar
Bounded by Lake Baikal to the north and the Great Wall to the south is the Mongolian Plateau and Gobi Desert. This was the homeland of the brilliant, tough, well-drilled horsemen who, for over 500 years from the 13th century, plundered and occupied lands and cities from the Yellow River to the Danube. At daybreak, classic scenes of traditional nomadic life greet us as the train winds impressively across the Mongolian Steppe and into the capital. Ulaanbaatar, is a contradiction - a metropolis amid endless grass steppes, with donkeys and motorbikes, concrete apartment blocks and traditional gers.

Days 7 to 9| Ulaanbaatar and the Mongolian SteppeAfter breakfast we visit the Zaisan Memorial from which the entire city is visible. Also to the country's largest remaining monastery, Gandan Hiid where you can mingle with Buddhist monks. In the afternoon we travel out across the grasslands through the countryside where we spend two nights in a traditional Mongolian nomad ger set amongst spectacular rock formations and wild rolling hills. Among nomadic families and their grazing livestock we can walk into nearby valleys or just relax and enjoy the area. We return to Ulaanbaatar and visit the National Museum before joining the train north to Siberia.

Day 10| Aboard the Trans Mongolian Railway
Continuing towards Russia, leaving Mongolia at Sukhbaatarand travelling beyond the Russian border town to Ulan Ude, then west along the southern shore of the world's deepest freshwater lake - Baikal.

Day 11| Irkutsk (Siberia)
Almost in the centre of Asia, Irkutsk - 18th century churches, bright painted shutters and log houses decorated with wooden lacework. Modern administrative blocks and soaring bridges reach out across the Angara River in this beautiful town known as the "Paris of Siberia". On our walking tour you will discover the city's wonderful historic sights.

Day 12| Lake Baikal (Siberia)
We also enjoy a full day at Lake Baikal and time to visit the village of Listvyanka with its traditional houses and beautiful wooden church and nearby Limnological Museum. To gain an insight into the traditional lives of Siberian people we also visit the Museum of Wooden Architecture.

Days 13 to 15| Aboard the Trans Siberian Railway
We join the Trans Siberian Railway and travel via Novosibirsk, Omsk and Ekaterinburg booming over the steel bridges spanning Siberia's nerve system of 5,000 rivers. Through the Ural Mountains and, on the far side of the Volga, the flickering silvers and greens of the birch forests speed past. On past its suburbs and into the heart of Moscow the train arrives almost casually on time.

Days 16 to 18| Moscow
Moscow will amaze you, its palaces and public buildings restored to their former glory. The echoing vastness of Red Square, the splendid twirled cupolas of St.Basil's across the cobblestones, and the Kremlin itself - that fabled palace-fort of gilded domes where we marvel at the exquisite collection of royal treasures in the stunning Armoury Chamber. We ride the palatial underground rail system, adorned with chandeliers, mosaics and baroque bas-relief and perhaps a river cruise or a magical evening at one of Moscow's great theatres or State Circus. Our last rail journey is aboard the overnight express to St.Petersburg.

Days 19 to 21| St.Petersburg
It is the city on the water, the "Venice of the North", standing resplendent on the delta of the Neva River. St Isaac's Cathedral, richly filled palaces and museums, wide boulevards and canals. The gilded halls of the Hermitage Museum hung with the works of Da Vinci, Rembrandt and many other great masters, and beyond the city lie the incomparable summer palaces of the tsars at Petrodvorets. Yet for all this, St.Petersburg remains one of Europe's best kept secrets.

Day 22| Depart St.Petersburg
The last day has arrived too soon. The adventure is complete, the legendary rail journey that started many days ago has taken you across Asia, through lands and cultures literally worlds apart.

Budget

**Rates published on this website are for information purposes only and are not legally binding (since departure dates are not given). Prices on this website are known to fluctuate frequently in relation to changes in currencies and hotel pricing. In order to obtain a definite quote, please click here.

Other fees

Next departures for 2011
11 Apr 2011 - 1 May 2011
25 Apr 2011 - 15 May 2011
9 May 2011 - 29 May 2011
30 May 2011 - 19 Jun 2011
13 Jun 2011 - 3 Jul 2011
27 Jun 2011 - 17 Jul 2011


Group Size
15 maximum, plus Group Leader.

For ‘Scheduled Sightseeing' we generally use a small minibus, and for ‘City Exploring' we use local taxis, public transport, underground metro and go on foot.

2 Berth Rail (Optional)
Available for a supplementary price only when two people book and travel together. Available on all rail sectors.