Trans-Siberian, the 10,000 kilometres of railway track that stretches from Moscow all the way to Vladivostok. Train trips are known to be quite the novelty and it’s exciting to get to know more about this one.
This train trip, together with its alternative route, the Trans-Mongolian from the Russian capital to Beijing, are names that are instantly recognisable to so many travellers, that sit close to the top of many a list of fantasy experiences.
These are iconic train journeys that cover almost unbelievable swathes of the world, transporting passengers across continents, across cultures, across civilisations. They’re also intimidating journeys for first-timers, ones that can seem almost impossible to plan and execute.
Mark Smith is better known to his legions of followers as “The Man in Seat 61”, a train-travel fanatic who runs the respected repository of all rail knowledge, seat61.com. He’s done both the Trans-Siberian – Moscow to Vladivostok in seven days, eight nights – and the Trans-Mongolian, which takes five days and six nights to travel from Moscow, via Ulaan Baator in Mongolia, to Beijing, and he says these journeys truly are the pinnacle.
Smith Stated that “What’s incredible about the Trans-Siberian is that people have got this image of it as an isolated Russian curiosity, winding single-track with one train a month that goes from Moscow to somewhere called Vladivostok, But actually, it’s a double-track electrified railway, just one part of the massive Russian rail network, and you can use it to travel by train from London, Paris or Berlin, through Moscow, not just to Vladivostok but Beijing, and through Beijing to Hong Kong and Shanghai and even Hanoi in Vietnam.”
The old cliché of travel – “it’s the journey, not the destination” – has never been truer than it is on these famous routes. Moscow is amazing, Beijing incredible. Vladivostok, to a lesser extent, is also interesting. However, the time spent aboard these trains, rattling through Siberia and across the Mongolia Steppe, meeting locals, eating local food, taking in culture on board while watching the world change through the window, is truly something else.
