BEGINNING OF YOUR TOUR

• Start your train journey in Vladivostok, the capital of the Russian Far East. Even though Vladivostok is the most eastern Russian city (7 time zones away from Moscow) and geographically it is in Asia, just in short distance from Beijing, Tokyo or Pyongyang, Vladivostok looks like European city. Vladivostok used to be a city closed for foreigners, where headquarters of Russian Pacific fleet is located. After the collapse of the Soviet Union Vladivostok was opened to the world, and after reconstruction for the APEC summit in 2012 the city got its modern outlook with beatiful cable-stayed bridges
• Catch a train to Khabarovsk at Vladivostok Railway Station

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  Khabarovsk Railway Station
  Arrival in Khabarovsk
• City sightseeing tour: start at Muraviev-Amursky street which is in the heart of the city and enjoy ancient stone architecture, shop for soverniers in local stores
• Then stroll to the city's main square (Lenin square) and walk towards the Spaso-Preobrajensky cathedral pass by Glory Square hosting Memorial complex. Near by you will see the monument to Erophey Khabarov, the Russian explorer, after whom the city was called
• River cruise: take a ship from the river station near the central recreational park where the monument to the city-founder Muraviev-Amursky is located
• In the evening catch train to Ulan-Ude

• Enjoy landscape scenery from the train

Capital of Russian Buddhism

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  Datsan Rinpoche Bagsha in Ulan-Ude
  In the evening arrival in the capital of The Republic of Buryatia(federal subject of Russia) - Ulan-Ude
• Overnight at Geser hotel
• With its smiley Asian features, cosy city centre and fascinating Mongol-Buddhist culture, the Buryat capital is one of Eastern Siberia’s most likeable cities. Quietly busy, welcoming and, after Siberia’s Russian cities, refreshingly exotic, it’s a pleasant place to base yourself for day trips to Buddhist temples and flits to eastern Lake Baikal’s gently shelving beaches, easily reachable by bus. Founded as a Cossack ostrog (fort) called Udinsk (later Verkhneudinsk) in 1666, the city prospered as a major stop on the tea-caravan route from China via Troitskosavsk (now Kyakhta). Renamed Ulan-Ude in 1934, it was a closed city until the 1980s due to its secret military plants (there are still mysterious blank spaces on city maps).

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  The world biggest Lenin's head monument in Ulan-Ude
  Breakfast time
• City tour: start at Soviet Square with Lenin's bust shaped as giant head - the biggest Lenin's head in the world! Walk through pedestrianized street Arbat and enjoy local architecture: history museum, house of Kappelman, Arch of Triumph, Opera and Ballet house
• Visit Gostinye Ryady (former market place) at Revolution Square
• Finish the tour at St' Odigitriev cathedral (city's first stone building)
• Transfer to the railway station to catch train to Irkutsk

Lake Baikal

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  Baikal lake
  Arrival in Irkutsk in the morning
• Transfer to the city's historical center.
• Transfer to Baikal Lake. En route: visit open-air ethnographical museum of wooden architecture "Taltsy" (comprehensive exhibition of Siberian-style folk houses of the former centuries)
• Visit Listvyanka village and try famous Baikal fish Omul at a restaurant situated at Baikal's shore
• Experience the lake's landscape and culture: get acquaintaned with Shaman-rock legend, visit ancient wooden orthodox church of St.Nicholas (who is believed to be the patron of fishermen and sailors), ride a funicular to Chersky peak observatory to enjoy picturesque view of the lake
• Stop by local fish & souvenir markets to choose a gift for your family and friends
• In the evening check-in at Nikolay private hotel-house in Listvyanka.
• Free time

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  Taltsy open-air museum
  Breakfast. Have your free morning time at Baikal lake
• Transfer to Irkutsk
• City tour: Irkutsk foundation place, the Eternal flame memorial, most important churches (including Znamensky cathedral ), Kirov square and several memorials dedicated to events in Siberian history, Irkutsk Linguistics University, and City administration. Put your feet at the crossing of Lenin and Karl-Marx streets (two main streets) in the center of the city, stroll along Gagarin boulevard, popular with locals as a dating spot. Overview the monument to tsar Alexander III overlooking one of the mightiest Siberian rivers Angara, and visit unique lore museum surrounded by centries-old buildings that keep the charm of Irkutsk
• Lunch at the local restaurant and then enjoy your free time in Irkutsk
• In the evening we will transfer to the Railway Station and depart to Yekaterinburg

• Enjoy landscape scenery from the train

Europe-Asia border in Urals

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  Yekaterinburg
  Arrival in the evening and check-in Marins Park hotel
• Yekaterinburg is not only Russia's forth-largest city, it is like a piece of conceptual art with a fascinating historical sub-text. Bustling but less than startling on the outside, the political capital of the Ural Mountains is overflowing with history and culture, while its economic growth is manifested in a thriving restaurant scene and, as in many other regional capitals, in atrociously trafficked avenues. Yekaterinburg is a good base camp for exploring the Ural Mountains

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  Ganina Yama monastery
  Breakfast
• City sighseeing tour: Yekaterinburg began it's autobiography with a small factory-fortress, now it has become one of the largest cities in the country. City was named Yekaterinburg in honor of Empress Catherine I. The plan of the city is a regular rectangular grid of the Ural factory-fortress at the 18th century. An unforgettable experience for visitors remains after a visit to its main places of interest: Dam, Main city square - Pl. 1905, Monument to Boris Yeltsin, Monument to Yakov Sverdlov, Opera House, Monument to the "Black Tulip", Monument to Georgy Zhukov, "CheKa" (Security officers) town, merchant N. Sevastyanov's House, Circus, Arboretum.
• You will also learn the the tragic "last way" of the last Russian Emperor Nicholas II's family. The mystery of remains hiding at Ganina Yama forest. Visit to the Romanov's Monastery and Memorial at the Old road
• Yekaterinburg is situated on the border of Europe and Asia (on the Asian side) and (at least) three symbolic monuments of this can be found near the city. You will transfer to one of them to see Europe-Asia border
• In the evening catch the train to Moscow

Welcome to the European part of Russia!

• Enjoy landscape scenery from the train

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  Moscow
  In the morning arrival in Moscow, the capital of the Russia
• This is the end of the tour