Transiberian Express advice please

uredzz

Hi there,

I am going to do the transiberian express in October, and just wondered if any of you peoples have done this and can offer any advice. I would like to know how best to book the actual train ticket ( from St Petersburg to Shanghai), which tour operators are best for there money and relaible. Also would be greatful of any other good advice on this trip.

I have booked my flights so just have to sort out the middle bit!

I have found the seat101 website very useful so far.

Thanks in advance for your responses!

Wine_of_the_World

I have actually met quite a few people who have done part of this journey while travelling - I'm sorry to say that most of them said the train journey did get rather boring as the scenery did get very samey in parts and there wasn’t much to look at.

However - all of the people went overland - by car / horse(!) or bike through Mongolia to China and everyone I spoke to LOVED this part. So much so that it made me really want to do it!!! I think people just booked the tours on arrival rather than in advance or this part of their trip.

These were backpacker types though so maybe they bought cheap seats on the train so didn’t enjoy the journey in a great deal of comfort?? Also I don’t think they were ‘train buffs’ and booked it more so they could get to China without flying – rather than for this specific journey if that makes sense.

If you want any tips on China let me know - I had a brilliant time there!!

Voyager2002

Well, I am quite a train buff and I found the actual journey fairly boring. You seem to spend days and days passing through the same rather uninspiring kind of landscape. However, you spend about a day skirting beautiful Lake Baikal, and on the approach to Beijing you spend about a day running along the Great Wall, so there are high points as well.

BaggieBoy_3

Each to their own but i have to disagree. I did it 12 years ago as part of a 6 week holiday and i thought the train journey was fantastic. Went on my own but met loads of people and enjoyed talking, eating, drinking, playing cards, haggling with the traders etc whilst watching the great scenery.

I broke the journey up by stopping in Irkutst (spelling!) (Siberia) for a few days and also stopping in Ullanbataar for a week before going onto Beijing.

When you have finished in Bejing (which is a great city) get the overnight train to Xian.

You'll have a brilliant trip im sure. Wish i was doing it again!! Ive had a few great holidays but that one beats the lot.

Can't really offer any advice on companies to book with im afraid as its been so long ago.

Spursman180

You must look at www.seat61.com, it is all explained there.

uredzz

Thanks for your replies!

I meant seat61 not seat101 (close!) thanks though.

I was going to use monkeyshrine to book the actual journeys, but cant tell if they are a good deal or not.

Cant wait!

danandjens_worldtravels

I've been looking into this for October too! the Bryn Thomas Trans-siberian handbook is very useful and I've found the Real Russia website helpful (recommended from seat61 and handbook). There is a train ticket booker on there and you can look at all the trains and prices. Some prices aren't finalised as they don't go on sale until 45 days before but its a good idicator and has the train times details of carriages etc. It also has details of how to obtain visas and the prices :eek:

It all seems very daunting at first, but as the weeks have gone on I've become more familiar with the route and websites. Good luck and maybe we'll meet for a vodka on the train!
:beer:

uredzz

Excellent!

One more question though, what is the best way to obtain all of the relevant visa's? I saw that for ease of use there are companies that will sort all of them on your behalf, are these worth there money? or is it best to just sort them out individually and by ourselves?

Ta again!

Albannach1876

uredzz wrote: »

Excellent!

One more question though, what is the best way to obtain all of the relevant visa's? I saw that for ease of use there are companies that will sort all of them on your behalf, are these worth there money? or is it best to just sort them out individually and by ourselves?

Ta again!

I did this trip in 2008 and used Real Russia to organise my Russian / Mongolian / Chinese and Belarussian visas as well as my train tickets and visa support. Instead of having to spend days running around different embassies they did it all for me. Highly recommend them!