Trans Manchurian Route Description. The town of the Trans siberian railroad. Stop along the way. Trip to Transiberian raiload. Tour to Transsib. Trans Sib.

Moscow   

0h 0m The capital of Russia. A vibrant historical center.
 

Vladimir   

2h 30m A small ancient city along the Golden Ring.
 

 Nizhny   

Novgorod     

6h 30m A big vibrant industrial center of Volga region (Povolzhie).
 

The end of Nizhegorodskaya region, start of Kirov region.

Kotelnich   

11h 20m Here Trans-Siberian meets with the old track that was going through Yaroslavl.

Crossing Vyatka river

Kirov   

12h 50m A small industrial northern city. Center of Kirov region.
 

Crossing Kosa river

The end of Kirov region, start of Udmurtiya republic

Glazov   

15h 50m

Belezino   

16h 20m

Crossing Cheptsa river

The end of Udmurtiya republic, start of Perm region. Start of Urals region.

Crossing Kama river

Perm   

20h 10m A big industrial town in the beginning of Ural mountains. The main attractions are a few museums in the city, and old prehistorical caves.

The end of Perm region, start of Sverdlovsk region

Crossing Chusovaya river

Ekaterinburg   

1d 2h 20m Ekaterinburg was founded in 1797, and now it is the unofficial capital of Ural region — the most industrial (and polluted) region of Russia. However, Urals are most known as the mountains that divide Europe and Asia.

Ekaterinburg itself is a nice and real (unvarnished) industrial city of modern Russia with many interesting buildings and sights.
 

The end of Sverdlovsk region, start of Tyumen region (2070 km).
The end of Ural, start of Western Siberia.

Tyumen   

1d 6h 30m The center of Tyumen region — the oil & gas center of Russia.

Ishim   

1d 10h 10m

Crossing Ishim river

The end of Tyumen region, start of Omsk region.

Nazyvaemskaya     
    

1d 12h 30m The closest place to Kazakhstan of the route: about 100 km.

Crossing Irtysh river

Omsk   

1d 13h 50m

The end of Omsk region, start of Novosibirsk region.

Barabinsk   

1d 17h 38m

Crossing Chulym river

Crossing Ob river

Novosibirsk   

1d 21h 30m The biggest city in Siberia region with 1442000 inhabitants, it was founded in 1893. Novosibirsk is the third main cultural and scientific center in Russia (after Moscow and St. Petersburg), the university of Novosibirsk is quite famous too. The city is developing quite rapidly, and is considered to be the capital of Siberia.
The area around Novosibirsk is very good for camping and trekking. Besides, Novosibirsk is a great place to start discovering Altai mountains, which are not far.
 

The end of Novosibirsk region, start of Kemerovo region

Taiga   

2d 1h 0m

Mariinsk   

2d 3h 0m

The end of Kemerovo region, start of Krasnoyarsk region.

Bogotol   

2d 5h 20m

Crossing Chulym river (on 3880 km)

Achinsk   

2d 6h 20m

 Krasnoyarsk   

2d 9h 20m If you have a goal to stop at all the main Trans-Siberian stations, then you should stop in Krasnoyarsk, which is an important Siberian industrial center. But frankly, we personally find there's nothing interesting, except for Stolby National Park, which is outside of the city.

Crossing Enisey river

Ilanskaya   

2d 14h 0m There's a nice market at the station - eggs, potatoes, fish, sausages, tomatoes, ice cream, salted cucumbers, fresh stuff. Train stays 20 mins usually.

The end of Krasnoyarsk region, start of Irkutsk region.

Taishet   

2d 16h 30m Here you can change to BAM train line. Check beforehand if there's a train.

Nizhneudinsk   

2d 19h 20m Shops with beer, babushkas sell food in big bags - they walk with their bags and they open the bags to show you what is inside (there it looks like they're hiding). The air is warm and there are many mosquitoes.

Crossing Uda river

Zima   

2d 23h 10m A weird place with very hot climate in summer.

Crossing Oka river

Angarsk   

3d 2h 20m All the chemical and machinery productions are concentrated in this city. It was built by prisoners, so the landscapes are not very welcoming. Also, it is considered to be quite dangerous.

 Irkutsk   

3d 3h 20m Irkutsk is a nice city with unusual atmosphere and interesting architecture. Baikal lake is just 60 kilometers away, and there are also Sayan mountain range quite close. Irkutsk is a good starting point for various outdoor activities and for exploring the western side of the lake Baikal.
 

Baikal Lake     

Here you start seeing Baikal lake

A truly amazing and beautiful lake. There are a lot of places to enjoy pristine nature, and swim in the lake. It is worth making the Trans-Siberian just because of this lake only.

Spend a few days there and you'll feel as if you were born again. You can either go there by yourself, or join in various outdoor activities offered by tour operators.

Slyudyanka   

3d 5h 50m A village on the shore of Baikal. It's more like a port, so it's not interesting to stay in there.
It is a good starting point for exploration of Circum Baikal railway (which starts there), or going south to Arshan (3 hours), which is just next to Sayan mountains — a great place for camping, walks, and various activities.
By the way, you can buy great smoked fish from Baikal lake - Omul - there. Highly recommended.

The end of Irkutsk region, start of Buryatia republic.

 Ulan-Ude   

3d 12h 20m Overlooked by many travelers, this is a great place to stop for a few days (or even weeks - for Baikal). Ulan-Ude is the first place along the Trans-Siberian, where you feel like you're in Asia finally (after more than 2 days travel in the Asian part of Russia!). It has a feel of a calm, friendly Asian town (quite close to Mongolia, in fact), and there are a lot of interesting things to discover. Start with a local History Museum, visit a Buddhist Datsan, go to the open-air Ethnographic museum, and then go on to explore the Eastern shore of Baikal lake, which is much less tourist than the opposite Irkutsk side.
 

In Ulan-Ude the Trans-Siberian splits into two directions: to the south through Gusinoye Ozero, Djida, Naushki (Russia) to Ulan-Bataar (Mongolia) to Beijing (China) - Trans-Mongolian, and to the east through Chita to Vladivostok (Trans-Siberian).
 

The end of Buryatia republic, start of Chita region

Mogzon   

3d 19h 0m

Crossing Khilok river.

Chita   

3d 21h 50m. The center of Chita region. A big industrial city.
 

Karymskaya   

4d 10h 0m The city was founded in 1935 along the banks of the river Ingoda. The city is on both the Trans-Siberian and Trans-Manchurian lines. The stop is 25 minutes.

Olovyanaya   

Here the train crosses the river Onon and passengers can make good pictures of the river and surrounding steppe. The stop is 10 minutes.

Borzya   

Borzya was founded in the XVII century. In 1899, it is became a popular trade and transport center. Nowadays it is still an important spot for traders. The stop is 19 minutes.

Zabaikalsk    

The town is quite close to the Chinese border. Here, the wheels of the train are changed to fit the different gauge Russian or Chinese tracks. The process takes from two to six hours. During this time, you may want to take a walk but if you do, remember to bring warm clothes. In Soviet times, taking pictures at this station was strictly forbidden but now it is usually allowed just don’t try to take pictures of guards or military objects.

Manzhouli    

(Manchurian train station – Chinese side of the border)
Be prepared to go through customs and passport control when entering or leaving China. If you are just arriving to Russia from China you will need to fill in a health declaration. The stop is 26 minutes.

Hailar   

Along the way to Hailar, you can admire the endless steppes and mountains on the route. The stop is 6 minutes.

Boketu   

Boketu is located in Inner Mongolia, an autonomous region of China. The population of the region is 23 million people (79% of Chinese, 17% Mongolian and 4% others). The stop is 8 minutes.

 Harbin   

Harbin is one of the major cities of China and Northeast Asia. It lies on the southern bank of the Songhua River. Harbin is an industrial city but still has charming architecture. It could be called an oriental St. Petersburg because of the great Russian influence which dates back to the time of the construction of the railroad. Harbin has also been chosen to host the Winter Olympic Games in 2010. The stop is 15 minutes.

Shen’yan   

Capital of the Liaoning province with a population of 7.2 million, Shen’yan is famous for the Mukden Palace - a former imperial palace of the Qing emperors which is now a museum protected by UNESCO. The stop is 15 minutes.

Beijing   

Trans Siberian railroad.

Trans Siberian railroad.

Trans Siberian railroad.

Trans Siberian railroad.