Trans-Siberian Railway

Trans-Manchurian Railway: Beijing to Moscow
including Harbin, Lake Baikal and Ekaterinburg
Osnova BM5 (HIE) winter | 15 days
Trans-Siberian Railway
Monkeyshrine - Ride with the Monkey
Tour Style
Trans-Manchurian Railway: Beijing to Moscow
15 day itinerary with tours in Harbin, Irkutsk & Lake Baikal,
Ekaterinburg and Moscow
Code: OS-BM5 (HIE)
from € 1,795
Tour Introduction
A special winter itinerary with frequent short stops to experience a genuine Siberian
winter with some excellent cold weather activities. On this 15 day trip you will make a
short stop to see Harbin Ice Festival, run with Siberian Huskies at Lake Baikal and fish for
lunch over a frozen lake in the Ural Mountains! You will stay in comfortable local family
accommodation, who know how to keep you warm and well fed. Finish up with two
nights in Moscow.
Osnova [основа] is a Russian word meaning “basis, base,
framework, foundation, ground, or backbone”. Osnova tours
are budget friendly but combined with all the essentials for a
comfortable trip. In winter that includes some amazing winter
tours with English speaking guides, local accommodation
and most transfers included.
Tour Includes
√ Monkey info pack, local support, visa invitation documents
√ Train tickets in standard second class four berth cabins,
with option to upgrade to first class
√ Harbin Ice Sculpture Festival with all transfers, guide,
Route
excursion, 1 night 3* hotel with local meals
Beijing — Harbin and Manchuria — Irkutsk & Lake Baikal in Siberia — Ekaterinburg and
the Ural Mountains — Moscow. This tour has an optional extension to St Petersburg.
√ Lake Baikal: local tour to Listvyanka village, 2 nights
Dates
√ Special winter activity: dog-sledging with Siberian Huskies.
The best time for winter travel is from mid December to early March, to guarantee plenty
of snow on the ground and hospitable locals. The International train from Harbin departs
every Sunday, so this trip can run weekly. Ice Festival in Harbin is officially open from
January 5th to February 28th. In practice the event is open from December 20th.
√ Ekaterinburg: all transfers, 2 night central hostel. City tour
Tours | Hotels | Trains
Start the journey on an overnight train (1 night) to Harbin where you will stay the night
and see the city and famed ice sculptures. International train from Harbin to Irkutsk (2
nights on board), excursion to the shore of Lake Baikal (2 nights). Russian train from
Irkutsk to Ekaterinburg (2 nights on board), with central hostel (2 nights), before train
journey (1 night) to Moscow. Arrival transfer, city tour and centrally located hostel (2
nights) in Moscow.
Cover Photo by Chris Stanley, October 2003
homestay, introduction to local family
by car
√ Full day excursion to Eur/Asia border, with ice-fishing
excursion and lunch, side trip to Romanov Monastery
√
Moscow: arrival transfer, 2 nights hostel, guided city
walking tour
√ Meals as listed in the itinerary (B - breakfast | L - lunch | D dinner)
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Trip Highlights
» Remarkable winter scenery including the wide expanse of Siberia, countless rural villages
and, of course, magical Lake Baikal.
» Little visited North East China and the hightlight Harbin Ice Festival.
» Stay in a traditional wooden home on the shore of Lake Baikal with a local food and banya.
» Experience traditional dog-sledging with Siberian Huskies.
» Visit the Ural Mountains and the border of Europe/Asia, staying in a central hostel. Ice
fishing over a frozen lake in the Urals and learn about the history of Tsars at the Romanov
Monastery.
» Comfortable and centrally located hostel in Moscow, with orientation city tour of this
fascinating capital.
Dog Sledging in Ural Mountains, Ekaterinburg
»
Epiphany at Lake Baikal, Siberia
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Day to Day Itinerary
Day 0
Arrival to Beijing
We can book accommodation and tours in
Beijing, as well as domestic train tickets around
China in advance of your Trans-Mongolian train
journey.
Day 1
Beijing | Train
Free day in Beijing. Depart Beijing main station
in the evening for an overnight journey on a
comfortable Chinese train to Harbin, where you
will have ‘soft-sleeper’ four berth cabins.
Day 2
Harbin | Ice Festival
Wake up to the winter snowscape and a warm
welcome to Harbin, with transfer to your hotel.
Trans Mongolian view, March 2013. Ryan Boucher
Your guide and driver will give you a tour to
Zhaoli Park Snow World ice festival. Lunch.
Temple of Heavenly Bliss, Ice and Snow World.
Day 3
Harbin | Train
Next day morning tour including St. Sofia
Orthodox Church, which is now a museum.
Lunch. Visit Central Street, time for shopping,
stock up on food supplies. Transfer to train station
for mid afternoon departure on the Russian
Trans-Manchurian train, heading through the
Chinese north-east .
Day 4
Train | Border
On board the train with the morning spent at
the Chinese border of Manzhouli where the train
under-carriage is changed. Then at the Russian
border of Zabaikalsk. You have the opportunity
to visit the small border town. Head into Russia.
Changing the bogeys at the border,. Yan_Giroud, July 1994
Ice Sculpture in Harbin. Chris Ley, Feb 2006
Illuminated ice sculpture in Harbin. Chris Ley, Feb 2006
Day 5
Train to Irkutsk | Irkutsk
In the morning you pass Ulan Ude and along
the shore of Lake Baikal into Irkutsk, arriving late
afternoon. Transfer to a central hostel for your
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first night in a Russian city, with plenty of dinner
and entertainment options in this small city.
Day 6
Listvyanka | Winter Excursion
the frozen lake Baikal or other activities such as
hydrofoil (khivus) excursions on the lake. Or just
relax at the guesthouse and enjoy the local food
and traditional banya.
Fun on the platform. Apple Tours, Oct 2013
Epiphany on Lake Baikal, January 2013. Paul McDonald
Traditional Homestay, Siberia. Ramdas Iyer, Feb 2013
Transfer to the bus station and down to
Listvyanka, around one hour journey. Stay in a
local wooden guesthouse with an introductory
meal and meet the family. Dog sledging with
huskies. Meet your guide and transfer to the dog
handlers and introduction to the lovely husky
dogs. With one sledge per person you will sledge
through the countryside or about 10kms. Note:
This activity is dependent on local weather
conditions. Free afternoon and evening in
Listvyanka and overnight.
Alternative options are available at time of
booking.
Day 7
Listvyanka
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Day 8
On board train
Return to Irkutsk by bus at your leisure. You
should give Irkutsk at least a few hours to explore
the wooden architecture. Irkutsk is an important
staging post on the Trans-Siberian Railway, with
an old centre which is very easy to navigate on
foot with lovely Siberian wooden architecture
and an amazing history of fires and rebuilding.
Transfer to the station for onward departure.
Day 9
On board train
Spend the day relaxing in your comfortable
cabin, enjoying the view of the Siberian taiga
forest. Outside of Irkutsk the train winds around
the Sayan mountains with some lovely views.
www.monkeyshrine.com
Day 10
On board train | Ekaterinburg
The train stops around ten times per day, at cities
such as Krasnoyarsk and Novosibirsk This is the
‘mid Siberian railway’, which was built between
1893 and 1898 crossing the great rivers Ob
and Yennissey. Late arrival to Ekaterinburg and
transfer to central accommodation.
Ice Skating in central Ekaterinburg. Ramdas Iyer,, Feb 2013
Day 11
Ekaterinburg | Winter Excursion
A full day excursion to the Ural countryside,
driving north-west of Ekaterinburg to the
Monastery dedicated to the Romanov Tsar’s
family, now a well-known Russian Orthodox
pilgrimage site. Learn about the fate of the last
Tsar and how the Bolsheviks tried to hide the
corpses in a secret grave. Also included is a stop
at the obelisk bordering ‘Europe and Asia’, where
you will celebrate with a glass of wine and receive
a commemorative certificate. Stop for a local
lunch in the countryside, before experiencing
one of the most popular weekend hobbies of the
locals, trying to catch fish through a hole in the
ice. Return to Ekaterinburg in the evening.
Ekaterinburg founders and communist leaders.
Your tour will finish at the train station where
you can have some lunch and bid farewell to
Ekaterinburg as you board the afternoon train to
Moscow.
Aleksandrovsky Gardens and of course the Red
Square, St. Basil Cathedral and the Cathedral of
Christ the Saviour.
State History Museum and Red Square, Nov 2006. Chris Ley
Monument in Central Ekaterinburg. Ramdas Iyer, Feb 2013
Free afternoon and overnight
Day 13
Train| Moscow
Watch from the windows as the views become
more developed as you head towards the
sprawling capital of Russia. Your overnight train
journey terminates at Yaroslavsky station mid
afternoon. You will be met and transferred to
your central hotel, where you can check-in and
freshen up. Free evening to rest after the journey,
or to explore the cosmopolitan city centre.
Day 15
Moscow | Tour extension
Check-out of hostel and onward travel.
Moscow is world class in terms of attractions
and we recommend to spend at least 3 days in
Moscow and we have a number of city tours and
tour extensions in the city, before moving on to
St Petersburg or onward connections to Europe.
A decent catch after an afternoon ice-fishing!
Day 12
Ekaterinburg | Train
Guided tour of the historical centre, from the
warmth of a private car and a local guide. Visit
1905 Revolution Square, Church of Spilled and
the Chapel of St. Elizabeth, the Hill of Ascension,
the Ural Museum of Minerals, statues of
Day 14
Moscow
Enjoy a great orientation tour of Moscow city
centre. All our guides have their own personal
itineraries and will visit many of the main sites,
including: Tverskaya street and it’s important
buildings, Manezhnaya square, Marshal Zhukov
monument, Lubyanka (former KGB building),
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Moscow Spires
Monkeyshrine Trans-Siberian Tours
Room 203, Building 2, 27 Bei San Li Community,
East Courtyard, Chaoyang District, 100027, Beijing
Tel: (+8610) 6591 6519
www.monkeyshrine.com
Hong Kong | Shanghai | Beijing