jphripjah

I'm planning a trip on the trans-siberian next month. I actually rode it many years ago but didn't stop off anywhere. This time I want to stop off in a few places. Here is my tentative plan:

Moscow - 2 nights (I've been before)
Kazan - overnight train to Kazan, 12 hour stopover in Kazan during the day, then board train to Yekaterinburg at night
Yekaterinburg - 2 nights
Tyumen - 2 nights
Omsk - 2 nights
Novosibirsk - 2 nights
Krasnoyarsk - 3 nights
Irkutsk - 3 nights
Ulan Ude - 1 night
Birobidzhan - 1 night
Khabarovsk - 2 nights

Fly from Khabarovsk back to USA (I've been to Vladivostok before).

What do you folks think of this itinerary? Am I spending too long or not long enough anywhere?

vvn1972

Kazan is much more interesting then Tyumen and Omsk. You should definitely spend more time in Kazan. Try to make at least one night stopover at Nighny Novgorod. Reduce nights in Omsk and Tyumen. If possible make a one-night trip to Tomsk from Novosibirsk (one night in Novosibirsk is enough too). Bare in mind, around large cities you planned there are many small interesting towns and places to visit.

rankourabu

Unless you are going outside of the city, 1 night in Krasnoyarsk is more than enough.
I agree with poster above - Kazan is worth more than a day. I would also ask Vladimir/Suzdal for one/two nights, and perhaps Novgorod as mentioned above.



I d also toss in the circumbaikal out of Irkutsk for a day trip.

RedChili

Birobidzhan is a small town, so I'm not sure if you really need to spend a night there. I haven't been there since 2004, but from memory, there's not much to do or to look at. It's also just a couple of hours from Khabarovsk by train. I would consider taking a train that arrives in Birobidzhan in the morning, put the baggage in a locker, and then continue with a train to Khabarovsk a few hours later.

Maybe you should consider doing a side trip into Blagoveshensk. It's situated on the Amur River, and on the other side is the Chinese city of Heihe. Local Russians can make the five minute boat crossing visa-free, but you would need a Chinese visa and a double-entry Russian visa if you want to do it. Blagoveshensk is not on the Trans-Siberian itself, so you may have to change trains. I know that there's a train which starts in Blagoveshensk and ends in Khabarovsk (passing through Birobidzhan on the way), but I'm not sure if there's a train coming from the other direction. So you may have to change trains in Belogorsk when coming from Ulan-Ude.

jphripjah

Thanks, maybe I was unduly swayed by reading that Krasnoyarsk is "the most beautiful city in Russia." I will look into cutting that down to two nights.

One of the reasons for the two day stops in Omsk, Tyumen, etc. is that the trains arrive in early evening and leave in morning. It will really only be one fully day in those places. I want to break up the journey a bit and not get off train for just a night and then get right back on next day. I also want to travel during the day when possible and sleep in hotels at night rather than on train when possible.

For Birobizhan, the train from Ulan Ude will arrive in late afternoon and then I'll go to Khabarovsk early next afternoon, so I might only have 4-6 daylight hours there.

vvn1972

Krasnoyarsk is "the most beautiful city in Russia." Disagree. But "Stolby" Natural Reserve close to the city is MUST!

jphripjah

Haha, sorry I meant "the most beautiful city in Siberia." I guess that's way different.

paul00

@jphripjah: Tyumen is a pleasant town with a nice riverside promenade, but if you're planning to stay there for 2 days, I would highly recommend visiting the beautiful fortress in Tobolsk (around 3 hours by train from Tyumen). Personally I think Tobolsk if worth visiting more than Tyumen.

mandolino

I go to Krasnoyarsk for business now and then and usually stay several days but I struggle to see it as "most beautiful city in Russia". (Oh - you said Siberia. Hmm)

However I have great affection for the place.

Right now it's booming and people have cash in their pockets so quite a good atmosphere out and about.

jphripjah

Thanks. I'll have to decide between two or three nights there.