jphripjah

I'm planning a trip to Russia in April. At first I was looking at riding the typical Transsiberian route from Moscow to Vladivostok, but recently I've started reading about the Baikal Amur Mainline (BAM), which runs parallel to the Transsiberian a few hundred kms north across Eastern Siberia.

HAs anyone done this and is it worthwhile? I've read that the scenery may be better than the Transsiberian. My route would be Moscow-Kazan-Yekateriburg-Omsk-Novosibirsk-Krasnoyarsk, stopping off for a few nights here and there, and then take the BAM to Khabarovsk, probably stopping for just a night in Severobaikalsk.

The main downside that I see to this is that I would miss the city of Irkutsk, but it might be interesting to see these really remote villages in Siberia on the BAM, even if not stopping there.

Are the BAM trains (Kupe class) noticeably "worse" or less comfortable than the Transsiberian trains?

Any suggestions or advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

eielef

I took the BAM a few years ago, between Komsomolsk and Tynda. Is utterly boring. The towns are nothing, is just forests and frozen lakes. The stops are very short (less than 10 mins) so you never have time to leave the station.
The confort is mostly the same, even the BAM has brand new trains, Irkutsk is worth to visit plus the aereal view of the Baikal Lake. Fly between Ust-Kut and Irkutsk, there are two daily flights, and they are pretty cheap. and then keep on the BAM. You'll also loos many other interesting cities, as Birobizhan, one of my favourites in Russian Far East.

jphripjah

Thanks. I was planning to allocate three nights for Khabarovsk and then visit Birobidzhan from there as a day trip. I know that means a bit of backtracking.

Should I just do the trans-Siberian and visit Irkutsk and Ulan Ude and skip the BAM?

I did see Ulan Ude for 30 minutes back in 2004. Ran off the train, snapped photo in front of big head of Lenin, ran back.

eielef

Well, I did something like that. I didn't visited Irkutsk, I just got to Ulan Ude and run out of time and flew back to Moscow. Birobidzhan is at a short distance of Khabarovsk, either by train or by car, so is a good idea yours. Also, Komsomolsk na Amure is, possibly, the best city of the BAM. You can try (in April it might work) to go to the end of the BAM (Sovetskaya Gavan) and try to catch a ferry to Sakhalin Island. I tried but it was frozen. A friend from Belarus walked the 9km between Sakhalin and Russia on the frozen ocean, but he had the permit of the army, plus a sat phone, and good navigation equipment. I wanted to join him, but I wasn't fit for that activity and I felt it was too risky. Now, if I was there, i'd certainly walk it...