Trans-Siberian Tsar's Gold brochure

UNIqUE JOURNEYS ON RAILS AND RIVERS Trans-Siberian Railway Legendary Silk Road Arabian Nights African Explorer Mekong Cruises

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OUR JOURNEYS AND THE IDEA BEHIND As Europe’s most creative organiser of train journeys and charter cruises, we are your specialist for extraordinary trips to fascinating places.

Relying on the experience of almost 30 years, we have made unusual travel itineraries an art form.

All our travel arrangements allow discovering unknown corners or rediscovering classic destinations around the entire globe.

Our trains and cruises offer the most comfortable way to travel through distant countries.

Exciting excursions guarantee authentic encounters, entertaining talks enhance your travel experience, culinary specialties whet your appetite for the distinctive flavours of exotic cultures.

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DISCOVER THE WORLD’S ADVENTURES Our selection of some of the finest trains, most extraordinary rail routes and unique cruises on the upper Mekong: TRANS-SIBERIAN RAILWAY From Beijing to Moscow From Moscow to Beijing Varieties The Tsar’s Gold Private Train

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THE LEGENDARY SILK ROAD (CENTRAL ASIA) Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan Uzbekistan The Orient Silk Road Express Private Train

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FURTHER UNIQUE RAIL JOURNEYS Arabian Nights — The Historical Baghdad Railway Jewel of the Desert — South Africa and Namibia aboard the African Explorer

CRUISES ON THE MEKONG RIVER Laos Revealed (Golden Triangle — Vientiane) South-East Asian Odyssey (Angkor Wat — Luang Prabang) The fleet: Mekong Sun/ Mekong Explorer

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TRAVEL THE TRANSSIBERIAN WAY The Tsar’s Gold Private Train is the safest and most comfortable way to travel the world’s most famous rail route with its 100-year history. Benefit from our extensive experience of having served more than 30,000 guests on the TransSiberian Railway. The journey provides the opportunity of travelling all the way from Moscow to Beijing — through Siberia, to Lake Baikal and from Mongolia to China — with a choice of six compartment categories!

Our threefold guide system along with a guest relations manager and a doctor on the train guarantees a once in a lifetime travel experience.

Welcome aboard!

Moscow Kazan

Yekaterinburg Lake Baikal

Novosibirsk

Irkutsk

Ulan Ude

Ulan Bator

Erlian

Gobi Desert

Beijing

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ROUTING

→ Beijing → Ulan Bator → Ulan Ude → Lake Baikal → Irkutsk → Novosibirsk → Yekaterinburg → Kazan → Moscow

The Great Wall of China

15 DAY RAILWAY JOURNEY FROM BEIJING THROUGH MONGOLIA TO LAKE BAIKAL AND ON TO MOSCOW

THE TSAR’S GOLD TRAIN

FROM BEIJING TO MOSCOW Experience one of the last great adventures. Your journey along the Trans-Siberian Railway, one of the world’s most fascinating and safest train routes, is even more interesting, comfortable, and entertaining with this private train. This grand private train journey from Beijing to Moscow via Mongolia and Lake Baikal is the chance to fulfil the dream of a lifetime.

The trip is accompanied by an experienced multi-lingual tour director and a physician. A sophisticated on-board program complements a comprehensive excursion and sightseeing package to make your journey truly memorable. Take advantage of the extensive array of services offered by Europe’s most experienced travel organiser on this route.

DAY 1. WELCOME TO BEIJING You are greeted at the

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Nest” Olympic stadium, and several of Beijing’s futurisairport by your friendly tour director and accompanied tic sky scrapers. Afterwards you enjoy a mutual dinner to your centrally located 4★ hotel (guests in the Bolshoi to welcome you to the tour. You spend the night in a hotel in categories stay in a 5★ hotel or similar quality accomodations), Beijing. Dinner (D) is included. where you have a pause to relax. The tour through Beijing shows you many of the colourful facets of this DAY 2. THE GREAT WALL AND PEKING DUCK Today large metropolitan city. The highlights are you visit the Great Wall, the eighth wonder of certainly the Temple of Heaven and historythe world. On the way you visit the UNESCO laden Tiananmen Square, two of the city’s Gigantic: The Great Wall World Cultural Heritage Ming Tombs and most famous sights, but it also includes in China extends for more the Spirit Way. In the evening you dine on recent achievements in the area of contemthan 6000 km through the well-known delicacy of Peking Duck. You porary architecture, such as the new “Bird’s the countryside. spend the night in your Beijing hotel. Breakfast (B), lunch (L), and dinner (D) are included.

The Forbidden City, Beijing

National Park Terelj, Mongolia

the unique chance to attend a performance of traditional Mongolian folk arts, including throat singing, horseheaded fiddle playing, national costumes, and dances.

You spend the night in a 4★ Hotel in Ulan Bator. (BLD)

DAY 3. THE FORBIDDEN CITY AND DEPARTURE FOR MONGOLIA For centuries, the gates to the Forbidden

City were closed to the public. Today you have the morning to view its awe-inspiring halls and mysterious temples. In the evening your rail journey begins, as you transfer to the train station and depart for Mongolia aboard a chartered Chinese Unique: train. You reach the border city of Erlian in Mongolian horse riding approximately 16 hours, on the following and folklore show – day. You spend the night aboard the train. (BLD) experience culture

up close.

DAY 4. CROSSING THE GOBI DESERT

Around noon you reach the ChineseMongolian border, where you board to the Tsar’s Gold private train. The change of trains is necessary because of the different track gauges in the two countries. In the growing city of Erlian, you have some time to explore the colourful local market, before your train sets off towards Mongolia. After crossing sections of the legendary Gobi Desert, the train travels through the vast green steppes of Mongolia. You spend the night aboard the train. (BLD) DAY 5. ULAN BATOR: A LAMA TEMPLE AND THE BUDDHIST REALMS OF HELL Early-risers are treated to

central Mongolia’s spectacular scenery. In the morning you arrive in Ulan Bator, the capital of Mongolia. You can leave your large luggage securely in your compartment.

During your city tour you see the odd Choijin Lama Temple, among other things. In the evening you have

On request, we can organise alternative lodging in a yurt in the beautiful landscape of the Mongolian Alps. This is a rare experience and a dream come true for nature lovers.

DAY 6. THE GANDAN MONASTERY AND MONGOLIAN ALPS After breakfast you visit

the Gandan Monastery, where it is possible to observe a Buddhist religious ceremony. Your bus then takes you to the Mongolian Alps, located some 90 minutes east of Ulan Bator, with their majestic scenery and bizarre rock formations. After a picnic lunch in a yurt camp, UNBELIEVABLE you watch a small Mongolian horseriding demonstration and a traditional The difference wrestling match. You spend the night aboard between the calm the train. (BLD) atmosphere in the Gandan monastery DAY 7. ULAN UDE You take your leave of and the vitality of the Mongolian steppes today and travel the city centre in through the valley of Mongolia’s largest Ulan Bator.

River, the Selenga. You are on the way to Ulan Ude, where your train reaches the main route of the Trans-Siberian Railway. Here you take an informative city tour. You spend the night aboard the train. (BLD)

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Lake Baikal, Siberia

DAY 8. LAKE BAIKAL Today is spent exploring the

remarkable natural phenomenon of Lake Baikal, the largest reservoir of freshwater in the world. In the morning your train travels directly alongside Lake Baikal, on the old route of the Trans-Siberian Railway. During two extended photo-stops, you have a chance to explore and enjoy the scenic beauty of the lake and its setting.

A short boat excursion from Port Baikal takes you out onto the lake. Take a swim in the lake, if you wish, and visit a picturDELICIOUS esque Baikal village. Dinner is a BaikalLunch with a local style picnic on the lakeshore with a view family in Irkutsk: of the incredible natural surroundings Experience authentic (weather permitting).

Siberian cuisine.

You spend the night aboard the train. (BLD)

DAY 10. TRANS-SIBERIA After breakfast you re-board

the train and pass through the diverse landscapes of eastern Siberia. Talks on board inform you about the region and a vodka tasting with typical Russian snacks is an opportunity to experience firsthand the Russian festive customs of hospitality and clever toasts.You spend the night aboard the train (BLD) DAY 11. NOVOSIBIRSK Around noon, your train arrives

in Novosibirsk, the largest city in Siberia. You are greeted with bread and salt in the customary Russian manner and taken on a tour of this most Soviet of cities along your entire route, including the chance to see the mighty Ob River. You spend the night aboard the train. (BLD) DAY 12. YEKATERINBURG

DAY 9. IRKUTSK In the morning, you

In the afternoon, your train stops in Yekaterinburg, the arrive in Irkutsk, the capital of Eastern Siberia in tsarist capital of the Ural Federal District. The city is known as times. Here you move into your hotel, which the place where the Russian tsar Nicholas is simple, but central and nicely located.

II and his family were murdered in 1918.

You can safely leave your large baggage on Fascination Lake Baikal: During a tour you see the Cathedral of the the private train. During your city tour you Take a swim and have a Saviour on the Spilled Blood, which was see the Okhlopkov Drama Theatre, the new barbecue on the banks built in 2003 to commemorate that tragic memorial to Tsar Alexander III, and the phoof the lake. historic event, and the city centre attractively togenic market hall. Around noon you pay a restored in 2009. Back on board, you enjoy worthwhile visit to an open-air museum with views of the Urals landscape and indulge a focus on life and work in historical Siberia. You spend yourself in the restaurant car. Your private train is already the night in a nicely located hotel in Irkutsk. Guests in the Bolshoi rolling across the European continent. You spend the night categories stay in a 4★ hotel (BLD) aboard the train. (BLD) DAY 13. KAZAN After breakfast you reach Kazan, the

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Tartar capital on the banks of the Volga. On your city

VODKA TASTING

Enjoy Russian hospitality during a vodka tasting with Russian snacks while passing by impressive landscapes.

ONE NIGHT IN MONGOLIA

For all nature enthusiasts we will organize a night in a typical Mongolian Yurt. Sleep well under the clear starry sky.

CULINARY HIGHLIGHTS

View over the Kremlin in Moscow

Taste the diversity of regional delicacies, all freshly prepared by our chefs on board.

YOUR GUIDES

Viaduct over Lake Baikal

tour you see Tartar mosques and the most famous Russian Orthodox cathedral. You also take a tour of Kazan’s Kremlin, where you learn about the turbulent history of the relationship between the Tartars, the Cossacks, and the Russians. Afterwards you enjoy lunch in a city restaurant. You spend the night aboard the train. (BLD) DAY 14. WELCOME TO MOSCOW Around noon, you

arrive in the Russian capital of Moscow, now a thriving, prosperous city, and are accompanied to your 4★ hotel (guests in the Bolshoi categories stay in a 5★ hotel or similar quality accomodations). At noon you visit the Kremlin grounds with its magnificent cathedral. Several of the building interiors can also be viewed. After dinner, discover the city’s magic during an hour-long “City of Lights” tour, including a stop at Red Square, and a ride on the underground to view two of Moscow’s particularly beautiful metro stations. You spend the night in a hotel in Moscow.

(BLD) DAY 15. TOUR OF MOSCOW AND FLIGHT HOME After

an ample breakfast at your hotel, your tour of the city takes you to the reconstructed Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, Lomonossov University, the New Maidens’ Convent (Novodevichy Monastery), and Red Square with its colourful St. Basil’s Cathedral, as well as to the notorious former KGB headquarters and the White House. This then marks the end of your memorable journey and the time has come to head to the airport. We accompany you to the airport and bid you bon voyage. (B)

Our threefold guide system — local guides, group guide and tour director — guarantees a comfortable and secured journey.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE TOUR →T rain ride on the ancient route of the TransSiberian Railway along Lake Baikal with 2 extensive photo stops →E ntire day at Lake Baikal →Y our Private Train: safe, clean and comfortable →B eijing’s Forbidden City →M odern History: Tiananmen Square →A uthentic: Mongolian horse show →B oat ride on Lake Baikal →P ristine: typical Siberian villages →U lan Bator, Ulan Ude, Irkutsk, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg and Kazan →M oscow, Russia’s proud new capital →G lorious: Icons and Cathedrals →E ntertaining and informative: Daily lectures about countries, people and cultures →L ocal market in Novosibirsk →O pen air museum Irkutsk →T he Great Wall of China →V odka tasting with typical Russian snacks

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ROUTING

→ Moscow → Kazan → Yekaterinburg → Novosibirsk → Irkutsk → Lake Baikal → Ulan Ude → Ulan Bator → Beijing

Moscow by night

16 DAY RAILWAY JOURNEY FROM MOSCOW THROUGH MONGOLIA TO BEIJING

THE TSAR’S GOLD TRAIN

FROM MOSCOW TO BEIJING A journey on the legendary Trans-Siberian Railway is one of the last great travel adventures in our world. Set this dream of a lifetime on the tracks with our Private Train and experience Russia, Mongolia and China in the safest, most comfortable and fascinating manner.

The historic route between Moscow, Lake Baikal and Beijing is the heart of all travel variants: The exciting days of your journey are delivering three of the world’s largest countries directly to your compartment. Lean back to enjoy the dramatic changes of scenery and savour a choice of Europe’s and Asia’s most superb and splendid landscapes!

DAY 1. WELCOME TO MOSCOW You are

Today, Moscow is

DAY 2. MOSCOW FROM ITS MOST BEAUTI-

greeted at the airport by your friendly tour clearly on a par with FUL SIDE In the morning you take a guided director and accompanied to your hotel. Our Europe’s other great tour of Moscow, including the imposing “City of Lights” tour shows you around the metropolitan cities such grounds of the Kremlin and its magnificent exquisitely illuminated Russian capital. You as Madrid and Paris. cathedral from tsarist times. Toward evenstroll across the famous Red Square with ing, you are greeted aboard your private train your travel director and take a short trip on prior to departure. A relaxed get-together the underground to view several of Moscow’s particularly in the dinning car offers the chance to meet your fellow beautiful metro stations. Afterwards, you retire to the travellers and learn more details about your private train. comfort of your 4★ hotel (guests in the Bolshoi categories stay You spend the night aboard the train. Breakfast (B), lunch (L), in a 5★ hotel or similar quality accomodations). You spend the and dinner (D) are included. night in a Moscow hotel. Dinner is included. (D) 12

Vodka Tasting on board

Your train alongside Lake Baikal

Mosque Kul Charif, Kazan

DAY 3. KAZAN In the morning you arrive in Kazan, the

capital of Tatarstan. You take a tour of the Kazan Kremlin (UNESCO World Cultural Heritage) with its wonderful panoramic view over the Volga, where you learn about the turbulent history of the relationship between the Tartars, the Cossacks, and the Russians. Your train resumes its journey eastwards in the evening.

You spend the night aboard the train. (BLD) DAY 4. YEKATERINBURG Around noon,

DAY 6. TRANS-SIBERIA Your train crosses the wide

Yenisei River and rolls on through Siberia. The train’s chefs once again demonstrate their skills as they serve the guests Russian specialties in a “tsar’s feast”. A tasting of Russian snacks accompanied by clever toasts offers you a very enjoyable opportunity to combine pleasure and Russian hospitality. Your train passes by villages with their typical wooden houses and through SPECTACULAR birch forests set against a Train ride on the Novosibirsk – background of impressive ancient tracks running Experience the most mountainscapes and, hopeparallel to the shore Soviet of all cities fully, ample sunshine. You of Lake Baikal. during your journey. spend the night aboard the train.

(BLD)

your train stops in Yekaterinburg, the historical capital of the Urals. The city is remembered as the place where the Russian tsar Nicholas II and his family were murdered in 1918. During a brief tour you see the Cathedral of the Saviour on the Spilled Blood, which was built in 2003 in commemoration of that tragic historic event, and the city centre so attractively restored in 2009. Back on board, you continue on your journey through the vast steppes of western Siberia.

You spend the night aboard the train. (BLD) DAY 5. NOVOSIBIRSK You arrive in Novosibirsk, the

heart of Siberia, where you are welcomed in the traditional Russian fashion with bread and salt. During a short city tour, you experience the most Soviet of all cities during your journey. You see the enormous TransSiberian Monument and the mighty Ob River. You spend the night aboard the train. (BLD)

DAY 7. IRKUTSK Today your train reaches Irkutsk, the capital of Eastern Siberia in tsarist times. During your city tour you see, among other things, the picturesque Siberian wooden houses and a memorial to Tsar Alexander III (the initiator of the Tran-Siberian Railway), which was erected in 2003 where the Trans-Sib Obelisk previously stood. After lunch you take an excursion to an informative open-air museum with a focus on life and work in historical Siberia. You spend the night in a 4★ hotel in Irkutsk. (BLD) DAY 8. LAKE BAIKAL In the morning a boat brings you

across the lake’s deep waters to Port Baikal, where your private train is waiting. Afterwards, you travel directly alongside Lake Baikal, for several hours on the original

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The Temple of Heaven in Beijing

route of the Trans-Siberian Railway. For several hours, ing throat singing, horse-headed fiddle playing, national your train stops at a particularly scenic spot, for you to costumes, and dances. You spend the night in a 4★ hotel in truly enjoy the majestic calm of this unique Ulan Bator. (BLD) natural wonder. Dinner is served as a picnic on the shores of Lake Baikal. You spend the Spending a night in a On request, we can organise alternative lodgnight aboard the train. (BLD) yurt is a rare experience ing in a yurt in the beautiful landscape of the and a dream come true Mongolian Alps.

DAY 9. FROM LAKE BAIKAL TO ULAN UDE AND ON TO MONGOLIA The journey con-

for nature lovers.

tinues along the banks of the seemingly endless Lake Baikal and then through the splendid Selenga Valley and the wild solitude of eastern Siberia’s mountainous steppes. You take a tour of Ulan Ude during a stop there. Border formalities at the Russian-Mongolian border are an easy matter carried out on board. You spend the night aboard the train. (BLD) DAY 10. ULAN BATOR Today, early-

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risers are treated to central Mongolia’s spectacular scenery, set in a mountain MONGOLIAN ALPS landscape dotted with colourful yurt The vast landscape camps and inhabited by solitary riders on offers a beautiful horseback. In the morning you arrive in scenery, not only for Ulan Bator, the capital of Mongolia. As photo enthusiasts. always, you can leave your large luggage safely in your compartment. During your city tour you see the impressive Gandan Buddhist Monastery and the odd Choijin Lama Temple, among other things. Beer gardens are very popular in Mongolia, and your evening includes a visit to the city’s best. Afterwards, you have the unique chance to attend a performance of traditional Mongolian folk arts, includ-

DAY 11. ULAN BATOR AND THE MONGOLIAN ALPS After breakfast a bus takes you

to Terelj National Park, east of Ulan Bator. Here you get to see the nomadic herdsmen’s exotic settlements of tradition tents, horse herds, and scraggly yaks, a type of wild Tibetan cattle. A small Mongolian horse-riding demonstration is put on especially for you and you enjoy a picnic lunch served in these splendid surroundings. In the evening you continue on aboard your train towards China. You spend the night aboard the train. (BLD) DAY 12. CROSSING THE GOBI DESERT Around noon,

you arrive at the Mongolian-Chinese border, where your chartered Chinese train is waiting. The Russian private train cannot continue towards Beijing because of the different track gauge in China. Your train reaches the Chinese capital in approximately 16 hours. You spend the night aboard the train. (BLD) DAY 13. BEIJING You arrive in the hustle and bustle of

Beijing in the morning. After transferring to your hotel, the rest of the day is yours to do with as you please.

You spend the night in a hotel in Beijing (guests in the Bolshoi categories stay in a 5★ hotel or similar quality accomodations). (BL)

RELAX ON BOARD

Enjoy Russian hospitality during the vodka tasting while passing by impressive landscapes.

ONE NIGHT IN MONGOLIA

For all nature enthusiasts we will organize a night in a typical Mongilan ger. Sleep well under the clear starry sky.

CULINARY HIGHLIGHTS

Open air museum Talzy, Irkutsk

Taste the diversity of regional delicacies, all freshly prepared by our chefs on board.

YOUR GUIDES

Archery in Mongolia

Your restaurant car

DAY 14. TEMPLE OF HEAVEN AND TIANANMEN SQUARE A tour lasting several hours takes you to Bei-

jing’s most beautiful and important sights, including the photogenic Temple of Heaven with its park, the huge Tiananmen Square, and some of the city’s contemporary architectural achievements, such as the new “Bird’s Nest” Olympic stadium and several futuristic sky scrapers. In the afternoon, you are able to enter the Forbidden City, the former imperial palace, and view its numerous temples and halls. You spend the night in your Beijing hotel.

(BL) DAY 15. THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA AND PEKING DUCK Your tour today takes you to the Great Wall, the

Our threefold guide system — local guides, group guide and tour director — guarantees a comfortable and secured journey.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE TOUR →T rain ride on the ancient tracks running parallel to the shore of Lake Baikal →E ntire day at Lake Baikal →Y our Private Train: safe, clean and comfortable →B eijing’s Forbidden City →M odern History: Tiananmen Square →A uthentic: Mongolian horse show →B oat ride on Lake Baikal →P ristine: typical Siberian villages

eighth wonder of the world. The giant wall extends for more than 6000 km through the countryside. On the way you visit the Ming Tombs, the burial site of 13 Ming Dynasty emperors, with its impressive Spirit Way. In the evening you enjoy a farewell dinner of world-renowned Peking Duck. You spend the night in your Beijing hotel. (BLD)

→U lan Bator, Ulan Ude, Irkutsk, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg and Kazan

DAY 16. DEPARTURE FROM BEIJING FOR HOME After

→L ocal market in Novosibirsk

breakfast, you transfer to the airport. (B)

→M oscow, Russia’s proud new capital →G lorious: Icons and Cathedrals →E ntertaining and informative: Daily lectures about countries, people and cultures →O pen air museum Irkutsk →T he Great Wall of China →V odka tasting with typical Russian snacks

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THE WIDEST SELECTION OF TRANS-SIBERIAN RAILWAY TOURS AVAILABLE ANYWHERE A broad range of routes as well as flexible options and destinations allow you to tailor your own journey through China and Mongolia to your particular interests and to explore the regions along the legendary Trans-Siberian Railway. You can travel the route from Beijing to Moscow as well as in the reverse direction, with both tours having their own particular allure.

National park Terelj, Mongolia

ALTERNATIVE ROUTE THROUGH MONGOLIA AND THEN ON TO MOSCOW

BOAT CRUISE ON LAKE BAIKAL FOLLOWED BY THE TRANS-SIBERIAN RAILWAY TO MOSCOW

Precede your journey on the Tsar’s Gold Private Train with a trip around Mongolia. Before boarding the Tsar’s Gold train in Ulan Bator you can enjoy the highlights of a Mongolian tour: Genghis Khan’s former capital of Karakorum, the Mongolian Alps, and yurt settlements.

You begin your private train journey from Irkutsk to Moscow with an exciting excursion on Lake Baikal, the largest fresh water reservoir in the world.

DAY 1. Arrival in Ulan Bator, with a sightseeing tour of

the city, including visits to the historical museum and the Lama Temple.

DAY 2. The Gandan Monastery and the Mongolian Alps.

DAY 3. Hiking in the Mongolian Alps and a visit to a herder’s family.

DAY 4. Terelj and Hustai National Parks DAY 5. Karakorum, with sightseeing to the ruins of the 13th century Mongolian capital DAY 6. The Erdene Zuu and Bayan Gobi Monasteries DAY 7. You return to Ulan Bator, with sightseeing at the Uvgun Monastery.

Your further itinerary begins with 8th day of our main TransSiberian Railway tour from Beijing to Moscow.

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Olkhon Island

DAY 1. After your arrival in Irkutsk you take a boat trip to

Cape Kadilny. You enjoy a visit with a local family.

DAY 2. A boat takes you to Olkhon Island, where you are served a picnic on the shore of Lake Baikal.

DAY 3. You visit the Sennaya Nature Preserve.

DAY 4. Take a walk through the forest along Baikal Bay, visit a Russian bathhouse, and spend the night in a traditional Siberian wooden house.

DAY 5. You take an excursion to Listvyanka, visit a dacha settlement, have a traditional tea with a local family, and go for a walk along one of the lakes behind the dams on the Angara River.

DAY 6. Cross Lake Baikal and board your Tsar’s Gold Private Train.

Your further itinerary begins with 10th day of our main TransSiberian Railway tour from Beijing to Moscow.

Gandan Monastery, Ulan Bator

FROM MONGOLIA TO MOSCOW This alternative route is optimal for those who have already visited Beijing and would like to experience the legendary Trans-Siberian Railway.

Your journey begins in the Mongolian capital of Ulan Bator. An excursion there takes you into the beautiful Mongolian Alps, after which you board the Tsar’s Gold Private Train to travel via the Russian city of Ulan Ude to Lake Baikal, the largest reservoir of fresh water in the world. Here you have truly arrived in Siberia. After you have explored this natural gem your comfortable private train sets off across tsardom’s vast Mongolian reaches towards Moscow, to Russia’s majestic seat of power.

DAY 1. Arrival in Ulan Bator. You take a tour of the city

and have the option of attending a performance of local traditional folk arts in the evening.

Your further itinerary begins with 7th day of our main TransSiberian Railway tour from Beijing to Moscow.

Station of Vladivostok

FROM MOSCOW TO VLADIVOSTOK VIA LAKE BAIKAL AND ULAN UDE After travelling with your private train to Lake Baikal and on to Ulan Ude, you continue with this alternative route to Vladivostok and cover the entire length of this legendary railway. Following your stop in Ulan Ude you travel for three days in the regularly scheduled train, with visits to a family, to the largest Buddhist monastery in Russia, and to the city of Khabarovsk on the Amur River forming this section’s highlights.

DAYS 1 – 8. According to the standard itinerary from

Moscow.

DAY 9. You travel from Lake Baikal to Ulan Ude, where you visit an Old Believers colony.

DAY 10. An excursion takes you to the Dazan Monastery with a meal in a yurt.

DAYS 11 AND 12 . Transfer to the railway station to begin your eastward journey through Chita, Svobodny, and Birobidzhan, among other locations.

DAY 13. Your day includes a tour of Khabarovsk and a boat excursion on the Amur River.

DAY 14. An excursion takes you to the Khechzyr natural preserve where you go for a hike in the taiga, after which your journey continues towards Vladivostok DAY 15. You take a city tour Vladivostok and a boat excursion through Russia’s largest Pacific port DAY 16. You fly to Moscow.

DAY 17 You take a tour of the former royal estate Kolomenskoye and transfer later to the airport.

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YOUR TRAIN With your Tsar’s Gold Private Train it is possible to travel safely and comfortably along this fascinating railway built more than one hundred years ago.

Benefit from our almost 30 years of experience on the Trans-Siberian Railway, with over 600 sucessful tours.

Culinary enjoyment is provided for by the train’s own, much-praised restaurants, offering local specialties.

After dining, the restaurant car with its bar service is an ideal place to enjoy a drink while marvelling at the vast Russian and Mongolian scenery or socialising with your fellow passengers.

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YOUR COMFORTABLE HOME DURING AN UNFORGETTABLE JOURNEY

The original Trans-Siberian Private Train travels between Moscow and the Chinese border (Erlian) with variously configured compartments in the sleeping cars, ranging from the Standard Category and the popular Standard Plus Categories to the stylish Nostalgic Comfort Category and the premium Bolshoi and Bolshoi Platinum Categories with private lavatories with WCs and showers.

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THE PRIVATE TRAIN COMPARTMENTS

STANDARD

These compartments offer space for four passengers. On both sides of the compartment there are upper and lower berths measuring ca. 70 x 190 cm (27.5 x 74.8 in.), with a table in the middle below the window. (In this category it is possible for 3 persons to book a 4-person compartment for a surcharge.) Each railway car has nine compartments, with combined washing and toilet facilities at both ends.

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CLASSIC

Compartments in Category Classic offer considerably more space. The compartment is shared by two guests, with two lower beds (ca. 70 x 190 cm, 27.5 x 74.8 in.), one on each side of the compartment. In this category there are also nine compartments per car, with combined toilet and washing facilities at both ends. Depending on the train configuration, a shower facility is shared by guests from two to four sleeping cars.

SUPERIOR

This newly refurbished Category now presents interiors in a nostalgic look.

The compartments have two lower beds, one on each side of the compartment and measuring 67 cm x 187 cm / 26.5 x 73.6 in.

The nine compartments in a wagon share two combined washing and toilet facilities located at its ends. Depending on the train configuration, a shower facility is shared by guests from one to three sleeping cars.

NOSTALGIC COMFORT

BOLSHOI

BOLSHOI PLATINUM

This category of compartment offers the opportunity to truly travel in the style of the red tsars. You travel in a nostalgic ambience that would even make past Soviet leaders feel at home – but with all of the 21st century’s modern amenities. Each of these rolling hotel rooms offers not only two comfortable beds (ca. 80 x 185 cm / 31.5 x 72.8 in.) placed one above the other, but also an armchair from which to enjoy the passing landscape. Each of two neighbouring compartments shares a semi-private lavatory with wash basin and simple shower located between them. Combined washing and toilet facilities are located at both ends of the wagons.

This category of compartment, with its illustrious name, offers 5.57 m2 (almost 60 sq. ft.) of space. It has two beds, with the upper measuring 80 x 176 / 31.5 x 69.3 in. and the lower 110 x 187 cm / 43.3 x 73.6 in. This compartment also offers comfortable seating, a generoussized table, and a small clothes closet.

The Bolshoi category has its own lavatory equipped with a toilet, wash basin, and integrated shower with a full shower curtain. This configuration of wagon has only six compartments.

The 12 or fewer guests travelling in a Bolshoi wagon reside in 5★ hotels in Moscow and Beijing. As a guest in this category you are attended to by an individual travel guide in groups of no more than 12 travellers.

The Bolshoi Platinum compartment provides 7.15 m2 (almost 77 sq. ft.) of space, even more than the Bolshoi compartment. The lower bed measures 120 x 184 cm / ca. 47.2 x 72.4 in., the upper 82 x 174 cm / ca. 32.3 x 68.5 in. Each compartment has a spacious clothes closet and its own lavatory outfitted with a separate shower cabin. This category of wagon offering the highest level of comfort available on the TransSiberian Railway contains only five compartments and offers space for a maximum of just 10 guests. In Moscow and Beijing guests in this category reside in 5★ hotels and are attended to in groups of no more than 12 travellers by an individual tour guide.

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