Self-Launched Trans-Mongolian Express: Beijing to St Petersburg by Rail

Land at Beijing Capital or Daxing and take the Airport Express train (~¥25) to Dongzhimen, then the subway (¥3-5, pay by Alipay/WeChat or buy a Yikatong card) to your hostel near Qianmen or Dongcheng. Afternoon free: wander the hutongs, eat jianbing and dumplings, and sort your Mongolian train ticket if you haven't already. Day 1 of a self-launched trip means admin: confirm your China visa, buy a local SIM/eSIM, and download a VPN before arrival (many apps are blocked in China).

🚌Airport Express train + metro, ~£4

🛏Hostel dorm or private twin in Dongcheng/Qianmen, £10-18

• →Hutong wander near Nanluoguxiang
• →Qianmen and Dashilan street food

Ride the K3 or K23 international train from Beijing Station (K23 departs Beijing around late morning/early afternoon) via Erenhot/Zamiin Uud border crossing into Mongolia. You stay in a 4-berth hard sleeper (kupe equivalent). Stock up on noodles, fruit and snacks before boarding — the dining car is basic and pricey. Bring a thermos for the free boiling water at the end of each carriage, earplugs and a sleep sheet. Border formalities at Erenhot/Zamiin Uud mean the train is shunted and bogies are changed, which takes a couple of hours in the middle of the night.

🚌Beijing–Ulaanbaatar international train, ~£70-110 depending on class and booking channel

🛏Sleeper train, 4-berth berth

• →Border crossing at Erenhot/Zamiin Uud
• →Watch the Gobi landscape change from the window

Arrive into Ulaanbaatar, buy a Mongolian SIM at the station or a nearby shop, and check into a hostel in the city centre. Take a self-guided orientation walk around Sükhbaatar Square and the State Department Store for supplies and a cheap lunch of buuz (steamed dumplings) or khuushuur. In the evening, book a cultural show at the State Academic Theatre or a folk/contortion performance (roughly MNT 30,000-50,000, buy at the box office) and eat at a local guanz (canteen) — a full plate is £3-5.

🚌Arrival walk / local bus, £1-2

🛏Hostel dorm or family guesthouse, £8-15

• →Sükhbaatar Square orientation walk
• →Optional Mongolian cultural show (self-booked at box office)

Morning self-guided city loop using the local bus or a shared taxi: Gandan Monastery (free entry, small donation for the temples), the Bogd Khan Palace Museum (entry ~MNT 10,000-15,000) and a walk up Zaisan Hill for the panoramic view. Eat lunch, then take a shared minibus/taxi or a marshrutka toward Terelj (roughly 1.5-2 hours; a private taxi split between 2-4 people costs about £20-30 total, or arrange with your guesthouse). Check into a ger camp in the valley for two nights — book direct with the camp by email or via Booking.com/hostelworld; expect simple beds, shared bathroom, and meals cooked by the family (£8-12 per meal if not included).

🚌Shared minibus/taxi to Terelj, ~£10-15 per person

🛏Traditional ger camp, Terelj, £18-30 per person including dinner/breakfast

• →Gandan Monastery
• →Bogd Khan Palace Museum
• →Zaisan Hill viewpoint
• →Chinggis Khaan Statue Complex (en route to Terelj, entry ~MNT 20,000)

A free day of hiking on marked trails from the camp: walk to Turtle Rock (Melkhii Khad) and Aryabal Meditation Temple, or hire a horse from a local herder for an hour or two (negotiate £5-10 per hour directly). Bring layers — nights in the valley are cold even in summer. Eat dinner with the family and enjoy the silence, the stars and no phone signal.

🚌Walking / local horse hire, ~£8

🛏Traditional ger camp, £18-30 per person including meals where arranged

• →Turtle Rock
• →Aryabal Meditation Temple hike
• →Optional horse riding booked locally

Return to Ulaanbaatar by shared taxi/marshrutka in the morning, spend a few hours at the National Museum of Mongolia (~MNT 15,000) or browsing the peace-avenue shops, then head to Sükhbaatar (Ulaanbaatar) station for the evening international train toward Naushki/Irkutsk (train 263 or 5, depending on season — book via a local agent or the Mongolian railway site; tickets often only go on sale about a month ahead). Note that a separate Russian or Mongolian-agent route via Naushki then a connecting train to Irkutsk is sometimes the only option — build in a buffer. Border crossing at Naushki takes an hour or two.

🚌Ulaanbaatar–Irkutsk sleeper train, ~£60-90

🛏Sleeper train, 4-berth kupe

• →National Museum of Mongolia (optional)
• →Platform food from Mongolian babushkas

Arrive at Irkutsk Passazhirsky station in the morning. Buy a Russian SIM (Beeline/Megafon, passport required) at a nearby shop, drop your bag, and take local bus 526 or the marshrutka from the bus station to Listvyanka (about 1 hour, ~£2-3). Settle into a family guesthouse or hostel. Afternoon: walk the shoreline, visit the Baikal Limnological Museum (~£3.50), and take a short boat or chairlift ride for lake views. Evening: book a Russian banya (£20-35 per group, book direct with your guesthouse) — the classic Lake Baikal experience.

🚌Local bus Irkutsk–Listvyanka, ~£3

🛏Guesthouse or hostel in Listvyanka, £12-22

• →Baikal Limnological Museum
• →Russian banya (self-booked via guesthouse)
• →Shoreline walk

Full day by the lake: hike the Bolshaya Cheremshanka trail section of the Great Baikal Trail (free, self-guided, 3-5 hours depending on how far you go), or take the Circum-Baikal Railway day trip (a genuinely great option — a historic line along the shoreline; check the timetable at the station or ask your guesthouse, roughly £8-15 for the day trip). In summer, swim or rent a kayak/paddleboard from the beach (£5-10). Eat smoked omul from the market stalls (£4-6).

🚌Local bus/train or on foot, £5-10

🛏Guesthouse or hostel in Listvyanka, £12-22

• →Great Baikal Trail hike
• →Optional Circum-Baikal Railway trip
• →Smoked omul tasting at the fish market

Return to Irkutsk in the morning and check into a hostel near the historic centre. Spend the afternoon doing a self-guided walk of the restored wooden-lace merchant houses along ulitsa Dekabristov, the Epiphany Cathedral, and the 130 Kvartal pedestrian district. Shop for train food at the Central Market (bread, cheese, dried fish, instant noodles, tea). Optional: the Decembrists Museum (£3) or a boat ride on the Angara (£4-6). Buy your onward Irkutsk–Yekaterinburg train ticket on rzd.ru if you haven't already.

🚌Bus + local tram, £2-3

🛏Hostel in central Irkutsk, £10-18

• →Self-guided Irkutsk wooden architecture walk
• →Central Market food shopping
• →Optional Decembrists Museum

Board the Trans-Siberian train to Yekaterinburg — a genuine two-night journey of roughly 48-52 hours through the taiga. This is the heart of the experience: the dining car, tea from the samovar at the carriage end, platform vendors selling smoked fish and pirozhki at Krasnoyarsk and Novosibirsk, and cards with your compartment-mates. Cupe (4-berth) is the sweet spot for cost and comfort; buy linen is included but bring a sleep sheet and earplugs.

🚌Irkutsk–Yekaterinburg train, ~£65-95

🛏Sleeper train, 4-berth kupe

• →Platform vendors at Novosibirsk and Krasnoyarsk
• →Dining car and samovar culture

A full day onboard crossing the West Siberian and Ural approaches. Read, journal, play cards and eat at the dining car or from your market stash. Cross a couple of time zones and get your Moscow time bearings (Russian trains run on Moscow time, so check the carriage timetable). Arrive Yekaterinburg late evening/overnight depending on the service — check your ticket time carefully.

🚌Included in onward train ticket

🛏Sleeper train, 4-berth kupe

• →Onboard scenery through the taiga and Urals

Arrive and check into a hostel near Ploshchad 1905 goda. Self-guided walk of the city: the Church on the Blood (site of the Romanov execution, free), the Black Tulip monument to Afghanistan war veterans, the Boris Yeltsin Presidential Center (£5), and the Iset river embankment. Grab the metro (cheap, ~£0.40 a ride, a Soviet-era showpiece in itself) and eat at a stolovaya canteen for a £4 lunch. Evening: buy your onward Yekaterinburg–Moscow sleeper ticket if not already booked.

🚌Metro and walking, £2

🛏Hostel in central Yekaterinburg, £10-18

• →Church on the Blood
• →Black Tulip monument
• →Iset embankment walk
• →Optional Yeltsin Center

Board an overnight train to Moscow (roughly 24-26 hours on a slow service, ~£30-55 in kupe). Spend the day onboard and arrive Moscow the following morning. Alternatively, move your schedule to arrive a day earlier for more time in Moscow — the operator's itinerary allows no more than an afternoon, but a self-launched trip can flex.

🚌Yekaterinburg–Moscow sleeper, ~£35-55

🛏Sleeper train, 4-berth kupe

• →Final taiga-to-Urals scenery
• →Onboard meal at the dining car

Arrive and check into a hostel in the Kitay-Gorod or Tverskaya area (Moscow hostels are the cost hotspot of this leg). Walk to Red Square (free), see St Basil's Cathedral from outside (interior ~£10), Alexander Garden, and Lenin's Mausoleum (free, check opening days/times — it's often closed Mondays and Fridays). Book the Kremlin and Armoury Chamber tickets in advance on the official kremlin.ru site (~£8-12 combined, Armoury is timed entry and sells out). Ride the metro to a few of the most ornate stations (Komsomolskaya, Mayakovskaya, Novoslobodskaya) — a single ride is about £0.40. Food: a chain canteen like Stolovaya No. 1 or Teremok blini for £5-8.

🚌Metro, £2

🛏Hostel dorm in central Moscow, £12-22

• →Red Square
• →Kremlin and Armoury Chamber (pre-book on kremlin.ru)
• →Metro station-hopping
• →St Basil's Cathedral (optional entry)

A full flex day: the Tretyakov Gallery (£7) or the Pushkin Museum, a walk through Gorky Park, a Moskva river boat ride (£4-6), or the Novodevichy Convent. In the evening take a Sapsan high-speed train (about 4 hours, ~£25-45 if booked early on rzd.ru) or a cheaper overnight sleeper (~£20-35) to St Petersburg. Book theatre tickets in advance if you want the Bolshoi or Mariinsky — check the official sites.

🚌Moscow–St Petersburg Sapsan or sleeper, ~£25-45

🛏Overnight train or hostel on arrival

• →Optional Tretyakov Gallery or Pushkin Museum
• →Moskva river boat ride
• →Gorky Park walk

Check into a hostel near Nevsky Prospekt or Sennaya Ploshchad. Book the Hermitage online in advance on hermitagemuseum.org (~£8-10, cheaper than the operator's included entrance if you use the e-ticket, and timed entry avoids queues) and give it at least 4 hours — the impressionist and Italian collections alone are worth the trip. Afternoon self-guided walk: Nevsky Prospekt, Kazan Cathedral, the Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood (exterior free, entry ~£4), and the Field of Mars.

🚌Metro and walking, £2

🛏Hostel dorm or simple twin in central St Petersburg, £10-20

• →Hermitage Museum (pre-book hermitagemuseum.org)
• →Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood
• →Nevsky Prospekt walk

Take a hydrofoil from the Admiralty or a marshrutka to Peterhof to see the fountains and the Grand Palace gardens (~£10-15 for the hydrofoil one-way; park entry ~£8). Return mid-afternoon and take a cheap canal boat tour from the pier near Nevsky (~£10-12, self-booked, no need for a private guide — the boat has its own commentary). Evening: Mariinsky or Mikhailovsky theatre tickets can be booked on the official sites; last-minute stalls seats are sometimes available at the box office.

🚌Hydrofoil/marshrutka + metro, £12-18

🛏Hostel dorm or simple twin in central St Petersburg, £10-20

• →Peterhof fountains and gardens
• →Canal boat tour
• →Optional theatre performance (official box office)

Slow day: the Russian Museum (£6), the Dostoevsky apartment museum (£4), or the Erarta contemporary art museum. Browse the Kuznechny Market for cheese, dried fish and souvenirs (much cheaper than tourist shops), walk the embankments, and eat pelmeni and borscht at a stolovaya for £5-7. If you want an optional local guide for a walking tour, free walking tours run daily from near Kazan Cathedral — just tip £5-8.

🚌Metro and walking, £2

🛏Hostel dorm or simple twin in central St Petersburg, £10-20

• →Russian Museum
• →Kuznechny Market
• →Free walking tour (tip-based)

Check out and get to Pulkovo Airport by bus 39 from Moskovskaya metro (~£0.70) plus metro (~£0.40), or use a pre-booked taxi (£15-20). Trains to Helsinki from Finlandsky/Ladozhsky stations, or buses to Helsinki from outside Moskovsky station (~£22-28). Give yourself buffer for visa-related immigration formalities — keep your immigration card with your passport at all times.

🚌Metro + bus to Pulkovo, ~£2

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• →Departure