Day 9. Irkutsk
In the morning, you arrive in Irkutsk, the capital of Eastern Siberia in tsarist times. Here, you check in at a centrally located hotel. During your city tour, you see the Okhlopkov Drama Theater, the new Tsar Alexander III memorial, and the photogenic market hall. Around noon, you visit an open-air museum showcasing life and work in Siberia in earlier centuries.
Overnight: Hotel Irkutsk (or similar) (BLD)
Day 10. Across Siberia
After breakfast, your train rolls through the diverse landscapes of Eastern Siberia. Entertaining talks on board inform you about the region; and a vodka tasting with typical Russian snacks and red caviar is an opportunity to experience Russian hospitality and learn their clever toasts.
Overnight on board (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 traditional Russian manner and taken on a tour of this most Soviet of cities on your route, including the opportunity to see the mighty Ob River. You go on a brief city tour, showing the market and the opera house.
Overnight on board (BLD)
Day 12. Yekaterinburg
Your train stops in the afternoon in Yekaterinburg, the capital of the Ural Federal District. The city is known as the place where the Russian tsar Nicholas II and his family were murdered in 1918. During a tour, you see the Church on Blood, built in 2003 to commemorate that tragic historic event, and the city center, beautifully restored in 2009. Back on board, you enjoy views of Uralian landscapes and relax in the dining car. Your private train is already rolling on the European continent.
Overnight on board (BLD)
Day 13. Kazan
After breakfast, you reach Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan on the banks of the Volga River. On a city tour, you see Tatar 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 Tatars, the Cossacks, and the Russians. Afterward, you enjoy lunch in a city restaurant.
Overnight on board (BLD)
Day 14. Welcome to Moscow
Around noon, you arrive in the Russian capital of Moscow—a thriving, prosperous city—and are accompanied to your high-end hotel. At noon you visit the Kremlin grounds with its magnificent cathedral. Your city tour takes you to the reconstructed Cathedral of Christ the Savior, Lomonosov University, the Novodevichy Convent, Red Square with its colorful St. Basil’s Cathedral, the former KGB headquarters, and the White House. Please ask us about arrangements for the evening, like a visit to the Bolshoi Theater (dependent on the schedule) or a dinner cruise on the Moscow River.
Overnight: InterContinental Tverskaya (or similar) (BLD)
Day 15. Moscow
After breakfast, you visit the Tretyakov Gallery, one of the most important art collections in the country with almost 150,000 works by Russian painters and sculptors. After lunch in a city restaurant, the afternoon is at your disposal. How about a stroll through the Arbat, Moscow’s famous pedestrian street? The most beautiful souvenirs can be found here! After dinner, our City of Lights tour shows you around the exquisitely illuminated Russian capital. You stroll across the famous Red Square with your guide and take a short trip on the subway to marvel at two of Moscow’s particularly spectacular metro stations.
Overnight: InterContinental Tverskaya (or similar) (BLD)
Day 16. Farewell, Russia!
Your journey ends with the transfer to the airport after your breakfast at the hotel. (B)
(B) = Breakfast, (L) = Lunch, (D) = Dinner