Senast uppdaterad: 2011-06-30
Itinerary
Day 1
In the early morning the ferry that will take you to Saint Petersburg leaves from Stockholm.Day 2
Arrival in Saint Petersburg before lunch. Your Russian tour leader will meet you in the ferry terminal.Day 3
During this day you will have time to do sightseeing in St. Petersburg on your own.St. Petersburg, one of Europe's most refined cities, deserves at least a week long stay, especially if you are an art lover or have done some serious reading of Russian literature. A sightseeing of moderate length could include a boat ride on the Neva canals - the city is particularly pretty when seen from the water, a stroll along the Nevsky avenue or a visit to the Summer Garden and the St. Isaac's Cathedral. The Peter and Paul fortress is of particular interest if you are willing to submerge in the early history of St. Petersburg. Mind that today's city is a modern place with plenty of restaurants and nice cafes where you could relax and watch life go by. If you are in the mood for museum hopping this is the right time for it. You could spend the whole day doing the Hermitage (pick the part you are most interested in, the museum's collections are huge, and you will hardly make it all anyway) and the Russian Museum. After this short introduction to the city which is sometimes called "the cultural capital of Europe", you will probably want to come back some day.
In the late evening you board the night train to Moscow.
Day 4
You will arrive in Moscow in the morning. By metro to the hotel, approximately 30 minutes from the city centre.
The Russian capital could keep one sightseeing and theatre going for months. You will have to select your priorities carefully to be able to make the most of this day. An ideal thing could be having a walk in the down town area within the Boulevard ring and then get on a boat for a cruise down the Moscow River. After that you can take the metro back to the city centre in order to see some of the famous and beautiful stations along the way.
The moment you step on the Red Square you see the building that says "Russia" more than anything else - the St. Basil's Cathedral - a unique cluster of colours and shapes. It was built in 1555 to 1561 and as the legend goes Ivan the Terrible had the architect blinded so that he never created anything similar.There are also a lot of other things to see around the square. The Lenin Mausoleum is situated right on the Red Square and next to it facing the square is the giant compound known as the Kremlin; the center of Russian power. Next to the Moscow river on the other side of the Kremlin you can view the magnificent golden roof of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.
Day 5 - 6
After lunch day 5 you start the train journey to Novosibirsk.
You will be accommodated in 6-bed sections, two up and two down opposite each other, and one up and one down on the other side of the aisle. If you know you like it a bit cooler during the nights you should try to get a top bunk. There are two small tables in every section and the lower bunks turn into sofas during the day. There is also lots of space for storing your luggage. There is at least one train attendant in every carrier. He or she makes sure that everything works during the journey. You will get a package of clean sheets and a small towel. The floor in the carrier is cleaned every day as well as the toilets, which you find in each ending of the carrier.
In most cases there is a restaurant carrier that serves good Russian food at reasonable prices and also cold Russian beer. You find a samovar with hot water in every carrier, which is great for making instant coffee, tea and soup. At every station you make a stop, there will be Russian "grandmothers" - Babushkas - who sell all kinds of bread, sweets and drinks.
When travelling like this, it is a good idea to have a small storage of food and snacks to share with your Russian fellow travellers. This way the journey becomes a feast and you will make lots of new friends during your journey. In order to get the time going you could bring a deck of cards and maybe some board games. To bring some music along can also be a great way to make contact with the Russians on the train or if you for some reason would get fed up with the soothing sound of the train taking you to Asia.
Day 7 - 8
Arrival in Novosibirsk in the evening of day 7.Novosibirsk is the third largest city in Russia with a population of about 1,4 million inhabitants. The city was founded in 1893 at the future site of a Trans-Siberian Railway bridge crossing the great Siberian river of Ob. During the pre-revolutionary period the city experienced steady and rapid economic growth, becoming one of the largest commercial and industrial centers of Siberia. Rapid growth and industrialisation were the reasons behind Novosibirsk's nickname: the "Chicago of Siberia".
Novosibirsk of today is a lively metropolis. Famous attractions in Novosibirsk are the chapel of St. Nicholas and the Novosibirsk Academic Theater. Constituting the main transportaion hub in the region, Novosibirsk also boasts the biggest railway station in Siberia. A train enthusiasts shouldn't miss the railway museum and the collection of locomotives.
In the evening of day 8 you board the train to Irkutsk.
Day 9
Time to relax on the train!Day 10
Arrival in Irkutsk in the late morning.
Irkutsk received its city privileges in 1686 and is one of the main cities in Siberia. Irkutsk was the window of Russia and became the base for all important expeditions leading eastwards. Irkutsk also was the center for all trade within Eastern Siberia and to the Far East.
Today Irkutsk is inhabited by more than half a million people. Still the city has a special charm with old wooden houses and picturesque churches. It is known as the "Paris of Siberia". The city is situated at the Angara River, a tributary of the Yenisei. Nowadays the main attraction of Irkutsk is the trade with China. People from all over Siberia come to Irkutsk to buy Chinese goods, mostly clothes and electronic equipment, in order to resell it in others places. Well worth to visit is the city's market. Irkutsk also holds a variety of museums, including a local history museum, a regional museum and an art museum.
Day 11 - 12
In the morning of day 11 you go by bus to Listvyanka, a small town situated on the shore of Lake Baikal. The crystal clear Lake Baikal is the deepest lake in the world (1.741 m at the deepest spot) and contains 20 % of the Earth's fresh water. In April the lake probably still is under thick ice. You can rent a hydro copter to make a tour. During the summer you can find a tour boat for a trip on the lake. Do not miss the market in Listvyanka, if you are a fish lover this is a great place. A walk up into the woods is also recommendable, to get a stunning view of the Lake Baikal.You will be accommodated in a reather simple but very charming bed-and-breakfast outside Listvyanka. This place is known for its delicious Russian food and for its banya (Russian sauna), both warmly recommended to try!
Day 13
In the morning you go by bus back to Irkutsk and take the train to Ulan Ude, where you arrive in the evening. The stretch from Irkutsk to Ulan Ude is known to be very picturesque, as the railroad winds its way just by the shore of Lake Baikal.In Ulan Ude you will stay at a boarding school. At the school you will get the very unusual chance of meeting Russian students and teachers in their every day life. You will get a warm welcoming and the children probably will have lots of questions for you.
Day 14
This day you have time to make your own sight seeing in Ulan Ude.
Ulan Ude is the capital of the Buryatia region and it has a population of nearly 400.000 inhabitants. The name Ulan Ude means "red Uda" or "red gate" in Buryat, reflecting the communist ideology of the Soviet Union. Until 1991 the city was closed to foreigners.
You can visit the functioning Ivolginsk Monastery (Datsan) which is the centre of Siberian Buddhism. It has a rare collection of old Buddhist manuscripts written on silk. The Monastery is scenic situated in a wide green valley edged by mountain foothills.
There is also an open air ethnographic museum near town, with many wooden structures from the Russian, Buryat, and Evenk cultures. Another place to visit is the Old Believer's Village; Tarbagatay. This village is inhabited by descendants to "old believers", people exiled to Siberia after the Church reforms of the 17:th century. The people of the village still live isolated from the rest of the society and keep their own traditions and rules.
Day 15
In the morning you board the train to Ulaanbaatar, a journey which will take approximately 24 hours.Day 16 - 17
Arrival in Ulaanbaatar in the morning of day 16. Our Mongolian tour leader will meet you at the train station.Ulaanbaatar is the capital of Mongolia. It is situated in a valley by the Tuul Gol River, surrounded by mountains. The altitude of the city is about 1.500 m above sea level. The city has a strange mix of a Soviet city from the 1950's and a modern metropolis. There are many international and modern restaurants and cafés in between the often grey apartment buildings. The centre of the city is not very large and it is possible to walk to most sites. If you are going further, you can either take a taxi or the local minibuses. People in the city live a modern life style, still most urban dwellers keep many traditions.
The Ulaanbaatar city was founded in 1639. If you want to know more about the history you may visit the Ulaanbaatar City Museum or the National Museum of Mongolian History.
The traditional religion in Mongolia is Tibetan Buddhism. In the early 19:th century there were over 100 temples and monasteries in Ulaanbaatar. During the Stalinist purges of the late 1930's, most of the city's temples and monasteries were destroyed. Only since the early 1990's have the people of Mongolia started to openly practice Buddhism again. The largest monastery in Ulaanbaatar is the Gandan Monastery, built in 1810. It is still active and has education for monks. If you visit in the morning you might be able to see classes. Please note that taking photos during classes is not appreciated. The Bogd Khaan Winter Palace Museum was the residence and monastery of Mongolia's last Bogd Khaan (religious and governmental leader). It is now open to visitors.
A few kilometres from Sükhbaatar Square is the Naran Tuul Market. Here you can buy almost everything. Most interesting are the sections with local Mongolian handicraft and clothes. In central Ulaanbaatar there are also many interesting shops for both handicraft and antiquities.
There will be opportunity to visit Terelj National Park, a beautiful area with rocky mountains and green forest, situated 55 km North East of Ulaanbaatar. Here you may try horse riding, or you may opt for a camel or even a yak.
In the evening of day 17 you once again board a new train; this one will take you to Hohhot, capital in the Chinese province of Inner Mongolia. The journey will take approximately 25 hours.
Day 18
Arrival in Hohhot in the evening. At the train station our Chinese tour leader will meet you and take you to your hotel.Day 19
Hohhot is a middle sized Chinese city only rarely visited by foreigners. It is an industrial city, hardly charming, but you will get an unique insight in ordinary Chinese city life. In the evening you will board the night train to Pingyao.The Chinese trains are indeed good places to meet people. There will be plenty of time to start conversations and many people are curious. Be prepared to reply questions about your marital status, your age, how many children you have etcetera. There is a restaurant in the train which in most cases only is open a few hours. You could also buy boxes of rice and vegetables that is sold on the train. There is always a free supply of boiled water.
Day 20 - 21
Arrival in Pingyao 平遥 in the morning of day 20. You get two days in this ancient town. During the last years it has become a major tourist attraction. In many ways, Pingyao represents a typical traditional Chinese town. There were not many such towns left in China after the Cultural Revolution. The town was built in its present form in 1370. A six km long and 12 meter high wall with 72 towers surrounds it. You can enter the old town from six different gates. The town consists of four main streets, eight lesser streets and 72 lanes. On the main street the 18-meter tall Market Hall 市楼 (City Tower) is a perfect landmark of the town. If you viewed it from above you would see that it was built like the marking of a tortoise shell, the very symbol of long life in Chinese mythology.In Pingyao there are many old courtyard houses. Some of the rooms in these houses have a traditional large family bed, a kang, which is built with bricks and working somewhat like an oven where the family can have a fire on underneath the place that they sleep. For many families in the North of China the kang is a place where the whole family is gathering for meals and just to keep warm.
There are many old homes and small museums to visit in the town, such as the old Confucian Chenghuang Temple 城隍财神庙 and Rishengchang 日升昌, supposedly the oldest bank in all of China, established in 1824. There is also Baichuantongpiao 白川通票, which was the second largest bank. A few kilometres outside of the city there's a nice temple called Shuanglinsi 双临寺 with some very nice wooden and terracotta sculptures.
In the evening of day 21 day you board the night train to Xi'an.
Day 22 - 23
Arrival in Xi'an 西安 in the morning of day 22. You will spend two days in the historical city of Xi'an 西安, which was the capital of the Chinese Empire for more than 1.000 years. At that time it was the biggest city in the world. Nowadays it is the capital of the Shaanxi Province. Both in- and outside the city wall you will find reminders of the town's mighty period. The Big Goose Pagoda 大雁塔, the Small Goose Pagoda 小雁塔, the Bell Tower 鼓楼 and the Great Mosque 大清真寺 are some of them. An old city wall surrounds the old city centre. You can walk on the wall almost all the way around town. You can even rent a bicycle on top of the wall and ride for a bit! In the night time, several areas of the city are transformed to huge night markets with food stalls.Xi'an has a big Muslim population and the Muslim area is a great place to wander around in. The Muslim area is close to the Bell Tower and among other things you can visit the Great Mosque or just walk around and experience the Muslim side of China. In the evening some of the more central streets in the Muslim area really come to life with Muslim barbeques serving skewers and grilled spicy bread.
In the evening there are music and dance performances at several theatres in town. One of those is the Shaanxi Grand Opera House 陕西歌舞大剧院, which has a beautiful show from the Tang Dynasty.
When in Xi'an, a visit to the Terracotta Army 兵马俑 is a must. The army of terracotta warrior statues guarding the tomb of the first emperor Qin Shi Huangdi's was discovered by a local farmer in 1974. Do not miss the introduction film showed in the circular theatre. Banpo 半坡博物馆 is the name of a 6.000 years old settlement from the early Stone Age that was found in the outskirts of X'ian. The excavation is displayed in a museum. It is interesting and well worth a visit, even though the museum is not very modern. The Shaanxi History Museum 陕西历史博物馆, on the contrary, is a modern museum. Its exhibition displays the rich history of China and you get to realize how important the Xi'an region has been as the cradle of Chinese civilization.
In the evening of day 23 you board the night train to Beijing.
Day 24 - 26
Arrival in Beijing in the morning of day 24. Beijing 北京is the capital of China since 1279. There are many historical points of interest whereof the Forbidden City 故宫, the Summer Palace 颐和园, the Temple of Heaven 天坦公园 and the Great Wall 长城 are the most important.North of the Forbidden City 故宫 there are a series of parks starting with the Jingshan Park 景山公园 just across the street from the Northern gate of the Forbidden City. From the top of the hill of Jingshan Park you get a good view of Beijing and the Forbidden City. Further to the west you will find the Beihai Park 北海公园, which is very popular among Beijingers for skating in the wintertime. Beihai means the Northern Sea. Just South of Beihai is Zhongnanhai 中南海 (Middle and Southern Sea). That is the part of the government area where most of the high rank leaders work and live. It is often called the Forbidden City of the Modern China, since it is not open for ordinary citizens to visit - just as was the Imperial Forbidden City.
North of the Beihai Park, there are a few more lakes surrounded by parks; Qianhai 前海 (the Front Sea), Houhai 后海 (the Back Sea) and Xihai 西海 (the Western Sea). This part of Beijing is quiet and nice for a stroll along the lakeside. Old men are fishing, others are playing table tennis, yet others go for a swim in the water. Close to Houhai you can find some small tea houses 茶馆 where tea is served in the traditional way. There are also many cafes and restaurants. In the area of these lakes there are also some museums and parks worth visiting. Prince Gong's Residence 恭王府 has a traditional Chinese garden and Chinese styled buildings, as has the former residence of Song Qingling 宋庆龄故居.
In most parks there are a lot of activities in the mornings. People gather to do any kind of exercise; taiqi, qigong, dancing and even singing opera. In some parks old men bring their bird cages and let the birds sing together while the men chat away. Tiantan Park 天坛公园 is probably the park with most morning activities of all. It is quite an experience to walk around in the park in the early morning surrounded by all the activity.
In the evenings you can visit an acrobatic show or a performance of Peking Opera.
The city centre of Beijing has a mixture of narrow alleys and modern shopping areas. A traditional Chinese house is built in a square with a courtyard in the middle, siheyuan. Towards the alley there are no windows but just a high wall and a closed gate. Some of these courtyards are well preserved and it has become very popular and exclusive to live in such courtyard houses. There are also many old houses in very bad condition in the alleys. Most of the ordinary people living in the alleys do not have private toilets but have to use the public toilet in the neighborhood. The Beijing authorities are very keen on tearing these areas down to get space to build hotels, shopping centres and office buildings.
Beijing is changing rapidly and it seems as almost all city is under re-construction. The new Beijing has lots of high-rise buildings, roads in three layers and a great deal of neon and modern architecture. The most modern part of the city centre is situated around the Wangfujing Street 王府井大街. Jianguomenwai Dajie 建国门外大街 is another area with several large shopping centres, such as the Friendship Store 友谊商店. Not far from the Friendship Store, to the East, you will also find the famous Silk Alley 秀水市场 where you can buy clothing garments of all kinds, only some of them made of silk. Another good place for shopping is the Hongqiao Market 红桥市场 just north of the Eastern Gate of Tiantan Park. The Hongqiao Market is no longer a regular market in the street, but a modern four storey-building where everything from CD-players to pearls are sold.
There are several spots where to visit the Great Wall 长城, some very crowded, others quite empty. Most "tourist stations" at the wall has a cable car to take you up to the top. Simatai 司马台 is warmly recommended. Go early in the morning if possible. From Simatai you can walk on top of the wall for 4-6 hours until you reach Jinshanling 金山岭.
Day 27
The tour is concluded.