Day 1: Arrival in St. Petersburg, Airport Pick-up
This memorable trans-Mongolia tour from Russia to China will start in St. Petersburg. Upon arrival at the airport, our experienced driver will pick you up timely and then send you to the hotel. After check-in, you may spend the rest of the day strolling around on your own. Accommodation: Cronwell Inn (3 stars)
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After breakfast, this 22-day-long tour will officially start. Our local professional guide will meet you at the hotel lobby and provide you a 3-hour walking tour covering the most popular sites in St. Petersburg. The first one will be the Palace Square in city center surrounded by many luxury buildings. Then walk northward to visit the Winter Palace, once the royal palace of the Russian tsars and currently one of the world’s largest museums collecting various oil paintings, statues, furniture and art works. After, continue southward to visit St. Isaac's Cathedral, the largest cathedral in St. Petersburg whose construction lasted for 40 years; the Admiralty decorated by many big and delicate statues, reliefs and murals; and Peter and Paul Fortress, a hexahedral building and the oldest building in the city. After that, the guide will leave the rest of the day for your own exploration of the city. Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Cronwell Inn (3 stars)
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We will leave this full day for you to further enjoy the charm of St. Petersburg on your own. For your reference, the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood and Peterhof Palace are nice choices to learn more of the religious and imperial architecture of ancient Russia. The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood is a pure Russian style building with many beautiful mosaic paintings and murals. Peterhof Palace is also called the Summer Palace. It is the royal palace in suburb, grand and luxury, reputed as the “Russian Palace of Versailles”. Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Cronwell Inn (3 stars)
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Day 4: St. Petersburg - Moscow
The sightseeing in St. Petersburg will end here. After breakfast, our driver will transfer you to the train station and assist you to get on the high speed Sapsan train to Moscow. Arriving at Moscow Railway Station 4 hours later, you will see our local guide waiting for you at the exit. Then he or she will escort you to the hotel by a luxury private car. The rest of the day is free for your own arrangement. Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Budapest Hotel (3 stars)
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Like in St. Petersburg, the itinerary in Moscow will also start with a 3-hour walking tour, for you to admire characteristic attractions in Moscow, including Bolshoi Theatre- a famous ballet and opera theatre and a landmark of the city, Tverskaya Street- a main commercial street, GUM Department Store- the largest department store in Moscow dated to 1893, Red Square where many grand national celebrations and military reviewing are held and many important buildings stand around including the Kremlin, and the St. Basil's Cathedral featured by 9 different colored roofs like onions. After, the whole afternoon will be left for you to explore this historical and cultural city on your own. Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Budapest Hotel (3 stars)
Red Square
Moscow Kremlin
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Day 6: Moscow - Yekaterinburg
This day will also be left for your own visit plan. In the late afternoon, our driver will transfer you to Kazanskaya Railway Station and help you board the overnight train to Yekaterinburg. Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: on the train
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Day 7: Arrival in Yekaterinburg
Today, the train will traverse tranquil villages, green farms, boundless forests and prairie, and goes across the border between Europe and Asia. These picturesque scenery will make the trip unforgettable. Finally, the train will reach Yekaterinburg at night. Our guide and the driver based there will pick you up at the railway station and transfer you to the hotel to settle down. Accommodation: Chekhov Boutique Hotel (3 stars)
Enjoy Your Train Ride
Matryoshka Doll
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After a good rest last night, we will set out to Nevyansk Town in the Urals region. During the sightseeing, the guide will escort you to have a look at a tall Leaning Tower, enjoy folk artifacts at Tavolgi Village, and also immerse in traditional rural life at Kunara and Byngi villages. When today's tour is over, reverse the trip back to Yekaterinburg. Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Accommodation: Chekhov Boutique Hotel (3 stars)
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Day 9: Yekaterinburg Departure
Today, a 3-hour escorted walking tour around Yekaterinburg will add more fun to this 22 days tour. The guide will lead you to visit Central Square, Revolution Square, Church on the Blood, Chapel in Honor of the Grand Duchess Elizabeth and Nun Barbara, Hill of Ascension, Square of the Red Army and the Ural Museum of Mineralogy one after another. Among them, Church on the Blood was built to commemorate the last tsar of Russia and his families. Then a private transfer will take you to the Romanovs Secret Grave and then the border between Europe and Asia. At last, we will stop at a private Museum of Arms in Verkhnyaya Pyshma. When the itinerary in Yekaterinburg concludes at the end of the day, the guide will send you to Yekaterinburg Railway Station and help you board a train to Irkutsk. Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: on the train
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Day 10 - 11: On the Train
As the train traverses the vast Siberian region, you could view delightful scenery made up of marshes and forests, and also see some tranquil villages and bustling cities from the window. Actually, it is also a good chance to learn some folk customs of Russia from other passengers. Accommodation: on the train
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Day 12: Arrival in Irkutsk & Lake Baikal
The train will pull into Irkutsk Railway Station in the morning. Pack your luggage and get off. Our local guide and the driver will wait for you outside the exit and then escort you to Bolshoe Goloustnoe nestling beside Lake Baikal. It will take about 2 hours to drive there. After settling down in a Siberian Guesthouse on arrival, the guide will accompany you to visit a local church, and then take a leisurely stroll along the shore of Lake Baikal. We will also explore the lush forests and climb uphill to enjoy a better view of the lake. Meals: Lunch, Dinner
Accommodation: Siberian Guesthouse
Lake Baikal
Bolshoe Goloustnoe
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We will use the whole day to immerse in the cozy lifestyle in the Bolshoe Goloustnoe village. Again, climb up to the top of a mountain to have a full view of Lake Baikal. Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodation: Siberian Guesthouse
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Day 14: Lake Baikal & Irkutsk
This morning, go back to Irkutsk and check in a local hotel. After taking a short break, we will set out for a 2-hour walking tour to visit the most popular sites in the city, including the Park and War Memorial, churches beside the Angara River and Statue of Alexander III. The guide will also accompany you to hang out along the main streets in downtown area. We will also leave you some time to explore the city freely by yourself. Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Boutique Marussia Hotel (3 stars)
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Day 15: Irkutsk - Ulaanbaatar
Today, move on to the next destination. After breakfast, our guide will help you check out from the hotel and then escort you to the railway station to get on the onward train to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. At noon, the train will pull into Naushki Railway Station on the Russian-Mongolia border, where you need to handle immigration formalities. Then the train journey will continue, during which you can feast your eyes with boundless Mongolian prairie. Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: on the train
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Day 16: Arrival in Ulaanbaatar - Hustai National Park
Arriving in Ulaanbaatar in the early morning, our local guide and the driver will greet you at the train station and then directly head to the famous wild horse park - the Hustai National Park. It is home to Mongolia wild horses and many other wild animals. The landscape there is also attracting, consisting of mountains, rivers and steppe. On arrival, hike around to appreciate the beautiful scenery and come across the wild animals. Later in the afternoon, we will take a private car to see the wild horses drinking by the river or galloping on the vast grassland. Tonight, have a good rest in a local ger camp. Meals: Lunch, Dinner
Accommodation: Ger Camp
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Day 17: Genghis Khan Statue Complex- Terelj National Park
Today, another national park of Mongolia, Terelj National Park will be waiting for your exploration. It is also a scenic place with huge steppe, lush forest, interesting rocks, and goats and cows grazing on the hillside. On the way to the park, we will stop at Genghis khan statue complex to admire this giant but vivid statue and learn the life stories of Genghis khan. On arrival at Terelj, the guide will accompany you to hike to the mountain top to visit the Ariyabal meditation temple and enjoy the panoramic view of the whole park. Then, visit a local family to know how the herders live and their customs. Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodation: Ger Camp
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Day 18: Terelj National Park - Ulaanbaatar
After breakfast, we will drive back to Ulaanbaatar and know more about this city by visiting Gandan Monastery- an important monastery for the locals to practice Buddhism and the Bogd Khaan Palace Museum, which was the royal palace of the last emperor in Mongolia. Tonight, we will specially arrange a dinner with culture show for you. Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodation: Ramada Ulaanbaatar City Center
Terelj National Park
Gandan Monastery
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Day 19: Ulaanbaatar - Beijing
After sightseeing in Ulaanbaatar, go on to the last destination, Beijing, also by train. Our guide will transfer you to Ulaanbaatar Railway Station on time. Traveling across vast Gobi desert, the train will pass by Zamyn-Ude on the Mongolia-China border in the evening, where cross-border formalities will be handled and then stop by Erlian on China side to change wheels, then run all the way to Beijing. Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: on the train
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Day 20: Arrival in Beijing
The train will reach Beijing Railway Station before noon. Get off and stretch your arms and legs, then go to the exit to meet our guide and the driver waiting for you there. Then, they will send you to the hotel for a short rest. You may take a shower and get changed. This afternoon, the guide will escort you to start the Beijing tour with the Temple of Heaven, where you can learn the mysterious sacrificial tradition of ancient China. Accommodation: Pentahotel Beijing (4 stars)
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Today’s tour will be highlighted by the Mutianyu Great Wall, which is one of the most-famous sections of the Great Wall of China. At the reserved time, our guide and the driver will pick you up from the hotel lobby and head there in one hour. As the Great Wall was built along the mountain ranges, a round-trip cable car ride will be arranged for you to reach the ramparts in an easier way. After that, we will return to the city proper. En route, make a stop at the National Stadium to appreciate its appearance like a bird’s nest. Then the trip continues to the Summer Palace, which served as the summer retreat for royal family hundreds of years ago. Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Pentahotel Beijing (4 stars)
Temple of Heaven
Mutianyu Great Wall
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Day 22: Departure from Beijing
It is the last day of this tour from Russia to China, and we will have one last exploration of Beijing, by visiting the symbolic Tiananmen Square in city center and the large-scaled imperial architectural complex - Forbidden City. After that, our guide and the driver will escort you to the airport and help you board your leaving flight. Bon voyage! Meals: Breakfast
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