11 January 2012. Train times valid from 11
December 2011 to 9 June 2012.
UK to Russia by train...
St Basil's Cathedral, Moscow
Photo courtesy of Tony Willis
It's easy, safe & comfortable to travel from London to Moscow by
train. Just take Eurostar from London to Brussels, a
high-speed train to Cologne, then the daily Russian sleeping-car
from Cologne to Moscow, taking two nights. It's the civilised way to reach Russia!
Or choose from a range of other options via Berlin or
Warsaw, including some to St Petersburg.
On this page...
You'll find a
step-by-step guide to planning, booking & making a train journey
from the UK to Russia:
Option 6, London to Moscow
via Kiev: Avoids Belarus & the need for a Belarus visa, daily departures, takes 3
nights with time to see Warsaw & Kiev on the way.
This is the fastest,
most comfortable & convenient option, shown in dark blue on
the route map above. Although
option 2
is usually
a bit cheaper, option described here gives you the comfort of an
air-conditioned Russian sleeping-car all the way from Cologne to
Moscow.
The Cologne-Moscow sleeping-car at Brest. These Russian
international sleeping-cars were built in the 1990s and are
clean, comfortable & air-conditioned. They link Moscow
with Cologne, Amsterdam, Paris, Vienna, Prague, Munich, Basel
and other cities...
London ► Moscow
Day 1: Travel
from London to Brussels by
Eurostar, leaving London St Pancras
daily except Saturdays at 15:04, arriving
Brussels
Midi at 18:05. On Saturdays, depart London
at 12:57 arriving Brussels Midi at 16:08.
Day 1: Travel from Brussels to
Cologne by ICE
high-speed train leaving
Brussels
Midi at 18:25 and arriving Cologne at 20:15. On Saturdays you can
also take the earlier 17:28 Thalys
train arriving Cologne at 19:15. You've time
for a meal in Cologne.
Day 1: Travel from Cologne to Moscow by
direct Russian Railways sleeping-car, leaving Cologne at
22:28, travelling across Germany, Poland and Belarus, arriving Moscow
Byelorruski Station 2 nights later at 10:33 (Day 3 from
London). The sleeper has 1, 2
& 3-bed compartments with washbasin,
see the photos below.
Map of Moscow showing Byelorruski station.
Moscow ► London
Day 1, evening:
Travel from Moscow to Cologne by direct Russian sleeping-car,
leaving Moscow Byelorruski Station daily at 00:49 (actually
day 2, as departure is after midnight!) and arriving in Cologne at 06:14
two nights later after passing through Belarus, Poland &
Germany. The sleeping-car is modern and air-conditioned,
with 1, 2 and 3-bed compartments with washbasin,
see the photos below.
Map of Moscow showing Byelorruski station.
Day 3: Travel from Brussels to
London by Eurostar. Daily except Saturdays, a
Eurostar
leaves Brussels
Midi at 12:56 and arrives London St Pancras at 14:03.
On Saturdays and also Mondays & Tuesdays from 18
February onwards, also Wed, Thurs & Fri from 2 April
onwards, a Eurostar leaves Brussels
Midi at 10:56
and arrives London St Pancras at 11:57.
Take Eurostar to Brussels, then a
German ICE high-speed train
to Cologne...
ICE3
2nd class. ICEs are perhaps the most comfortable daytime trains
in Europe...
The Cologne-Moscow sleeping-car
is
modern and air-conditioned, with ten compartments each of which
can be used
as 3-berth, 2-berth or
single-berth. By day the room is a comfortable sitting
room (pictured below left), by night the beds fold out from the wall behind the
sofa, one above the other (pictured below centre as a
single-berth room with the middle and top bunks folded away
against the wall, below right as a 2-berth room with third
bunk unused). Each room has a washbasin,
towels & soap are provided. Each berth has fresh clean
sheets, fluffy pillow and blankets, plus an individual berth
reading light. The sleeping-car attendant can
serve you excellent Russian tea. A restaurant car runs
with this train between the Polish border and Warsaw, serving meals, snacks and drinks,
but always travel with supplies of your own including maybe a
favourite bottle of wine.
Passengers travelling alone who can't afford the single-berth
sleeper fare can share a 2-bed or 3-bed compartment with other
sleeper passengers of the same sex. This sleeping-car
actually starts its journey in Amsterdam, so a ferry
connection from Harwich, Hull or Newcastle to Holland can also
be a good alternative to Eurostar,
details here.
Dinner in Cologne before you board?
For a traditional German meal in Cologne before boarding the
Moscow sleeper, try the Brauhaus Sion (www.brauhaus-sion.de),
5 minutes walk from Cologne hauptbahnhof, or the Malzmuehle
restaurant (www.muehlenkoelsch.de),
10-15 minutes walk from Cologne Hauptbahnhof, or there's a
restaurant inside the Hauptbahnhof itself at the Schweinske,
www.schweinske.de.
Feedback is always
appreciated!
A sleeper compartment
in the Amsterdam-Cologne-Moscow sleeper, in daytime mode with
beds folded away & seats folded out...
Single-berth sleeper: This is a
compartment in night-time mode, set up as a single berth room (middle &
top bunks unused & folded away).
2-berth sleeper: A similar
compartment in night mode, this time set up as a 2-berth room (third bunk
unused & folded away)
Russia here we come! The
air-conditioned Russian sleeping-car to Moscow gathers speed
down the platform... It's a safe & comfortable way to
reach Russia. Direct Russian sleeping-cars like this
one link Moscow
with Amsterdam, Cologne, Basel, Prague, Vienna, Warsaw,
Paris & Berlin.
Above:
Children watch from the end of the coach as it's jacked up
at Brest to have its bogies changed to Russian gauge.
Photo courtesy of
www.fiddlerontherails.com.
What's the journey
like?
Your Eurostar journey takes you out of London and across Kent
at up to 186 mph,
with glimpses of Rochester castle and cathedral to the left as
the train crosses the River Medway. The transit through
the Channel Tunnel takes just 20 minutes. Changing
trains at Brussels (Midi/Zuid station) is easy. The
high-speed ICE train from Brussels to Cologne takes you
across the old coal-mining part of Belgium, green and hilly,
passing into Germany at Aachen. The ICE enters Cologne's main station (Hauptbahnhof), right next
to the imposing towers of Cologne cathedral.
Leaving Cologne, the train to Moscow rolls over the huge
steel bridge over the River Rhine and passes slowly
through the industrial Ruhr via Düsseldorf and Dortmund and
heads overnight into Poland. Poland is largely flat,
rich green farmland. Although Warsaw Centralna station itself
is underground, look out for Warsaw's 'Palace of Culture' on
the skyline as the train approaches and leaves Warsaw, a
Soviet-style 'wedding cake' of a skyscraper.
Russian track gauge is 5', but most of Europe (including
the UK) is 4' 8½", so at Brest on the Belarus frontier the sleeping-cars are
shunted into a shed, each car is separated and jacked up to
have its bogies (wheelsets) changed. You remain on board while this is
done, it' quite an experience! After entering
Belarus and Russia, the scenery changes to rolling hills,
birch tree forests, and villages of small wooden
houses. Approaching Moscow, you may catch
a glimpse of the plaques on the station building marked '1812'
and '1942' as the train passes through the small station of
historic Borodino.
How much does it
cost?
1. London to
Cologne
by Eurostar + Thalys
or ICE:
Fares for Eurostar+ICE start at 49 euros (£43)
each way.
Fares
for Eurostar+Thalys start at £53 one-way (£39
London-Brussels + £14 Brussels-Cologne)
or £97 return (£69 London-Brussels +
£28 Brussels-Cologne).
Fares vary like
air fares, so book in advance to get the cheapest
prices.
Step 1: You can book the
Cologne-Moscow sleeper online at
www.tgv-europe.com.
This is probably the easiest way to book and you pay no
booking fees.
Be aware that
the ability to book the Cologne-Moscow train online seems to
come and go. For example, last
year it was also bookable at
www.raileurope.co.uk,
but now it no longer shows up on the Rail Europe
system. So give
www.tgv-europe.com
a go and see if the Cologne-Moscow train appears. If
it does, great, book it, if not, book by phone instead.
When using
www.tgv-europe.com,
select '1st class' if you want to be
offered a bed in a 2-bed or single-bed compartment, and when
the search results appear, use the 'choose my place' link to
switch between these two 1st class options. Select '2nd class'
if you want a bed in a 3-bed compartment. Tickets booked
at
www.tgv-europe.com can be sent to any address worldwide
except the USA. If you're from the USA,
see this
advice.
Step 2, now check
for cheap 'London Spezial' tickets from London to Cologne
using the German Railways website, using these links
(just enter your date of travel):
Alternative
step 2: If you don't see any suitable cheap tickets on
this system, there are several other ways to book a
London-Cologne ticket.
www.b-europe.com can book both Eurostar+Thalys and
Eurostar+ICE, it frequently seems to offer the cheapest
fares (if there's no DB 'spezial' available, that is), it does
self-print tickets and accepts credit cards from anyone in any
country.
www.raileurope.co.uk
(UK residents only)
can also book London to Cologne & back as can
www.eurostar.com. By all means
try booking London to Cologne on the last two sites sites, but a
major quirk of the French reservation system on which
they're based is that it can't mix & match fare types and
they may
come up with silly-money fares as a result. The solution
is to split the journey into London-Brussels and
Brussels-Cologne as follows:
UK residents can
go to
www.raileurope.co.uk,
and using the Eurostar & ICE times given above as your guide,
first book the train from London to Brussels & back, add it to
your basket, click 'continue shopping' then book Brussels to
Cologne & back. Add this to your basket and checkout.
Another way to
split the journey, which can be used by anyone from any country
is to book London-Brussels at
www.eurostar.com
(with self-print tickets) and the Brussels-Cologne ICE at
www.bahn.de
(also with self-print tickets). Brussels-Cologne Thalys
trains can be booked at
www.thalys.com.
Booking this way gives you access to all the cheaper fares
offered by German railways shown in the fares table above.
I've prepared a booking form for you, listing all the
specific trains you need to book. Simply
click here to open the form, fill it in with your dates
& details and email it to
sales@europeanrail.com. Erail are a London-based
agency of German Railways. They will make
the reservations and call you back to confirm the cost.
If you're okay with the price, you can give them your credit card details
and buy the tickets. Erail charge a £35 booking fee which includes
postage to any UK address, or they can send to any address
worldwide if you pay the courier fee. Seat61 gets some commission if you buy tickets
using this form.
If you need train tickets within Russia, for example
Moscow to St Petersburg,
click here.
Don't forget to arrange your
Russian visa &
Belarus transit visa.
Buying train
tickets to Russia, other options...
Here's
a
run-down of the best ways to book a train journey to Russia.
Bookings for the Cologne-Moscow sleeper open 90 days in
advance, you can't buy tickets until reservations open.
Bookings for the westbound Moscow-Cologne sleeper open 45 days
before departure.
Book by email or phone with Erail (www.europeanrail.com)
by email or phone (email
this special booking form to
sales@europeanrail.com or call them on
020 7619 1083, lines open 08:30-18:00
Monday-Friday, 09:00-13:00 Saturday). Seat61 gets some
commission if you use the special booking form. Erail
uses the
German Railways reservation system so can access both the
Saver return fares and cheaper fares for travel in a 2-bed
sleeper. When they
get your form, they will make all the reservations without
obligation, then call you
back to confirm the price and take your credit card details.
There's a £35 booking fee per transaction, but this can be
worth it as their staff know what they are doing with
bookings like this. Tickets can be sent outside the UK if
you live overseas.
Book by phone with
Deutsche
Bahn's UK office on
08718 80 80 66, lines open 09:00-20:00 Monday-Friday,
09:00-13:00 Saturday & Sunday.
Prices are the same as those charged by European Rail, though
an advantage is that DB don't charge a booking fee,
just a 2% fee for credit cards. However, their staff aren't
always as familiar with more exotic bookings like this, so
make sure you are clear about exactly which trains you want to
book before calling.
Tailor-made travel
arrangements with hotels: If putting the trip
together yourself seems too complicated (even with the booking
forms and advice I provide!), one experienced company offers a compete tailor-made
travel service with all your rail tickets booked for you and
hotels arranged at stops along the way. You simply
tell them where you want to go and where you'd like to stop
off on the way, and they will do the rest. Contact
www.railbookers.com, on 020 3327 0761. They
can advise you on the best trains,
routes & hotels too. They get
very positive reviews, and look after their customers very
well.
Browse suggested holiday itinerary
to Moscow &
sample prices. At the time of writing, they offer a
3-night train journey from London to Moscow with a stopover in
Berlin from £499 including 1 night hotel in Berlin & 1 night
hotel in Moscow, but they can arrange one-way or return trips
by train with whatever routes and stopovers you like, just
ask.
For more
information about how to book European trains, see the
How to buy European train tickets page. If
you are making a return journey or a one-way trip inbound from
Moscow, please read the section below about booking westbound
trains from Moscow to London.
UK agencies can
easily book sleepers to Russia using the computer reservation system
which covers trains starting in
Germany. However, berths on trains starting in Russia
are held on the Russian reservation system, so UK agencies
may have difficulty booking an inbound
sleeper from Russia back to western Europe. The German
reservation computer sometimes has an allocation of
berths for the inbound Moscow to Cologne or Berlin sleepers - If you are
booking through Deutsche Bahn's UK office, ask the agent to
try using the train number '11MJ' for the Moscow-Cologne train
(whatever train number appears on their timetable enquiry
screen) as this has been reported to work. But if all
else fails and your UK agency is unable to obtain the inbound
Moscow-Cologne sleeper for you, simply ask them to book
you (1) the return Eurostar+Thalys ticket from London to Cologne and
back, (2) a one way sleeper from Cologne to Moscow.
Then book the return sleeper from Moscow to Cologne using a local
Russian agency such as
RealRussia,
Svezhy
Veter, Waytorussia.net or
G&R
International. Alternatively, you can book westbound
Moscow-Warsaw or Moscow-Berlin tickets
using the online
form below, then use
www.europeanrail.com
or DB's UK
office to book the Warsaw or Berlin to London section.
This option usually works out as the cheapest way to reach
Moscow. It's not as convenient as using the direct
Cologne-Moscow sleeper, as it involves an extra change of train
in Warsaw and takes a couple of hours longer. But with cheap fares available on the
Cologne-Warsaw part of the trip, the total cost is usually about £165 from London to Moscow
making it cheaper than most one-way flights and far more
rewarding. It also takes the direct route shown in dark
blue on the route
map above.
London ► Moscow
Day 1: Travel
from London to Brussels by
Eurostar, leaving London St Pancras
daily except Saturdays at 15:04, arriving
Brussels
Midi at 18:05. On Saturdays, depart London
at 12:57 arriving Brussels Midi at 16:08.
Day 1: Travel from Brussels to
Cologne by ICE
high-speed train leaving
Brussels
Midi at 18:25 and arriving Cologne at 20:15. On Saturdays you can
also take the earlier 17:28 Thalys
train arriving Cologne at 19:15. You've time
for a meal in Cologne.
Day 1:
Travel from Cologne to Warsaw overnight on the 'Jan Kiepura'
sleeper train, leaving Cologne at 22:28 and arriving
Warsaw
Centralna at 10:55 next morning (day 2). The 'Jan Kiepura' has modern
air-conditioned Polish sleeping-cars (1 & 2-berth deluxe rooms with private
toilet & shower plus TV/DVD player, 1, 2 & 3-berth
standard rooms with washbasin, hot shower at end of the
corridor, CCTV security, highly recommended), modern
couchettes (more basic sleeping accommodation in 4-berth & 6-berth
compartments), and reclining seats (not recommended). The sleeper fare
includes complimentary toiletries pack and morning tea or
coffee and croissant. An InterCity cafe car is attached
in the morning for breakfast, but
there's no catering car in the evening so feel free to take your own picnic, wine or beer on board!
More photos & information about the Jan Kiepura sleeper
train.
Day 2: Travel from Warsaw to Moscow on the
'Polonez' sleeper train, leaving
Warsaw
Centralna at 15:25 and
arriving Moscow Byelorruski station at 12:45 next day (day 3 from London). The train has
either Polish
or Russian sleeping-cars (you stand a 50:50 chance of getting
either country's train) with 1st class 2-bed and 2nd class
3-bed compartments with carpet and washbasin, see the photos
of the Polish train below. A Russian restaurant car is
attached for breakfast between Brest (just across the Belarus
border) and Moscow. Next morning, as the train passes
through the small station of Borodino, look out for the
plaques on the station building marked '1812' and '1942'...
Map of Moscow showing Byelorruski station.
Moscow ► London
Day 1:
Travel from Moscow to Warsaw overnight by the 'Polonez'
sleeper train, leaving Moscow Byelorruski station at
17:21 and arriving
Warsaw
Centralna at 08:30 next
morning. The train has either Polish or Russian
sleeping-cars (the two sets of carriages alternate) with 1st class 2-bed & 2nd class 3-bed
compartments with carpet and washbasin. A Russian
restaurant car is attached between Moscow and Brest (on
the Polish border) for dinner.
Day 2: Travel
from Warsaw to Cologne on the 'Jan Kiepura' sleeper
train,
leaving
Warsaw
Centralna at 18:35 and
arriving in Cologne at 06:14 next morning. The
Jan Kiepura has modern
Polish sleeping-cars (1, 2 & 3-bed standard rooms with washbasin, 1 &
2-bed deluxe rooms with private shower & toilet,
highly recommended),
couchettes (more basic sleeping accommodation in 4-
& 6-berth compartments) and reclining seats (not
recommended). An InterCity cafe car is
attached in the evening as far as Berlin, serving
snacks, drinks and hot meals,
but feel free to take your own picnic, wine or beer on
board! Spend the morning
in Warsaw.
More photos & information about the Jan Kiepura sleeper
train.
Day 3: Travel from Brussels to
London by Eurostar. Daily except Saturdays, a
Eurostar
leaves Brussels
Midi at 12:56 and arrives London St Pancras at 14:03.
On Saturdays and also Mondays & Tuesdays from 18
February onwards, also Wed, Thurs & Fri from 2 April
onwards, a Eurostar leaves Brussels
Midi at 10:56
and arrives London St Pancras at 11:57.
On board the
Jan Kiepura sleeper train from Cologne to Warsaw...
1, 2 or 3 bed sleepers: The EuroNight
Jan Kiepura
has 1 or 2 modern air-conditioned Polish sleeping-cars,
with 1, 2 & 3 bed compartments, either standard with washbasin or deluxe with shower & toilet.
More info about this train.
A cosy standard sleeper
shown with all 3 beds
folded out & the washbasin visible.
A standard sleeper with the beds
folded away and seats folded out. There's a socket
for laptops & mobiles.
4-berth couchettes: Ideal for families.
Much more space per person than 6-berth couchettes.
6-berth couchettes: A very economical
option, far better than a seat for just a few euros
more...
Above: The
Jan Kiepura also has two couchette cars, with 4 & 6
berth compartments. There are toilets &
washrooms at the end of the corridor.
On board the
Polonez sleeper train from Warsaw to Moscow...
The
Polonez train from Warsaw to Moscow uses
Russian sleeping-cars one day and Polish sleeping-cars the next,
so you've a 50:50 chance of getting the Polish train or
the Russian train.
The Russian train uses sleeping-cars that are identical to the
Cologne-Moscow sleeper
shown here.
The Polish train is pictured above, about
to leave Warsaw Centralna for Moscow. Freshly repainted in
the new PKP InterCity colours, each compartment (above
right) has been smartly refurbished and can be used for single, double or triple
occupancy, and features a washbasin, comfortable beds
which convert to a seat for daytime use (as shown here).
Each car is in the charge of an immaculately-uniformed
attendant from 'Wars', the Polish railways sleeper &
dining car company. An excellent train!
How much does it cost?
1.
London to Cologne
by Eurostar + Thalys
or ICE
Fares for Eurostar+ICE start at 49 euros (£43)
each way.
Fares
for Eurostar+Thalys start at £53 one-way (£39
London-Brussels + £14 Brussels-Cologne)
or £97 return (£69 London-Brussels +
£28 Brussels-Cologne).
Fares vary like
air fares, so book in advance to get the cheapest
prices.
Savings fare =
cheap fare, price varies, book in advance, limited availability,
no refunds, no changes to travel plans.
Full price = fully flexible, refundable,
buy any time.
3. Warsaw to Moscow
by sleeper 'Polonez'
One-way fare in 3-bed
sleeper £116 per person.
One-way fare in
2-bed sleeper £165 per person
One-way in
single-berth sleeper £225 per person.
Return fares are twice
the one-way fare.
How to book
online...
You can book the
London-Cologne-Warsaw part of the journey online,
following the step
by step instructions here. You'll be able to see all the
cheap fares, and you won't pay any booking fees for this part of the
journey. However, the Warsaw-Moscow train cannot be booked
online so you'll need to pick up the phone and book this train
either with DB (08718 80 80 66, lines open open 09:00-20:00
Monday-Friday, 09:00-13:00 Saturday & Sunday) or European Rail 020 7619 1083,
lines open 08:30-18:00 Monday-Friday, 09:00-13:00 Saturday.
How to buy tickets by email from Erail...
You cannot book this journey online. However,
I've prepared a booking form for you, listing all the
specific trains you need to book. Simply
click here to open the form, fill it in with your dates
& details and email it to
sales@europeanrail.com. Erail are a London-based
agency of German Railways. They will make
the reservations and call you back to confirm the cost.
If you're okay with the price, you can give them your credit card details
and buy the tickets. Erail charge a £35 booking fee which includes
postage to any UK address, or they can send to any address
worldwide if you pay the courier fee. Seat61 gets some commission if you buy tickets
using this form.
If you need train tickets within Russia, for example
Moscow to St Petersburg,
click here.
Don't forget to arrange your
Russian visa &
Belarus transit visa.
How to buy
tickets, other options...
Here's the full
run-down of the best ways to book a train journey to Russia.
Bookings for the Warsaw-Moscow sleeper open 60 days in
advance, you can't buy tickets until reservations open.
Bookings for the westbound Moscow-Warsaw sleeper open 45 days
before departure.
Book with Erail (www.europeanrail.com)
by email or phone (email
this special booking form to
sales@europeanrail.com or call 020 7619 1083, lines open 08:30-18:00
Monday-Friday, 09:00-13:00 Saturday). Seat61 gets some
commission if you use the special booking form. Erail
uses the
German Railways reservation system so can access all the
fares shown above. When they
get your form, they will make all the reservations without
obligation, then call you
back to confirm the price and take your credit card details.
There's a £35 booking fee per transaction, but this can be
worth it as their staff know what they are doing with
bookings like this. Tickets can be sent outside the UK if
you live overseas.
Book by phone with
Deutsche
Bahn's UK office on
08718 80 80 66, lines open 09:00-20:00 Monday-Friday,
09:00-13:00 Saturday & Sunday.
Prices are the same as those charged by Erail, though
an advantage is that DB don't charge a booking fee,
just a 2% fee for credit cards. However, their staff aren't
always as familiar with more exotic bookings like this, so
make sure you are clear about exactly which trains you want to
book before calling.
Tailor-made travel
arrangements with hotels: If putting the trip
together yourself seems too complicated (even with the booking
forms and advice I provide!), one experienced company offers a compete tailor-made
travel service with all your rail tickets booked for you and
hotels arranged at stops along the way. You simply
tell them where you want to go and where you'd like to stop
off on the way, and they will do the rest. Contact
www.railbookers.com, on 020 3327 0761. They
can advise you on the best trains,
routes & hotels too. They get
very positive reviews, and look after their customers very
well.
Browse suggested holiday itinerary
to Moscow &
sample prices. At the time of writing, they offer a
3-night train journey from London to Moscow with a stopover in
Berlin from £499 including 1 night hotel in Berlin & 1 night
hotel in Moscow, but they can arrange one-way or return trips
by train with whatever routes and stopovers you like, just
ask.
Berlin to Moscow: The
destination board on the 'Moskva Express', replaced in
December 2011 by the 'Trans-European Express'
running all the way from Paris to Moscow. Courtesy of Chris Sparks
Standard
sleeper from Berlin to Moscow.
Luxury sleeper: One of the deluxe sleeper
compartments on the Trans-European Express from Paris
& Berlin to Moscow, 1 or 2 berth with
shower/toilet. Courtesy of António M. Tavares
This option is useful if you want to stop off in Paris or Berlin on the
way, or need to leave London later in the day because of work
commitments or the need to travel to London from remoter parts of the UK.
From around £170 one-way it costs a bit more than the
cheapest option via Warsaw. If you have the money it can
also be the deluxe option, as a luxury sleeper (with double
bed!) is available on the Berlin-Moscow train and deluxe sleeper
compartments with private shower/toilet are available on the
Paris-Berlin overnight train.
On the route
map above, this option
takes the alternative route shown in light blue via Paris as far
as Berlin, then the direct route to Moscow shown in dark blue.
London ► Moscow
Day 1, travel from
London to Paris by Eurostar, leaving
London St Pancras at 16:01 (15:31 at weekends), arriving Paris Gare du Nord at
19:17 (18:47 at weekends).
It's a
10 minute walk
from the Gare du Nord to the Gare de l'Est. By
all means take an earlier Eurostar if you'd like to spend
some time in Paris, or if it has cheaper seats available.
Day 1, travel from Paris to Berlin
by the City Night Line sleeper train 'Perseus', leaving
Paris Gare de l'Est daily at 20:05 (20:20 at weekends) and arriving at
Berlin
Hauptbahnhof at 08:26 next morning. The 'Perseus' has sleepers, couchettes, seats
and a bistro car.
More pictures
& information about this train.
Day 2:
Travel from Berlin to Moscow on the 'Trans-European Express'.
This runs on Mondays, Wednesdays & Saturdays all year
round, and on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays
and Saturdays in summer from 31 May to 6 October 2012,
leaving
Berlin Hauptbahnhof at
21:29 and arriving in Moscow Byelorruski at
23:58 the next day (day 3 from London). Because
Russia now has no daylight saving time, it will arrive
at 01:30 (on day 4) from December 2011 until 25 March
2012, and after 29 October 2012. You can double-check
times and the days when
this train runs using
http://bahn.hafas.de.
The 'Trans-European Express' uses the same air-conditioned Russian
sleeping-cars as the Brussels-Moscow train, with
comfortable 1, 2 & 3-berth compartments with washbasin,
see the pictures
above, and also has a luxury sleeping-car with 1 & 2
bed compartments with private shower & toilet and
flat-screen TV, see the next paragraph. A
restaurant car runs between Berlin and Warsaw and between Brest and Moscow serving
inexpensive meals, drinks and snacks.
Map of Moscow showing Byelorruski station.
Luxury
sleeping-car: The Trans-European Express also
has a luxury sleeping-car of the Russian
Railways, introduced in 2004. It has just four
sleeper compartments, each with private shower and toilet, TV/DVD
entertainment system, by day there is a sofa and coffee
table, by night there is a full-width double bed plus
additional single upper bunk if required. The Berlin-Moscow one-way fare in this luxury
sleeping-car is about 344 euros (£245) per person for two
people sharing, or 448 euros (£320) for sole occupancy.
Try this link for more information about this luxury
service, and see the photo opposite. Traveller
António Tavares reports
that he was the only passenger, the other 3 compartments
were empty - the car has a fancy bar area, which was
closed on his trip, hot meals were included and served in
his compartment, but only from Brest to Moscow.
Moscow ► London
Day 1: Travel
from Moscow to Berlin on the 'Trans-European Express'. The
Trans-European Express runs
on Mondays, Thursdays & Saturdays all year round,
and on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays & Sundays from
29 May to 6
October 2012. It leaves Moscow Byelorruski at 08:51
(a bit earlier, at 08:00 from 25 March to 27 May 2012) and arrives
at
Berlin
Hauptbahnhof at 06:53 the following
day (day 2). The 'Moskva Express' uses the same
air-conditioned Russian sleeping-cars as the
Brussels-Moscow train, with comfortable 1, 2 & 3-berth
compartments with washbasin, see the
pictures above,
plus a special
luxury
'business class' sleeping-car with 1 & 2-bed rooms
with en suite shower and toilet, TV/DVD system and
full-width double bed. Spend the day in Berlin, a
left luggage office is available.
Day 2, travel from Berlin to Paris by City Night Line sleeper
train 'Perseus', leaving
Berlin
Hauptbahnhof daily at 20:07 and arriving Paris Gare de
l'Est at 09:24 next morning. The
'Perseus' has ordinary seats (not recommended), couchettes (4-bunk or
6-bunk) and modern sleeping-cars (1, 2 or 3-berth standard
rooms with washbasin or
deluxe rooms with private shower & toilet, highly
recommended), plus a bistro-restaurant car.
Breakfast is included in the fare for sleeper passengers.
More pictures
& information about this train.
Day 3, travel
from Paris to London by
Eurostar,
leaving Paris Nord at 11:13 and arriving London St
Pancras at 12:30.
One-way fare in 3-bed
sleeper about £130 per person (Rail Europe £156).
One-way fare in
2-bed sleeper about £160 per person.
One-way fare in a
single-bed sleeper about £250.
Special deluxe
sleeper with shower/toilet, one-way:
£265 per person
for 2 people sharing, £350 for sole occupancy.
How to buy tickets by email from Erail...
You cannot book this journey online. However, I've prepared a booking form for you, listing all the
specific trains you need to book. Simply
click here to open the form, fill it in with your dates
& details and email it to
sales@europeanrail.com. Erail are a London-based
agency of German Railways. They will make
the reservations and call you back to confirm the cost.
If you're okay with the price, you can give them your credit card details
and buy the tickets. Erail charge a £35 booking fee which includes
postage to any UK address, or they can send to any address
worldwide if you pay the courier fee. Seat61 gets some commission if you buy tickets
using this form.
If you need train tickets within Russia, for example
Moscow to St Petersburg,
click here.
Don't forget to arrange your
Russian visa &
Belarus transit visa.
How to buy
tickets, other options...
Here's the full
run-down of the best ways to book a train journey to Russia.
Bookings for the Berlin-Moscow sleeper open 90 days in
advance, you can't buy tickets until reservations open.
Bookings for the westbound Moscow-Berlin sleeper open 45 days
before departure.
Book with Erail (www.europeanrail.com)
by email or phone (email
this special booking form to
sales@europeanrail.com or call 020 7619 1083, lines open 08:30-18:00
Monday-Friday, 09:00-13:00 Saturday). Seat61 gets some
commission if you use the special booking form. Erail
uses the
German Railways reservation system so can access all the
fares shown above. When they
get your form, they will make all the reservations without
obligation, then call you
back to confirm the price and take your credit card details.
There's a £35 booking fee per transaction, but this can be
worth it as their staff know what they are doing with
bookings like this. Tickets can be sent outside the UK if
you live overseas.
Book by phone with
Deutsche
Bahn's UK office on
08718 80 80 66, lines open 09:00-20:00 Monday-Friday,
09:00-13:00 Saturday & Sunday.
Prices are the same as those charged by Erail, though
an advantage is that DB don't charge a booking fee,
just a 2% fee for credit cards. However, their staff aren't
always as familiar with more exotic bookings like this, so
make sure you are clear about exactly which trains you want to
book before calling.
Tailor-made travel
arrangements with hotels: If putting the trip
together yourself seems too complicated (even with the booking
forms and advice I provide!), one experienced company offers a compete tailor-made
travel service with all your rail tickets booked for you and
hotels arranged at stops along the way. You simply
tell them where you want to go and where you'd like to stop
off on the way, and they will do the rest. Contact
www.railbookers.com, on 020 3327 0761. They
can advise you on the best trains,
routes & hotels too. They get
very positive reviews, and look after their customers very
well.
Browse suggested holiday itinerary
to Moscow &
sample prices. At the time of writing, they offer a
3-night train journey from London to Moscow with a stopover in
Berlin from £499 including 1 night hotel in Berlin & 1 night
hotel in Moscow, but they can arrange one-way or return trips
by train with whatever routes and stopovers you like, just
ask.
Option 4:
By cruise ferry & the Amsterdam to Moscow sleeper
London to Amsterdam by 'Dutch Flyer' train &
ferry... A train takes you from
London's Liverpool Street station directly to the
ferry terminal at Harwich. You walk off the
train, into the terminal, get your
boarding card & cabin key at the Stena Line
check-in desk and walk straight onto the overnight
ferry to Hoek van Holland. The new superferry
'Stena Hollandica' is the largest ferry of its kind in
the world. See the
Netherlands page...
Cosy cabins: All passengers travel in a
cosy private cabin with shower, toilet, satellite TV
& free WiFi. This is a Captain's Class cabin.
Amsterdam to Moscow... The destination board
on the Russian sleeping-car.
More
photos.
2-berth sleeper
from Amsterdam to Moscow.
The ferry alternative, with a free day in Amsterdam...
The fastest option is to take
Eurostar via the Channel Tunnel using one of the options shown
above, but there are some good reasons why you might prefer a
ferry alternative. For example, if there are
problems affecting Eurostar or the Channel Tunnel, or if
all the cheap Eurostar tickets have sold out, or if you live in
the North of England, Scotland or East Anglia and want to
by-pass London. Or you might simply prefer a relaxing
journey, cruising overnight on the Stena Line superferry to Hoek
van Holland in a luxury en suite cabin with shower, toilet,
satellite TV and free WiFi, spending a day at leisure exploring
Amsterdam, then taking the direct Russian Railways sleeping-car
from Amsterdam to Moscow in the evening, an epic 2-night journey
across Europe. You can buy special 'Dutch Flyer' train
& ferry tickets from London or any National Express East
Anglia rail station to Amsterdam using this Harwich-Hoek ferry, complete with a private cabin. If you live in the North of England or Scotland,
DFDS Seaways run an excellent daily overnight
cruise ferry from Newcastle to IJmuiden (near Amsterdam), and
P&O Ferries run a daily overnight cruise ferry from
Hull to Rotterdam Europoort with bus/train connections to
Amsterdam. So catch the overnight cruise ferry to
Holland, spend a day exploring Amsterdam, then hop on the
sleeper to Russia!
London, East Anglia, North of England, Scotland
► Moscow
Day 1, from London or East Anglia: Travel
overnight from London to Amsterdam by 'Dutch Flyer' combined
train & ferry service. You leave London
Liverpool Street station at 19:32 by train to Harwich International and board the
luxurious overnight Stena Line superferry to Hoek van
Holland, sailing at 23:15 and arriving at Hoek at 07:45 next
morning. All passengers get a comfortable private cabin with
shower, toilet, satellite TV and free WiFi. A
connecting train will get you to Amsterdam Centraal at
10:14. Cheap combined train & ferry tickets are offered on
this route from London or any National Express East Anglia
rail station to Amsterdam, covering both trains and the
ferry, see the Netherlands page
for full details of times, fares and how to buy tickets.
Day 1, from the North of England or Scotland: Take a train to either
Hull or Newcastle, whichever is most convenient for where you
live. Transfer to the P&O overnight cruise ferry from Hull
to Rotterdam or the DFDS Seaways cruise ferry from Newcastle
to IJmuiden, the port of Amsterdam. Both ferries have
bars, restaurants & comfortable en suite cabins, arriving
next morning. For details of timetables, fares,
station to port transfer arrangements & how
to buy tickets for travel to Amsterdam via each of these
ferry routes, see the UK-Netherlands page.
Day 2, spend the day
at leisure in Amsterdam, all the sights are easy walking distance from
Centraal station.
Left luggage lockers are available
at Amsterdam Centraal.
Day 2 evening: Travel from Amsterdam to Moscow by direct
air-conditioned Russian sleeping-car, leaving Amsterdam
Centraal daily at 19:01 and arriving in Moscow
Byelorruski station two nights later at
10:33 (day 4). The train passes
through Germany, Poland & Belarus. The
Amsterdam-Moscow sleeping-car calls at Cologne, it's the
same one suggested in
option 1
above. It has 1, 2 & 3 bed
compartments with washbasin,
see the
photos above.
Information on the Russian Railways website.
Moscow ► Scotland, North
of England, East Anglia, London
Day 1: Travel from Moscow to Amsterdam by direct
air-conditioned Russian sleeping-car, leaving Moscow
Byelorruski station at 00:49 and arriving in Amsterdam Centraal
two
nights later at 09:56 (day 3, if we count 00:49 as the evening
of day 1, even though it's after midnight). The train passes through Belarus, Poland
& Germany. The sleeping-car has 1, 2 & 3 bed
compartments with washbasin,
see the
photos above.
Day 3, to North of England or Scotland: Transfer
by bus or train+bus to the relevant ferry terminal and sail overnight by cruise ferry
either with P&O Ferries from Rotterdam Europoort to Hull or with DFDS
Seaways from IJmuiden (near Amsterdam) to Newcastle, whichever is
most convenient for where you live. Next morning (day 4)
transfer to the station and take a train home. For full
details of train & ferry times, port transfer arrangements and how to buy tickets for each
of these routes, see the UK-Netherlands page.
Day 3, to East Anglia or London: Leave Amsterdam
Centraal around 18:46 by train to Hoek van Holland (change
in Rotterdam). Sail overnight on the luxury Stena Line
superferry, sailing at 22:30 (22:00 weekends) and arriving in Harwich at
06:30. You sleep in a comfortable private cabin with
shower & toilet, satellite TV and free WiFi. A
connecting train will get you to London by around 08:50.
Special cheap SailRail tickets are offered on this route
from Amsterdam to London or any National Express East Anglia
rail station, covering both trains and the ferry,
see the Netherlands page
for full details of times, fares and how to buy tickets.
How much does it cost?
London to
Amsterdam starts at £39 per person each way,
plus the cost of a cabin. Cabins start at £30 for
a single berth cabin or £43 per cabin for a 2-berth, and
are compulsory on the night sailing. The fare
covers the train from London to Harwich, the ferry, and
onward Dutch trains from Hoek van Holland Haven to any
station in the Netherlands, see the
Netherlands
page for full details of fares and cabin types and
costs.
Amsterdam-Moscow by sleeper costs around £277 per person
travelling in a shared 3-bed sleeper or £433 per person
travelling in a 2-bed sleeper.
Step 1, buy a 'Dutch Flyer' train & ferry ticket from London
(or any station in East Anglia) to
Amsterdamas
shown here. One ticket covers the whole journey,
train and ferry then Dutch train.
Step 2,
book the Amsterdam to Moscow sleeper. UK residents can
book the Amsterdam-Moscow sleeper online at
www.raileurope.co.uk, with instant confirmation.
At least, this train has been bookable in the past at Rail
Europe, it seems they sometimes remember to add it to their
database, then forget when the next timetable change comes
up. So give it a go. Also try
www.tgv-europe.com,
which can also book the Amsterdam to Moscow train and which
works for anyone from any country except the USA.
Booking opens 90 days before departure.
Remember to select '1st class' if you want to be
offered a bed in a 2-bed or single-bed compartment (using
the 'choose your seating preference' link to switch between these two 1st class options),
if you do the enquiry with 2nd class selected you'll only be
offered a bed in a 3-bed compartment. Tickets booked
in this way can be collected in Paris or sent to any address
worldwide except the USA. They cannot be
collected in Amsterdam.
Alternatively, you can book
it by phone with
Deutsche
Bahn's UK office on
08718 80 80 66
(lines open 09:00-20:00 Monday-Friday, 09:00-13:00 Saturday & Sunday, no booking fee) or
www.europeanrail.com
on 020 7619 1083 (08:30-18:00 Monday-Friday,
09:00-13:00 Saturdays, £35
booking fee but can sometimes have more time to help). For more
information about how to book European trains, see the
How to buy European train tickets page. If you are making a return journey or a one-way trip inbound
from Moscow, please read the section above about
booking westbound trains from
Moscow to London, as the same applies to this option.
The
Paris-Moscow sleeping-car, about to leave Paris. This direct
sleeping-car was introduced in 2007 and ran attached
to other trains, but it's now been replaced by a
whole train from Paris to Moscow, the Trans-European
Express...
A
luxury
sleeper on the Trans-European Express from Paris to Moscow, 1 or 2 berth with
shower & toilet plus TV/DVD. Photo courtesy of António M. Tavares
A
standard sleeper on the Moscow to Paris train, in
daytime mode. Each compartment in the standard
sleeping-cars can be used as a 1, 2 or 3 berth.
Photo courtesy of John Delikanakis
On
board the Paris-Moscow sleeper. The china and
serviette stand are proudly branded 'Paris-Moscow'! Photo courtesy of
John Delikanakis
Starting 14 December 2011, a brand-new train called the
'Trans-European Express' will link Paris with Moscow three times
a week in winter, five times a week in summer, taking 2 days and
1 night.
Run entirely by Russian Railways (RZD), it follows the success
of RZD's twice-weekly direct sleeping-car from Paris to
Moscow introduced in December 2007, which was attached to other
trains and took two nights. This was itself a resurrection
of the direct Paris-Moscow sleeping-car service introduced by
the Soviets in the 1960s and withdrawn in 1994.
The new train is safe, comfortable, and very
civilised.
On the route
map above, this option
takes the route shown in light blue via Paris as far
as Berlin, then the direct route to Moscow shown in dark blue, a
total of 3,177 km or about 1,985 miles from Paris to Moscow,
making it the second-longest direct train in Europe.
See the information on the Russian Railways website.
London & Paris ► Moscow
Day 1: Travel from London to Paris Gare du Nord on any
Eurostar
you like. The last one usually goes at 20:01, or 20:31 on
Sundays.
Spend the night in Paris.
Day 2:
Travel from Paris to Moscow on the 'Trans-European Express'.
This runs on Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Saturdays all year round, and
on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from
31 May to 6 October 2012,
leaving Paris Gare de l'Est at 08:28 and arriving at Moscow Byelorruski at
23:58 the next day (day 3 from London). Because Russia now
has no daylight saving time, it will arrive at 01:30 (day 4)
from December 2011 until 25 March 2012, and after 29 October
2012.
See the information on the Russian Railways website.
The trains passes through Germany, Poland and Belarus to reach
Russia, so you will need a Belarus transit visa.
Map of Moscow showing Byelorruski station.
Moscow ► Paris & London
Day 1:
Travel from Moscow to Paris on the 'Trans-European Express'.
The Trans-European Express runs on Mondays, Thursdays &
Sundays all year round, and on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays,
Saturdays & Sundays from 29 May to 6 October 2012. It
leaves Moscow Byelorruski station at 08:51 (a bit earlier, at
08:00 from 25 March to 27 May 2012) and arrives at Paris Gare de
l'Est at 20:31 the next day (day 2). the train passes
through Belarus, Poland and Germany to reach France, so you'll
need a Belarus transit visa.
Map of Moscow showing Byelorruski station.
Spend the night in Paris.
Day 3, take any
Eurostar
you like back to London. The first one usually leaves
Paris Gare du Nord at 07:13 arriving London St Pancras at 08:30.
On board
the Paris-Moscow Trans-European Express...
Standard sleeping-cars: These have 1, 2 & 3-bed
compartments with washbasin, of the same 1990s-built
air-conditioned type used on the Amsterdam-Cologne-Moscow route,
see the photos
above. 2 person occupancy is considered 'first
class', 3 person occupancy is considered 'second class' but
compartments are identical, and can be used with 1, 2 or 3 beds
folded out. They convert between a sofa with armrests by
day and lower, middle and upper berths at night. Soap,
towels and all bedding are supplied. The attendant car
provide hot sweet Russian tea from the samovar at the end of the
corridor. Berths are sold individually, so you can book a
bed in a 3-bed sleeper and share, which is the cheapest option.
Luxury sleeping-car: The train has one luxury
sleeping-car with four 1 or 2 bed compartments with private
shower & toilet, a flat-screen TV with DVD system, complimentary
breakfast provided. Only whole compartments are sold, not
individual berths. The lower berth can be expanded into a
full-width double bed. By day, the berths fold away to
become a sofa and table (see photo below right). A
complimentary breakfast is included, served in your compartment.
Restaurant car: A Polish restaurant car is attached
between Paris and Warsaw, serving complete meals, drinks and
snacks, and a Russian restaurant car operates between Best and
Moscow
* If two
adults travel together, there's a discounted fare of 735
euros per person, and 1 child under 12 can travel free.
Returns are twice
the one-way fare. Berths are sold individually, prices are
for one person in one bed. So if you book (say) one second
class ticket you will travel in a 3-bed sleeper sharing with two
other passengers of the same sex. There is no need to pay
for sole occupancy unless you want to!
You can book your
Eurostar at
www.eurostar.com, then book the Paris-Moscow train
online at the French Railways website
www.voyages-sncf.com
(in French only) or at its English-language version
www.tgv-europe.com,
but please read these booking tips first! This train
is not currently bookable via Rail Europe's website.
Booking tips: Booking opens 90 days before
departure. If using TGV-Europe.com, keep your eyes peeled
for pop-ups trying to divert you to Rail Europe ('our local
website') and make sure you click the link to continue to TGV-Europe.com.
When the journey planner appears, type 'Moscow' as your
destination. Voyages-sncf.com prompts 'Moscou
Byelorruskaya', TGV-Europe.com at first seems not to recognise
'Moscow' but will work fine if you ignore this and just type in
'Moscow' and hit search. Obviously, make sure you pick a day of the week when
the direct Paris-Moscow sleeper runs! If you leave
'2nd class' selected you will only be offered 3-bed sleepers, so
if you want a 1 or 2 bed standard or luxury sleeper you must
select '1st class', and on the results page remember to change
the 'choose my place' box to the type of sleeper you want.
Single or double 'with shower' means you are selecting the
luxury sleeper. Tickets booked
in this way can be collected in Paris or sent to any address
worldwide except the USA (if you're from the United States,
see this advice). Feedback
would be appreciated if you manage to book this train! Don't forget to arrange
your
Russian visa and
Belarus transit visa.
You can book both the Trans-European
Express by phone with
Deutsche
Bahn's UK office on
08718 80 80 66
(lines open 09:00-20:00 Monday-Friday, 09:00-13:00 Saturday & Sunday, no booking fee) or
www.europeanrail.com
on 020 7619 1083 (08:30-18:00 Monday-Friday,
09:00-13:00 Saturdays, £35 booking fee but can sometimes have
more time to help). If you are making a return journey or a one-way trip inbound
from Moscow, please read the section above about
booking westbound trains from
Moscow to London, as the same may apply to the
Trans-European Express.
Don't forget to arrange your Russian visa
and Belarus transit visa.
If you want to avoid Belarus, going south via Kiev in Ukraine is
probably the cheapest and easiest
way to do this, because EU & UK citizens no longer need a visa for
Ukraine. The journey takes 3 nights, assuming you don't
want to stop off in Ukraine for any longer, as opposed to just 2
nights on the direct route via Belarus, so although you save the
cost of a Belarus transit visa you won't necessarily save money
overall given the extra accommodation cost. The other
option for avoiding Belarus, going north
via Vilnius & Riga,
generally means an even longer 4 night journey, with yet more changes of
train, and it requires bus travel for at least one part of the
journey because of a lack of trains, so the route via Kiev is
the better option. But if obtaining
yet another visa is just too much for you to face, or if you'd
like to see Kiev on the way, this can be a great route.
London ► Moscow, via
Kiev
Day 1, travel from London to Warsaw, using an afternoon Eurostar
from London to Brussels and a connecting ICE to Cologne,
then the overnight 'Jan Kiepura' sleeper train to Warsaw
Centralna as shown on the
London to Poland page. You arrive around 10:55 on day 2.
Spend some time exploring Warsaw.
Day 2, take the 'Kiev Express' overnight sleeper train from
Warsaw to Kiev, leaving Warsaw Centralna at 15:55 on day 2 and
arriving in Kiev at 11:07 on day 3. This train has 2-berth & 4-berth sleepers, see the 'Kiev Express' photos on the
London to Ukraine page. Spend
some time exploring Kiev (by all means spend a night or two here
if you like).
Day 2, take an overnight sleeper train from Kiev to Moscow, leaving Kiev
at 20:52 and arriving in Moscow Kievskaya station next morning
at 06:43 (day 4 from London).
2-berth and 4-berth sleepers available. Other, slower
night trains are also available, you can check times using
www.poezda.net. Note that there's also a
direct train from Kiev to St Petersburg, but this passes through
a small corner of Belarus, requiring a Belarus visa.
Moscow ► London, via
Kiev
Day 1, travel from Moscow to Kiev by overnight train, the best
train leaves Moscow Kievskaya station at 23:17 arriving Kiev at
07:02 (day 2). Other, slower night trains are also
available, you can check times using
www.poezda.net.
Day 2, travel
from Kiev to Warsaw by 'Kiev Express' sleeper train, leaving
Kiev at 16:37 and arriving in Warsaw Centralna at 08:50 next
morning (day 3). 2-berth & 4-berth sleepers
are available, see the 'Kiev Express' photos on the
London to Ukraine page.
Spend the day in Warsaw.
Day 3, travel
from Warsaw back to London using the Warsaw-Cologne 'Jan
Kiepura' sleeper train leaving at 18:35, ICE to Brussels and Eurostar back
to London, arriving in the early evening of day 4, as shown on
the London to Poland page.
Kiev to Moscow bought in the UK
costs £72 one-way in 4-berth or £122 one-way in 2-berth (all
per person).
There's a small reduction if you
buy both the Warsaw-Kiev and Kiev-Moscow tickets together,
Warsaw-Kiev-Moscow becomes £134 one-way in 4-berth, £205 in
2-berth.
You'll still need a Russian visa, but
you don't go through Belarus if you go this way.
How to buy tickets...
You can't book this journey online, you need
to call or email an agency.
To buy tickets,
click here and a booking form will appear which lists
all the
specific trains you
need to book. Fill in the form & email it to
sales@europeanrail.com. European Rail will make
the reservations and call you back to confirm the cost.
Assuming you're okay with the price, you can give them your credit card details and
they will send you
the tickets. European Rail is an experienced agency
whose staff are used
to making more exotic bookings like this. They are
equipped with the German Railways reservation & ticketing
system, so have access to all the cheap fares for travel via
Germany. They charge a £35 booking fee which includes
postage to any UK address, or they can send to any address
worldwide if you pay the courier fee. Seat61 gets some commission if you buy tickets
using this form.
If you need train tickets within Russia, for example
Moscow to St Petersburg,
click here.
Don't forget to arrange your
Russian visa and
Belarus transit visa.
All the necessary trains can be pre-booked from the UK for
an eastbound journey. However, for westbound
journeys you'll need to book your Moscow-Kiev train in Moscow
(or with someone like Real Russia
using the online
form below), and book your Kiev-Warsaw train in Kiev.
Erail can pre-book the Warsaw-London part of the journey if
you like.
There are several other routes worth considering, especially if
you want to stop off on the way in Scandinavia, the Baltic States
or Ukraine, or to avoid travelling through Belarus and so avoid the
cost and hassle of getting a Belarus transit visa (although this
isn't really a problem, just an expense and a bit of extra
bureaucracy). All these routes take at least 3 nights
compared with just 2 nights travelling on the direct route
through Belarus, so the cost of an extra day or two's food and
accommodation must be set against the cost of the Belarus visa
for travel on a direct train to Moscow. These alternative
routes tend to involve a bit more legwork to book, too. If
you simply want to avoid Belarus, the quickest and easiest way to
do this is to head south via Ukraine,
see the section above.
You might not be saving much money by avoiding Belarus, but the
opportunity to stop off in some fascinating places and countries
makes these alternative routes worth considering.
London to Moscow via Warsaw, Vilnius & Riga...
You can travel from London to
Moscow via the Baltic states, avoiding Belarus, although this
will take at least 2 nights longer than taking a direct train
through Belarus. The journey can
only be pre-booked from the UK as far as Vilnius so you will
have to book onward travel when you get to Vilnius (in fact,
Real Russia can book this train, but you'll need to pay
courier fees to get the tickets to you as they cannot be
collected in Vilnius). However,
if you have the time and want to see Latvia, Lithuania and
perhaps Estonia on the way, it can be an option to consider.
See the London to Lithuania page for
trains London-Warsaw-Vilnius, a 2-night journey. From Vilnius, there is a
daily train to Moscow but this passes through Belarus.
However, there is an overnight train from Vilnius to St Petersburg
which does not pass through Belarus.
Alternatively, travel from Vilnius to Riga by regular bus (www.eurolines.lv)
or occasional train (see the
Lithuania page),
then take the daily overnight sleeper train from Riga to
either Moscow or
St Petersburg, neither of which pass through Belarus.
The booking form
below will give you train times for the
Vilnius-Moscow, Vilnius-St Petersburg, Vilnius-Riga, Riga-Moscow
& Riga-St
Petersburg trains and let you buy tickets for these trains
online. There are also buses from Riga to Tallinn and
overnight trains from Tallinn to Moscow, see the
Estonia page.
London to Moscow via Copenhagen, Stockholm & Helsinki...
This is slower than the direct
route, taking at least 3 nights to Moscow, though
potentially only 2 nights to St Petersburg so not a bad
option at all if you're heading there. It avoids
Belarus and lets you see a lot of Scandinavia on the
way. You take an afternoon Eurostar to Brussels and a
high-speed ICE to Cologne on day 1, the overnight City Night
Line sleeper train from Cologne to Copenhagen, a fast X2000
train to Stockholm on day 2, then the overnight ferry to
Turku with a train connection to Helsinki arriving in the
morning of day 3. Once in Finland, there are several
daily 'Allegro' trains from Helsinki to St Petersburg taking
just 3½ hours, or a daily overnight sleeper train from
Helsinki to Moscow called the 'Tolstoi'. Full details
of the London-Helsinki train & ferry journey, the Helsinki
to St Petersburg 'Allegro' trains & the Helsinki to Moscow
'Tolstoi' sleeper train are shown on the
London to Finland
page.
London to Moscow via Copenhagen, Stockholm & either Tallinn
or Riga...
Another
possibility is travelling from London to Copenhagen and on to Stockholm,
then taking the overnight ferry to either Tallinn or Riga.
Direct sleeper trains then link both Tallinn and Riga to
both Moscow & St Petersburg, none of which pass through
Belarus. For full details of both the journey from London
and the onward trains to Moscow & St Petersburg, see the
London to Estonia page
or London to Latvia
page
for details.
There are several good ways to travel from the UK to St
Petersburg by train:
Option 1: London to St Petersburg via Berlin.
This was the most direct route, although not the fastest
or most frequent option. It used the direct Berlin-St
Petersburg sleeper train which ran twice a week in winter, 5
times a week in summer, but this train was withdrawn from 11
December 2011. You now need to go via Moscow.
Option 2:
London to Moscow then Moscow to St Petersburg. This is
the fastest & most frequent option as it runs daily and can take
as little as 2 nights if you take a daytime train to St
Petersburg the same day you arrive in Moscow. However, you
can stop off in Moscow for however long you want, as the
Moscow-St Petersburg leg is ticketed separately. This
route isn't much more expensive than option 1 for one-way trips
and it's actually cheaper for return journeys as discounted
Saver return fares are available.
Option 3: London to St Petersburg with a stopover in Minsk.
The often-underrated capital of Belarus is worth a stop, so this
option is worth considering, especially as the whole trip still
only takes 3 nights even with 1 night in a hotel in Minsk.
Other options... You could
travel to Copenhagen, then Stockholm, take an overnight cruise
ferry to either Tallinn or Helsinki, then a train to St
Petersburg or Moscow. Slower & more complex, but much to
see on the way, a holiday in itself.
This is the
fastest and most frequent option, using daily direct trains
from Cologne or Warsaw to Moscow, then one of many Moscow-St
Petersburg trains.
Travel from Moscow
to St Petersburg by any of the many overnight or daytime
trains.
Overnight
trains: The best
Russian Railways overnight train is
the famous 'Krasnaya Strela' (Red Arrow) leaving
Moscow (Leningradski Vokzal) at 23:55 daily, arriving in St
Petersburg (Moskovski Vokzal) at 07:55 next morning. The
Krasnaya Strela has 2-berth and 4-berth sleeping cars plus two
luxury sleeping-cars with 1- & 2-bed rooms with private toilet
shower and TV/DVD entertainment.
The fare is about 1,295 rubles (£25 or $45) in kupé (4-berth
sleeper), 2,622 rubles (£49 or $90) spalny vagon (2-berth
sleeper) or 5,964 rubles (£112 or $206) luxury sleeper with
private shower and toilet. The Krasnaya Strela has now
been joined by a couple of other premium sleeper trains, train
3/4 'Ekspress' and train 5/6 'Nicholaevsky Express'. Since 2005, there's
also a privately-run luxury train, the Grand Express, with
fares from 3,300 rubles.
Click for info on the Grand Express.
New 'Sapsan'
high-speed daytime trains: Introduced in December
2009, the 'Sapsan' (Peregrine
Falcon) 250 km/h high-speed
trains link
Moscow & St Petersburg in just 3 hours 55 minutes.
The initial 3 services a day have now been increased to 5 trains each way
every day. The Sapsans have been very successful, with
a 99% on-time performance and an average load factor of 80%
(meaning each departure is on average 80% full). Built
by Siemens and based
on the superb German
ICE, they are set to revolutionise travel between Russia's
two prime cities, with additional services and faster journey
times to come as the line is progressively upgraded.
See the Russian railways' Sapsan video.
Traveller Ian
Newberry reports: "On May 19 [2010] I travelled from Moscow
to St Petersburg on Sapsan train 156 leaving at 13:00.
Departure was punctual and the staff greeting passengers could
not have been better - they all speak English as well as
Russian. The service on the train was extremely good and
in business class a full 3 course meal was served with wines
and spirits all included in the price of the ticket.
Information was supplied through screens and announcements in
English as well as Russian. The train is very comfortable and
arrived 5 minutes ahead of schedule at 17.40. If one
wants to avoid a night train then this is a very civilised way
to travel, on a par with any equivalent TGV or ICE available
in western Europe."
To buy tickets,
first arrange your London to Moscow tickets as
shown above.
Then book an
internal Russian train between Moscow & St Petersburg
using the booking
form below which links to Russian rail ticketing & visa
agency Real Russia.
Above:
Train number 1/2, the famous Krasnaya Strela (Red
Arrow) between St Petersburg & Moscow. Photo
courtesy of Chris Sparks
Above:
A first class 2-berth sleeper on the Krasnaya Strela
between Moscow & St Petersburg. Photo courtesy of
Chris Sparks
If you'd like to
visit the capital of Belarus for 24 hours or more on the way,
this option is daily with cheap Saver return fares available.
It doesn't cost much more, either.
Travel from
London to Minsk as shown in the section below.
Spend a night &
day in Minsk, or longer if you'd like.
A sleeper train
leaves Minsk at 17:40 arriving St Petersburg Vitebski station
at 08:52. It has 2-berth & 4-berth sleepers.
Returning, a
sleeper train leaves St Petersburg Vitebski at 19:08 arriving
Minsk at 09:10. It has 2-berth & 4-berth sleepers.
Spend a day and
night in Minsk, then travel from Minsk to London as shown in
the section below
How much does it cost?
1. London to
Cologne
by Eurostar+Thalys:
Fares for Eurostar+ICE start at 49 euros (£43)
each way.
Fares
for Eurostar+Thalys start at £53 one-way (£39
London-Brussels + £14 Brussels-Cologne)
or £97 return (£69 London-Brussels +
£28 Brussels-Cologne).
Fares vary like
air fares, so book in advance to get the cheapest
prices.
Travel
from London to Stockholm by Eurostar, ICE, the excellent
Cologne-Copenhagen City Night Line sleeper train and a
fast X2000 high-speed train to Stockholm, as shown on
the
London to Sweden page. You leave London in the
afternoon on day 1, and arrive Stockholm early evening
on day 2. See the
London to Sweden page for full details of train
times, prices and how to buy tickets.
A new
ferry company, St Peter Line (www.stpeterline.com),
sails twice a week from Stockholm to St Petersburg using
a luxurious cruise ferry. She sails at 09:00
on Wednesdays, arriving St Petersburg at 11:30 on
Thursdays. She also sails on Saturdays at 19:00,
calling at Tallinn (12:00 to 18:00) and arriving at St
Petersburg at 08:00 on Mondays. See
www.stpeterline.com to check sailing schedule and
prices. Other ferries on this route seem to have
started up and been discontinued soon afterwards, it's
hoped that this one will survive a bit longer!
London to St
Petersburg via Stockholm & Helsinki...
If
you feel like seeing a bit of Scandinavia on the way to
Russia, you could travel from London to St Petersburg via Stockholm and
Helsinki. This will take 3 nights / 4 days. See the
Finland page for information on the journey from London to
Helsinki and the connections to St Petersburg.
London to St
Petersburg via Stockholm & Tallinn...
Alternatively,
you could travel from London to St Petersburg via Stockholm and
Tallinn. See the Estonia page for information on the journey from London to
Tallinn, and the overnight sleeper train linking Tallinn and St
Petersburg.
On its way! The direct Belarus Railways
sleeping-car to Minsk gathers speed down the
platform. This Belarus sleeper runs 3
times a week now, on other days you can use the
Russian one on its way to Moscow.
Right:
A cosy 1, 2 or 3 berth sleeper compartment in the
sleeper to Minsk. It's seen here in daytime
mode (although the top bunk is still folded out).
London ► Minsk
Day 1: Travel
from London to Brussels by
Eurostar, leaving London St Pancras
daily except Saturdays at 15:04, arriving
Brussels
Midi at 18:05. On Saturdays, depart London
at 12:57 arriving Brussels Midi at 16:08.
Day 1: Travel from Brussels to
Cologne by ICE
high-speed train leaving
Brussels
Midi at 18:25 and arriving Cologne at 20:15. On Saturdays you can
also take the earlier 17:28 Thalys
train arriving Cologne at 19:15. You've time
for a meal in Cologne.
Day 1: Travel
from Cologne to Minsk by modern, air-conditioned sleeping-car,
leaving Cologne Hauptbahnhof at 22:28. After travelling
across Germany and Poland, it arrives in Minsk at 23:49 the next
day (Day 2 from London). Take you own supplies, including
beer or wine if you like. On Mondays, Wednesdays &
Fridays, the Belarus railways provide an air-conditioned
sleeping-car similar to the Russian on shown in the
London to
Moscow section above, on other days you can travel in the
Russian one bound for Moscow.
Minsk
► London
Day 1:
Travel from Minsk to Cologne by direct sleeping-car,
leaving Minsk daily at 09:34, crossing Poland and
Germany and arriving in Cologne at 06:14 the next day.
The sleeper has 1, 2 & 3 bed compartments, see the
photos of the Cologne-Moscow sleeping-car in the
London to Moscow section above,
it's the same one.
Day 3: Travel from Brussels to
London by Eurostar. Daily except Saturdays, a
Eurostar
leaves Brussels
Midi at 12:56 and arrives London St Pancras at 14:03.
On Saturdays and also Mondays & Tuesdays from 18
February onwards, also Wed, Thurs & Fri from 2 April
onwards, a Eurostar leaves Brussels
Midi at 10:56
and arrives London St Pancras at 11:57.
How much does it cost?
1. London to
Cologne
by Eurostar+Thalys:
Fares for Eurostar+ICE start at 49 euros (£43)
each way.
Fares
for Eurostar+Thalys start at £53 one-way (£39
London-Brussels + £14 Brussels-Cologne)
or £97 return (£69 London-Brussels +
£28 Brussels-Cologne).
Fares vary like
air fares, so book in advance to get the cheapest
prices.
Click the button (or
click here) and a booking form will appear which lists
all the
specific trains you
need to book. Fill in the form & email it to
sales@europeanrail.com. European Rail will make
the reservations and call you back to confirm the cost.
If you're okay with the price, you can give them your credit card details and
they will send you
the tickets. European Rail is an experienced agency
whose staff are used
to making more exotic bookings like this. They are
equipped with the German Railways reservation & ticketing
system, so have access to all the cheap fares for travel via
Germany. They charge a £35 booking fee which includes
postage to any UK address, or they can send to any address
worldwide if you pay the courier fee. Seat61 gets some commission if you buy tickets
using this form.
If you need train tickets within Belarus & Russia, for example
Minsk to Moscow or St Petersburg,
click here.
Don't forget to arrange your
Belarus visa.
How to buy
tickets, the full story...
You cannot
book this journey online, only by phone. Bookings
for the Cologne-Minsk sleeper open 60 days before
departure, you can't book before reservations open. The best UK agencies to use
to book tickets to Minsk are either
Deutsche
Bahn's UK office on 08718 80 80 66 (lines open
09:00-20:00 Monday-Friday, 09:00-13:00 Saturday & Sunday,
no booking fee, 2% credit card fee but none for debit
cards) or www.europeanrail.com
on 020 7619 1083 (08:30-18:00 Monday-Friday,
09:00-13:00 Saturdays, £35 booking fee but are often more
familiar with bookings like this). If you are making a
return journey (or a one-way inbound journey) see the note
above about booking trains back from Russia, the same
applies to journeys back from Minsk. You
can book westbound Minsk-Warsaw or Minsk-Berlin tickets
using the
online form below.
What tickets
can this system sell? This system can sell
tickets for any mainline train journey within
Russia, Ukraine, Latvia, Estonia, Belarus,
Lithuania, Kazakhstan and the other ex-Soviet
states. It will also sell tickets for journeys
starting in those countries heading outwards, for
example Moscow to Berlin or St Petersburg to
Helsinki. Reservations officially open 45
days before departure, but Real Russia allow you to
request tickets up to 180 days ahead and they will
contact you for payment when the price is confirmed.
Can
anyone buy tickets using this system? Yes,
you can buy tickets online with a credit card
whether you live in the UK, USA, Canada, Australia,
or wherever.
How
are tickets delivered? Tickets can be
collected free of charge at Real Russia's offices in
Moscow or St Petersburg, or an e-ticket can be
emailed to you so you can collect the ticket from
most main stations in Russia. For journeys
starting in other ex-Soviet countries, tickets can be sent to UK or
EU addresses for a £12-£15 charge, or couriered to
any address worldwide, also for an extra charge.
Who run this
service?Is it reliable? This
service is provided by Real Russia, a reputable
joint UK-Russian company which has got good reports
from users. Real Russia can also sort out your
Russian visa.
Booking tips: Look for a train marked 'Firm'
if there is one. 'Firmeny' trains are the best
'quality' trains, with modern coaches and good
on-board service. 'TBC' means the system
cannot provide a price for that particular train
automatically, but they'll contact you with a cost
by phone or email.
Is
it cheaper to buy at the ticket office?
Real Russia charge the normal Russian Railways fare
plus a 15-23% mark-up to cover their costs (all
agencies charge a mark-up, in fact Real Russia is
one of the cheapest agencies).
There's a 2.5% charge for credit card payments,
but you can easily avoid this by calling their UK office
to pay by debit card when your tickets are
confirmed. The fares shown include the
mark-up, but not the credit card charge. By
all means buy tickets at the ticket office if you're
flexible, but Russian trains can get fully-booked so
it's good to pre-book if you want a specific date
and train. Russian Railways offer online
booking but it's only in Russian, so it can be worth
the extra to quickly and simply organise your
Russian rail tickets in English.
To visit Russia, you'll
need a tourist visa. You'll probably also need a
Belarus transit visa, because all the direct sleeper
trains from Cologne, Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin & Warsaw
to Moscow pass though Belarus on the way, and so do the
Berlin/Warsaw to St Petersburg trains.
How to arrange a Russian visa...
Always check
the latest visa information, as it changes from time to
time, but here's a quick run-down of the
arrangements as at 2010:
Tourist, transit or business visa? A tourist
visa allows stays of up to 30 days, and is usually what you
need. A business visa allows a longer stay, but is more
expensive. A transit visa allows up to 10 days in
transit, but you aren't allowed to spend time in Moscow, as
most Trans-Siberian travellers do, so a tourist visa is
usually better.
When to
apply? Visas are only issued 3 months or less
before your intended date of entry to Russia, so there's no need to
apply before then. Ideally, allow a month for the
visa processing, but if you have less time than this,
don't panic, various agencies offer 'express' services that will help you get a visa
much quicker.
Letters of invitation & visa support: A hangover
from Soviet times is that to get a visa you need supporting documentation,
usually just called 'visa support'. In theory, this is a
letter of invitation from your travel agency setting out
confirmed travel & accommodation arrangements for your entire
stay in Russia or (for
independent travellers) an accommodation voucher issued by your hotel(s)
showing confirmed accommodation for each and every night you plan to spend in Russia.
Having to pre-book all this would be ridiculously restrictive, so here's how it
really works: You go to an agency such as
www.realrussia.co.uk or one of the Russian agencies listed
above and they sell you the necessary visa support for a small
fee, which allows you to get a visa without any genuine hotel
bookings, so you can travel around freely just as you would in
any other country, buying tickets and finding hotels as you
go. Behind the scenes, the agency usually has an arrangement with a local
hotel, they make a dummy 'reservation' for the period you want
to be in Russia
so they can legally issue the visa support,
though of course you don't pay for the hotel and everyone knows
(apart from the Russian government) that you have no intention
of ever using that hotel room. Crazy, eh?
The easy way to get a Russian visa:
UK residents can use
www.realrussia.co.uk for a complete Russian visa
service, this is the easiest & least-hassle way to sort your
visa (to use their service, you need to resident in the UK for over 90 days before the
application). The total
cost of obtaining a tourist visa through Real Russia is £116
or so including the necessary visa support
and the actual cost of the visa. Real Russia is a reliable UK agency
based in Russia which
arranges Russian, Belarus, Mongolian and Chinese
visas simply and
easily, with all
the necessary legwork and visa support done for you.
They can arrange train tickets too. They have
been recommended by several seat61 correspondents.
Seat61 gets a small commission if you buy through
www.realrussia.co.uk. If you have feedback on their service, please email me.
US residents can use a similar US-based service,
www.russia-travel.com.
Alternatively, the do-it-yourself way to get a visa:
You can of course arrange a visa yourself. The Russian
embassy in London (www.rusemblon.org)
has outsourced visa issuing to a UK company called VFS Global,
so go to
http://ru.vfsglobal.co.uk and follow the visa application
instructions. A tourist visa costs around £50 plus a £26
processing fee payable to VFS Global, so the total cost is
around £76. Unlike Real Russia, they won't provide the
necessary visa support for you, you'll have to get it and
provide it to them. If you're going on an organised
tour, your tour company may provide visa support documentation
free of charge, but if you're travelling independently, this
usually means paying a local Russian travel agency to provide
you with a suitable visa support document, so this way isn't
necessarily much cheaper than using
www.realrussia.co.uk.
Get your dates of entry & exit right! It should be obvious, but I've known people date
their visa for the date they arrive in Moscow, then get thrown
off their sleeper train when it arrives at the Russian
frontier the night before, as their visa wasn't valid for
entering Russia until the next day. Your date of entry
into Russia is the date you physically enter Russian
territory, in other words the date your train rolls across
the frontier, not the date you reach Moscow, which is
irrelevant. Similarly, your date of exit is the date you
physically leave Russian territory, which on a westbound
sleeper train could be the day after you leave Moscow.
Double-check train times to see when it reaches the frontier,
and double-check that the embassy have given you the right
dates when you get your passport back with the visa.
You'll need a
Belarus transit visa if you are travelling between London
&
Moscow on the direct
London-Cologne-Berlin-Warsaw-Moscow route, as all the
direct trains from Cologne, Berlin or Warsaw to Moscow or
St Petersburg pass through Belarus. However, getting
a Belarus transit visa is relatively straightforward. You'll need a tourist
visa if you plan to stop off in Belarus.
You will need
to get your Russian visa before applying for the Belarus
one, although you can apply for both together if you go
through
www.realrussia.co.uk.
Cost: The
Belarusians significantly increased visa fees in June
2007 and again in August 2008. A Belarus transit visa
now costs £50 one-way
or return if you arrange it yourself direct with the
embassy, or £76 one-way or return (it's the same price
one-way or return) arranged through
www.realrussia.co.uk. It takes 6 working days, or
there's an extra-fee express option which takes 2 days.
Ouch! Before you blame Johnny Foreigner for this,
the high costs are in retaliation for stringent visa
requirements imposed on Belarusian by the UK Foreign
Office.
For official visa information see
the Belarus embassy website,
http://belembassy.org/index_eng.html
or call 020 7938 3677.
The embassy
address in London is 6 Kensington Court, London W8 5DL,
visa section open 09:00-12:30 Monday, Tuesday, Thursday &
Friday.
The simple way to get a Belarus transit visa: If you live in the UK,
the easiest and quickest way to get a Belarus visa is to use
www.realrussia.co.uk. Real Russia is a reliable UK agency which
arranges visas simply and
cheaply, including all
necessary visa support included in the price shown on their
site. They have already recommended by one seat61 correspondent.
Seat61 gets a small commission if you buy through
www.realrussia.co.uk using this link.
www.realrussia.co.uk can also arrange Chinese and Mongolian visas,
and train tickets too. If you have feedback on their service, please email me!
Should you
avoid Belarus? Some people
get worked up about trying to avoid Belarus, and with the
new higher visa fees you might want
to try. Just remember that if you pay the visa fee,
you can travel quickly and simply from western Europe to
Moscow on a direct train through Belarus saving time and
expense.
Avoiding Belarus by travelling via the Baltic states means an awkward and time-consuming relay
race of trains and buses, taking at
least 48 hours longer, with two extra hotel nights.
Going via Ukraine (Ukraine no longer requires EU citizens
to buy a visa) is quicker, but will still take at least an extra 24 hours,
changing trains in Kiev and with no easy way to pre-book
the Kiev-Moscow train before you get to Kiev. In other words, the detour might be
interesting if you have the time and particularly want to
see Ukraine or Lithuania/Latvia on the way, but it will
take longer and in the end cost more than simply buying
the visa and travelling direct. To avoid Belarus by
going via Ukraine, see above.
Getting a Belarus transit visa in Moscow:
If you're travelling westbound and want to arrange a Belarus
visa in Moscow, here's how. The Belarus embassy is at Maroseika 17⁄6, 101990, Moscow. It's a couple of
blocks from Kitai Gorod or Lubyanka metro stations. You will
need photocopies of your passport, your Russian visa & your
train ticket through Belarus, one passport photo, US$45 for same day visa issue or US$36 for
next day visa issue (for British & EU citizens), payable in
clean post-1995 US dollar bills, no change given. The visa office is open 10:00-12:00
Mon, Tue, Thur & Fri (allow plenty of time) and you pick up your passport and transit visa between
16:00-16:30 on those days. The visa entrance is down the
side, the door on the right then walk up the stairs to the 2nd
floor. If you need dollars, you can change money into
dollars at a nearby exchange office. There's also a Belarus
consulate in St Petersburg. US passport holders are currently
charged $177 for a same-day visa, because of charges imposed
by the USA on Belarussians. Visa regs & costs change
from time to time, the above is current at the time of
writing.
Sponsored links...
Thomas Cook Timetables
There
are two truly remarkable books that are a 'must' for
serious overland travellers and an inspiration for
armchair travellers:
This is probably the most adventurous timetable ever
produced. It has train, bus & ferry times for every country in
Asia, Africa, North and South America and Australasia,
including non-European Russia, Asian Turkey, Mongolia, China and the
Trans-Siberian Railway. Sadly, the Nov/Dec 2010
edition was the very last to be published, but you may
still be able to buy
a copy of the final edition at Amazon.co.uk,
Overseas Timetable
Winter 2010/2011 edition.
The Thomas Cook Rail Map of
Europe...
This is the best and most comprehensive
map of train routes right across Europe, from Portugal in the
west to Istanbul, Moscow & Ukraine in the east, from Finland
in the north to Sicily & Crete in the south. High speed
&
scenic routes are highlighted. Highly recommended!
Buy online
at Amazon.co.uk with worldwide delivery. See an extract from the map
Definitely take a good guidebook,
and a phrasebook may be a good idea too. I think the Lonely Planets
and Rough Guides are about the best out there for the
independent traveller, and you will not regret buying one!
My own book, an essential handbook for train travel to Europe
based on this website called "The
Man in Seat 61", was published in June 2008, and is available
from Amazon.co.uk with shipping worldwide.
Click the images to buy the book
from
Amazon.co.uk...
Or buy the Lonely
Planet guides direct from
the
Lonely Planet website, with shipping worldwide.
www.hotelscombined.com
is probably the best hotel search system I've seen, a free search tool
which checks all the main hotel booking sites (Opodo, Expedia,
Booking.com, Hotels.com, AsiaRooms, Travelocity, LateRooms and
others) to find the cheapest hotel rates. Set up in
2005, it's probably the best place to start for booking any
hotel online in any country, worldwide.
Tripadvisor hotel reviews...
www.tripadvisor.com is a good place
to find independent travellers' reviews of the main hotels.
It also has the low-down on all the sights & attractions too.
If you're on a tight budget,
don't forget about the hostels. For backpacker hostels
in Amsterdam and most other European cities at budget prices
(either a dorm bed or an ultra cheap private room) see
www.hostelbookers.com.
Travel insurance, health card, SIM card
Get travel insurance, it's essential...
Never travel without insurance from a
reliable travel insurer, with at least £1m or preferably £5m medical cover. It should also cover loss of
cash (up to a limit) and belongings, and cancellation. An annual
multi-trip policy is usually cheaper than several single-trip
policies even for just 2 or 3 trips
a year (I have an annual policy myself).
Don't expect travel insurance to bail you out of every missed
connection, but European international rail conditions of
carriage (known as the 'CIV') contain consumer protection
provisions that entitle you to travel forward by the next
available train if you miss a connection because of a delay to
the first train, irrespective of who operates which train, and
even if your ticket is in theory train-specific and
non-changeable.
Feedback from using
insurance for rail & ferry travel is always welcome. Here are some suggested insurers.
Seat61 gets a small commission if you buy through these
links.
If you're a
UK citizen travelling in Europe, you should apply for a free
European Health Insurance Card, which entitles you to free or
reduced rate health care if you become ill or get injured in
many European countries, under a reciprocal arrangement with
the NHS. This replaced the old E111 forms
as from January 2006. The EHIC card is available from
www.ehic.org.uk. It doesn't remove the need for
travel insurance, though.
Get a spare credit card, one designed for foreign travel with no currency
exchange loading & low or no ATM fees...
It costs nothing to take out an extra credit card.
If you keep it in a different part of your luggage so you're
not left stranded if
your wallet gets stolen, this is a form of extra travel insurance in itself. In addition,
some credit cards are significantly better for
overseas travel than others. Martin Lewis's
www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-travel-money explains which
UK credit cards
have the lowest currency exchange commission loadings when you buy something
overseas, and the lowest cash withdrawal fees when
you use an ATM abroad. Taking this advice
can save you quite a lot on each trip compared to using your
normal high-street bank credit card! You can save money on ATM charges and exchange rates using a
Caxton FX euro currency Visa Card, or indeed the
multi-currency 'Global Traveller' Visa Card,
find out about these cards & sign up here.
Get an international SIM card
to save on mobile data and phone calls...
Mobile phones can cost a fortune to use abroad, and if you're
not careful you can return home to find some huge bills
waiting for you. I've known people run up over £1,000 in
data charges just by leaving their iPhone connected during a
simple trip to Europe. However, if you
buy a global SIM card for your mobile phone from a company
such as
www.Go-Sim.com you can slash the cost by up to 85% and
limit any damage to the amount you have pre-paid. Go-Sim
cuts call costs in 175 countries worldwide,
and you can receive incoming calls and texts for free in 75 countries. It's pay-as-you-go, so no nasty bills
when you get home. It also allows cheap data access for laptops
& PDAs. A Go-Sim account and any credit on it doesn't
expire if it's not used between trips, unlike some
others, so a Go-Sim phone number becomes your 'global phone
number' for life.
Tailor-made
holidays to Russia by train! Specialist travel company
www.railbookers.com can
tailor-make a flight-free holiday to Russia for you, with
train travel & hotels, for however long you like, leaving on
any date you like. Tell them what you want and
they'll advise you on the best trains, routes & hotels and
sort it all out for you. They get a lot of repeat
business! As a guide, a one-way train journey from London to
Moscow including daytime train travel from London to Berlin, 1
night hotel in Berlin, sleeper to Moscow and 1 night hotel in
Moscow starts at around £459 per person one-way. Double
that price for a return trip.
See their
Moscow page for details and give them a call...
Erail,
www.erail.co.uk, 020 7619 1080. Please quote 'Seat61.com'
when you call...
Moscow, St
Petersburg & Berlin: A 12-day grand tour to the
Russian capitals and back by Eurostar, high-speed ICE train
and comfortable Russian sleeper train from London with no
flights involved, with 4 star hotels from £1,380. And
a stay in Berlin is thrown in. See
www.erail.co.uk.
Right:
A cosy 1, 2 or 3 berth sleeper compartment in the
sleeper to Minsk. It's seen here in daytime
mode (although the top bunk is still folded out).
Backpacker hostels:
In
the UK, try
If you live in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland or the
EU, try
If you live in the USA or Canada, try
