Has anyone travelled on the transiberian railway from moscow

>>1289605
I've often dreamed about doing this when I was a miserable mess in high school

Vice founder filmed himself doing it
You basically drink and smoke for 24 hours in a hot train with angry drunk russians and no aircon

I currently live in Russia and eventually plan to do it.
You can use Yandex (unfortunately in russian only) to see various prices https://rasp.yandex.ru/
Usually the easiest thing to do is to buy the tickets by destinations through russian railways, prices should be among the lowest you can find.
http://pass.rzd.ru/main-pass/public/en
Then when you reach Chita and have to cross to China seems you have to buy the ticket personally at the station because they don't sell international tickets through the internet.
Dunno how to proceed once you get to China tho

This is a platinum question here and a meme trip. Most of the time you are stuck on the train looking out of the window. There are some interesting stops but flying is much less time consuming and even maybe cheaper.

>>1289677
>meme trip
This

>>1289677
>flying is much less time consuming
Yes (there's some other hang ups like the distance from the airport to the city, while railway stations are usually right in the center or pretty close)
>even maybe cheaper
Not really. Flights are usually 50-100% more expensive than train tickets between cities. Then again 10000 roubles (140-150 USD) may look like peanuts to a 1st worlder.
Some other minuses are
>you will only enjoy it to the 30-40% if you don't know enough russian. No body lenguage or vodka offerings will bridge the gap.
>there will be lots. LOTS of chinks. To the point you may ask yourself whether you are still in the heart of Russia or you somehow ended up in the heart of Chinkland

>>1289712
Completely agree with you mate, don't bother doing this if you don't speak Russian, you'll just be bored to death

>>1289605
i've done the route from vladivostok to moscow/st. petersburg with a side trip to mongolia. we stopped in ulan-ude - (ulaanbaatar) - irkutsk/lake baikal - kazan - moscow - St. petersburg.
Buy tickets directly from the russian train service (http://pass.rzd.ru/main-pass/public/en), not through an agency - that's the cheapest it's gonna get.

>>1289612
they usually have aircon and the number of angry drunk people varies considerably depending on the class you're traveling in.

>>1289677
>Most of the time you are stuck on the train looking out of the window
this should be obvious to anyone planning a long trip on a train - of course you're going to be on a train a lot. the difference to flying is that you actually experience the distance, don't have jetlag, and see what the landscape looks like all the way (it's mostly forests of birch trees). of course it can be unpleasant at times (no showers, not a lot of moving space or privacy) but it's an interesting experience and if you get off from time to time you won't get bored or go insane.

>>1289712
>>1290021
take a friend with you and you won't get bored. i only knew very basic russian and it was fine. if you're traveling alone on the other hand, then maybe you should know some more russian.

>>1289605
Hi, i'm actually doing this in a month,
from Helsinki to Beijing.

I'm making many stops along the way though so i'll be mostly using overnight trains and then spending 1-2 in a city ( more for monglolia, moscow and st peterburg)
only on long strechtes i will also be on train by day ( novosibirsk-irkutsk etc)

tickets i'm just buying online from russian rail ways http://eng.rzd.ru/
only problematic parts i'f your making many stops along the way are getting to ulan bator and getting to beijng

i'm planning to do ulan ude - ulan bator by bus ( is faster and cheaper ) google for tickets.

and hoping to be able to buy tickets for ulan baator Beijing in Ulan Baator. though there is also a cheap alternative route available.

>>1290034
btw russian railway tickets become available 40 days in advance, website is pretty straightforward ,

for the Mongolian / China part ( if you even choose to go via Mongolia) you could buy/ reserve tickets through agency's, but they have huge mark-ups

I was considering it because China visa are quite bureaucratic and require entry tickets
I wasn't sure they would give me one with just an explanation "i'll buy the ticket when i get in ulan baator on the 8th of oct " but they did. I did already have russian and mongolian visa which probably helped.

>>1289605
anon, just not that many "good stops" or views, so make sure you check your routes and cities well before booking these tickets.
http://waytorussia.net/TransSiberian/Route.html

I have not done this trip, but I have done many scenic routes elsewhere in the world. This one is indeed heralded by most people as NOT scenic. Trains typically run through agricultural and most likely industrial areas. They are good freight handlers, and it's not about the cutesy shopping or cutesy main street near stations, but ugly all expenses spared square squat warehouses and ugly things.

>>1290037

>>1290034 here ,indeed finding good stops is a bit of a challenge
anybody have good advice for stops on the Moscow -Ulan Ude stretch?
currently my plan is Kazan , Yekatarinburg Novosibirsk, Irkutsk , but i'm very much open to suggestions.

>>1289712

>there will be lots. LOTS of chinks.
>train between moscow and BEIJING (the capital of China)

kys autistic cunt