Russia Travel Guide

Russia — Things to Do

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Trans-Siberian Railway

The Trans-Siberian Railway is one of the most famous of the world's great train journeys, a six-day trip covering 5,869 miles (9,446km) and eight time zones, from Moscow in Europe to Vladivostok on the Asian Pacific Coast. It is the longest continuous railway on earth and is the best way to experience the vast expanse of Russia, passing small isolated farmhouses and pastoral lands, churches and brightly painted log-cabin settlements, rolling hills and forests, steppes, rivers and lakes.

The train only stops briefly several times a day, but it is possible to arrange a stopover at any of the main cities or towns along the way. After the appealing city of Irkutsk, the 'capital of Siberia', the route passes the magnificent Lake Baikal, with a surface area as large as Belgium and the Netherlands combined, and its pure crystal-clear waters are the deepest in the world. This is the most attractive part of the journey, running along the shores of the 25-million year old lake and passing through numerous tunnels blasted into the cliffs, beneath arches and over bridges. Vladivostok, the final destination, with its picturesque hills overlooking the impressive natural harbor is Russia's major international trading port, and is a lively and interesting city.

The Trans-Siberian Railway was started in 1891 to link the western cities in European Russia to its Far Eastern provinces and the important Pacific port of Vladivostok. It took 26 years to build and remains one of the most outstanding engineering achievements of its time. Other popular routes are branches of the Trans-Siberian Railway, the Trans-Mongolian or Trans-Manchurian railways, which travel from Moscow to Beijing.

Fishing

Russia and fishing implies vast forested areas with more fish than people. The best fishing regions are thinly inhabited, even by fishermen, but dense with wildlife. The region of choice depends on what type of fishing visitors prefer.

In the far northwest, Kola Peninsula and its famed Ponoi River is a known destination for top Atlantic salmon fishing. It has 42 miles (67km) of fishable river and great camps and lodges along the way. The Kamchatka peninsula stretches out the other side of Russia into the Pacific. Flights from Anchorage Alaska have opened these streams to more business but visitors can still be assured their paths won't cross another's. Camps helicopter anglers to favored fishing holes that are often kept a trade secret. Float trips are the best for longer voyages. Some advertise exploratory missions to streams never before fished by westerners.

Farther into the Pacific is Sakhalin Island, stretching from the continent 589 miles (950km) to Japan. Float trips take fishermen past days of wilderness to do battle with the Sakhalin taimen, the strong and battle-ready prize of Russian catches. The island is reachable from Korea.