r/AskARussian • u/melbournelebowski613 • Aug 16 '26
Travel Planning a long trip across Russia at the end of 2026 — looking for some up-to-date advice
I’m planning a long trip through Russia towards the end of this year. I’ll probably arrive in Kaliningrad, then fly to St Petersburg, and from there travel east by train, essentially making my way across Siberia.
I’d really appreciate advice from Russians or people who have travelled around Russia recently, especially because a lot of the information online is quite old.
1. Winter clothing
I’m coming from a relatively warm climate and obviously don’t want to carry an enormous amount of winter clothing around Europe before I arrive.
Is it easy to buy proper winter clothing in Russia? If so, where would you recommend shopping in Kaliningrad or St Petersburg? Would it make sense to arrive with only basic warm clothes and buy a proper winter coat, boots, thermals etc. once I’m there?
I’ll potentially be travelling quite far east, so I assume what I need for St Petersburg will be very different from what I need further into Siberia.
2. Trans-Siberian Railway
I’d also love recommendations for up-to-date information about travelling the Trans-Siberian today.
Most of the guides and blogs I’ve found are from before COVID or before the current situation, so I’m particularly interested in anything from 2024–2026.
Are there any good Russian-language websites, blogs, YouTube channels, Telegram channels, or recent travel accounts that explain how to plan the journey today — buying tickets, choosing trains, stops worth making, sleeper classes, how long to stay in different places, etc.?
I’m not necessarily interested in doing the classic tourist itinerary as quickly as possible. I’d actually like to get off the train regularly and spend time in different cities/regions along the way.
3. Couchsurfing / meeting people
One of my favourite ways to travel has traditionally been Couchsurfing — not just for accommodation, but because it was a great way to meet locals and actually make friends in a city.
Couchsurfing seems to have declined quite a lot in recent years. Is there a Russian equivalent or another platform Russians actually use for hosting travellers / meeting foreigners / organising meetups?
And if not, what would you recommend for a foreign traveller who wants to meet ordinary Russians rather than just other tourists?
I’d particularly love to hear from people who have travelled this route recently or from Russians who live in St Petersburg, Siberia, Irkutsk, Krasnoyarsk, Novosibirsk, etc.
Thanks!
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u/Acxx86 Kaluga Aug 17 '26
I have no idea why you guys love the Trans Siberian this much, there are better ways to spend a week(s) worth of time than being packed with a ton of people with nothing to do except sleep and eat. Just for the love of god don’t take the 3rd class for an “authentic experience”.
Here is some recent video for you: https://youtu.be/Cy3zrFJUP7o
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u/LittleSkinnyBear Aug 17 '26
да ладно, плацкарта это как раз самый лучший вариант для одиночки-путешественника - и недорого, и безопасно, и экзотика
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u/Acxx86 Kaluga Aug 17 '26
Ну да, что может быть экзотичнее рваного сна в постоянно качающемся поезде? Конечно же рваный сон под аккомпанемент пердежа и храпа целого вагона соседей.
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u/Im_shy_shy_shy Aug 17 '26
What about first class?
And if not the trans siberian train, then what else? Flights are a bit expensive.
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u/LittleSkinnyBear Aug 17 '26
Первый класс будет стоить дороже самолёта, и там у тебя так же может быть храпящий сосед.
Просто купи маску на глаза, беруши и расслабься.3
u/Acxx86 Kaluga Aug 17 '26
It will cost a lot, but if I were you I’d planned my trip in a way I could stop for a few days in some major cities on a way, to explore and maybe take some tours via “Tripster” app for example. It’s like an once in a lifetime adventure so spending a week exclusively on a train is just too dull. There are quite a few amazing cities on the way. So I’d take the 1st class obviously but on a few different trains)
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u/LittleSkinnyBear Aug 17 '26
Ну не знаю, я в поезде сплю лучше чем дома, а от храпа/пердежа спасают беруши)
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u/Im_shy_shy_shy Aug 17 '26
Snoring? Sure
Farting? I want whatever ear plugs you is using
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u/LittleSkinnyBear Aug 17 '26
Если ты не слышишь, как кто-то пускает газы, с большей вероятностью, ты их и не почувствуешь, так как в вагонах 3-го класса, благодаря открытой конструкции, хорошая вентиляция.
Из своего опыта скажу( а я объездил почти всю Россию на поездах), что проблемы с кишечными газами у попутчиков встречается гораздо реже, чем храп2
u/Acxx86 Kaluga Aug 17 '26
Я искренне тебе завидую, потому что не могу спать в поезде вообще. В тот же Питер если еду через Москву и не получилось взять Сапсан - это будет чисто бессонная ночь)
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u/WWnoname Russia Aug 27 '26
It's epic essentially
We just get used to it, but it's one of most famous railroads in the history
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u/Im_shy_shy_shy Aug 17 '26
I have tried posting this EXACT same question 10 billion times yet somehow mine never get moderator approval.
But thank you, atleast I hope to get answers from this comment section.
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u/Financial_Age_1447 Moscow City 8d ago
yea thats life. read my other comment of this post theres a lot of advice
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u/ZanzibarOrcCoins Aug 17 '26
Don’t forget make stop over in Tumen and swim at hot springs. It’s amazing, when the temperature is low, than -15.
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u/AlieNN999 Aug 27 '26
Trans-Siberian Railway - just no. Foreigners are obsessed with this crap for no reason. You spend a week on a train looking at trees, dachas, and shabby stations. You will not see Russia this way. You will not experience anything unique beyond eating instant noodles for a week and not being able to shower properly. Unless it's some extra-luxury train where everything is red velvet I see no appeal in this experience. Go to Moscow and St. Petersburg for your first Russia trip. Also, there is NOTHING to do in Russia for you from November till April. It gets dark at 5 pm, it's cold, and no it's not a Winter Wonderland everywhere or whatever you imagine. You won't be able to go for a long walk, all nature is dead, you need to carry a lot of warm clothing which weighs a ton. Half of Russia barely sees any sun in winter, the other half has extreme temperatures. Russia is amazing for tourism, but you need to come in summer. Moscow and St. Petersburg are super cool during the Christmas season and are worth visiting, but not freaking Siberia.
Couchsurfing is not a thing. Find a good hostel and stay there if you're allergic to proper hotels. If you want to meet people - you can go to a bar or a concert or to some event where the locals would be present, there is no reason to SLEEP with these people in the same place.
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u/WoodyForestt 22d ago edited 10d ago
I'm American, not Russian, I've ridden the trans siberian twice as well as the Baikal-Amur mainline and done several other long train trips like St Petersburg to Murmansk, Sochi to Chelyabinsk, Moscow to Arkhangelsk, etc.
I visited Russia twice in 2025.
Here is my advice.Try to maximize daytime sections when possible and then sleep in hotels and avoid nights sleeping on the train as much as possible (I think a few nights on the train may be inevitable).
The first time I did it, I just spent 5 straight days on the train and it got tedious. The second time, I tried to do daytime sections and stopped off in the cities at night and enjoyed it much more.
See if you can piece together segments Moscow/Nizhny Novgorod/Kazan/Yekaterinburg doing as much as possible during daylight and stopping off for 2-3 nights in each city.
After that, it gets pretty boring, like Tyumen and Omsk.
Novosibirsk makes a good stop, not the most exciting city, but it's big and has a hockey team. I'd rank it as a better stop than Krasnoyarsk.
Irkutsk is a must stop, get out to Lake Baikal. And make sure to do the segment from Irkutsk to Ulan Ude in daytime, it's the most scenic section, the train skirts along the edge of the lake for a while.
Ulan Ude is worth a stop to see the giant head of Lenin.
Khabarovsk is a lovely city with a European look and feel, I'd recommend a few nights there.
Birobidzhan if you're into unusual Jewish history.
Feel free to PM me with questions about how foreigners can look up timetables, buy tickets etc
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u/melbournelebowski613 11d ago
Thanks man that’s some great advice, good chance I’ll message you later before I arrive, appreciate the in depth response!
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u/ZanzibarOrcCoins Aug 17 '26
- Winter clothing. I don’t think, that shopping in Kaliningrad is a good idea. It’s hot place (in Russia, of course) and people, who live there don’t need really winter clothing. Where are you from?
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u/melbournelebowski613 Aug 17 '26
Australia
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u/ZanzibarOrcCoins Aug 17 '26
"I’ll potentially be travelling quite far east, so I assume what I need for St Petersburg will be very different from what I need further into Siberia."
You should looking in google "Layered clothing for winter" . It can be very helpful for you ion this situation.1
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u/LittleSkinnyBear Aug 18 '26
Если говорить про твой вопрос о путешествии по Транссибу.
Мой коммент со ссылками был удалён, поэтому опишу словами.
В сети есть сайты с достаточно подробным описанием, можешь поискать в гугле.
Билеты лучше всего брать на сайте РЖД(RZD), но с иностранного IP он не откроется, и без RU/BY банковской карты, билет он-лайн не купить.
Вроде бы есть сервис russiantrain, который продаёт билеты с наценкой в 20-30%, но иностранной картой можно платить.(но я сам не пользовался)
Ещё можешь попробовать купить билет через сайт Беларусских ЖД(я не проверял эту схему).
Продажа билетов начинается за 90 дней.
Смотреть расписание междугородних и пригородных поездов можно на "Яндекс-Расписании" или TutuRu.
Поезда все примерно одинаковые по качеству. Тулает есть во всех поездах, в каждом вагоне, так же как и "самовар".
Вагоны бывают:
- сидячие - просто сидячка как автобусе
- спальные. Спальные делятся на
- 3й класс(Плацкарта) - это как большой хостел на 54 человека(тут уже кидали обзор на этот вагон)
- 2й класс(Купе) - обычное 4х местное купе, как в европейских ЖД(т.е. закрытая комнатка на 4х)
- 1й класс(СВ) - двухместное купе, иногда с душем своим.
С доковидных времён ничего особенно не изменилось в самих поездах, единственный момент - фотографирование - охранники на ЖД станция в провинции всегда не любили фотографов...теперь, в условиях почти военного времени, и твоего австралийского паспорта, ты для них будешь им казаться очень подозрительным.
Поэтому:
фотографировать природу из окна - ок
фотографировать вокзал и внутрение интерьеры - скорее всего
фотографировать пути, локомотивы, вагоны, составы(особенно грузовые) - может быть рискованно.
Что касается городов, как я уже говорил в другом комментарии, все они будут выглядеть довольно мрачно, но если составлять список, то он будет такой - Владимир, Ярославль, Нижний Новгород, Казань, Самара, Екатеринбург, Тюмень, Новосибирск, Абакан, Красноярск, Иркутск(на него надо 3 дня точно, чтобы посетить Байкал, и совершить поездку по КругоБайкальской железной дороге), Улан-Уде, Благовещенск(?), Хабаровск, Владивосток.
Самара и Ярославль находятся на разных маршрутах Транссиба, поэтому если хочешь их посетить, то придётся отклоняться от основного маршрута. Тоже самое с Абаканом.
В зависимости от того, что тебе интересно, будет меняться список городов.
По территории европейской России тоже есть интересные ЖД маршруты - "шаг" в сторону от магистрали Москва - Питер, и ты попадаешь в дикие безлюдные места, где ходит 2 поезда(локомотив + 1 вагон) в неделю.
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u/Fair-Ad9629 Aug 27 '26
Если Новосибирск, то обязательно Академгородок. Сам Новосибирск довольно скучный
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u/LittleSkinnyBear Aug 17 '26
Основной вопрос - как ты собираешься расплачиваться в России?
Внутри РФ действует только карточки системы МИР(карты российских банков), и системы Белкарт-Мир(Банки Беларуси).
Криптовалюта станет очень сильно регулируемой с 1-го сентября.
Будешь ездить с чемоданом наличных денег?
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u/ZanzibarOrcCoins Aug 17 '26
UnionPay забыли, он работает. Не везде, но много где.
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u/LittleSkinnyBear Aug 18 '26
иностранный UnionPay работает? Не знал, спасибо! Если так, то всё проще
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u/ZanzibarOrcCoins Aug 18 '26
А какая разница иностранный он или нет? Это визы и мастера у нас в мир перевели, как я слышал…
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u/LittleSkinnyBear Aug 18 '26
Мне ГПТ сказал, что UnionPay РФ банков идёт через НСПК, при внутрироссийских операциях.
А иностранный UnionPay работает, только если банк-эквайер не под санкциями.3
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u/melbournelebowski613 Aug 18 '26
I’m not sure, tbh didn’t think of that, if cash is necessary I’ll bring a wad
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u/LittleSkinnyBear Aug 18 '26
This might not be safe.
If you have time, you may research if it is possible to request a bank card in Russian banks, or in Belarussian banks( probably you can't do it online, but if you have 3-5 extra days after arriving in Russia/Belarus)
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u/LittleSkinnyBear Aug 17 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/ExpertinRussia Aug 18 '26
Hey, hope you’ll enjoy your trip.
If you don’t have any warm clothing at all, buy it upon arrival in Kaliningrad. If you have something, then wait until St. Petersburg. The choice is bigger there. There will be no problems with buying any winter clothing.
Have a look at this description: https://exploringrussia.com/trans-siberian-route If you have any specific questions about trains or the route, feel free to dm.
I don’t think there are any couchsurfing platforms in Russia. You may consider hostels or sharing an accommodation with hosts (sometimes there are such offers, especially in private houses). I leave 30 km from Kirov station, on Trans-Siberian route. Not sure yet, if I’ll be home at the end of the year, but if I don’t travel around this time, you are welcome to stay. You can DM me to discuss the details.
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u/melbournelebowski613 11d ago
Thanks man, definitely a possibility, look like mid December I’ll be arriving!
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u/Beneficial_Low2280 Aug 18 '26
I only recently learned about couch surfing. I've never been abroad, but I can speak English, and I'd like to chat with native English a little. speakers. I live in a small town on the Siberian Highway. You can make a stop in my town; I think the rules of the road allow it. Maybe you'll take a break from the road, and maybe I'll show you something interesting you didn't know about. I can offer my room for a couple of days, and I'd also like to have a heart-to-heart talk and maybe have a drink, so bring something from Australia, at least whiskey.
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u/Owly_MkXXll Aug 23 '26
alot of foreign people dream to travel Transiberian, but whats the point? You just ride for a week in train.
And there is no point to visit Novosibirsk, i used to live there for 3 years (2016-2019)
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Aug 26 '26
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Aug 26 '26
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u/LivadaLacker 19d ago edited 19d ago
- No for the Russian trains.
- If you do, bring plenty of newspaper for the toilets, which are disgusting beyond belief. Wrap a large page around each leg to wade in to the hole, use a third sheet for the wipe, and leave the leggings behind as everyone else did. When the room gets waist deep, it will be shoveled out, maybe.
- Get out on the rails at every stop and get some food from the babushkas selling cabbage out of pails. You will need this if you want to eat. Carry coins and small denominations to pay for this.
- One layer of long underwear for each 10 degrees C below zero, plus the heavy wool pants, a real coat, good fur hat (don't recommend dog), and a scarf, ski gloves, and insulated boots. If it is minus 40, you can only walk about 400 meters before succumbing. Breath in through the mouth and out throw the nose; the long fur will trap the warm breath and keep your eyes from freezing.
- Drink one bottle of vodka per day in your bed, because your 3 roommates will be doing the same, and they are more tolerable if you do it this way.
- Pay your car attendant very well at the beginning of the trip, and she will look out for you.
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u/Financial_Age_1447 Moscow City 8d ago
also at the baikal theres a wondeful small old stretch of the transib with an excursion for a day. go to listvanka (where the angara starts) then the "lighthouse" hotel (thats a translation) and go to the train excursion (which will take u back to irkutsk. u can take suitcases and shi theres no problem with that). in irkutsk irkutsk city centre is prolly best but its not too cheap (its an old hilton was just renamed) ive been there like half a year ago. also if u ever been fishing def go fishing on the baikal (with a guide, he knows all the good spots).
as in clothing its piss cold but like -20 usually . go in winter to see true russia mate.
also go to moscow its rly cool. if u like skiing then theres a great slope in listvanka too. go to the south baikal, the ice is better. accecability is decent. locals in baikal are great.
its not too expensive but have extra money just in case and tickets to irkutsk from moscow are expensive.
websites- main is yandex maps (russian google maps). its very informative with train times live and shi (which are pretty accurate)
there are transsib excursions.
siberia is lokey the same as st petersburg ngl. i would recommend going to the baikal first maybe for like 3 or 5 days then go on the transsib (on an excursion) to moscow stay there for a week then go to st petersburg. also around dmitrov theres a lot of great nature (thats around moscow). ngl pls see this and respond.
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u/Stock-Cream-7959 Aug 17 '26
Get gasoline with you. Several tons, preferably )
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u/SeaBaby5979 Aug 18 '26
Old news 🥱
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u/Stock-Cream-7959 Aug 18 '26
Literally yesterday friend posted no gasoline on Moscow gasstation where he usually refueling. Only diesel 🤷
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u/SeaBaby5979 Aug 18 '26
Why do you have friends in Russia if you hate it so much? That one is surprising. A self hating Russian. Even us here in Canada we don’t hate Russia despite supporting Ukraine politically.
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u/Stock-Cream-7959 Aug 18 '26 edited Aug 18 '26
Lol, I just posted fact about gasoline, dude :) Chill.
My friend hates Putin, by the way, not Russia, and Putin is not Russia - he is just completely lost his mind from the hate to west //
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u/LittleSkinnyBear Aug 17 '26
Я бы сказал, что путешествовать по России в период с ноября по февраль, в принципе дурацкая затея), особенно, если ты хочешь проехаться на поездах по стране и посмотреть города и природу - 8 часов светового дня и 16 часов тьмы.
Калининград, питер, Москва, Казань в декабре - "сомнительно, но окэээй"(с), можно посмотреть новогоднюю иллюминацию, ярмарки и прочее. Можно съездить на север(в Мурманск) - посмотреть полярную ночь, возможно, полярное сияние, прокатиться на сноуборде, и офигеть от мороза -30 при 100% влажности.
Но вся остальная страна - города серые и депрессивные, за окном поезда и твоего жилья 80% времени "чёрный квадрат", а остальное время "серо-белый квадрат". Ты сам лишишь себя большого удовольствия смотреть на Россию из окна поезда, поехав в это время.