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Ride the Trans-Siberian Railway from Moscow to Vladivostok

Every clock on board runs on Moscow time, so at what your body insists is midnight, the attendant serves breakfast and the platform outside says four in the afternoon. The Trans-Siberian crosses seven time zones over 9,289 kilometres, a non-stop trip of about a week, though almost no one does it non-stop — you break it at Lake Baikal, where the ice is thick enough to drive a car across. Somewhere past the Urals you stop checking your watch altogether and start reading the light instead. Tickets span platskart bunks to private first class. By day five you've forgotten which day it actually is.

Practical

Cost
$150–600 one-way; more with stops
Best time
Late spring to early autumn, before the winter cold sets in
Difficulty
Moderate
Time it takes
7 days non-stop; most take 2–3 weeks with stops
What people get wrong
People plan to do it non-stop and end up seeing the country through a window instead of on the ground at Baikal or Irkutsk. Others book platskart expecting privacy, or forget that visas and border logistics for a multi-country crossing take real planning.
With
Alone

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