China Travel Forum

[Alex]

Hello - was wondering on the Trans Siberian - hoping to travel from Beijing to Lake Baikel on the Trans Siberian or Trans Mongolian. Can I just turn up (maybe a few days prior) and book a seat or do seats on these trains get booked up well in advance?
Can you book a seat on-line?

Thanks in advance

[Kevin]

You cannot book a ticket online.
There is only one train per week from Beijing to Moscow that passes through Mongolia and there are one (or two trains during the summer months) that travel from Beijing to Ulan Bator. This means that showing up a few days before there is a reasonable likelihood that you may be able to get a ticket but no guarantees. It will depend upon the time of year that you are traveling, what day of the week you arrive and what class of ticket you want.
you can obtain the ticket from Beijing to your first destination. From Ulan Bator it is easier to travel into Russia because there are daily trains from there to Irkutsk.
Be sure to have your Russian visa before getting to Beijing as the Russian consulate cannot issue visas to any except those who hold a Chinese passport or Chinese residency permit. Also do not plan to wait until you get to Ulan Bator. The consulate there is very picky and only accepts original documents from local agencies so you end up spending a lot of money and a lot of time getting the visa.