I have planned for a while to travel home from China to Europe by train through Siberia, but have suddenly had my return date sprung upon me and only have 2 months to sort myself out!!

I'm living in Korea, will catch a ferry to China, and a train to Beijing (all pretty simple so far...), and then from there I'm pretty stumped. The main problem seems to arise from where to get tickets and how to get visas. Budget is tight for me and my travel mate, and the consensus seems to be that it will save us a lot of money to just buy train tickets in China, rather than going through an internet company. So we'll buy tickets from Beijing to Ulan Bataar in Mongolia. To get into Mongolia I'll need a visa; I'm assuming I'll be able to get that at the Mongolian Embassy in Beijing/Seoul?

It's the next bit that is causing me the most problems -Russia. I just don't really know how to get a Russian visa, or what type I should be trying to get. Also, if I want to wait until Beijing and buy train tickets at Beijing station, how does this affect how I get a visa? Must I wait until Beijing to get a visa - I know Russian visas are notorious for requiring lots of detail, itineraries, pre-booked accommodations, etc., so if I don't buy my train tickets until China I'm guessing all the visa things have to be sorted out in China too? And if I do get a visa in China will I have to wait a long time stranded in Beijing?

Please, any help and suggestions would be great!! Hopefully I am worrying about nothing, and it will be easily sorted, but I just don't know where to start!

If it affects anything, we're both British men, 22 years old, with passports valid until 2017.

Thanks!

Hi Alexnhow,
for Russian transit visa consult 1) site of Russian Embassy 2) Russian Consulate in Korea.Hopefully they will supply you with nessesary info even about getting a visa in Beijing, 'cause regulations are the same.
Yes, Russian visas are really not easy to get, if you leave it till Beijing, you might well be stuck there for long.
Good luck

- according the rumors, the Russian visa in Beijing is one of the most difficult to get. Do it in Korea.
- the train ticket for two from Russian border to Bratislava via Moscow is 255 Euro ( = 127.5 Euro/person) and to Belgrade (also via Moscow and via Kiev + Romania) is ca. 330 Euro ( = 165 Euro/person). These tickets are called "CITY-STAR" and can be bought in Slovakia or Serbia respectively. I can help with either one, but keep in mind: these tickets are REGARDLESS OF DISTANCE. That means, for you it will be cheaper to ferry (or fly) to Vladivostok and travel to Europe that way. If you want to see China no matter, what - you will need to add the Beijing->Naushki or Beijing->Zabaikalsk ticket costs.

The ticket prices are excluding the sleeping car surcharge and there is no train without the sleeping service of some kind, so you will need to pay ca. 100-150 Euro more for the sleepers.

The tickets I mentioned are valid for 2 month and they are actually "open-ended" ones and you can de-train and go back on an other train "at will" - that makes stopovers in Irkutsk and Vladimir and Moscow and Kiev possible. But for every new boarding the train you will need a new sleeping car reservation/surcharge.

Same is with China: you can do the same with the Beijing -> Naushki ticket (i.e. de-train in Datong and Ulan-Bator within ticket validity time, purchasing a new sleeper surcharge every time you go back).

The Russian embassy in Seoul will issue you a visa if you prove, you are resident of Korea. They also can issue a TRANSIT visa without much formalities - if you can show them a train ticket. What makes the issue near impossible in Korea: no one can sell a Transsib ticket there, save a train ticket going across entire Russia (i.e. entering it in the East, leaving it in the West). Fortunately, the CITY-STAR ticket sold in Slovakia and Serbia does do precisely THAT trick, but just few Slovaks, some Austrians, Germans and Serbs know the trick.

More about it on my home page ("pig and the conductor"). I have PayPal address, so if you can handle P/P (add P/P costs + postage) that will be all.

The forever-question: "Slovakia or Serbia" is up to you. With Serbia you will get Romania "for free" regardless of the route traveled in Romania, Slovakia costs (in theory) a bit less. I am every few weeks in Beograd, so for me it is easier than to drive to Slovakia (2-3 hours extra). On the other hand, the ticket is somewhat easier to issue in Slovakia.

for visas (but not tickets!) visit www.waytorussia.com - they explain a lot, except the "easy" transit visas. In 80-s and early 90-s the "open-ended" cheap Hungarian-issued Transsib tickets were the way to go and because they were issued in Hungary, transit was pretty easy to arrange.

Since 4-5 years this is again possible, but the name of the solution is not Hungary (as it used to be in 80-s), but "Slovakia" or "Serbia". Not much to worry, geographically both are Hungary's neighbors... but that fact is not well-known yet.

To make all this even more sweet:

1) the CITY-STAR tickets are always round-trip tickets, you are actually using the RETURN PORTION OF THEM! I.e. now it's much-much cheaper to go FROM Europe to Asia by train than the other way (CITY-STAR is not sold in China and to buy it in Russia... theoretically possible, people did, but good luck without knowing the language!)

2) there are many more CITY-STAR-s, like CST Hungary-Germany, Hungary-Austria, Slovakia-Austria, Serbia-Germany... and so on. Not just the "far-eastern" but also "western" train tickets are best to be bought in Lithuania, Russia, Hungary, Slovakia, Serbia, etc. - each country has own smorgasboard of discounts, all discounts are valid for everyone, but announced only in local language.

Hi Man!
I’m Russian citizen so I don’t know how to get Russian visa ;)
Try to get visa in Republic of Korea obligatory
Visit website of Russian Embassy
http://www.repkorea.mid.ru/english/main.html
Address: 34-16 Chong-dong, Chung-gu, Seoul, 100-120, Republic of Korea
Phone numbers: (82-2) 318-2116, (82-2) 318-2117, (82-2) 318-2118, rusemb@uriel.net

Consulate general in Pusan:
Address: Korea Exchange Bank Bldg., 89-1, 4-ka, Chungang-dong, Chung-ku, Pusan, Republic of Korea
Phone numbers: (8251) 441-9904, 441-9905, genconr5@kornet.net, ruscon@bora.dacom.co.kr

There are two through Russian trains from Beijing to Moscow:
1. N 0033 (Departure time 07-45) on 05, 12, 19, 26 of November;
2. N 0194 (“East” (“Vostok”)) (Departure time 22-56) 01, 08, 15, 22, 29 of November.
Maybe this links will be useful for you:

http://www.eng.rzd.ru/wps/portal/rzdeng/fp
http://traintickets.ru/en/index.htm
http://www.poezda.net/en/index
Good luck!

Thanks for your replies, they are all really useful!

Basically, the main things I get from them are:

1. I must get the Russian visa while I'm in Korea, not in China.
2. Since I have to get the visa in Korea, and I need tickets to get a visa, I must also get the tickets whilst I'm in Korea... any possible help in getting hold of tickets would be amazing! Does this CITY-STAR ticket to Bratislava really work when only using the return portion?? - the deal is amazing when compared to the prices you can pay through internet companies.
3. It is possible for me to sort it out - I was worried it just couldn't work out. It's getting close now so I'm gonna have to get pushing things forward!!

Cheers again

One thing - I'm British, not Korean (one reply said to get a visa at the Russian consulate in Seoul I need proof of being a Korean citizen...?)

I'm the other guy traveling. Currently I'm in England, but flying out to Korea in a few days. Does anyone know whether it is possible for me, as I have no actual address in Korea, to get a Russian Visa from the Embassy in Korea?

The Russian embassy in England seem to struggle to pick up the phone when I call.

if you haven't did this before already, try to check some tips on LP which has numerous discussions concerning the problem of Russian visas in Chine, Mongolia and Korea: f.e. http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=1648051&tstart=75
and I recommend to read Everbrite's "stickies" about visas and other travel tips. Another way to get correct and updated information here: http://www.waytorussia.net/TalkLounge/

CST tickets DO work. Countless people did travel on them without any issue.
Even North Korean rail does recognize the CST deal - please look at NKorea-related pictures on www.railfaneurope.net

However, Russian consulate will give visa only at the place of residence. Calling Russian consulate is more often than not pointless. They are not a service company... and their advice can be misleading.

To arrange Russian visa please look at www.waytorussia.com. They tell all. For tickets CST is the best deal by far. CST is never sold on-line, someone has to pay and pick it up in Bratislava/Sturovo/Beograd these are the places I positively know, do sell. I bought a CST ticket last year for my former American colleague in Sturovo.

In 2006 I got my Russian tourist visa in Shanghai because Beijing is not possible. On my Shanghai page I have a tip about this. I ordered the invitation/voucher from www.visatorussia.com and it was emailed to me and I printed it out.

I bought the train ticket Beijing-Moscow in Beijing from the CITS (?) office in that huge hotel on the big famous street (sorry I forgot the name) and had them organise me the Mongolian transit visa because finding an embassy in Beijing can be a nightmare. Check Lonely planet guide book or the like it should mention the place where they sell the train tickets.