An exclusive welcome dinner will be held, offering you the chance to get yourself acquainted with your travelling companions for the next 15 days.

An essential part of any visit to Moscow is a tour of the Moscow metro – you will see highly-decorative socialist art furnished with statues, frescoes and mosaics, that you cannot find anywhere else in the world.

If you have been to Moscow before, we offer included Freedom of Choice touring where we show you other sights of Moscow such as the famous State Tretyakov Gallery (National Museum of Fine Art) or the Space Museum.

At the end of the day you will be taken to Moscow Kazansky station, where you will be greeted in the ornately decorated Imperial Waiting Room.

To top off your day, in memory of one of Russia’s most famous opera singers, born in Kazan, Feodor Chaliapin, you will be invited to a private concert of some of his music.

Our primary tour will take you to the site of the execution, now the Church on Blood in Honour of All Saints Resplendent in the Russian Land. The tour will offer an insight into the turmoil that surrounded the Russian Revolution. You get to visit the obelisk marking the geographical border, where celebrations take place with a glass of champagne, while standing with one foot in Europe and the other in Asia.

Your ‘Freedom of Choice’ tour includes a chance to explore recently opened Military Machinery Museum, which houses an amazing collection of different types of military hardware. Alternatively, we will make a short stop at the Boris Yeltsin Presidential Centre, recently opened in Yekaterinburg, which is dedicated to the contemporary political history of Russia and its first president.

You could take a city tour, taking in Lenin Square and its Soviet era statue of this iconic political leader, where you will find the imposing, and beautiful, Opera House, one of the largest opera houses in the world.

Time permitting, south of the city we will visit Novosibirsk’s excellent Railway Museum. The museum displays locomotives and rolling stock from the late 1800s, including carriages of the Tsars, through to the Soviet era. Alternatively, as part of our Freedom of Choice programme, choose to visit the Mineralogical Centre with its fine display of Siberian minerals.

If adding to your culinary repertoire is something that excites you, the ‘Freedom of Choice’ option is an opportunity to learn how to cook some traditional Russian dishes. If you would rather gain an insight in to the day to day lives of an average Russian family, the alternative ‘Freedom of Choice’ option is a visit to a traditional Russian Dacha (summer house).

Weather permitting, the train will stop in an extremely picturesque part of the coastline for some fantastic photo opportunities. For those brave enough, there will also be the chance to take a quick swim in the crystal clear waters.

Towards the end of the Trans-Baikal line, the tour will board a boat towards Listvyanka, a small Baikal settlement, in order to visit the Lake Baikal Museum and Aquarium, where you can become acquainted with the flora and fauna of the Baikal region.

Before leaving, everyone will have the opportunity to enjoy a delicious barbeque by the lake, including freshly smoked omul fish, a species endemic to Lake Baikal and a local specialty.

The ‘Freedom of Choice’ excursion for the day will offer you the opportunity to take the chair lift or go hiking in the hills surrounding Lake Baikal, offering unparalleled views and some breath-taking scenic photo spots.

You will be taken on a tour of the Old Believers’ Village, and have the opportunity to learn more about the culture and history of these deeply religious people. Following this you will be treated to a concert featuring local traditions and folk singing.

Your time in Ulan Bator will begin at the Tibetan-style Gandan Monastery, one of the most important Buddhist Monasteries in Mongolia, home to a community of over 500 monks. The full name, Gandantegchinlen, translates as ‘the great place of complete joy’.

Visiting Sukhbaatar Square, you will have the opportunity to gaze upon the central monument to Genghis Khan, probably the most famous, and certainly the most feared and revered, Mongol.

Once you have had time in the square, you will be driven out of the city to Gorkhi-Terelj National Park to enjoy the breath-taking scenery, visit a traditional Ger and meet a nomadic family to see how they live, or try your hand at horse riding; an intrinsic part of Mongolian life across the steppe.

Alternatively, there is an option to stay in the city as part of our Freedom of Choice touring. After Gandan Monastery and Chinggis Square we visit the National Museum where we learn about the tumultuous, fascinating and eye-opening history of Mongolia. We will also see Bogd Khan Winter Palace Museum, the winter residences of Bogd Khan, the last Mongolian emperor. Any time remaining will be free to explore the city some more, or purchase souvenirs.

To cap it all off, you will be performed for by contortionists and traditional Mongolian throat singers. A truly unique vocal style.

Please note: depending on the final timings provided by the railway authorities, Golden Eagle may substitute the railway journey from Russia into Ulaanbaatar with a private jet from Irkutsk or Ulan-Ude so that we can maintain the advertised programme for Mongolia. If this is likely to occur, this will be advised in your final documentation.

You will have the opportunity to visit its principal military attractions, including a visit to a preserved Wold War Two submarine. You will also be taken to one of the largest suspension bridges in the world over the Golden Horn Bay, which opened in 2012 for the APEC conference in the city.

Your hotel for the night in Vladivostok is the centrally located, thoroughly modern, five-star Lotte Hotel.