12 RIDE RUSSIA’S TRANSSIBERIAN RAILWAY

Only in Russia can you board a train that’s timetabled to take around a week to reach its final destination. Covering 5,772 miles from Moscow to Vladivostok, the legendary Trans-Siberian Railway is the world’s longest continuous passenger route.

While there’s something inherently thrilling about crossing a continent by train, you don’t choose the Trans-Siberian Railway for its speed — it typically trundles along at around 50 mph — or its views, which are mostly of vast, open landscapes and birch forests. This is a cultural adventure, taking in remote towns such as Perm and Irkutsk while sleeping in what amounts to a mobile guesthouse.

The dormitory-like platzkart (third-class) carriages offer the best opportunities to mingle, perhaps by sharing meals of homemade black bread, cured meat, smoked fish and blueberry waffles bought from vendors on the platforms. trains.realrussia.co.uk/transsib EG