In the age of speed, it is a pity to waste time on the train. The plane is more familiar. But what can you see through the porthole? Another thing is to watch the change of landscapes outside the window under the soothing clatter of wheels. And get to know your country and its nature not in fragments, but in a holistic route.
You can see everything - by train "Russia", from Moscow to Vladivostok. Cross all time zones and climatic zones, see how vast the Russian expanses are. This is the Transsib. But not everyone decides to travel by rail for almost a week. And there are scenic train routes that will take a little time and leave an unforgettable experience.
Chernigovskoe - Distant, Krasnodar Territory
This prosaic name hides one of the most interesting and picturesque railway routes - a narrow-gauge mountain railway along the Caucasian foothills. A small red carriage with the self-explanatory name "Matrix" is the only means of transport for residents of local villages. Schoolchildren go to school and back, grandmothers go to the market … For them, the daily landscape outside the window of the trailer is familiar. For the rest, this is a discovery.
The car is moving at a snail's speed, and you can enjoy the glorified beauty of the Caucasus Mountains. A tunnel of green tree crowns gives way to sheer cliffs and mountain rivers, small villages. In recent years, tourist carriages have begun to run here. This is not only an opportunity to admire almost wild landscapes, but also to feel the flavor of a trip along an old (since 1927) mountain narrow-gauge railway.
Kudem narrow-gauge railway, Arkhangelsk region
According to the most famous business magazine, this road is one of the most beautiful. A forest was once transported along it. Today this path is for tourists only. No fan of the Russian north will miss the opportunity to travel along the narrow-gauge railway from Severodvinsk to the forest village of Beloe Ozero.
The small train consists of a locomotive and several trailers, open and covered. In good weather, you need to go, of course, in the open. Then, in addition to the beautiful Arkhangelsk landscapes, you can hear the singing of birds that have long ceased to react to the train and live their own forest life.
Tuapse - Adler, Krasnodar Territory
You can look at the sea endlessly - this is an axiom. Especially when you go there to relax by train. The only way to Sochi by rail is along the sea. And the landscape outside the window is a gift for the upcoming vacation, or a bonus to a completed vacation.
The section is small, from Tuapse to Adler, or vice versa, if you arrived in Adler, and you go to rest in the direction of Tuapse. For one and a half kilometers, which the train goes along the sea coast, you can see everything - from vacationers on the beach to piers and hotels. But the main thing is the sea. The names of the stops along the way have become synonyms for us to rest on the Black Sea and just caress the ear:
- Host,
- Matsesta,
- Lazarevskoe,
- Dagomys,
- Tuapse.
Circum-Baikal Railway - Circum-Baikal Railway
The Circum-Baikal Railway, as the locals call it, was once part of the Trans-Siberian Railway. In the 50s of the last century, another detour road was built - due to the construction of the Irkutsk hydroelectric power station. A section of almost 90 km has become a purely tourist route. The cruise includes not just a trip around Lake Baikal, but also walks at the stops.
The trip takes all daylight hours, from Baikal station to Slyudyanka, or in the opposite direction. Impressions remain for at least a year.
- First, the engineering richness of the route: through many stone galleries and mountain tunnels, through bridges and viaducts.
- Secondly, and most importantly, the views of the lake, the beauty of which is beyond words.
In many places, the train travels along its very edge, and this is a great opportunity to enjoy the scenery of the largest and deepest freshwater reservoir in the world.
BAM, Baikal-Amur Mainline
It begins halfway between Irkutsk and Krasnoyarsk, in Taishet, and stretches to the city of Sovetskaya Gavan. Once this all-Union Komsomol construction was the most expensive because of the difficult geological and climatic conditions. Today the costs have paid off in full and BAM is operating at full load.
It is unlikely that someone will spend 4-5 days to drive on it specially. If circumstances arise, you're in luck. The road crosses the largest Siberian rivers, Lena, Angara and others. It goes through coniferous forests, the Amur plain, the magnificent landscapes of the Far North, and ends on the Pacific coast. And Sovgavan amazes with its natural beauty and originality anyone who reaches the end point of the BAM.
Kimry - Uglich, Center of Russia
Actually, this can be called a weekend itinerary. Not only in length (only 3 hours on the road), but also by means of transportation - an electric train, in other words, an electric train. There are usually few passengers. But what can be seen from the window will become the "impression of the week", at least.
Dense forests, picturesque swamps, the most beautiful landscape of the Central Russian strip. And the abundance of birds in the swamps can be seen right along the path of the train. Cranes, finches, curlews, starlings, sometimes even owls.
The cherry on the cake will be Kalyazin, famous for his flooded bell tower, towering alone in the middle of the river. It can be seen when the train crosses the Humpback Bridge.
