Distance
1668-1778 km
Up to 9 trains
per day
9-29 stops
on the way
Fastest train
1 day 2 hours
Slowest train
1 day 9 hours
Price from
42 USD
Two routes connect Moscow with the city of Yekaterinburg – a 1668 km route through Kazan, and a 1778 km route through Nizhny Novgorod, Kirov, and Perm, which most Trans-Siberian trains take.
Depending on the day and season, 4 to 9 trains will travel from Moscow to Yekaterinburg each day, with most continuing on to Siberia and Russia’s Far East. The trip to Yekaterinburg takes 26-33 hours. All trips on this route make the return Yekaterinburg to Moscow trip as well.
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Wi-Fi is not available on board the Moscow - Yekaterinburg trains, nor will a mobile connection be available for most of the trip.
The exact travel time will depend on which train you take, but generally the journey from Moscow to Yekaterinburg takes 26 - 33 hours.
Yekaterinburg has only one train station, at Vokzal'naya Ulitsa, 22. The train will arrive and depart at one of two Moscow stations - the Kazansky train station at Komsomolskaya Ploshad, 2, metro Komsomolskaya; or the Yaroslavsky train station at Komsomolskaya Ploshad, 5, metro Komsomolskaya.
For 1st class passengers, up to 50kg of carry-on luggage is allowed. For 2nd and 3rd class passengers, the limit is 36 kg. The total dimensions of the luggage (L x W x H) must be no more than 180 cm. Note that children under 4 on a free ticket (i.e., not a separate seat) do not have an additional luggage allowance.
No, Moscow is in the GMT+3 time zone, while the Yekaterinburg time zone is GMT+5. Departure and arrival times on your ticket are always in local time.
Taking the Moscow to Yekaterinburg train is a great way to breach the east-west divide quickly and economically.
Peter the Great founded Yekaterinburg as an entrance to Siberia in 1723. It’s become Russia’s fourth largest city. Metallurgy was and still is a prosperous trade in Siberia, and Yekaterinburg served as the hub. To get to Yekaterinburg, the shortest route is through Kazan. The histories and cultures of the Turkic and Slavic peoples rubbed up against one another in Kazan. An outdoor bazaar lies beneath Ivan the Terrible’s immense Kremlin. With mosques, churches and temples cohabiting here, it’s fascinating to see the blend of cultures.
The other path to get from Moscow to Yekaterinburg by train is longer but includes more sights. The first compelling stop is Nizhny Novgorod. With a 14th century monastery and grand kremlin, it’s rich in history. On the lighter side, a cable car over the Volga is used for everyday transport there.
Kirov is the next stop of interest, with its Dymkovo toys (painted clay dolls), birch shoes and Cucumber festival. It’s a small town with easy-to-digest attractions if you’ve already sampled too much vodka.
Perm is the last city to be considered European when headed eastbound. “Perm 36” was a labor camp, or gulag, used during Stalin’s Great Purge. Unfortunately, this was a comparatively humane gulag compared to those in Siberia, but that’s probably the reason it’s open for visits. The PERMM modern art museum is inventive. The novel Dr. Zhivago portrayed many of the historic buildings in Perm.
Either route between Moscow and Yekaterinburg is worthwhile. Once you reach Yekaterinburg, you can experience the final stop of the last Tsar and his beloved family before their execution. The Yeltsin Center is a tribute to Russia’s first president. A QWERTY keyboard monument accepts your wishes for potential granting. You might even become so enthralled with Siberia that you continue on the Trans-Siberian until reaching Vladivostok. It’s only 8,000 kilometers past Yekaterinburg!
Get ready to be whisked along on a smooth and magical ride on the Trans-Siberian Railway.
Our travel group under the names Express to Russia, Russian Rail and Trans-Europe Express has been recommended and/or accredited by:
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