Getting from Romania to Tashkent by train

[MullyAndSculder]

Hello all,

I’m trying to plan out a trip from Romania to Tashkent, likely in spring/summer 2023, and am looking for more information on rail links between Ukraine and Uzbekistan.

I’ve found a couple references online to a direct train from Kiev or Kharkov to Tashkent that stopped running at some point but that might be brought back in the future. Does anyone know if this information is the most up to date? Or did they bring it back? Is it possible now to take a direct train from Ukraine to Uzbekistan?

Rome2Rio is suggesting catching a weekly train that runs from Kiev to Baku, then changing trains near Astrakhan and continuing on to Tashkent that way. Does that sound like what someone would probably have to do to take a train from Ukraine to Tashkent? Does anyone have any other suggestions for what the most sensible way to travel by train from Ukraine to Uzbekistan might be?

Another possibility that occurred to me is to take the Kiev to Baku train all the way to Baku, then take the Caspian Sea ferry to Kazakhstan and catching a train to Tashkent in Mangestau. Does anyone know if the train from Mangestau to Tashkent is a direct one, or would I have to change trains at some point? Rome2Rio says I would have to change trains in Beyneu and that the train I would be catching – I’m guessing one that originated in Russia and goes to Tashkent – passes through once a week. Has anyone here ever been to Aktau/Mangestau or Beineu? Does it make sense to try to plan a day or two in either place? And if I do end up with time on my hands in either – the schedules of the ferry and of the train to Tashkent might not align – is there anything to do?

Yet another possibility might be to just go to Moscow, then take the train to Tashkent from there – from what I’ve seen on The Man in Seat 61 and elsewhere it runs three times a week. The Baku and Moscow routes would both be longer/less direct certainly, but this is going to be my first time in this part of the world so I’m also looking to see more of it, not necessarily take the most direct way to everywhere I’m going.

I was also hoping someone could help me with a few Russian visa-related questions. If I don’t plan on making any stops in Russia other than changing trains, I can get by with a Russian transit visa as opposed to a tourist visa, right? Or do I need the tourist visa? Do I need to buy the train tickets/book any hotels in advance to get a visa? Is there a big price difference between the transit and tourist visas? It looks like Russia is the only country where the visa might be a problem – the only other countries where I will need one are Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan but it looks like I can get an e-visa for both (I’m an American) and that appears to be a fairly straightforward process. Is the Russian visa process complicated/expensive enough that I might want to look at routes that avoid Russia rather than deal with the hassle?

Has anyone taken any of the trains I’ve mentioned? Any trip reports on what they’re like? Also any price info? Are any of these lines either more or less expensive than the others to the point that it might affect which one I take?

I am of course following the political situation between Russia and Ukraine for how that might affect things and the ability to travel between Ukraine and Russia. Also, how has Covid affected the long-distance/international trains in the region? Are they running less frequently? Hopefully that won’t be a concern by 2023.

The trip is a ways off and we haven’t decided the route – we’re still debating whether to go across Ukraine/Russia or take a southerly route across the Black Sea and Caucasus – but I’m gathering information now and trying to figure out what the possibilities are. Thank you.

[sebhoff]

That's a lot of questions!
At the moment, most of the international train routes are discontinued, and as far as I can tell, quite a few borders are still closed for regular tourism (e.g. those involving Kazakhstan). Plus, given the uncertainties about how the pandemic will evolve over the next months and possibly years, making definite plans that far ahead is simply impossible.
So I won't be able to answer all your questions, but I have a question or two for you, instead...
What is the purpose of your train trip - simply getting to Uzbekistan (as economically or quickly as possible), or enjoying the journey, stopping over at interesting places, etc.? If the latter, how much time do you have? You could easily spend one or (probably much better) two months on that trip - e.g. by travelling south to Istanbul, taking the train through Turkey and Georgia to Azerbaijan (hoping that the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars line will finally have a passenger service by 2023), then going north through Russia and Kazakhstan before entering Uzbekistan via Beyneu, stopping over in Khiva/Bukhara/Samarkand before getting to Tashkent. There's plenty to see along the way - Georgia alone can keep you busy (and happy) for 2 weeks, for example. You could also try to go via Iran/Turkmenistan - but as an American, this would involve getting an official guide for Iran, and Turkmenistan wasn't the easiest country to get to (and through) even before the pandemic.
The ferry across the Caspian Sea is apparently quite an experience - and certainly not one for the faint-hearted. Just google and you'll find interesting trip reports... Also, just have a look at both this forum and the Caravanistan website - many of the answers you're looking can be found here.
Happy planning!
Sebastian

[MullyAndSculder]

So I won't be able to answer all your questions, but I have a question or two for you, instead...
What is the purpose of your train trip - simply getting to Uzbekistan (as economically or quickly as possible), or enjoying the journey, stopping over at interesting places, etc.? If the latter, how much time do you have? You could easily spend one or (probably much better) two months on that trip - e.g. by travelling south to Istanbul, taking the train through Turkey and Georgia to Azerbaijan (hoping that the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars line will finally have a passenger service by 2023), then going north through Russia and Kazakhstan before entering Uzbekistan via Beyneu, stopping over in Khiva/Bukhara/Samarkand before getting to Tashkent. There's plenty to see along the way - Georgia alone can keep you busy (and happy) for 2 weeks, for example. You could also try to go via Iran/Turkmenistan - but as an American, this would involve getting an official guide for Iran, and Turkmenistan wasn't the easiest country to get to (and through) even before the pandemic.
The ferry across the Caspian Sea is apparently quite an experience - and certainly not one for the faint-hearted. Just google and you'll find interesting trip reports... Also, just have a look at both this forum and the Caravanistan website - many of the answers you're looking can be found here.

More the latter, our plan is to spend some time in Romania, travel kind of slowly to Uzbekistan and then spend some time there before returning to the U.S. So we do want to visit some interesting cities and see the sites along the way, but we're not going to have an unlimited amount of time and money for the trip either so two weeks in one place on the way is probably too much. My general idea right now is to spend about a week in Romania, plan two weeks for the trip to Tashkent and then another week spent in Uzbekistan.

The southerly route I'm thinking about is to take the ferry across the Black Sea from Varna or Burgas in Bulgaria to Georgia, travel across the country, spend a bit of time in Tbilisi then take the train to Baku and spend a bit of time there before carrying on. I'm sure going through Turkey would be amazing and I'm certainly considering it but I also like the idea of taking a ferry across the Black Sea, I've always wanted to take a multi-day boat ride.

I've read a bunch of accounts of the Caspian Sea ferry, sounds like a hassle to get the tickets but a heck of a fun ride. My one concern with going that way is getting from Aktau/Beyneu to Tashkent, I don't know how long we'd be stuck in that area before a train comes through. But going that way does have the advantage of getting rid of the need for a Russian visa. Taking the trains north from Azerbaijan around the Caspian Sea is another option I've considered, but I would need a Russian visa for that one and I don't know if the added hassle or expense would be worth it if I'm not really going to be spending any time in Russia. Is a transit visa easy to get/reasonably inexpensive if I'm just passing through and don't plan on making any stops in Russia?

[sebhoff]

There are several trains daily from Aktau to Beyneu - but you have to look for Mangyshlak instead of Aktau when searching for connections. So you certainly won't get stuck in Aktau. I can't remember how frequently trains were running from Beyneu onwards before the pandemic - there used to be train 334Ж from Saratov to Tashkent, for example - but there are no cross-border trains right now.
In my experience, getting a Russian visa is fairly straightforward, but since everything is supposed to be organised through their visa centres, it does involve some extra costs. Plus, with a few exceptions, applications are only possible in your home country, I think. I don't know what it would be like for you as an American right now, but it's definitely worth the trouble/expense. Why not do a detour via St. Petersburg - in my opinion one of the most beautiful and fascinating cities in the world!? And there's plenty to see from there on the way to Tashkent - although I don't know this from personal experience. (I travelled to St. Petersburg and Moscow with an American friend a couple of years ago, and apart from the fact that her visa was more expensive than mine, the process was almost identical.)
I read about transit visas for Russia, and from what I remember, these are/were also compatible with long-distance train travel (even involving short-ish stops on the way) - but I have never had the need to apply for one...
Sebastian

[Jealgu]

The caspian see ferry requires a lot of flexibility in terms of time, if my understanding is correct. If you decide on a route through Turkeministan you need to factor in time for a visa application, and flexibility if you do not get it (assuming you can get into Turkemistan at all, during the pandemic it is closed so far).

As for trains to Tashkent, pre-covid there were a few trains (2 or 3 I think) to Moscow that took the route directly north of Tashkent and a bunch (3 or 4?) to Russia that take the western route through Uzbekistan stopping in places like Samarkand and Nukus. Some go all the way to Moscow, some to either Volgograd or Saratov. If the once weekly (?) Kiev Baku works for your schedule going over Volgograd might be your best bet (it also stops in Astrakhan I think, but I would want to see Mother Russia). This way you can stop in places like Nukus, Urgench or Samarkand and than continue your uzbekistan trip.

From Volgograd to can also take Tajik train. Nowadays they are allowed to stop for passengers in Karshi, Termez (the moscow-dushanbe and moscow-kulyab trains) and Samarkand (moscow Khujand train) if I am not mistaken (I might miss a city here). You can take these from Volgograd as well. From some research a few years back I remember the Tajik trains being cheaper than other trains from Russia into Kazakhstan, most of their carriages are old. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Xb3K20qeLI for a Tajik train impression.

There are many options,you should probably start with deciding about time and budget and what you really want to see. For everything above, keep in mind this is all pre-pandemic. It is not a given that everything will return exactly as it was.

[Milad]

Hi,

I may be able to add a few more answers to your questions:

I’ve found a couple references online to a direct train from Kiev or Kharkov to Tashkent that stopped running at some point but that might be brought back in the future. Does anyone know if this information is the most up to date? Or did they bring it back? Is it possible now to take a direct train from Ukraine to Uzbekistan?

This train was cancelled around 2015/16. I'm pretty certain it won't come back even after the pandemic.

Rome2Rio is suggesting catching a weekly train that runs from Kiev to Baku, then changing trains near Astrakhan and continuing on to Tashkent that way. Does that sound like what someone would probably have to do to take a train from Ukraine to Tashkent? Does anyone have any other suggestions for what the most sensible way to travel by train from Ukraine to Uzbekistan might be?

Assuming the trains run, yes. Pre-pandemic, if the schedule of the weekly Kiev-Baku train did not fit your plans, you could always go via Moscow (geographically, that's quite a detour but since the trains Kiev-Moscow and Moscow-Volgograd (used to be) pretty fast, it did not take much longer).

However, due to the current political situation between Ukraine and Russia, I doubt that any trains across this border will resume any time soon, especially considering that since 2014, the Ukrainian Ministry of Transport has repeatedly publicly announced that they planned to cancel all trains to Russia (even though it did not happen until Covid-19 broke out).

It may or may not become possible to travel to Russia by train via Belarus in 2022/2023 though. Nowadays, there is service between Belarus and Russia but not from Belarus to any other country.

From tomorrow, you can at least again take the train between Helsinki and SPB again (although some sources suggest that only Russian and Finnish citizens are allowed on the train).

Currently, all international trains between Russia and Central Asia are cancelled as well, although I expect (at least a part of) those to return in the next years.

I was also hoping someone could help me with a few Russian visa-related questions. If I don’t plan on making any stops in Russia other than changing trains, I can get by with a Russian transit visa as opposed to a tourist visa, right?

Yes - but as other users have pointed out, there are interesting things to see in Russia at well.

Do I need to buy the train tickets/book any hotels in advance to get a visa?

Transit visa: yes. Tourist visa: no (instead you need an invitation that you can buy from a number of travel agencies).

Is there a big price difference between the transit and tourist visas?

In Germany, a transit visa for EU citizens costs about 55 EUR and a tourist visa about 80 EUR. May or may not differ for US citizens and depending on the location where you apply for the visa.

Is the Russian visa process complicated/expensive enough that I might want to look at routes that avoid Russia rather than deal with the hassle?

If you want to avoid the paperwork, simply go to an agency which do the entire application process for you. Costs maybe 20-30$ (in addition to the price of the visa itself).

Has anyone taken any of the trains I’ve mentioned? Any trip reports on what they’re like? Also any price info? Are any of these lines either more or less expensive than the others to the point that it might affect which one I take?

Most long-distance night trains in the former Soviet Union are quite similar (apart from a few ones built in the last years which usually do not run on international routes), and there are lots of trip reports on the internet. Prices are quite low considering the huge distances.

Very rough price estimates (plazkart = open-plan sleeping car, kupe = 4 beds per compartment, SV [also known as "lux"] = 2 beds per compartment):

Kiev-Volgograd 120$ in plazkart, 170$ in kupe, SV not available (international trains Ukraine-Russia are unusually expensive since these do not get government subsidies due to the political situation)

Volgograd-Urgench (for Khiva) 90$ in plazkart, 130$ in kupe, SV not available

Urgench-Tashkent 8$ in plazkart, 15$ in kupe, 30$ in SV

[uncle_sam01]

This has now become quite an interesting topic (unfortunately) due to the Russian invasion.

Obviously, any route via Russia is not an option. However, there might be an option via Iran and Turkmenistan, although the former is hard to get into for Americans and the latter has been closed to tourists/transit visitors ("transitchiki") since the start of Covid with no opening in sight (they had a head of state change in February, so who knows, maybe the new guy will open up).

In any case, ignoring the issue of formalities (big caveat, I know), I think this could very well be doable and interesting.

1. Bucharest to Istanbul: direct sleeper, ~20 hrs, EUR 54

2. Istanbul to Ankara: direct, ~6 hrs, EUR 12

3. Ankara to Tehran: direct sleeper, ~3 days, EUR 52 (this train was suspended during Covid, but the website on Turkish state railways is up, so it might be running)

4. Tehran to Mashhad: direct sleeper, ~12 hours, EUR ~20 (I've actually taken this train and it was excellent, far superior to any train in Europe/former USSR)

5. Mashhad to Sarakhs: direct, ~3 hrs, EUR ~2

[border crossing on foot, ~10 km to cover by taxi/bus on the Iranian side]

6. Sarakhs to Tejen (or Mary): there is likely a train (there are tracks, a station, it appears on the Turkmen state railway website and on the dedicated Caravanistan page), but info from Turkmenistan is hard to come by... in any case, it would be about 130km - likely costs next to nothing (the train is supposed to cost 10 manat, ie less than $1 according to this post)

7. Tejen to Turkmenabat: via Mary, ~6 hrs, unknown price

[border crossing on foot, about 30 km to cover by taxi/marshrutka on each side of the border]

8. Alat to Tashkent: direct train, ~11 hrs, EUR ~15

At a grand total of EUR ~175, I'd say you're getting pretty good bang for your buck Obviously, incl. the visa costs, this would go up by about EUR 100 (much more for Americans), but still, it's cheaper than a flight!