Fast route
-If you want to go quickly from Europe to South-East Asia or China without planes, the easiest and fastest route in 2025 is the one passing through Turkey, Georgia, Russia, Kazakhstan and China (as shown in the image). I will go through every step of the way in this guide, explaining your transport options and other practical things to consider.
I describe this route as fast, because if you really want, you can go from Europe to Vietnam in 2 weeks and that’s a lot quicker than most people expect. But you pass so many interesting countries that are worth visiting, so if you have the time I would definitely recommend to take as many weeks or months as possible. Even if you do go fast, don’t see this train/bus travel as a replacement to taking a plane. This journey is really part of your trip and you will experience a lot and meet tons of people on the way!
Why this route?
I considered multiple options before choosing the route as depicted. I will list them here (from north to south) and explain why I din’t choose them.
Trans-Siberian railway
First of all there is the legendary Trans-Siberian railway going all the way from Moscow to Beijing. It’s in 2025 still possible to cross the border into Russia from Talinn to St-Petersburg and then from there start you train journey. It’s definitely the fastest and most comfortable way east. I didn’t do this out of ethical reasons though. It seems the Trans-Siberian train is operated by the Russian ministery of defense, so for me that would mean directly sponsoring the war… The route I took does also go through Russia and surely part of my visa cost and the local bus company I used will also result in some state income, but it’s a lot more limited. This is of course a consideration that is personal for everyone to make.
Caspian sea crossing (Azerbaijan – Kazakhstan)
Another option avoiding Russia entirely would be to cross the Caspian sea from Azerbaijan (Baku) to Kazakhstan (Aktau). If this were possible, I would have surely gone for it. Even though the ferry between the two cities is still going, Azerbaijan closed their land borders at the start of COVID. So the only way to get in is by plane (you can still get out overland or sea though). They have been prolonging the border closure for years now, announcing every couple of months a new date of re-evaluation. The reason is of course not COVID anymore but is apparently linked to the Russia-Ukraine war, most likely to keep refugees out.
Iran – Turkmenistan
You can also cross from Turkey into Iran and then via Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan or Kyrgyzstan head into China. The government recommendations from many Western countries consider Iran as unsafe, mostly due to the risk of random arrestations and more recently due to the risk of military escalation in the region. Additionally for Turkmenistan it’s hard to get a visa and independent travel is not allowed (so you need a guide and those are expensive). I was suprised though to meet many overland travellers who passed through Iran, stating it as their favourite country. I guess the risk of random arrestation is the main issue and that really depends on your country of origin (and if they are holding Iranians in custody that Iran wants back), but from what I learned the random arrestation of foreigners seems like isolated incidents and have so far never been against tourists. Knowing what I know now, I would love to go. Still, unless you would like to visit Iran, I believe the route I took is faster and less complicated if your main goal is to get to China/South-East Asia.
Iran – Pakistan
If you want to go via Iran, but avoid Turkmenistan (visa & expensive guide issues), you could cross the border from Iran into Pakistan. There are travellers who do this, but it’s a risk. In the past tourists have been kidnapped and killed, but no reports of such incidents since 2013. On the Pakistani side you cross Balochistan, where you need an army escort to cross the region safely. There are quite some tensions in the region between the separatist movement and the army, which sometimes leads to violence. Altough it’s not directed towards foreigners, there is definitely a risk when you cross. Afterwards crossing Pakistan into China is a lot more straightforward.
Cargo ships
Travelling as a passenger on a cargo ship is not only terribly expensive, it’s also impossible since COVID. Cargo ships used to take a couple of passengers aboard, but they haven’t revived this service since COVID. More info on https://www.freightertrips.com/.
Itinerary
In this section I will go through every part of the route and list your public transport options and any other things you need to consider (visa’s, safety, money etc). I will describe the most direct route through the countries with the shortest travel times, but of course I recommend adapting it to take more time in the countries that you choose.
Europe (day 1-2)
If you’re departing from Northern or Western Europe, the gateway to Istanbul is Vienna. To reach Vienna rome2rio.com or thetrainline.com should give you many options. Book in time for better prices. From Vienna there are two main alternatives, basically you can choose speed or comfort:
- There is a daily direct bus from Vienna to Istanbul. The bus company is called Ardatur, you can book tickets here. The bus takes 25h and costs €100. No need to book a lot beforehand, usually 1-2 days before there are still spots available. Surely this is one of the more costly and uncomfortable parts of the journey east. The bus crosses Hungary, Serbia and Bulgaria. This allows you to reach Istanbul quite quickly: for example from Brussels to Istanbul, it takes only 1,5 days (leaving early morning and arriving late evening the next day).
- You can also reach Istanbul by sleeper train, which is definitely more comfortable. There is a daily sleeper train to Bucharest, leaving Vienna in the evening and arriving in the afternoon the next day. It takes 19h and costs about €70 for a bed. Schedules and ticket booking via this link. Don’t book the day beforehand as prices tend to increase, a couple days before should be okay. Then in Bucharest you can visit, stay the night and late the next morning the daily 20h long sleeper train to Istanbul departs, arriving early morning in Istanbul Halkali station. More info on this train service & ticket booking on seat61.com. Costs should be around €55 and it’s not always possible to buy tickets beforehand, depending on the season (see seat61.com for more info). This way it would take 3 days from Brussels to Istanbul (e.g. leaving Wednesday early morning, arriving Friday early morning).
Congrats, you made it to Istanbul!
Turkey (day 3-4)
Turkey is huge and there is a lot to see! However, if you do decide to skip it and go directly to Georgia, it doesn’t have to take long. Again, you have two options, choosing between speed or comfort:
BUS
There is a daily direct bus operated by Metroturizm from Istanbul to Tbilisi, Georgia. It leaves at 14h, takes about 28h and costs €45. You can buy tickets online via this website or at the office in the bus station right before leaving. The bus station is called Aksaray Emniyet, which is not too far from the Sultanahmet district (the main tourist district). Basically starting from Istanbul and anywhere east from there, long distance bus travel is very common. Every city has one (or multiple) intercity bus stations where a multitude of local bus companies have a small office where you can buy tickets and where buses leave and arrive. There are usually some food stands and toilets as well.
Even though it was 28h, I found the bus quite comfortable and the seat next to me was empty (which was not an exception). Toilets on the bus are only a thing in Europe, but there were plenty of pit stops for toilet breaks and food. The scenery following the black sea coast is quite nice as well. Usually the only people on this bus are Turks and Georgians, who are curious why you’re on the bus. You can expect hospitality and food sharing. The border crossing at Sarpi is very smooth: just follow everyone getting off the bus, through the border controls and back on the bus. You should be able to exit & enter with just your European ID card, but the border official might be a bit difficult about this.
TRAIN
A train network spans across most of Turkey (see image below). The drawbacks of going by train from Istanbul to Georgia are the slow trains and that the train doesn’t take you all the way to the border. The train has nice sleeper cars, is very comfy and you can enjoy the views along the way though.
First you take the high speed train to Ankara. It takes 4h30 and there are many options every day. From there at least one train a day (the Doğu Express) goes to Kars, the most eastern point connected by train. It leaves at 18h and arrives in the evening the next day. You can buy tickets at the train station, but couchettes can be sold out days or sometimes weeks in advance. You can book tickets via the
is recommeded for this and is very quick to respond. If you want to visit Capadoccia on the way, you can make the connection by getting out at Kayseri and taking a bus from there. Total ticket price from Istanbul to Ankara is about €50 for a bed a in a 4-berth sleeper car.
After staying the night in Kars you can take a series of transport options to get to Borjomi or Tbilisi. There used to be a direct bus service Kars-Tbilisi operated by VIPTurizm, but this service isn’t operating anymore (might be worth to check though). There are hourly minibuses from Kars (main bus station) to Ardahan for 200TL , where you can take the daily minibus at 12am to Posof for another 200TL. Make sure to get there earlier as it fills up quickly and ask the driver to drop you at the bus station for Posof. For an extra price the driver drops you at the border. You can surely also hitch (part of) the way from Kars to the border, it’s easy to get picked up.
Georgia (day 5)
Regardless of how you made it to Tbilisi, you will arrive in Didube, the main bus station of Tbilisi and your gateway to go anywhere in Georgia. It’s a huge bus station with different sections depending on your destination. Because mashrutkas usually just leave when full, there are no exact schedules. However, this blog gives you some estimations and an overview of the frequency of the mashrutkas for most destinations in Georgia.
Visit Georgia
Georgia is an amazing blend between east and west, set in gorgeous mountain sceneray. It’s definitely worth spending more time here. Tbilisi is a cool city with a European vibe with plenty to visit and worth staying some days. Additionally along the military highway up north (on the way to Russia), there are many stops to make and great hiking to do. Kazbegi is a perfect town as a base to explore the mountains nearby.
If you want to see more of the country, this blog has some great recommendations.
Transport to continue route
If you want to continue into Russia, these are your options:
- From Tbilisi there are multiple daily direct Mashrutkas to Vladikavkaz, the closest Russian city across the border. You can find the schedules on avtovokzaly.ru or ros-bilet.ru. Both websites are in Russian but the Google translate function for websites translates reasonably well. Usually it’s not possible to order tickets via these websites because international payments to Russian companies aren’t not working anymore, but the second link is worth a try. Avtovokzaly often mentions a phone number which you can contact via Telegram (similar app to Whatsapp) to reserve your ticket and then pay the driver on the spot in cash. Some mashrutkas leave from Didube, but most leave from other places in Tbilisi. It’s specified on the links above and confirm with the driver. Unlike all other destinationsn in Georgia, it’s unsure whether turning up at Didube without reservation and asking for mashurtkas to Vladikavkaz would work, so better to reserve. This ride should cost about €35 and will take you about 6-7 hours, but it depends on how busy the border is that day so it could be much longer. The Georgian exit border should be very smooth. Then you will need to get back on the Mashrutka for a few kilometers between the borders. The guards are polite but don’t really speak English here. They will probably want to ask you some questions because they aren’t used to European tourists. Google translate or someone else on the Mashrutka can help you. You will probably be the only tourist on the bus though. Finally in Vladikavkaz you will arrive in the main Avtovokzal (=bus station).
- From Stepantsminda/Kazbegi there are no mashrutkas straight to Vladikavkaz. You can take a taxi to the Geogian border (you can find them next to the central bus stop), but it won’t take you further than that, so you will have to hitchhike the part between the borders (not possible to walk due to dangerous tunnels and many trucks). You can also immediately start to hitchhike from Kazbegi, this should be easy as there is only one road. You will probably get questioned crossing the border into Russia as they don’t see many tourists, especially on foot/hitchhiking. They are mostly reported friendly and asking standard questions, but in worst case you could be stuck a couple of hours. Across the Russian border it’s easiest/fastest to continue hitchhiking until Vladikavkaz, but if you want to avoid this, there is a bus leaving from the cafe car park (50m down the road from the border) to Vladikavkaz. The bus runs infrequently, but the schedule should be on Yandex Maps. Reports on recent border crossings from overlanders you can find on this forum.
Russia(day 5)
Safety
The first thing you’re probably wondering is whether it’s safe to cross Russia. There are a couple of risks you might be thinking of.
The biggest one is the risk of random arrest. However, there have been no reports of random arrests of tourists. In 2022 there was the arrest of US tennis player Brittney Griner on (very minor) drug charges. Essentially she was a political pawn when Russia sought the release of several high-profile citizens imprisoned in the US at the time. A couple things reassured me that the risk of a similar thing happening would be quasi nihil for me: I am an unknown tourist and very far from being high-profile. Secondly, my country was holding no Russians captive. Thirdly, I would make sure not to put one toe out of line. This risk can of course change quickly with the geopolitical situation.
Going to Chechnya and Dagestan regions might also be advised against by your government. The reason stated for this is usually terrorist activity and risk of kidnapping. However, the last terrorist attack in Chechnya was in 2014 and the last kidnapping in 1999. Apart from one recent attack on a church & sinagogue, the same goes for Dagestan. The North-Caucasus region now seems to be quite safe, especially for a tourist simply passing through and sticking to the main road. Odds are probably higher of getting in a traffic accident.
Depending on your home country, another risk might be that there is no government assist in case anything goes wrong (e.g. for US citizens). If you pass quickly though, this risk is limited.
You might also be concerned about how Russian citizens would be viewing you as a Westerner. I can assure you that, at least in the regions you are crossing in this itinerary, there is absolutely no reason for concern. On the contrary, citizens seem to be extra friendly when they realise you’re a foreigner (at least for me as a white woman).
Practical
Visa
A first thing you need as European citizen to pass through Russia is a visa. There are two kinds of visa possible: transit visa and tourist visa. They both cost around €35. A tourist visa is much more flexible. You can stay up to 30 days within a period of (?? 6 months), while for a transit visa you can only stay for a fixed number of days depending on the distance you inted to cross. For this route you would get maximum about 3 days and it’s between fixed dates so there is no flexibility on when you enter/leave the country. Some embassies don’t give out tourist visas though (e.g. Bishkek) so transit would be your only option. You also need an invitation letter for a tourist visa, but that’s easy to get. You need to have the following things ready for your visa appointment:
- Passport (min 6 months validity after leaving Russia)
- Passport photo
- Completed request form: https://visa.kdmid.ru/PetitionChoice.aspx
- Proof of travel insurance for your time in Russia. Note that travel insurance usually doesn’t cover Russia anymore so you should get a separate one. Easy to purchase here for about €10 (4 days): https://www.attolloassistance.shop/en/
- Visa support letter (only for tourist visa): you can purchase it online or via your hotel. Usually hotels don’t provide it for free anymore so best to buy online on a specialized website (about €15): https://russia.support/.
- Ticket in and out of Russia (only for transit visa): you need to show when you’re leaving and when you’re entering the country. For your journey in between no proof is required, altough they count on you travelling about 500km/day. For travelling overland it’s hard to purchase these tickets already at the time of your visa application. You can play with the exact tickets (by cancelling / fake tickets) and the borders where you’ll be entering and leaving, but you cannot play with the dates. The borders you submitted for your application are not mentioned on your visa but the dates are. So you have a couple of options to keep some flexibility or if it’s simply not possible yet to book bus/train tickets beforehand:
- To have the most margin, it’s best to present tickets entering/leaving Russia with the biggest distance possible so you get more days. For entering Russia you can book bus tickets from Talinn to St-Petersburg. There are multiple options every day for around €35, you can book it months ahead (in time for your visa) and you can get an 80% refund if you cancel at least 24h in advance. You can book them here: Baltic Shuttle. To cover a big distance before leaving Russia, you can book a train from Kurgan (КУРГАН) in Russia to Petropavl (ПЕТРОПАВЛОВСК) in Kazakhstan for about €20. Book through the official Kazakh railways or the more user-friendly tickets.kz. If you can’t find the right cities, write the names in Russian. Refunds are possible on both websites. Tickets are available 45 days before travelling date. Because Chinese international trains haven’t restarted since COVID and trains into Mongolia can only be booked through Russian payments which can’t process Western banks anymore, Kazakhstan is your best bet.
- You can also book fake flight tickets or real ones with 24h free cancellation and make sure your flight lands days of overland travel away from where your next flight leaves. Usually the embassy wouldn’t ask too many questions why you wouldn’t just fly directly, but it’s a harder story to explain.
- If you want more or less your real itinerary and you’re happy with just 3 days you can book the following tickets. You cannot book tickets for the minibus journey from Georgia into Russia this far ahead, but you can book the train from Suhum (Sukhumi) to Sochi, which crosses the border from Georgia into Russia along the coast. It’s not recommended to actually do this route because you would cross Abkhazia (Russian occupied Georgian territory) and it’s not clear whether tourists would pass. The Russian embassy shouldn’t give you any trouble on this though just for visa application. You can do this for about €30 with a partial refund on russiantrains.com (still accepts Western cards). Then you can book the train from Astrakhan (Russia) into Atyrau (Kazkahstan) via the Kazakh booking websites as specified above. Refunds are possible, but if you follow this route it would be the actual train you’re taking.