London to Hong Kong over land

Question

Taking into account trouble with the Trans-Siberian route, I am looking to travel via train (or similar, including car or bus) from London to Hong Kong, by traveling to Turkey, then to Tashkent via the Caspian Sea.

Can anyone suggest a good route? The Trans-Siberian is possible usually for London to Hong-Kong, but is there a way via/around the Caspian sea given the difficulty of getting to Moscow from Europe?

So far I think I can get a series of trains to Yerevan relatively easily, and from Tashkent to Hong Kong also relatively easily. The only problem is Armenia to Azerbaijan via land, as this is forbidden. As such I may need to find a way to get across the Caspian sea, or travel around it, without entering Azerbaijan via land.

It seems I might be able to go from Turkey to Georgia, then Russia (with a visa), then Volgograd and take a 57hr train to Tashkent. Is this possible?

This used to be quite easy. By train from Beijing to London, one would simply take the train from Beijing to Moscow, Moscow to Paris, then Paris to London. Since the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, no more trains run from Russia to anywhere in the EU, and China-Russia is still suspended as of January 2024 (I don't know why). — gerrit, Jan 11 '24 at 14:22
The Trans-Siberian is possible, but given the Europe to Moscow part, is there any way via Turkey and then to Tashkent? It might also avoid the long train the whole way to Beijing. — apg, Jan 11 '24 at 14:39
The man in Seat 61 also says that "International trains between the Stans and China are also remain suspended (sic) since the pandemic." — Michael Seifert, Jan 11 '24 at 19:28
@gerrit that page says "limited China - Mongolia". The most popular rail route between Russia and China goes through Mongolia, so it might not be suspended, because it's in fact not a direct Russia-China route. — Johnnyjanko, Jan 12 '24 at 13:05

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Jan 11 '24 at 20:17

1

I'm quite sure you can't travel into Armenia from Turkey. But, you should be able to do Turkey to Georgia to Azerbaijan. Though to get into Georgia, and onwards to Azerbaijan, you have to travel, at least in part, by road.

It's possible to take a boat from Baku to Turkmenbashi, but these are, I believe, not scheduled, and not too frequent. As an alternative, you could travel around the Caspian through Iran.

From Turkmenbashi it should be possible, but slow, traveling through the Stans into China, to get to Hong Kong by train.

An epic journey.

answered Jan 11 '24 at 20:17

MastaBaba

24,416
1
62
91

Thank you. Getting into Azerbaijan, is this possible from Georgia? – apg Jan 11 '24 at 23:02
@apg I'm quite sure it is. I've done this myself, though a few years back. Azerbaijan is waging war on Armenia, but not on Georgia. – MastaBaba Jan 12 '24 at 11:04

London to Hong Kong over land

1 Answers1