Ranked, with the working shown
The best train tours in China
19 hotel-based trips in China had enough verified data to score; hostel and self-guided rail-pass trips are not ranked here. The ranking below is fully mechanical; here is exactly how it works:
- Eligibility: only hotel-based tours are ranked. Trips built around hostels or self-arranged accommodation are left out, since these guides recommend hotel-inclusive tours for the general traveller.
- Rail share (35%): the percent of the trip actually on trains, from the itinerary.
- Value (20%): price per day against the other hotel-based trips on this page (cheaper per day scores higher).
- Data completeness (25%): full day-by-day itinerary, imagery, inclusions, and verified price.
- Departure breadth (20%): how many months the operator publishes departures for.
Eleven-day rail journey from Kunming to Bangkok through China and Laos.
- Rail share
- 85
- Value
- 89
- Completeness
- 100
- Departures
- 100
11 days · from $2,038 ($185/day)
18-day rail journey from Shanghai through Beijing to Ulaanbaatar via Trans-Mongolian Railway
- Rail share
- 65
- Value
- 79
- Completeness
- 100
- Departures
- 100
18 days · from $4,200 ($233/day)
Epic rail journey from Beijing through Inner Mongolia to Ulaanbaatar on two overnight trains
- Rail share
- 60
- Value
- 74
- Completeness
- 100
- Departures
- 100
11 days · from $2,724 ($248/day)
Vietnam and China rail journey from Hanoi to Kunming via Sapa and Shangri-La
- Rail share
- 35
- Value
- 95
- Completeness
- 100
- Departures
- 100
11 days · from $1,758 ($160/day)
16-day special train through Russia, Mongolia, China from Moscow to Beijing
- Rail share
- 85
- Value
- 53
- Completeness
- 100
- Departures
- 0
16 days · from $5,522 ($345/day)
Escorted Transsib rail journey from Beijing to Moscow through three countries.
- Rail share
- 75
- Value
- 68
- Completeness
- 100
- Departures
- 0
16 days · from $4,856 ($304/day)
15-day escorted rail and cruise tour through Beijing, Xi'an, Chengdu, and Yangtze River
- Rail share
- 35
- Value
- 47
- Completeness
- 100
- Departures
- 88
15 days · from $5,493 ($366/day)
21-day rail journey from Shanghai to Beijing through China's mountains and villages
- Rail share
- 75
- Value
- 63
- Completeness
- 100
- Departures
- 0
21 days · from $6,650 ($317/day)
Twelve-day private train journey from Urumqi to Beijing across China's Silk Road.
- Rail share
- 85
- Value
- 11
- Completeness
- 100
- Departures
- 25
12 days · from $25,000 ($2,083/day)
Twelve-day private train journey from Beijing to Urumqi through ancient China
- Rail share
- 75
- Value
- 11
- Completeness
- 100
- Departures
- 38
12 days · from $25,000 ($2,083/day)