Ranked, with the working shown
The best train tours in China
20 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 estimated share of itinerary days with a train leg (a share of days, not distance or time); trips not assessed are not ranked.
- 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
- 80
- Completeness
- 100
- Departures
- 100
11 days · from $2,272 ($207/day)
18-day rail journey from Shanghai through Beijing to Ulaanbaatar via Trans-Mongolian Railway
- Rail share
- 65
- Value
- 70
- Completeness
- 100
- Departures
- 100
18 days · from $5,143 ($286/day)
Epic rail journey from Beijing through Inner Mongolia to Ulaanbaatar on two overnight trains
- Rail share
- 60
- Value
- 60
- Completeness
- 100
- Departures
- 100
11 days · from $3,583 ($326/day)
Vietnam and China rail journey from Hanoi to Kunming via Sapa and Shangri-La
- Rail share
- 35
- Value
- 85
- Completeness
- 100
- Departures
- 100
11 days · from $2,076 ($189/day)
16-day special train through Russia, Mongolia, China from Moscow to Beijing
- Rail share
- 85
- Value
- 90
- Completeness
- 100
- Departures
- 0
16 days · from $2,318 ($145/day)
Escorted Transsib rail journey from Beijing to Moscow through three countries.
- Rail share
- 75
- Value
- 90
- Completeness
- 100
- Departures
- 0
16 days · from $2,318 ($145/day)
21-day rail journey from Shanghai to Beijing through China's mountains and villages
- Rail share
- 75
- Value
- 65
- Completeness
- 100
- Departures
- 0
21 days · from $6,750 ($321/day)
Twelve-day private train journey from Urumqi to Beijing across China's Silk Road.
- Rail share
- 85
- Value
- 10
- 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
- 10
- Completeness
- 100
- Departures
- 38
12 days · from $25,000 ($2,083/day)
Twelve-day private train journey across imperial China from Xi'an to Hong Kong.
- Rail share
- 92
- Value
- 5
- Completeness
- 100
- Departures
- 13
12 days · from $27,500 ($2,292/day)