Nizhny Novgorod, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russian Federation
Completing the half day stopover in Nizhny Novgorod I now had my onwards journey to Moscow. I had given myself an 8 hour layover from my 6am morning arrival but that was too long and I was back at the station at noon waiting for my 4pm onwards train.
The other reason for delay was the choice of train. As Nizhny Novgorod is 4 hours from Moscow high speed trains only come as far as here instead of further to Kazan where I had arrived from. I wanted to take a Business Class train and they do not start until late afternoon to allow business professionals to return to Moscow from a day trip.
All of my sleepers had been 2 bed compartments as I always travel first class for best comfort, though it is still somewhat questionable on my trains in the Caucuses. The Kazan train only allowed a 4 bed compartments but now I was able to switch back to a 2 bed cabin.
Also amazing we had an ensuite shower vs toilets at the end of the carriage. This is how the trains were in Kazakhstan and I was back to premium quality.
The one mistake were the beds. I always ask for the top bed to be less disturbed and extra storage space at the top. Instead they gave me the bottom bunk even though the top bunk is cheaper. Luckily the person I had to share with spoke English and didnt care about the choice of bed.
We were told the dining cart is free and is where out included meal would be served. There are a few included meal options and others have to be paid for.
With the shower and included dining car this was probably one of the best sleepers I had taken.
See vlog of journey - https://youtu.be/JdwYjL8o-FM
On arrival at Moscow it was a short walk form Kursky station to my hotel which was easy to find across the road in the dark as I'd planned my route on google maps.
First they gave me a room behind reception but I asked to be moved to a higher floor to be less disturbed. I hadnt slept for almost two nights properly. I was given a 4th floor room.
Despite exhaustion I"m up from 1am unable to sleep on my travels so I often watch Soviet retro movies in mute. I find them quite interesting from comedy, musical, historical, or drama.
There was an interesting historical one I just thought was a folk movie. A young couple is wed but after a witch leads him to a cave where he is imprisoned and must mine for crystals. His newlywed wife looks for him but I fell asleep.
Vlog late night movies - https://youtu.be/iW8aLed5nec
2025-05-23