How to travel by train to or from North Korea (2024)

Visiting North Korea

Visas are not normally granted to foreign independent travellers to North Korea, only to visitors on an organised tour with a guide. Several companies can arrange visits to North Korea. Try Regent Holidays (in the UK) at www.regent-holidays.co.uk who can arrange group or individual tours to North Korea. Also try www.juchetravelservices.com (a new London based agency), Koryo Tours (Beijing-based) atwww.koryogroup.com, VNC Travel atwww.vnc.nl (in the Netherlands). Each of these companies can book the Beijing-Pyongyang sleeper train and help with visas. You may also find this webpage useful:www.tripbase.com/c/northkorea/. Although talks are progressing, there are no trains (nor any access) across the border between North and South Korea.

Useful country information

Moscow to North Korea by train

Beijing to North Korea by train

Pyongyang station. Photo courtesy of Dave Lucas

• There is a direct sleeping-car between Moscow and Pyongyang in North Korea twice a month provided by the North Korean Railways.

• In addition there are two direct Russian sleeping-cars 4 times a month from Moscow to the North Korean border at Tumangan, with an onward connection by North Korean train to Pyongyang. These sleeping-cars are attached to train 2, the Rossiya from Moscow as far as Ussuriysk, just short of Vladivostok, where they are detached and run onwards along the branch line to Tumangan.

• All these sleeping-cars have kupé 4-berth compartments and spalny vagon 2-berth compartments.

• Important: The Moscow-Tumangan-Pyongyang route wasn't previously approved for foreigners to enter North Korea, but it is now approved for use by tourists booked with companies such as Koryo Tours,www.youngpioneertours.com orwww.koreakonsult.com. Previously, the only approved route for westerners was to take one of the two weekly Moscow-Beijing trainsas shown on the Trans-Siberian page, then to take the Beijing to Pyongyang train as shown in the next section.

• Update 2024: It's not clear whether these trains have resumed post-pandemic.

Fares: Moscow to Pyongyang through ticket: Bought through Real Russia, £524 in kupé (4-berth, 2nd class) or £817 in spalny vagon (2-berth, 1st class). According to the Russian Railways website, the official fare is 410 Swiss Francs (about £285) in 2nd class 4-berth, 645 Swiss Francs (about £460) in 1st class 2-berth.

Visas: You'll need to have your travel arranged through an agency that handles travel to North Korea, as only passengers on tour arrangements can get visas. You'll need a Russian visa, obviously. However, the train passes directly from Russia into North Korea, it does not pass through China, so no need for a Chinese visa.

However, this route may not currently be approved for foreigners to enter North Korea (this may change, so check with one of the travel agencies mentioned above). Though at least one intrepid traveller has managed to reach North Korea this way, see Helmut Uttenthaler's account ashttp://vienna-pyongyang.blogspot.com.

The train has soft class 4-berth sleepers & restaurant car. A restaurant meal costs around 5 euros. This train is approved for European & other non-US foreigners but it's reported as not permitted for US citizens, if you're American please check.

Update 2024: The resumption of this train post-pandemic has not been confirmed.

Traveller's reports

Traveller Stephen King went from Pyongyang to Beijing in 2017: "I travelled from Pyongyang to Beijing by train in mid-September courtesy of the very good Koryo Tours in Beijing. It’s well worth the trip. The train leaves Pyongyang at 1010 daily and takes around four and a half hours to reach Sinuju, the border town with Dandong in China. There is a good Korean restaurant car which serves a very tasty set lunch and where you can buy beer, Soju (Korean sake) and soft drinks. There is also a trolley service for snacks & drinks. I had a 4-berth sleeper which I shared with three friendly North Korean men on their way to Beijing. They were very eager to share food and drink with me along the journey. The security arrangements at Sinuju take around two hours but the searches of the bags were pretty cursory. Arrival at Dandong requires leaving the train and going through Chinese immigration before getting back on the two remaining Korean sleeper carriages which are then re hitched to a much longer Chinese train. It’s true that the two Korean carriages don’t have access to the rest of the train and the restaurant car although I got the conductor to unlock this door, went and had dinner and returned (although I had to bang loudly on the doors to get them to unlock it again) so I could get back to my carriage. Prepare to take snacks and food with you as there isn’t an obvious place to buy any in Dandong. My Korean co-travellers had enough food for an army and were happy to share. The sheets are clean, the toilet is a squat one (bring your own loo paper) and the train arrives in Beijing to the minute at 8.34 am."

Traveller David Eerdmans visited North Korea using the Beijing-Pyongyang train:"...Using the train is very recommendable, because it gives a unique insight in the poor rural areas of North-Korea that are not otherwise shown to tourists (although the villages along the railway are probably still among the best there are in the country). You also pass the site of the large train explosion two years ago, which is still very visible. The train usually consists of two through cars attached to respectively a Chinese and Korean train on both sides of the border (and on some days also a part from Moscow). The train is pretty comfortable and very comparable to the usual trains in China and Russia, although it's state was somewhat less. Track quality is horrible in North-Korea, with the train travelling very slowly. Stations are in a very poor state of repair (and of course always spot a portrait of the Great or the Dear Leaders...sigh...). Delays are very frequent due to power outages. There are, as you state, indeed two classes [subsequent report says only one, 4-berth]. Both are pretty similar and consist of 4-person compartments. From Pyongyang, western tourists are only allowed on the Soft Sleeper, which is only used by foreigners, mostly Chinese [subsequent reports suggest there is no segregation]. From Beijing, you can also use the Hard Sleeper, which is also used by North-Koreans ...which creates about the only opportunity to speak with 'normal' North-Koreans without having a guide with you. On the way back from Pyongyang I also had an interesting conversation, because I shared the compartment with the Indian ambassador in North-Korea! The through cars are fenced off from the rest of the train (!), so you can't use the restaurant car [although several other reports confirm that you can do so!]. In Korea, however, a meal can be brought to you by the car attendant [Note: Regent Holidays report that meals in the restaurant car are included in the fare]. The quality of the food is pretty good considering the food shortages in the country. Do expect dog meat however, which is actually quite tasty. The border crossing is very slow, but not the pain I expected it to be. The border officials are usually not too friendly, but not rude or intimidating.

Scenery from the Beijing to Pyongyang train. Photo courtesy of Jon Ethridge

The Beijing-Pyongyang train at Pyongyang station. Chinese long-distance sleeper trains are being repainted from blue & white (as here) to a more traditional green with yellow lining like the car nearest the camera. Photo courtesy of Charlie SH.

Inside at Pyongyang station. Photo courtesy of Dave Lucas

North Korea - South Korea trains...

Although there have been talks, proposals an test runs, there is currently no service between North & South Korea, and the border remains closed.

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