The story takes place in 1867. In the book, the author tells the story of the French artist César Cascabel and his family, who want to return home to their homeland after years spent in the United States. Unfortunately, however, their savings are stolen, so they can't pay for a boat trip to Europe. César Cascabel therefore decides to get to France by land on a comedian's wagon through (then still Russian) Alaska (sold in 1867 by the tsarist government to the US government, this fact affects the plot of the novel), then through the frozen Bering Strait, Siberia and central Russia, while he believes that his expedition will earn more money with performances on the way, and thus improve the state of his coffers.