Moscow

Introduction

Moscow's Belarus Station, Moscow

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Moscow is the capital of Russia, and the country's primary political and economic centre. Formerly a communist strong-hold, this city is coming out of its repression and embracing capitalism to the fullest extent. The once empty shelves are now filled with expensive designer and luxury goods. Unlike many areas and cities in the country, Moscow has see its population growing over the last decades, and is rivalling cities like Paris and London regarding the number of inhabitants, of which the total urban area now has well over 13 million! With the growing numbers of cars, this might give first time visitors a feel of one big polluted area with constant traffic jams and compared to its neighbour St. Petersburg it really needs to grow on you before you uncover its beauty.

Neighbourhoods

Sights and Activities

Red Square and the Kremlin

The Red Square separates the Kremlin, the former royal citadel, from the merchant quarter. The square holds Lenin's Tomb, everyday except Monday's and Friday's from 10:00am until 1:00pm. St. Basil's Cathedral, the famous onion-domed church sits to the south end of the square. To the east is the GUM department store, previously known for it's long lines, it now features a number of high end stores.

The Kremlin has long been the one of the most important seats of political power in Russia, and current houses the Russian president. The Kremlin is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Moscow Kremlin’s grounds and museums are open every day except Thursdays from 10:00am to 5:00pm.

Other Sights and Activities

Events and Festivals

Weather

Moscow has a continental climate with warm summers and cold winters. Summers from June to August see average highs of 21-23 °C with nights around 12-14 °C. Temperatures can hit 35 °C or more though and in 2010 the city had the warmest summer by far with a month of temperatures well above 30 °C and an alltime high of 38 °C. Winters are much colder, with temperatures during the day well below zero from December to February and nights around -10 °C on average though temperatures have been know to drop to -40 °C during some occasions. Average annual precipitation is around 700 mm with summers being the wettest time of year and late winter/early spring the driest time. Snow is possible from October to April though tends to concentrate from December to February.

Getting there

Red Square at night

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By plane

There are 3 airports near Moscow:

• Moscow Sheremetyevo International Airport (SVO)
• Moscow Domodedovo International Airport (DME)
• Vnukovo (VKO)

International
Among the three airports, there are numerous flights, mainly to destinations in Europe and Asia including Amsterdam, Bangkok, Beijing, Berlin, Cairo, Delhi, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Geneva, Hong Kong, Istanbul, London-Heathrow, Los Angeles, New York, Paris, Rome, Shanghai, Tokyo, Toronto, Washington-Dulles and Zürich.

Domestic
Aeroflot flies to and from Adler/Sochi, Anapa , Astrakhan, Barnaul, Irkutsk, Kaliningrad, Kemerovo, Krasnodar, Krasnoyarsk, Magadan, Mineralnye Vody, Nizhnevartovsk, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Perm, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Samara, St. Petersburg, Surgut, Tyumen, Ufa, Vladivostok, Volgograd, Yekaterinburg and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. Other major airlines in the country are Rossiya Airlines, Transaero and S7 Airlines.

By train

Moscow is the starting point (or ending point for travellers heading west) for the Trans-Siberian Railway, with destinations like Vladivostok and Beijing.

Moscow - Finland
Between Helsinki and Moscow, there are direct daily overnight trains with 'The Tolstoi', taking roughly 13 hours to cover the routes. Trains are fast and comfortable.

Moscow - China
There are two routes between Moscow and Beijing: the Trans-Mongolian and the Trans-Machurian routes, both of which are southern branches of the better-known Trans-Siberian Railway. The first goes via Ulan Bator, cutting across Mongolia and then into China. It leaves Moscow every Tuesday night, taking about 6 days to reach Beijing. The second cuts into northern China at Manzhouli and continues to via Harbin. It leaves Moscow on Friday night and takes about 6 days as well to cover the distance to Beijing. For more information look at the article: Trans-Siberian Railway or check the Timetable directly for exact schedules.

Moscow - Kazakhstan
There is train every second day between Moscow and Almaty in Kazakhstan, leaving Moscow at 10:30pm and arriving on day 5 early in the morning in Almaty. From Almaty, trains leave at around 7:30am, arriving on the 4th day at around 10:30am. Check this site for schedule details.

Moscow - Kyrgyzstan
Two trains a week link the capitals of Russia and Kyrgyzstan. From Moscow, trains leave on Thursdays and Sundays at 11:15pm, arriving in Bishkek on Mondays and Thursdays respectively at 2:30am. Trains leave Bishkek around 10:00am on Mondays and Thursdays, arriving in Moscow on Thursdays and Sundays just after 3 in the afternoon.

Moscow - Uzbekistan
There are three trains a week between Moscow and Tashkent (Uzbekistan). Trains leave Moscow on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 11:15pm, arriving 3 days later at 7:15pm in Tashkent. In the opposite direction, trains depart from Tashkent at around 7:00pm on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays, arriving in Moscow 3 days later at just after 3 in the afternoon.

Moscow - North Korea
There is one train a week between Moscow (Yaroslavski station) and Pyongyang, usually leaving on Friday from Moscow, and Saturday from Pyongyang. It takes a week to complete the entire journey.

By Car

By Bus

Eurolines provides international buses to places like Riga and even all the way to London, a multiple-day trip!

By boat

Although there are no official passenger services to/from Moscow, there are still river cruises which visit Moscow, mainly in summer. There are 2 river terminals in Moscow. The North Station, in Khimki neighborhood, provides berths for cruise ships to St Petersburg, as well as Astrakhan, Rostov-on-Don and other cities along the Volga. The South Station is not used commercially anymore.

Getting around

By car

Much of Moscow's geography is defined by the numerous 'Ring Roads' that circle the city at various distances from the centre. With the Red Square and the Kremlin forming the very centre, the innermost ring road is the Boulevard Ring (Bulvarnoye Koltso), built in the 1820s where the 16th century walls used to be. It runs from the Christ the Savior Cathedral in southwest central Moscow, to the mouth of the Yauza in southeast central Moscow. The next ring road, the Garden Ring (Sadovoe Koltso), derives its name from the fact that landowners near the road in Tsarist times were obligated to maintain gardens to make the road attractive. In Soviet times, the road was widened, and curently you will find no gardens there. The recently constructed Third Ring is not much use for tourists but is a heavily used motorway which absorbs a bit of Moscow's traffic. Finally, the outer edge of Moscow is largely defined by the Moscow Ring Road, a motorway which is over 100 kilometres long and encircles the entire city. Finally, a Fourth Ring is due to be built between the Third Ring and the Moscow Ring Road in the next years, much needed to relief a bit of the growing pressure on Moscow's existing other (ring)roads.

By public transport

Lenin mural in Moscow subway

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Check the All in one Moscow Search Engine for public transportation.

Moscow has an eloborate and wide spread subway system. There are 12 lines and 172 stations covering a total length of 278 kilometres.
The Moscow Metro uses magnetic cards (contact cards) for tickets with a fixed number of journeys (up to 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 60 and 70 journeys for 30 days from the day of the first journey). 60 roubles (approximately US$2) will get you a ticket valid for 5 trips of any distance. The Moscow Metro is open from about 5:30am until 1:00am. During peak hours, trains run roughly every 90 seconds on most lines. At other times during the day, they run about every two to three and a half minutes, and every six to ten minutes late at night. Most station names are only printed in Cyrillic, so travellers are recommended to learn how to pronounce the letters of the cyrillic alphabet to make travelling the metro easier.

By foot

By bike

Eat

Drink

Sleep

Budget

Mid-Range

Upscale

Work

Learn

• Lomonosov Moscow State University

Keep connected

Internet

Phone

See also International Telephone Calls

Post

Russian Post is the national postal service of Russia. It's English version is currently under construction, but mainly involves the track&trace system. The domestic post is reasonably reliable, and sending international mail is fairly reliable but slow, taking at least a few weeks to European countries, longer to the USA or Australia for example. The delivery of mail sent from abroad to Russia is highly unreliable, and people or companies tend to use foreign adresses, from where a private carrier sends it to Russia. Alternatives like poste restante are non-existent with Russian Post. Most cities and large towns in Russia have a Central Post Office (Glavpochtamt), which also sells stamps and envelopes, and usually has fax services and Internet availability, though the latter mostly not in smaller places. Also, many hotels have postal services, including mail boxes. Post offices tend to keep long hours, usually from 8:00am or 9:00am until 8:00pm or 9:00pm Monday to Friday, and closing earlier during weekends. The main central post offices in the biggest cities keep even longer hours. For sending parcels, you can also try services by DHL Russia and FedEx Russia. For all mail you can use the regular alphabet, though maybe include the country's name in Cyrillic. For sending post to Russia (or trying to receive it) note that addresses should be in reverse order: Russia, postal code, city, street address, name.

External Links

• Official Governmental Website
• Moscow Tourism Website