Getting around Moscow... - Moscow - General Tips & Advice Reviews

So... you're visiting Russia for the first time. You don't speak Russian, you don't read Cyrillic. How do you get around? You might be standing in the baggage claim at Sheremetyevo. I suppose you could call a taxi and have previously arranged a ride - which will likely cost you about $100 to get to the city center. Think about taking the bus and the metro - it's easy!

Simply exit baggage claim and look for the #851 bus - they run about ever 45 minutes or so. It is easy enough to find the bus at the airport - it had "851c" on the front of the bus and your stop is *THE FIRST STOP* - granted, 25 minues later, but still the first stop. Exit the bus and walk straight ahead. You're now at the Rechnoy Vokzal metro station. The end of the green line.

Walk in the blue door (blue enter, red exit) and down the stairs and you'll see the ticket booth. Hopefully you've remembered to change dollars for Rubles at the airport (Thomas Cook currency station - or an ATM). Walk up to the booth and hand over 75 rubles and hold up all five fingers. You've just purchased a five pass.

Walk down to the platform and stand on the same side as everyone else - remember this is the end of the line - you can't screw it up and go the wrong way!! Count the stops - eight stops to Tverskaya St.

Of course this advice assumes that you're staying on or near Tverskaya - which is typically hugely expensive. But there are some tricks. Consider renting an apartment - you can obtain quite reasonable accommodations from a number of places (visit www.waytorussia.net and search around for some options), or you can stay at one of the Marriott properties. Sounds expensive, and they are, but you can trade in Marriott points for stays. I've never, ever been unable to get a room using Marriott points at the Royal Aurora, the Marriott Grant, or the Marriott Courtyard. If you don't have enough Marriott points, you can buy them at the Marriott website. I know this sounds like a shill for Marriott - it's not. But it is too good a deal to pass up. All of the Marriott properties above are within walking distance of the Kremlin and there's always a nearby metro.

Speaking of the metro, how do you get around if you don't read Cyrillic? Well... it would be helpful if you learned the alphabet, but you can always count the characters in the station name. There are guides in all of the metro stations that will list the station. They have lighted signs above each track that outlines the upcoming stops - you can stand on the platform and then compare the sign with your map to determine if this is the North/South or South/North track, etc. It's not terribly complicated.

Enjoy!

:)