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Travel to Moscow

Flying to Moscow

Airlines offering direct flights to Moscow from London include British Airways, bmi and Aeroflot. Flights to Moscow from London take around three and a half hours. Other airlines such as Lufthansa, KLM, Alitalia and Air France also connect at major European cities. Most international services use Sheremetyevo 1 airport, to the northwest of the city, while some use Domodedovo airport to the south. Flights to Moscow tend to be more in demand – and pricier – during the summer and around Orthodox Christmas in early January.

Flight times: 

From London - 3 hours 30 minutes; Munich - 4 hours; New York - 9 hours; Los Angeles - 12 hours; Sydney - 20 hours.

Travel by road

Summary:

The road network around Moscow is good, but the condition of highways deteriorates away from the main intercity routes. The government has created several tourist routes with road signs in Latin script; elsewhere, it is necessary to read names in Cyrillic.

Traffic drives on the right and the minimum age for driving in Russia is 18. Speed limits are 60kph (37mph) in built-up areas, 90kph (55mph) outside of built-up areas and 100kph (62mph) on motorways. All cars must carry a first-aid kit, a fire extinguisher and an emergency triangle or red light. Filling stations can be far apart and so it is wise for drivers to carry spare petrol.

To drive in Moscow, foreign drivers need an International Driving Permit or a national driving licence with an authorised translation. Visitors travelling in their own cars must carry an itinerary card, petrol vouchers purchased at the border and a Customs form guaranteeing that the car will be taken out of the Russian Federation on departure. Motor insurance for travel within the Russian Federation should be arranged prior to departure or upon entry to the Russian Federation. The Russian Embassy or a specialist tour operator can provide foreign drivers with further details.

Emergency breakdown service:

GAI (tel: (495) 923 5373).

Routes:

The Moskovskaya Koltsevaya Avtomobilnaya Doroga (Moscow Ring Road) surrounds Moscow, linking roads from Minsk (M1), Kiev (M2), Nizhny Novgorod (M7), Riga (M9) and St Petersburg (M10).

Driving times:

From Nizhny Novgorod - 7 hours 15 minutes; St Petersburg - 12 hours 30 minutes.

Coaches:

There are long-distance buses to many cities around Moscow but trains are usually a better choice. The Central Bus Station (tel: (495) 468 0400/4370) is located by the Shcholkovskaya metro station in the eastern suburbs of the city.

Travel by rail

Services:

State-owned Russian Railways (tel: (495) 262 1280; http://eng.rzd.ru) is a model of efficiency but the bureaucracy can be daunting. Timetable information in English is available from their website.
Moscow has nine railway terminals arranged in a ring around the city centre that serve various destinations in the Russian Federation and beyond. The railway stations most likely to be used by visitors to Moscow are Belorussky, Kievsky and Leningradsky vokzal, or Yaroslavsky vokzal for Trans-Siberian trains.

Kupeny (second class) service is usually perfectly comfortable. Compartments have four berths, the linen is clean and each carriage has a provodnik (attendant) who can provide tea and snacks. Spalny vagon (first class) seats in two-berth compartments cost twice as much. Tickets can be purchased at stations or from the downtown offices of the Moscow Rail Passenger Agency. Bookings may also be made online at http://rzd.ru but currently only in Russian. For more information on Russian trains, see www.seat61.com/Russia-trains.htm.

Operators:

Trains and stations around Moscow are operated by the Moscow Railways Agency (tel: (495) 266 9333; www.mza.ru, in Russian only).

Journey times:

Due to the vast distances involved, most rail journeys made in Russia tend to be on night trains. Travel between Moscow and St Petersburg takes between six and nine hours. From Helsinki, it takes 14 hours.

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