Moscow: Getting there & around

Orientation

Moscow lies in the centre of what is known as European Russia. The border between Europe and Asia runs down the west side of the Ural Mountains, 1300km (805mi) east of Moscow. To the east of Moscow is the south-flowing Volga River, one of Russia's historic highways.

The Kremlin, a north-pointing triangle with sides 750m (2460ft) long, is at the heart of Moscow in every way - symbolically, historically and geographically. Red Square lies along its east side, the Moscow River flows past its south side. From here, Moscow spreads out in four distinctive rings of development. Each area has its own collection of monasteries, museums and elegant buildings. Most of the city's sights are within the first circle - an area that can easily be covered on foot. Otherwise, Moscow is flat, flat, flat and has few useful landmarks for getting your bearings from a distance: probably the most prominent buildings are Stalin's imposing 'Seven Sisters' skyscrapers.

Moscow's five airports are all beyond the outer ring road, 30 to 40km (19 to 25mi) from the city centre. Sheremetevo-2, where you'll arrive if you fly in from outside the former Soviet Union, is to the northwest.

Getting There

• bus

  Buses run to a number of towns and cities within about 700km (435mi) of Moscow. Buses are reasonably comfortable but to most places they're a bit slower than trains, and less frequent.

• boat

  In summer, passenger boats from Moscow ply the rivers and canals throughout Russia all the way north to St Petersburg, and south to Astrakhan on the Volga delta, near the Caspian Sea.

• car

  If you want to travel by car or motorbike, 10 major highways, numbered M1 to M10, fan out from Moscow to all points of the compass. Most are in fairly good condition at first but some get scraggy further out.

• train

  Moscow has rail links to most parts of Russia, most former Soviet states, numerous countries in Eastern and Western Europe, and China and Mongolia. Moscow has nine main train stations, all with metro stations on the spot.

• plane

  Sheremetevo-2 airport (30km/20mi northwest of the city centre) and Domodedovo (40km/24mi south of the city centre) handle flights to and from places outside the former Soviet Union. There are daily flights by numerous airlines to and from nearly all European and many other world capitals, and many provincial cities, too. A flight from London or Paris takes about three hours, from New York about 10 hours. Four Moscow airports serve flights to and from places within Russia and the other ex-Soviet states. Check-in for flights within the ex-USSR is supposed to close 40 minutes before take-off, but be sure to reach the airport well before that.

  International flights from most Moscow airports incur a departure tax which is included in the price of airfares. You can get to all five airports and the city centre cheaply by a combination of bus and metro or suburban train, but if you're going early in the morning or late at night, or have a lot of baggage, you'll probably need a taxi. The easiest approach is to arrange an airport-city transfer through a travel agent; you'll pay no more than an average taxi fare.

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Getting Around

• tram

  Buses, trolleybuses and trams run almost everywhere the metro doesn't go, and are good for radial travel or for getting outside the centre. You'll need a ticket that you punch inside the vehicle - tickets work on all three forms of transport.

• taxi

  If you'd rather catch a taxi than the metro, just stand on the street and stick your arm out. Many private car drivers cruise around as unofficial taxis. Prices vary according to the length of the trip, the time of the day and traffic conditions. Pay anywhere from Rbl50.00 to Rbl150.00 . No driver uses a meter, so it's probably best to negotiate your fare before you get in. For long trips it may be better to prebook a cab.

• underground rail

  There are more than 150 metro stations - many of them elegant, marble-faced, frescoed, gilded works of art. The magnetic card system is easy to use, and there are plenty of signage and maps to help you. You'll rarely wait more than two minutes for a train: nine million people a day use the system. The oldest stations were originally intended to double as bomb shelters, which is why the escalators seem to plunge halfway to the centre of the earth.

• Disabled Travellers

  Inaccessible transport, lack of ramps and lifts, and no centralised policy for people with physical limitations make Russia a challenging destination for wheelchair-bound visitors. More mobile travellers will have a relatively easier time, but keep in mind that there are obstacles along the way. Toilets are frequently accessed from stairs in restaurants and museums; distances are great; public transport is extremely crowded; and many footpaths are in a poor condition and hazardous even for the mobile.

  Readers who use wheelchairs report that Russians are anxious to help, but don't know how, thus either speaking Russian or having a translator is essential. In museums, staff may say that most floors are inaccessible because they don't want to suggest the freight elevator for fear of offending.

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