Moscow Travel Tips from a Private guide 

 

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” – Lao Tzu


I collected some quick references, information   and links  to simplify your preparations before you visit  Moscow . I am as a  Muscovite and Moscow tour guide at the same time  , so  I can  give you an  advice about Moscow .How things work here ? Is it safe to go to Russia ? What about criminality  in the city ? I will try to answer all questions . Just leave your comments below .


Before you came 

  • Visa options check out  and  also you can try  New electronic  Visa  .Here is an idea how to get to Moscow using  new electronic visa   which lasts for about 96 hours. So you can stay in St. Petersburg  for a 3 days  and then  come for one big day to Moscow  using Sapsan  speed train early in the morning . We meet you at the railway station and  bring to all  iconic places of Moscow .  Just in one day . And in the evening  we  bring you back to the train to St. Petersburg . Great idea , right ?
  •  Skyscanner – cheapest flights and nice hotels . Find your best deal
  •  Short-time rentals  ( apartments  ) to save your budget   if you wish

 


 

Staying  in Moscow 

Local transportation 

  • Taxi . Do you have Uber or Gett,   or  Yandex taxi  app installed on your phone ? If yes then you can book a taxi  using it . They charge good price which is always  displayed on your screen before you meet a driver so you know how much your trip can cost in advance . Be careful with prices . They charge only in Roubles and 1 Dollar is equivalent  of 63 Roubles . So 630 Roubles is 10 Dollars roughly. So if  you see 100 on your screen , it means Roubles  not Dollars or Euro   ;-).
  •   Moscow metro is the cheapest and the most beautiful kind of transport in the world . One trip costs 55 Roubles .They accept all main cards types . You pay one time and go as many stations as you need . Without any zones and hidden costs . We have 223 stations . The most beautiful ones are located in the centre of the city and were designed in 1930-s, 1940-s and 1950-s . I can talk about our metro endlessly IoI Better one time to see .
    And yes , they have all signs and announcements in English so you won’t get lost even being alone .  Don’t forget metro map Couple of words about Moscow metro safety . We have special metro police department  which looks after security and safety of people . All stations are equipped  by cameras . It also very clean  and beautiful  .You ll be definitely pleasantly surprised  to spend some time in our subway .
  • Aeroexpress provides rail passenger transportation services, covering routes between Moscow and airports of the Moscow Air Cluster : Vnukovo ( Kievskiy rail Terminal)  , Domodedovo ( Paveletskiy Rail Terminal ), and Sheremetyevo ( Belorusskiy Terminal) . Price – 500 R (  around  9 $ )

Moscow Maps and plans 

–  Moscow official  map to download in PDF format .


Wi-Fi  , Sim cards 

  • We have 4 main  Mobile providers they are in big  competition and suggest all kinds of plans  . To get a SIM card , you will need a passport and 100 Roubles ( 1,5 $) . They need documents  not to let  criminals do their crimes anonymously . Even logging into a public WI-FI you ll be asked to enter a code , sent to your phone in order to know who is logging in to the net . I think its right thing . There are lots of new tourists tariff plans , but when I checked,  it looked like  too expensive . Better to get a standard  plan for the month . The average  price is about   8 $ per month .It includes : 500 minutes to all providers , free calls to the same provider which is very handy if you travel with your friend or relative , you can call each other free of charge .Also it includes 15 GB of internet which is just great . There are  many other Plans , more expensive ones  depending on your needs.  But I can tell you , that in all restaurants , public transportation , shopping centres we have free WI-FI. Whats Up and  all messengers work fine everywhere .

Restaurants 

  •   Restaurant guide  In Moscow we have all sorts  of cuisines . From Italian  till Vietnamese and Indian, Georgian and of course Russian . Most of restaurants have   delivery which is very handy .

Theatres 

  •   Moscow Theatres  city Map in PDF
  •  How to get tickets to The Bolshoi theatre ? You should go to their official website and register . In a while , you get  email with your account confirmation and can start booking tickets .  Ticket prices vary from 100 Roubles  which   is  about 1,5 $  (for students,who stand in the cue all night )   till 30000  which is about 500$ . But anyway , you should book it far in advance , to catch it and prepay on their website . You can also get tickets right in front of the theatre 5 minutes  before at a very high rate  from smart  local  businessmen  , but be prepared  that there are no guarantees that the ticket is real. When you start your booking , please be careful when choosing the Stage where performance take place . It the Bolshoi theatre there are three Stages : Main Historical Stage , New Stage  ( built during the reconstruction of the Historical one) and small Beethoven Hall  located inside the historical building  is used for small day-time  concerts . It is possible to take special Bolshoi theatre tour  with a guide  or visit Google  Virtual tour .Take a look