Moscow

Basic facts
Moscow is located on the Moskva River in the center of European part of Russia. The city’s population is 10.4 million people. Moscow occupies an area of 1,081 km2 (or 417 square miles).
The city is believed to be founded in 1147 and has been the capital of Russia from 1426 to 1712 and became a capital again from 1918.

City Map
Moscow's road system is centered around the heart of the city, the Moscow Kremlin. From there, the roads in general radiate out to intersect with a sequence of circular roads or "rings" focused at the Kremlin. These “rings” include the “Boulevard” ring, the “Garden” ring, the “Third” ring and finally the MKAD. The Boulevard ring looks more like a horseshoe without making a full circle. It used to form the boundaries of Moscow until the XVIIth century; The Garden ring today has no gardens and was built at the former location of the XVIIIth century rampart. The Third ring was completed in 2003 as a high speed freeway; The MKAD (Moscow Automobile Ring Road) is Moscow’s outer ring road.

Radial wide prospects and highways (“shosse” in Russian) move from the city center outside of Moscow in different directions like rays of sun and normally are called by the name of the city they are leading to. E.g. Leningradskiy prospect is leading to St. Petersburg (former Leningrad), Yaroslavskoe shosse is leading to Yaroslavl, etc.

How do I get to railway stations?
Moscow rail terminals (or vokzals) include:
Belorussky Rail Terminal, Kazanskiy Rail Terminal, Kievskiy Rail Terminal, Kurskiy Rail Terminal, Leningradskiy Rail Terminal, Paveletskiy Rail Terminal, Rizhskiy Rail Terminal, Savyolovskiy Rail Terminal, and Yaroslavlskiy Rail Terminal. All of them are located close to the city center, but they each handle trains from different parts of Europe and Asia. As trains are relatively cheap, they are the mode of preference for traveling Russians, especially when departing to Saint Petersburg, Russia's second-largest city. Moscow is also the western terminus of the Trans-Siberian Railway, which traverses nearly 9300 kilometers of territory to Vladivostok.

How do I get to/ from International Airports?
Domodedovo International Airport (South East )- 22 kilometers (13.7 miles) away from MKAD. There’s «AEROEXPRESS» - a new-generation train that departs every hour linking Moscow Paveletskiy railway station (metro Paveletskaya) with Domodedovo International Airport. “Aeroexpress” schedule is here.

Sheremetyevo International Airport (North), the most common entry point for foreign passengers is 10 kilometers (6.25 miles) away from MKAD. Taxi buses and bus N 851 are departing from Metro “Rechnoi Vokzal”. Taxi buses and bus N 817 are departing from Metro Planernaya. If you take a taxi from city center make sure you have at least 1.5 hours for the road.

Vnukovo International Airport (South West) is 11 kilometers away from Moscow and also has an Aeroexpress connection by train starting from Kievskiy Rail Terminal. Schedule is here.

What Time is it in Moscow?
Moscow differs from the Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) by +3 hours.

Climate
Moscow is characterized by an intermediate climate. It is quite mild and humid. There can be quite dry and hot periods in summer time, when the temperature goes up to + 25C...+30C, especially because of the high level of humidity. Precipitation is not too plentiful, being 550-600 mm per annum.
Average Temperature
Winter -10/14 C/F
Spring 0/32 - +15/59 C/F
Summer +20/68 - +30/86 C/F
Autumn +10/50 - -8/12 C/F

How do I pay in Moscow?
You can use credit cards in most department stores, restaurants, clubs and bars. Visa and MasterCard are widely accepted, American Express and Diners points are rare. If you have cash, you can exchange it easily at the exchange-offices located virtually at every corner. The exchange rate becomes better the further you move from the center.

How do I call in Moscow?
There are payphones, most of which are located in the city centre, in subway, at major trading centers, and in hotels. They can be used to make a call to any country in the world. The prices of telephone cards depend on the number of minutes of conversation they give.
To call a subscriber in a foreign country: dial "8", wait for the continuous tone, dial "10", then dial the code of the country you want, the area code, and then the subscriber's number.
There are 2 area codes in Moscow (495) and (499), which are not widely used yet, so to call inside Moscow you should dial 7 digit number. From a mobile phone you should either dial the same or “8” + area code (3 digit) + telephone number.

To call inside Moscow would be easier and cheaper if you buy a SIM card from one of local mobile operators (MTS, Beeline or Megafon) at any of the following shops: ЕВРОСЕТЬ or СВЯЗНОЙ. These shops are located almost on every metro station. $5 or $10 package would be enough for a short stay in Moscow.

Emergency Telephone Numbers
Fire: 01
Police: 02
Ambulance: 03
Gas emergencies: 04
Correct time: 100 (tells in Russian)
Directory enquiries: 09
Directory enquiries: 009 (commercial)

Local Transport
Moscow has a well-developed public transportation system including buses, trolley-buses, trams and subway (metro). Public transport can be a good way of getting around the center, but for longer journeys, or if you are in a hurry, it is better to take the Subway (Metro). During rush hours (from 8a.m. to 10a.m. & from 6p.m. to 8 p.m.) you can chose to walk on foot, but if you really need to go somewhere, don’t be afraid to be squeezed. May be it’s the only chance for you to get closer to Russian people.
Above-ground transport is available from 6 a.m. to 12 a.m.

Trolley-bus stops are indicated by blue boards with red letter "T" or white lightened boards with blue letter "T" based on pillars.
Bus stops are indicated by square yellow signs marked with the letter "A" above the sidewalk.
Both in busses and trolley-buses tickets (magnetic cards) are sold either on the bus stop or in the drivers’ cabin. You should register your card inside the bus.

There are also a lot of small taxi-buses, that cost about 15 RUB and drive all around the city. They are usually mini-buses for 12 passengers.

The Metro
Metro stations are indicated by red letter "M". The entrance to the Metro is usually a separate building where you can get from the street. But sometimes you’ll find metro entrances on the first floor on the buildings. The metro runs from around 5.30 a.m. to 1.00 a.m.
To enter you will need a ticket (today a magnetic card), that costs 17 RUB per one journey and is available from ticket booths at the station entrances. You can buy a single ticket for a number of journeys. Trains run every 1 to 2 minutes during peak hours and approximately every 5 minutes in the evening. All the signs are in Cyrillic script.

Station entrances are marked МЕТРО;
City center exits ВЫХОД В ГОРОД
Line transfers - ПЕРЕХОД
A Metro plan is displayed at each station and inside the trains. After each stop the name of the station is announced in the train along with that of the next destination.

Taxi
In general Taxies have a “T” sign on the side or a "TAXI" sign on the roof of the car. The fare is different. Usually form 10 USD in the centre of the city. The largest hotels maintain their own cabs for their clients but they charge higher fare.