Moscow
Metro. It
is easy to use it, although there are no signs in English. As
you
can see on the
Moscow metro map (size:
130kb - it'll take about
30-40
secs to download it @ 28.8 bps) all
the lines have its own color.
There is a
ring-line (brown) which has crossings with all other radial lines.
Metro entrances
are
marked with a large red letter "M".
The open hours
are from 5.20 a.m. to 1.00 a.m. Usually the last train starts its
way at 00.50 from the last station at any line; the passes between
stations are closed at 1.00 am. When there're rush hours (8.00-9.00,
17.00-19.00) the metro is overcrowded, so it's better to avoid it.
Tickets & Prices. The metro has no special zones - all
the metro is one zone, and there's no time limit for using your
ticket. SS you can buy a ticket for 15R ($0.60) for one trip and
spend as much time inside as you like. You can also save money
and buy tickets for 5 trips - 70 R ($2.80) (cheaper), a ticket
for 10 trips - 125 R ($5.00), or a ticket for 20 trips – 230R
($8.50).soIf
you don't pay, then iou'll have to pay around $20 fine.
See a video of a trip in Moscow metro:
Moscow metro is sometimes beautifully decorated, in fact,
it looks like an underground museum. One of the reasons is that
when
it was built it was supposed to be an underground shelter in
case of war, so it was built to be pleasing to the eyes and
to 'promote'
communist way of life. Hence many mosaics and sculptures dedicated
to the life of Soviet people.
The most interesting stations of
Moscow metro are: Kievskaya (blue line,
west center - mosaics dedicated to the life of Ukrainian people),
Komsomolskaya (circle
line, north-east - mosaics on the ceiling), Mayakovskaya (green
line,
north - the winner of grand-prizes, decorated in a cool way),
Ploshchad Revolutsii (blue line, center -
sculptures of Russian workers, soldiers,
and just normal people), Arbatskaya (blue
line, center - just nice interior), Chkalovskaya (light
green line, east center - one of the newly
built stations, futuristic minimalistic design).
Buses,
Trolleys, Trams. Bus
- av`tobus. Trolleybus- tro`leibus . Tram
- tram`vai.
Most of them don't go on the schedule, and the average waiting
time can be from 5 minutes to 40 minutes in the evenings. The public
transport works are from 5:30 until 1:00. The bus stops are yellow
plates marked with "A" signs, trolleys' - white plates
with "T" and trams' with "Tp". There are no
night buses or trolleys or trams. If you're late, you can only
take
a taxi.
Prices are the same for buses, trolleys and trams: one trip
costs 15 R ($0.60) if you buy the ticket from the driver, or 12
R ($0.50)
if you buy the ticket beforehand. You can buy them from the driver
directly, in metro stations, or from the kiosks located near the
busier bus stops.
Almost
all Moscow
transport has now been fitted with turnstiles where
you
have to stick your ticket into a machine to pass through. This
means you now have to enter through the front door, creating long
queues for boarding, and it also means that fare evasion is no
longer possible, like it was in the good old days.
Best
Public Transport Routes in Moscow. It's great
to experience Moscow if you move around by city transport - Moscow
is a big
city
and there're many places worth seeing. The route given is the list
of the areas the bus, trolley or tram goes through, it's not all
the stops. If you don't understand where the areas and the streets
are, read about this at Moscow Guide / Moscow Areas
& Maps. The route is given in [square brackets]. BY BUS: #119 [Kievskaya metro - Vorobyovy Gory observation
deck - Moscow State University]; BY TROLLEYBUS: #7 [Park Pobedy (Victory's Park) - Kutuzovski prospekt
- Kievskaya metro - Moscow river's bank - Vorobyovy Gory, observation
deck - Moscow State University - Leninski Prospekt - Oktyabrskaya
metro - Yakimanka street - Kamenny Most (Stone Bridge - great place
to see the view of Moscow Kremlin)]; #15, #31 [Tsvetnoi Boulevard metro -
Kropotkinskaya metro] #44 [Kropotkinskaya metro - Alexandovski Sad (Alexandrovski
Garden) metro] #B [this circle route is through all Sadovoe Koltso
- Garden Ring] BY TRAM: #A, #3, #39 [Chistye Prudy metro - Maroseika
street (Kitai Gorod area) - Boulevard Ring - Solyanka street - Novokuznetskaya
metro (Zamoskvorechie (outside the Moscow river) area) - Paveletskaya
metro - Serpukhvskaya metro - Dobryninskaya metro]
Marshrutka
is
a minibus-shuttle. They usually have the same numbers as the buses
or trolleys and
go the same route. If you see an
approaching
shuttle just wave it down like a taxi. You must pay for a trip
from 10 to 15 R ($0.40-$0.60) to the driver. When you are near your
stop just say aloud to the driver where to stop. He will understand
if you just say "Stop!"
or more polite "Ostano`vite po`zhaluista" (stop please).
Taxi
& Cars in Moscow. In
Russia you can use any car as a taxi, most of the private
drivers will give you a lift but only for money. Just wave any
car
like a taxi. It's better to negotiate the price before starting
a trip (even cabmen don't like to use counters). When the driver
recognizes you as a foreigner, he will try to make you pay the
highest price - so bargain. It is a good way to find out the fair
price
before (ask the locals). Most of the drivers will accept US dollars
if you don't have roubles. In any case the car prices are relatively
low, so it's a good way of moving around the city - usually it
costs around 200-300 R ($7.50-$11) to get from the outskirts of
Moscow to the centrum and it's around 100 R ($3.50) to move around
the centrum. I usually calculate 60 R ($2.3) for every 10 minutes,
but that's
a minumum. Using the taxis is more safe and sometimes even cheaper,
but there are not many taxis on the streets, only in lively places.
You can recognize a taxi by a typical 'chess' sign on top and yellow
colour. Usually taxis take around 10 R ($0.3) for one kilometer
(only inside Moscow) and they start the counter at 25 R ($0.9).
Here's a list of Moscow taxi operators (they barely
speak English, though), the prices are as of February
2004:
Allo Taxi. They charge 250 rubles for the first
20 minutes (300 rubles at night) and then 7 rubles per minute after
that (8 rubles at night). Moscow – Sheremetyevo II: 850R ($31).
Sheremetyevo II – Moscow: 1000 R ($37). Phone: +7 (495) 225-3588.
Website: www.allotaxi.ru. (You can order online).
City Taxi. Their tariffs are 250 R for the first 30 minutes during
the day (for the first 20 minutes at night) and then 6 R for each
additional minute (7 R at night). Moscow – Sheremetyevo II: 700R
($26). Sheremetyevo II – Moscow: 850 R ($31). Phone: +7 (495) 225-9225.
Website: www.citytaxi.ru. (You can order online).
Krasnaya Gorka. The cheapest in the list – billed by km: 5 R ($0.15)
/ km. Ask for a Russian car - Zhiguli - the cheapest. Moscow -
Sheremetyevo II 700R ($25), Sheremetyevo II - Moscow 900R ($32).
Phone: +7 (495) 454-6291/7201. Fax: 454-7201.
Taxi 505. Probably the cheapest, at least for airport transfers:
prices are 170 R for the first 20 minutes during the day (180 R
for the first 10km at night) and 5 R per each additional minute
during the day (10 R per extra km at night). Moscow – Sheremetyevo
II: 550R ($20). Sheremetyevo II – Moscow: 750 R ($28). Phone: +7
(495) 505-3661. Website: www.taxiport.ru. (You can order online).
Taxi Club. Prices are 200 R for the first 20 minutes during the
day (250 R at night) and then 6 R per minute after that (7 R at
night). Moscow – Sheremetyevo II: 750R ($28). Sheremetyevo II –
Moscow: 850 R ($31). Phone: +7 (495) 540-0400. Website: www.taxiclub.ru.
(You can order online)
XXL Taxi. Prices are 240 R for the first 30 minutes during the
day (270 R at night) and 8 R per minute after that (9 R per minute
at night). Moscow – Sheremetyevo II: 750R ($28). Sheremetyevo II
– Moscow: 900 R ($33). Phone: +7 (495) 105-8866. Website: www.xxltaxi.ru/.
(You can order online).
Limousine Service. The most expensive in the list. They use Lincolns
or Mercedes limousines and charge $100 Moscow - Sheremetyevo II.
Sheremetyevo II - Moscow costs $150. Phone: +7 (495) 257-4000/4400.
Fax: 257-1596. Website: www.limos.ru. (You can order online).
You can also order a taxi online through this
site, please, see
Moscow Taxi & Transfers section.
Rent-A-Car.To rent a car you
should be 18 years old (Avis) and 25 (Hertz). You need to show
them
your passport, have a valid driving license for two years already,
and a credit card (Visa, American Express, Europay, Diners Club).
The cheapest foreign cars are from Avis. They offer the
Renault Clio Symbol for $50 per day if you take it for more than
3 days. Be sure to take insurance as well, it's worth it. If they
let you leave the car in another city it might be a good and cheap
way of travelling around when you are a few people.
The Russian operator Eleks-Polus offers cheaper Russian cars ($25-$30
per day).
ELEKS-POLUS - The local rent-a-car operator, offering Russian cars
at lower prices ($20-$25 /
day). You will
need
to
pay
$300 US as
a deposit
and, and present your passport. Internet: www.eleks.ru, tel: +7
095 232-9009)
Bicycles,
Skates, Rollerblades -- The
rollerskates and skates are quite popular in Moscow during the
summer.
The mountain bikes are also gaining the popularity, however there
are no special bike lanes and it's not safe to leave bikes on
the
streets, even attached.
Going by bicycle is a great way to see the city, and you can move
freely around. There are no official bike rentals in Moscow, however,
if you need one just post a message in our Russia
Talk Lounge Forums and we'll help you get it.
