What should I know before travelling to Moscow in about 40 days? Any tips? What are the must-see places?
Moscow moves extremely fast, and in different ways than you're used to. A lot of foreign tourists go to Russia and find the city and its people to be somewhat unpleasant, but usually they're reaching that opinion because they don't understand The Rules.Though it's common to get to Moscow and wonder just why in Hell you'd choose to be there, especially in the early hours of your first trip, everyone eventually figures out just how unbelievably awesome Moscow is, unfortunately for some folks this doesn't happen until the last days of their vacation. So my friends and I came up with this list of rules to help new visitors. This list is not exhaustive, but it'll get you a long way.1.tBe prepared to walk. A lot. A typical day in Moscow can include several miles of walking, much of it up and down stairs.2.tBe prepared to use the Metro. Moscow may have Europeu2019s worst traffic, but it also has the worldu2019s finest public transportation system. With a rudimentary ability to read a map and recognize station names in Russian you can get anywhere in town, almost always faster than you could get there in a car.3.tBe prepared to read some Russian. Speaking the language takes a lot of time and practice, but sounding out words in Cyrillic letters and recognizing a few key words is easy with some practice and absolutely necessary if youu2019re going to go anywhere by yourself.4.tBe prepared to surrender your passport from time to time. Most Russians donu2019t drive, so the driveru2019s license that you use as identification in the United States just doesnu2019t exist in the same way here in Russia u2024 for identification, everyone uses their passport. You will have a police officer, hotel clerk or a museum audioguide clerk insist on having it in their hands at some point, and you will have to hand it over or even leave it for a while. This is normal.5.tRealize that getting to and from the airport is an enormous pain in the ass. There are certain days and times when we can guarantee you that traffic will absolutely suck, but virtually no day or time when we can guarantee that there wonu2019t be a problem getting out there u2024 a simple trip out to the airport and back can take one of us or our drivers a full half day or more. Your best bet is to count on taking a cab for approximately $30-40 each way, or taking the express train, which is both prompt and cheap if you can struggle through the Russian language signs. The more adventurous among us take the express train (or bus sometimes) to one of the nearby Metro stations and go the rest of the way by subway for less than $2.6.tWhen youu2019re coming in to the country, donu2019t be an idiot at Passport Control. Despite the signs, there is seldom any order or civility u2024 people will do nearly anything to get through the line short of directly cutting in front of you. If you follow what you think the rules are, you could very well be there all day. If youu2019re smart enough to fill out your customs form while youu2019re still on the airplane, youu2019re smart enough to line up at the Diplomatic Passports booth (to the left) and go right through.7.tNo domestic air travel. We know that it looks easy and cheap, but itu2019s often neither. Moscow has three airports, all of which are a fair distance from the center (and a great distance from each other) through either a great deal of bad traffic s any sort of user-friendly public transportation link, getting out there is bad enough, suffer one minor delay or itinerary change and you really could end up in trouble. Trains, on the other hand, depart and arrive in stations that are located on the edge of downtown and attached to Metro lines. So long as you need any help or advice from us on how to get in and around Russia, youu2019ll be on the train. If youu2019re thinking about going to St.Pete for a couple of days, youu2019ll be going on the train. In our opinion, unless youu2019re on a business trip with a tight schedule the night trains from Leningradsky Vokzal really are the only way to go.8.tKnow what it is that you want to see. There are a few things that every visitor wants to see in Moscow u2024 Red Square, the Kremlin grounds and museums, and the souvenir market at Izmailovsky Park u2024 but there are also thousands of other places. Having no real idea of what you might enjoy, we suggest that you buy the most current edition of the u2018Eyewitness Travel Guideu2024 for Moscow from DK Publishing and take a long look at it before you leave home, and that you grab a copy of Patriarschy Domu2019s current schedule either on-line in the States or at the Starlite Diner once you get to Moscow. There are also terrific apps for Moscow tourism, like the Lonely Planet app.9.tKeep some rubles on hand. Credit cards are accepted in many places, but certainly not all, and dollars are nearly useless outside of a money exchange booth. ATMu2019s and currency exchanges are like policemen and taxicabs u2024 exceedingly common, except when you really need one. We also suggest calling your bank before you leave home to let them know that youu2019ll be in Russia and that you may need to withdraw more than $400 per day.10.tKeep moving, unless youu2019re absolutely certain that youu2019re not in the way. Muscovites are, for the most part, very nice people u2024 but they tend to move in ways and manners unfamiliar to you making you somewhat uncomfortable u2024 and completely obviously lost u2024 in a crowd. Hesitate on a Metro platform, for example, and youu2019re likely to have someone bump you just trying to get by. Until youu2019re able to move around like they do, just remember not to stop where people are walking.11.tBe prepared to buy stuff. Some souvenir items are common and only really vary in terms of pricing from place to place, others really are unique items that you wonu2019t see anyplace else u2024 it can take years of living here to know the difference, so donu2019t be afraid to ask. But donu2019t be afraid to buy, either. Too many of our visitors over the years have waited to buy things that were in their grasp early in the trip, only to run out of time later and return home empty handed. Izmailovsky Park on weekends is your best overall bet, and planning a shopping trip there can save you from ever having to look at stuff anywhere else.12.tBe prepared to feed and water yourself. Getting around town can work up a fierce hunger, and youu2019re going to have to figure out pretty quickly how to find and purchase food and drink, weu2019re all for eating and drinking, but sometimes the coordination with our schedules is difficult. The tens of thousands of kiosks and street vendors in town offer a wide variety of choices, but, for the uninitiated, we suggest sticking to items that you recognize and can point to like bread, pastries and bottled drinks. When all else fails, McDonalds is better in Russia than it is at home and most of the titles are the same in both languages.13.tu2018No Photographsu2024 doesnu2019t always mean u2018No Photographs.u2024 Sometimes it just means that you shouldnu2019t take a photograph directly in front of one of the attendants, sometimes it means that youu2019re going to get your ass handed to you for trying. Russians like their cameras and their bad snapshots as much as we do, so watch the locals u2024 if theyu2019re taking pictures, itu2019s OK. If theyu2019re not, then you really should think twice.14.tLarge numbers of policemen or protesters are not a good sign. If youu2019re walking up on a square or a park and you notice an unusually large number of policemen or protesters there, you need to go somewhere else. Seriously. Sure, you might get to see some colorful people assembling peacefully to show their patriotic pride or demand a redress of their grievances, but you may also get to see just how well tear gas works as the OMON troops arrest and beat down everyone in sight.15.tAccomodations are problematic. Western-standard hotels are available in Moscow, but theyu2019re really expensive. Reasonably priced rooms are available in Moscow, but theyu2019re not even near western standard and may be far from the center. Essentially you have a choice u2024 put up with some degree of privation, or pay one hell of a hotel bill. If you're not going to scour the internet for a hotel deal before you go, our suggestion is that you consider an early reservation with a hostel, hoping to get a single or double room, or that you rent a short-term apartment, both options are reasonably priced, but both options come with beds and bathrooms and service levels well below what youu2019re used to at home.16.tToilets. Contrary to popular belief, the worst toilets in the world are not found in Russia. Between the three of us, weu2019ve seen way worse. You probably have, too. The worst weu2019ve found are in Africa, the border stations between Latvia and Lithuania, and a particularly foul vegetarian restaurant in Berkeley, California. Here in Moscow, youu2019ve got to be prepared to either lower your standards for where youu2019ll relieve yourself, or learn to hold it long enough to find a hotel lobby. If youu2019re going to be traveling on trains or venturing away from the very center of the city, we suggest that you keep some napkins or a pocket pack of tissues handy, too.17.tGuns. Get used to seeing them. Though there are more individual gun owners in the United States, the Russians who are either required or allowed to have guns tend to carry them all the time. This means that every day will include coming face to face with a cop carrying a fully loaded, fully automatic Kalashnikov rifle with his finger firmly wrapped around the trigger and at least one gaggle of sweaty security guards with low-end handguns. Be polite.18.tLines. Gone are the Soviet-era days when lots of lines for lots of things stretched around lots of blocks, but itu2019s still important to know just how to wait in one. Generally cutting a line is treated like a cardinal sin, but anything else generally goes - you will see Russians jump ahead of others to a freshly available cashier booth, gently push others out of the way before previously placed orders have been filled, allow friends into the front of the line with them and have others hold their place. Feel free to be aggressive. Remember, also, that many businesses still require you to order what you want in one line, pay for it in another, and then return to the first line to get whatever it was you wanted.19.tStreet traffic. Moscow has but one law when it comes to pedestrian traffic - once you step off the curb, youu2019re on your own. This isnu2019t a problem on side streets where gridlocked traffic and poor road maintenance usually keep speeds to a comfortable minimum u2024 but the major bulvars and prospekts and naberezhnie are an entirely different story. Many vehicles are going far too fast to stop for you, and many Muscovite drivers wonu2019t even try. Use the perekhods (pedestrian tunnels) when you can, watch your ass when you canu2019t.This list is not exhaustive, but it's served me and my friends well for more than 20 years now. If you have any suggestions for things to add, please let me know.The truth is that Moscow is awesome. It is unlike any other place in the world, and if you just accept that you have to accept what you cannot change and look past what you think you can't accept, you're going to have a great time.
