Europe » Russia
July 8th 2011

Published: November 7th 2011

Leningrad Train Station, Moscow. Arriving trains from St. Petersburg (a.k.a., Leningrad).

I definitely did not spend enough time in Moscow, or in St. Petersburg either for that matter. Unlike St. Petersburg, Moscow is very spread out and the attractions are not at all concentrated although there are many sights in and around the Kremlin.

Travel related details

Accommodation and Food I stayed at the impeccable Godzilla's, a very well run hostel on цветной бульвар (Tsvetnoi Bulvar, metro stop of same name). Be careful when exiting the station as there is another station on a different line with a different exit (like many metro stations) even though all exit signs are ubiquitously labeled "выход в город" or exit to the city. If you leave via the wrong exit, you will be very far from the hostel and in all likelihood lost. Assuming a proper exit from the metro, the hostel is easy to find using their directions. I booked on hostelbookers.com and paid ~$18 for a bed in a clean 10 person dorm. There are several kitchens, free internet, a TV/chill out room, and also free calls to the US and Canada. It's in a very safe neighborhood and maybe a 20 minute walk to the Kremlin. Only gripe is they could use more bathrooms.

Владимир Ленин

Vladimir Lenin. Massive statue near Gorky Park and inner ring road. There's a diminutive person bottom left corner.

I went to eat at 2 столовые (stoloviye, dining rooms) close to the hostel, гравли and му-му (Gravli and Moo-Moo, of course, because Russian 'y' is 'oo' and 'ю' is actually 'u.' Russian is freakin' hard!)

Transport Arrived at Leningradsky Train Station in the northeast of the city. A little intimidating but eventually found the комсомольская metro station (Komsomolskaya). For Godzilla's, take the metro towards the center a couple of stops to чистые пруды (Chistiye Prudy), transfer to the light green line for one stop to трубная (Trubnaya) but exit from the other station (цветной бульвар - Tsvetnoi Bulvar) at the same stop. This is where things can easily go awry.

аэропорт внуково There are a couple of ways to get to the rapidly modernizing Vnukovo Airport. There are trains from киевская вокзал (Kiev train station) leaving every hour or a маршрутка (marshrutka, minibus) service from the end of the red metro line at юго-западная (Ugo-Zapadnaya, southwestern). I took the minibus service as it was a few dollars cheaper and there would be no issue trying to time arrival/departure to/from the Kiev train station. The minibuses depart from right next to the metro station exit and

Кремль, Большой Кремлёвский дворец, Архангельский собор, Благовещен

Kremlin: Great Kremlin Palace, Annunciation Cathedral, and Cathedral of the Archangel.

leave when full which only took 5-10 minutes. I think the fare was 50p. and there is a 10p. charge per piece of baggage.

центральный музей великой oтечественной войны The Central Museum of the Great Patriotic War is relatively new, only completed in 1995 which I found very surprising because of it's significance in Russian history. It's part of the beautifully manicured парк победы (Park Pobedi - Victory Park) and only 100p. entry, a bargain for Moscow. Take metro to парк победы and ask for "muzey." Even though it's mostly in Russian allow half a day. Can walk back via арбат (Arbat) where there are a lot of Western shops including a Dunkin' Donuts.

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