Russia - Moscow Sightseeing/transit issues

I have an overnight stopover in Moscow on my way back to the states. First, is there a difference in price between the tourist visa ($130) and transit visa (???). I can't seem to find pricing information on the latter. On to the more fun: what can I see in a morning? I will arrive in the evening and my flight is the next day at 3:30pm.

Also, I've read a bit on the board which discourages people from leaving SVO for shorter layovers, but would 7 hours still be cutting it close or would it be worth popping into the city to see something?

what can I see in a morning? I will arrive in the evening and my flight is the next day at 3:30pm.
7 hours? If you arrive at night and leave 3 pm next day that should be at least 12.
Go downtown Moscow, do the regular attractions (i.e. Red Square, Moskva Embankment, Tverskaya), then hit one of the Moscow night clubs/discos, or do Bolshoi.
You might also want to try to get into Masoleum in the morning (I reckon it opens at like 8 or 9 am). It is free but queues could be long.
Do OLCI and take the express train from Belorusskaya - it is 40 minutes to SVO. You want to be in the airport at least one hour before you plane leaves to clear immigration and security. If I were you I would go for a 1 pm train.

Unfortunately, a transit visa is the same price as a tourist visa ($131). The difference is that you do not need to provide a letter of invitation.

I would recommend getting up early, and visiting the Red Square, St. Basil's Cathedral, Lenin's Mausoleum, etc. which are all located in the same area. It's what you see in the postcards... Grab an early lunch at around 11am and take a taxi back to the airport.

7 hours? If you arrive at night and leave 3 pm next day that should be at least 12.
Go downtown Moscow, do the regular attractions (i.e. Red Square, Moskva Embankment, Tverskaya), then hit one of the Moscow night clubs/discos, or do Bolshoi.
You might also want to try to get into Masoleum in the morning (I reckon it opens at like 8 or 9 am). It is free but queues could be long.
Do OLCI and take the express train from Belorusskaya - it is 40 minutes to SVO. You want to be in the airport at least one hour before you plane leaves to clear immigration and security. If I were you I would go for a 1 pm train.

7 hours in the sense that on my way to Cairo I also have a 7 hr layover (flight gets in around noon, leaves at 7pm). Just wondering if it is worth trying to get to the city during that period and tackle one touristy activity so I'm not cramming them all into the trip on the way back. I would assume for this I would need a double entry tourist visa.

7 hours in the sense that on my way to Cairo I also have a 7 hr layover (flight gets in around noon, leaves at 7pm). Just wondering if it is worth trying to get to the city during that period and tackle one touristy activity so I'm not cramming them all into the trip on the way back. I would assume for this I would need a double entry tourist visa.
I reckon that leaves you with around 4 hours to roam around the place. Take train to Beloruskaya, change there to the Metro (Green line); go Teatralnaya (I think it is only 3 stations away) and take a tour of Kremlin (entry ticket is around $20).
Alternatively, walk from Beloruskaya to the Red Square (around 40 minutes walking), stopping at Cafe Pushkin for a lunch and then take the Metro back to Belorusskaya. Moscow Metro is very efficient, quick and cheap (single is around $1; it is a flat fare and takes you anywhere within the city boundaries).

stopping at Cafe Pushkin for a lunch

Nice;). McDonald's at Pushkin Square would be another more budget friendly option.

Take the train going and coming and you'll be fine. A taxi could be early or late or on time but will definitely be a bit more money. Enjoy and report back how it goes!

So if you want to take a taxi from SVO I would say it's better to order in advance rather then try at the airport from the guys who will say 100 dollars, then you say you have Euros and they say yes also 100 :)

http://www.nyt.ru/en/

is about 40$ to the center, they will meet you in the airport. If you call them, they answer in Russia. Just say English and they will connect you to an English speaker.

You can tell them to take you to the kremlin and then walk up a very main street call Tverskaya. I think the two together would cover your time.

Depending on the time going from the center to SVO can take up to 2 hours (during rush hour). I would try to give yourself a lot of time. The bad side to this is that normally check-in only starts 1:30 in advance. So you can find yourself having fun at the airport pre lounge, pre everything except a pretty bad sushi place, and it is not a fun airport. Remember SVO 2 is intl and SVO 1 is domestic. the trip between the two can take up to 1 hour if you opt for the bus due to great planning.

If you are not staying at a hotel you will need an invitation. I like http://www.visatorussia.com/
They email you a pdf for a single entry tourist visa next/same day. costs 30 USD for next day.

I'm new to FTF. I hope it was ok i put links up. I have no affiliation to any of these companies, just like them for good price/good service.

Bege

I reckon that leaves you with around 4 hours to roam around the place. Take train to Beloruskaya, change there to the Metro (Green line); go Teatralnaya (I think it is only 3 stations away) and take a tour of Kremlin (entry ticket is around $20).
Alternatively, walk from Beloruskaya to the Red Square (around 40 minutes walking), stopping at Cafe Pushkin for a lunch and then take the Metro back to Belorusskaya. Moscow Metro is very efficient, quick and cheap (single is around $1; it is a flat fare and takes you anywhere within the city boundaries).

Thanks for the suggestions!

Unfortunately, a transit visa is the same price as a tourist visa ($131). The difference is that you do not need to provide a letter of invitation.

I would recommend getting up early, and visiting the Red Square, St. Basil's Cathedral, Lenin's Mausoleum, etc. which are all located in the same area. It's what you see in the postcards... Grab an early lunch at around 11am and take a taxi back to the airport.

Thanks for the clarification and ideas.

If you don't speak Russian, or haven't been to Russia before, a few cautions on riding that Metro:

The signs aboveground are in both our alphabet and the Cyrillic one, but when you get down in the system the signs are generally only in the Cyrillic alphabet and lighting is a little dim for reading the tiny letters in the small subway map you are likely to have. Several of the letters are the same, and work the same. Several are Greek and can be figured out if you have some vague memories from college.

But that still leaves two tricky groups. Several of the letters look just like ours but are used differently (their "P" is our "R", as an example). And then there are a number of symbols with which generally are totally unfamiliar to a non-Cyrillic-language person. This leaves the word for restaurant looking sort of like "PECTOPAH".

I use the same "counting stops" method when traveling in places foreign to me, but it didn't work once for me in Moscow (out of many trips). I got out at my correctly counted station, to discover it was the wrong one. Got my glasses out and found the best lighted spot I could find, in a nook out of the way of rushing people. Some map-reading told me I had over-run by one station. I thought I had counted correctly, but just rode back one to my desired stop. Later, in my hotel room and with better reading conditions, carefully studied that metro map. Noticed one of the intermediate stations was gray while the others were black. I found a notation that this station was closed for the time being. So, had counted right, but missed that little color clue.

You'll have to get some rubles in order to buy those train and metro tickets. There are ATMs at the airport. But you will want to allow time for the transactions.

But by all means do the junket!!! Just standing on Red Square is incredible. McDonald's in Russia is enough different that it can be counted as an adventure, but there are lots of wonderful more authentic options.

The train from the airport into Moscow is probably one of the nicest trains I've ever taken. And the connection from it to the metro system is well marked. It runs every 1/2 hour and I think was around $8.

Romelle

We are taking a cruise which will have 3 days in St. Petersburg. I contacted Visatorussia.com as recommended here. They said that in order to get an invitation letter, I have to book tours with the local travel agency. From the posts here, many have visited Russia independently. How do I around the need to use local tour operators? Thanks for your help.

We are taking a cruise which will have 3 days in St. Petersburg. I contacted Visatorussia.com as recommended here. They said that in order to get an invitation letter, I have to book tours with the local travel agency. From the posts here, many have visited Russia independently. How do I around the need to use local tour operators? Thanks for your help.
I'm wondering why your cruise operator is not doing the Russian visas, if the boat stops for three days in St. Petersburg?

If you are a US citizen and the cruise company is not taking care of visas, you will be required to go through Travisa or CIBT to get your Russian visa (the consulate makes everyone use these paid services--it is no longer possible to just show up there and stand in line). You can get an invitation letter for $50 from Travisa if you don't have another source for the invitation. We just did this for Mr. travelmad478 when he joined me on a work trip to Moscow last month.