I have arrived from the DME express several times now I may be hazy on the details, but there was once a first time and I don't remember any such problems. I must admit I seldom ask for directions from a hotel, preferring to do my own research.

However, each station has a sign like this on the wall facing the platform.

On that link you can see you are on the brown "circle" line, which intersects with every other line, hence the frequency of connections on the sign.

If you have come off the DME express and arrived at Paveletskaya, then your only choices are the brown "circle" line, or the green line.

As you enter the metro, you'll see a direction sign with the available line choices with number and colour. Even in the near dark, it should be possible to discern green - 2 from brown - 5.


Choose the green, then you will see a sign like this . As you can see, it lists the stops in each direction, so if you have at least learnt the Cyrillic for one stop, your desired stop, you will know whether to take 1 or 2.

I know it's a bit confusing at first and we have all made mistakes, but I just want to assure any newbies reading this that it's not as hard as it might seem from reading some of the comments here.

I manage it every time I go to Moscow, usually dragging heavy bags too.
e.g, last time I was staying at the Aerostar which is fortunately near Dinamo on the green line, so no further changes were required after I got on the Metro from the AeroExpress. Fortunately one of the metro ticket machines was actually working, saving me from having to queue at the ticket window.