Trip to SPb and Moscow
 

We are headed to St. Petersburg and Moscow in August and I have a couple of logistical questions.

1. We land at SVO, and have booked a departure that day into LED. Our flight from IAD arrives at 8:10am and our departure to LED leaves at 1:05pm. First, will this be enough time to get through customs? Do I assume correctly that we will have to exit all the way and check in for the domestic leg and pass back through security?

2. What's the best way to get from LED to downtown SPb? We usually try to do public transportation where we can on our travels, but since we don't speak Russian at all, and I see there is no rail connection, I'm not sure how comfortable we would be. Do we take a cab? Arrange a car service?

3. Similarly, when we fly back to SVO, should be plan to take the Aeroexpress from the airport to downtown Moscow? Can we buy tickets when we arrive or should I purchase the tickets online beforehand?

Thanks in advance!

You have more than enough time. SU will probably check your luggage to the final destination and issue all the boarding passes in IAD, so you won't have to check in again, though you'll have to pass security (usually takes just a few minutes).

It's either a cab or bus+metro. There was a topic on cabs recently, they're cheap enough and probably your best option

You can buy tickets online or just before departure. Depending on time of arrival, the train or the taxi would be the best option (SVO is much further from the city center then LED).

1. Exactly
2. Download Uber, Gett or Yandex.Taxi apps.
3. Download Aeroexpress app. Tickets will be cheaper and there is no need to print them. You will recieve barcode on smartphone.

Thanks all!

I should have mentioned our international tickets and domestic tickets were booked separately, so I am guessing we will have to check in for the domestic flight once we land. But sounds like we should have plenty of time.

We will plan on taking a taxi from LED to our hot l downtown. We won't have a SIM card or international data plan (wifi only) so Uber, etc is pretty much useless for us in this case. We will plan to just grab a cab once we get there. I assume the cabs will be cash only? Wil we have trouble given our complete inability to speak Russian?

According to LED's website, you can pay with your credit card if you order the cab at the taxi desk. Their prices are a bit on the high side, though not unreasonable (~$15 to the center of the city). The desk will surely have someone with basic English skills.

But use ONLY official taxi desk!

Thanks again! Appreciate the assistance.

We were in SPB last week and stayed at a hotel near the Moscow Rail station at Nevsky Prospect. We had 3 options to get to town...(Uber, Gett, Yandex), taxi desk or bus. The fare quoted at the taxi desk was 1200 rubles and Uber was 1000 rubles, bus is ~40 rubles. We took the bus in instead.
The 39 bus and K39 minivan was right outside the terminal, it drops you off at the Moscow METRO station (about 15 mins ride)...not Moscow Rail station. From there you can take the metro to centre or the 26 bus to the Moscow rail station (about 30-45 mins ride.)

Thanks dvdbuddy!

chann, going to piggyback on to your thread, hope you don't mind. Since it's likely Singapore will end their IAH-DME route by early next year, and I have a ton of SQ miles, I think it might make sense to go see Russia.

Is 1 week sufficient to see Moscow and StP?

Not a problem, and our trip is one week to see both places and we go early August. Happy to report back to this thread.

Any reason you're flying LED-SVO and not taking the train?

Time. We have 6 days on the ground and want to make the most of each city, so we chose to fly to save some time traveling in country.

SPb-Moscow is faster by train (door-to-door), so if you're not connecting elsewhere from Moscow, I'd take the train.

We decided the 2 hour flight was easier than a 4 hour train this time. We land in SVO and immediately get on a flight to LED. No need to get downtown and deal with more logistics. I'm hoping we can do a return trip in the next couple of years and take the train then.