gouravr8

Hi Guys,

I'm travelling form new york to delhi this december and have a long layover in SVO about 12 hours.

It is winter so i expect Moscow to be very cold. So should I use this opportunity and explore Moscow or just stay at the airport?

Also, what is the best place to stay in SVO, i mean Hotels, and will I need a visa for it?

Thanks

jphripjah

What time of day is your 12 hour layover? Do you already have a Russian visa or will you have to get one specifically for the layover (if you want to leave the airport?)

gouravr8

If I leave the airport I will have to take a VISA. Which I think should not be an issue. The main concern is that it is winter, so is it worth it to take a visa checkout Moscow.

Krysenok

Check the weather few days before arrival. It could be very cold but could even be above zero. To explore Moscow you would probably need a visa depending on yr nationality.

Both Indian and US national do need a visa, however citizens of other countries may not.

onuhistorian0116

I use to live in Beijing and had a few friends of multiple Western nationalities take the Trans-Siberian Railroad from Beijing to Moscow. Everything I heard about their visa experience is hell. Applications were constantly rejected by the Embassy for trivial and often unexplained reasons. They were given little guidance on what changes they needed to make on their application or what additional documents they needed to provide.

I guess you could be eligible for a short-term transit visa, but you have to ask yourself, how much bang will you get for your buck? I know when I stumble of a long haul flight, such as one from New York to Moscow, I am pretty much worthless, and would not really be able to enjoy much of anything.

I have had four extended layovers in SVO, connecting from China to Europe. Aeroflot is dirt cheap, and SVO is well situated for such connections.

There is a visa free airside hotel in Terminal E. I know they have short term stays starting at 4 hours. I looked into the hotel the last time I flew through, but ultimately I decided it wasn’t worth it, one of the reasons I flew Aeroflot with a somewhat lengthy connection was to save money, if I was going to go ahead and spend $50ish dollars on a 4 hour hotel, eachway, I mightaswell have just spent the money for a shorter flight on a different airline.

That said, SVO isn’t great, and the food there is downright bad. Most of my layovers, I end up ordering a coffee and spend most my time in the booths of the coffeeshops in Terminal E (I think?).

Best of luck!

a7m

You can say a few things about your interests to get helpful responses. It is hard to say what you expect from a trip to Moscow. If, let's say, you had a layover in Paris, what would you do?

RussianTexan

How was your trip, OP?